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Geological Values of Wilderness

Red and orange rocks tower beyond scrubby desert shrubs.
Nevada's Meadow Valley Range Wilderness preserves volcanic tuff, rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption.
The Wilderness Act specifically states that areas may be set aside for their geological significance. Wilderness preserves valuable natural features including caves, volcanoes, canyons, geysers, mountains, fossils, glaciers, and beaches. The Clifty Wilderness, for example, overlaps the eastern portion of the Red River Gorge Geological Area. Overall, the geological area has over 100 natural arches, the greatest concentration of arches east of the Rocky Mountains, part of a deeply dissected landscape that is an intricate maze of narrow, winding ridges and valleys separated by steep slopes and continuous bands of high sandstone cliffs[1]. Wilderness areas in California's northern Sierra Nevada range are part of a granitic landscape containing igneous rock formations and shaped by faulting, burial, volcanism and glaciation[2].

Other examples of geologically significant areas include:
  • Phillip Burton Wilderness, where wind, rain, waves, eroding headlands, and deposition of sediment are major players and the knife-like incision of the San Andreas Fault slips under the waves.
  • Badlands Wilderness, a fossil hotbed made of rolling hills, entrenched gullies, and sculptured pillars of rock.
  • Shenandoah Wilderness, which contains a portion of the Blue Ridge Mountain province, some of the oldest mountains in North America.
  • Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness, a barrier island constantly changed by wind and waves.

These and other wildernesses with unique geological characteristics help us discover the history of our planet, see how present ecological systems compare to past ones, and anticipate what future changes may occur.

References

  1. USDA Forest Service. (n.d.a). Red River Gorge Geological Area. Retrieved on September 9, 2009.
  2. Schaffer, J. P. (1998). The Tahoe Sierra: A Natural History Guide to 112 Hikes in the Northern Sierra (4th ed.). Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press.



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