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Wild Life |
Yellow
Stone National Park is a treasure that inspires awe in travellers from
around the world. New Zealand & Iceland are known for geysers, but
nowhere is there as many as in yellow Stone. At the heart of yellow Stone’s
past, present, and future lies volcanism. About 2 million years ago, then
1.3 million years ago, and again 640,000 years ago, huge volcanic eruptions
occurred there. The latest spewed out nearly 240 cubic miles of debris.
The park’s present central portion collapsed, forming a 30- by 45 – mile
caldera, or basin. The magmatic heat powering those eruptions still powers
the parks geysers, Hot Springs, fumaroles, mud pots.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellow Stone gives a glimpse of Earth’s interior: it’s waterfallshighlight the boundaries of the lava flows & thermal areas. Rugged mountains flank the pqarks volcanic plateau, rewarding both eye & spirit. Yellowstone’s wildlife includes’ bison (buffalo), elk, grizzly & black bears, trumpeter swans, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Vegetation types range from near –desert vegetation near the north entrance to sublime meadows & forests on Mount Washburn. Lodgepole pine covers 60 % of the park & makes up 80% of the forested areas. Yellow stone would be apremier National Park for it’s scnery or wildlife, but its history abounds in colorful tales, too, of fur trappers & explorers, photographers, surveyors, and artists. William Henry Jackson ‘s photographs & Thomas Moran’s sketches influenced Congress to establish yellowstone as the World’s first National park in 1872.This National park idea has become a land- use model for many nations, and Yellowstone has evolved from a pleasuring ground & wildlife refuge to today’s Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, too. |