Brief introduction of Rocky Mountain National Park Group

The mountains in the Rocky Mountains Park Group are very young and formed about 70 million years ago. The rugged peaks and flowing glaciers form a strange contrast here. Glaciers slowly slide down from the ice sheet, grinding hard rocks into powder, and powdery debris covers the ice lake. Glacier snowmelt supplies the beautiful Lake St. Louis, and the ultimate beauty is amazing. The light reflected by the floating ice gravel also makes the lake as bright as jade. The mountains in the east are huge uplift blocks, many of which have towering peaks and charming scenery. Qianling, Colorado and Central Arizona are the two largest uplifts, and most of the rest are basically flat areas, with a length of 65,438+000 kilometers (62 miles) and a width of 24 kilometers (65,438+05 miles). Qianling and Shawaguchi Mountain have peaks over 4300m (14000ft) above sea level, among which Montel Burt Peak in Shawaguchi Mountain is 4399m (14433ft) high, which is the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. Wyoming's Winder River Ridge and Teton Ridge have peaks over 3,962 meters (13,000 feet), as do Utah's Uinta Mountains. Some mountainous areas have not been set foot in so far and have been designated as national wildlife reserves. There are state-owned forests all over the country. The eastern basin is very wide, with an altitude of 1, 219 ~ 2134m (4000 ~ 7000ft). During and after the uplift of the mountain range, the basin contains stone chips stripped from the uplift mountain range. Later, the stability of flowing water was established as Missouri River and Colorado River, and the sediments in the basin were eroded by flowing water, and some places were deeply eroded. The Rocky Mountains in Canada and northwest Montana, including Glacier National Park and Lewis Ridge in northwest Montana, are all part of the western Rocky Mountains. This part is characterized by a series of parallel mountains, and most of them are formed by the extrusion and accumulation of thick sedimentary rocks. There are similar linear mountains in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho, but from the southwest corner of Wyoming to the southwest corner of Utah and southern Nevada, the western mountains are covered by the later great basin plate fault. How far the real Rocky Mountains in Utah and western Nevada once extended westward is still controversial. Therefore, in general, the eastern part of the Rocky Mountains is characterized by uplift and large intermontane basins, while the western part is characterized by overthrust faults and folds.

Rocky Mountain was originally a huge geosyncline, but it was only a shallow sea in the early Cretaceous. In Tertiary, large-scale orogeny and volcanic eruption occurred, the crust was strongly folded and squeezed, and the mountains rose again, forming a tall granite mountain system. In Quaternary, the action of glaciers left the geomorphological features of scarps, ice buckets and valleys, and the long-term crustal changes gradually formed the present situation of rocky mountains. The huge rocky mountains are widely distributed, showing NNW-South-South-East trend. There are obvious differences between the north and the south, which can be roughly divided into three parts. The southern part of the Rocky Mountains includes the southern Wyoming Basin or the southern part of the east coast of the upper reaches of the North Platte River. Most of these mountains are in the north-south direction, side by side, and many peaks are high and steep, which is horrible. Mountain streams can be seen everywhere. Clear water and swaying mountain flowers are very charming and beautiful. The mountains here are mostly composed of Precambrian crystalline rocks, with an altitude of more than 4000 meters, of which Mount Elbert is the highest and the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. The towering peaks rise from the ground, forming a sea of peaks in the clouds. Due to the bad weather, the top of the mountain is often covered with snow all year round, forming strange and unusual ice buckets and ice cubes, which is very spectacular. The South Rocky Mountain is rich in mineral resources, and the earliest discovery is gold mine. Later, copper and silver mines were also found here, but after several years of mining, most of the ore bodies have dried up.

Northern tribal mountains include mountains from northern Yellowstone National Park to Canadian territory. Glacier activity in this mountainous area was very active in the past, and a special landform was formed due to the action of glaciers. Mountains are mainly composed of water and rocks, and solemn peaks and U-shaped mountains replace the soft plateau. The complex stratigraphic structure and strong volcanism in the northern mountainous area gave birth to rich nonferrous metal deposits. For example, the second largest copper mine in the United States has been established here, with an annual output of more than 2 million tons. Silver, lead, zinc and other minerals account for half of the United States, which is quite powerful. The middle tribe is mainly mountainous, mainly plateau, and there are some mountainous blocks in the middle. The geological structure here is complex and the volcano has a great influence, resulting in many hot springs and geysers. The Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is a world-famous geyser. There is also a huge Wyoming basin in the central mountainous area, which is surrounded by high mountains and has a dry climate. The annual rainfall is more than 350 mm, almost nothing grows, and it belongs to semi-desert landscape zone. The Rocky Mountains are magnificent and have unique scenery. The US government has established three national parks here, namely Yellowstone National Park, Glacier Park and Grand Detton Park, which have attracted a large number of tourists for sightseeing, traveling and vacation. The mountain range was mainly formed in the Laramie orogeny from the end of Cretaceous to the beginning of Tertiary, that is, from the end of Cretaceous (about 65.438+0.45 billion years ago to about 65.5 million years ago) to Paleogene (65.5 million years ago to 23 million years ago). From the Early Cambrian (542 million years ago) to the Cretaceous, the strata were subjected to pressure from east to west, forming folds (the strata were wavy) and faults (the strata were broken and dislocated) and rising with them. After uplift and severe erosion, the tectonic terrain is more complicated. In the North Rocky Mountain north of Huangshi National Park, Precambrian and Paleozoic granites are exposed in the west, dominated by tall massive mountains. On the basis of long folds and thrust structures in the east, strip mountains are common, with broken valleys in between. Yellowstone National Park-Wyoming Basin is a wide Rocky Mountains. The western part is characterized by strip mountains and broken valleys; Most of the eastern mountains are highly undisturbed, with a single anticline uplift, steep edges, short mountains, different trends and wide syncline basins at intervals. South of Wyoming Basin is the South Rocky Mountain, which is the most magnificent part of the whole Rocky Mountain. It consists of two groups of parallel anticline mountains, and Precambrian crystalline rocks are exposed. Very high. There are 48 peaks above 4200 meters above sea level, and Mount Albert is located here. There is a stratum called Burgess Shale in this area. In the Middle Cambrian (565.438+03 billion years ago ~ 565.438+00 billion years ago), fossils named "strange shrimp" and "strange insect" were discovered successively. Compared with today's creatures, their shapes are really incredible. 1980, Jojo National Park, where Burgess shale was discovered, was listed as a world natural heritage for the first time. Later, 1984, the area selected as natural heritage expanded to become the Canadian Rocky Mountain Park Group.

Ice erosion landforms are widely distributed in mountainous areas, and modern glaciers exist in alpine areas, especially in the northern Rocky Mountains. The tall and vertical mountain range is the barrier of air mass movement between the east and the west of the North American continent, which leads to the great difference of precipitation between the east and the west and affects the distribution of temperature, and constitutes an important climate dividing line in North America. To the west of the Rocky Mountain, except for the Pacific coast and windward slope north of latitude 40, the annual precipitation is below 500 mm, mainly in winter rain, and the winter temperature is higher than that in the eastern part of the continent at the same latitude. In the east of the Rocky Mountain, the annual precipitation in most areas is above 500 mm, and the proportion of summer rain is high. Except the St. Lawrence River, almost all major rivers in North America originate from the Rocky Mountains, which is an important watershed of the mainland. The rivers to the east of the mountain range belong to the Atlantic water system and the Arctic water system, and the rivers to the west belong to the Pacific water system. Mountain vegetation mainly includes coniferous species such as Pinus ponderosa, Douglas fir and spruce. Different latitudes, heights and slopes form different vertical zones. The North Rocky Mountain is the main logging area, accounting for 2/3 of the trees in mountainous areas. Magmatic intrusions, highly metamorphic belts and sedimentary basins are widely distributed in the Rocky Mountains, which are the main distribution areas of mineral resources in North America, especially non-ferrous metals. There are three famous metal mining areas in the American Rocky Mountains: Cordalen, Idaho, which is dominated by lead and produces zinc and silver; Buyut and Bingham live mainly on copper, and silver, lead and zinc. Non-metallic minerals are mainly produced in Wyoming basin, mainly including oil, natural gas, coal and salt. Since19th century, cars and trains have been connected to every mountain pass, and now there are 9 railways passing through. The development of traffic has accelerated the development of mountain tourism resources. Dense forests, numerous wild animals, cool climate, modern glaciers, hot springs and other strange scenery make it an important tourist area in North America, attracting tens of thousands of tourists every year. There are many national parks and wildlife reserves. There are small mining cities and tourist cities in mountainous areas. Rocky Mountain National Park Group extends far north and south, with diverse climate, with subtropical northern margin climate at the southern end and Arctic climate at the northern end. However, the influence of mountains, high altitude and latitude changes in the southern continent is often weakened. There are two vertical climatic zones in most mountainous areas. The lower climate zone is cold temperate zone, and Leng Xia is cool in winter. In the south, the altitude of 7000 ~ 10000 feet belongs to this climatic zone. The higher the latitude, the lower the upper and lower limits. The higher climate zone is alpine climate and belongs to tundra type. Winter is cold, summer is short and cold; In the south, the snow on the highest peak can last until August, while in the north, there are still permanent glaciers in many high-altitude valleys. Generally, there is more precipitation in the north than in the south, and the precipitation in the north is about three times that in the south. The climate in the south is mostly dry. For example, the St. Louis Valley in Colorado has a mountainous wasteland climate and is one of the driest areas in the Rocky Mountains. Most of the annual rainfall in the south is winter snowfall, although there are often local and sometimes violent thunderstorms in summer afternoon. Because of the Pacific cyclone storm, the precipitation in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains is relatively uniform all year round. In every part of the Rocky Mountains, the growing season is almost short, and some places even have frost in July. The Rocky Mountains are an important climatic dividing line in the North American continent. It acts as a barrier to the eastward invasion of the polar Pacific air mass and the westward invasion of the polar Canadian air mass or the tropical Gulf of Mexico air mass, resulting in a huge difference in precipitation between the eastern and western parts of the mainland, which has a certain impact on the temperature distribution. The rain in winter is mainly in the west. Except for coastal areas and windward slopes north of latitude 40, the annual precipitation is below 500 mm, and the temperature in winter is higher than that in the eastern part of the same latitude. The eastern part is dominated by summer rain, and the annual precipitation is above 500 mm, except for the northern high latitude area and some great plains areas close to mountainous areas.

Rocky Mountain National Park has a plateau climate, with an annual average temperature of 6℃, the highest in July, an average temperature of 28℃, an average temperature of 65,438 0.4℃ in 10, and an annual average rainfall of 360mm ... The Rocky Mountain area is warm and dry in summer and cold and humid in winter.