Rocky Mountains
P5
Actual Rocky Mountains in Canada and the U.S.
Views of the Rocky Mountains in Montana from an airplane
The Rocky Mountains [ ˌ ɹɒkimaʊntənz ] ( German rocky mountains, known colloquially as the Rockies ) are a vast range of fold mountains in western North America. The mountains extend, depending on the definition, about 4500-5000 km from New Mexico by the continental United States to Canada and are one of the main geographical provinces of the United States.
Not to the Rocky Mountains include the Coast Mountains, the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada. Mount Elbert in Colorado is with 4401 m the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountains.
The Rocky Mountains are part of the Tierra del Fuego to Alaska reaching Cordilleras. It is home to major national parks like Yellowstone National Park and a variety of winter sports centers. They are also rich in mineral resources. The region located in the Rocky Mountains states is called Mountain States.
- 6.1 Mining
- 6.2 Tourism
Geology and Geography
Even before 600-700 million years ago, huge mountains were formed in North America, but they were removed almost completely back in the next 400 million years ago. Only a few rock masses in the south still date from that bygone era.
Today's Rocky Mountains was, for the most part during the said by geologists as lara mix orogeny time period, which began about 70 million years ago and ended about 30-40 million years ago. After the mountains were so high about how the Himalayas today, parts in North West America began to stretch and large parts of crust in the southwestern mountain plateau were subject to a strong elongation process, which made them break up into mountain ranges, plateaus and valleys. This area is now called the Basin and Range Province, and includes the Great Basin Desert and adjacent regions.
Between the late Pleistocene and the Holocene ( 70000-11000 years ago), the Rocky Mountains were glaciated to a large extent.
The Rocky Mountains consist mainly of metamorphic and igneous rocks. At the edges of the southern Rocky Mountains is also to find younger sedimentary rocks and in the San Juan Mountains and in other areas sometimes volcanogenic rocks from the Tertiary.
The width (east- west extension ) of the mountain ranges varies greatly. At the widest are the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Colorado with 500-600 km. From the Yellowstone area to the north, they split into several mountain ranges, some with small widths of 50-120 km.
On average, the Rocky Mountains 2000-3000 meters high. The highest mountains of the Rocky Mountains are in the area of the U.S. state of Colorado and its immediate neighboring countries, where there are many peaks over 4000 m. From Glacier National Park to the north summit are increasingly glaciated. Can likewise be found in the northern half partially extended plateaus - the largest is the Great Divide Basin - bounded by parallel mountain ranges. In the southern part of the mountain forms, however, usually more rounded forms of erosion.
In the area of Yellowstone National Park, the earth's crust is very deep thinned and magmatic interspersed. So find there thousands of volcanogenic objects such as geysers and hot springs.
Along the Rockies runs the North American watershed ( Continental Divide). The rivers that flow down from the Rocky Mountains, finally result in three different oceans: the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. The 2444 meter high Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park is the watershed point drain of the rainfall in all three oceans.
In the Rocky Mountains following, more important rivers are:
Climate
In the Rocky Mountains, there is often west wind, which drives the clouds from the Pacific Ocean up and they can accumulate in them and rain down. This has for the Pacific Coast more than the average rainfall and the consequence for the underlying Great Plains drought. The weather in the Rocky Mountains themselves is thus mostly cloud covered. An exception is the Yellowstone area, where it can cause weeks of periods of good weather.
The climate of the Rocky Mountains is typical of the highlands. The average temperature is around 6 ° C. At 28 ° C. July is the hottest month, January is -14 ° C for the coldest. The annual rainfall is approximately 36 cm.
The summers in the Rocky Mountains are warm and dry at 15 ° C and 15 cm of rainfall. In July it smelled an average of 18 hours. Especially in August the storms often lead to forest fires.
The winter, however, is very cold and wet at -2 ° C and 29 cm of rainfall. Snow layers of five to six meters are not uncommon; in the north they can be even 15-18 meters. However penetrate in winter sometimes warm air masses from the Pacific Ocean inland. This wind is called Chinook and can cause sudden increases in temperature of 20-25 ° C.
Impacts of climate change
For several years, the destruction of forests takes in the entire Rocky Mountains at an alarming rate. This is due to a massive proliferation of pests that benefit from the milder climate. In particular conifers are concerned, which are infected by the mountain pine beetle. Although this kills the trees do not, but drags a fungus which prevents the transport of water upward, so that the trees dry up. For felled trees can be clearly seen between the bright heartwood and bark of the destroyed tissue by the fungus dark areas. In Rocky Mountain National Park ( Colorado) were the dead trees in the campsites already been removed for safety reasons, so that there pioneer plants spread ( Fireweed, thistles, but also true wild roses). This attracts example Moose and elk in the immediate vicinity of the tourists.
Due to huge areas and the known dangers of pesticides on the ecosystem no action is currently being undertaken.
Vegetation
The vegetation of the Rocky Mountains can be subdivided into several specific height levels. The first two stages are characterized by sandy soils and rainfall of about 500 mm. There is hardly dense forests, instead, scattered trees with heavy undergrowth. The lowest level to 1500-2200 m of various juniper (Utah and one-seeded juniper) and pine species ( Colorado fir, coast pine) dominates, the following stage up to 2700 m of yellow pine and Gambel oak trees. Between 1800 and 2400 m is also frequently encountered in sub-alpine larch.
From the third stage (2700-3200 m), the tree stands are dense and the undergrowth decreases. Therefore, the northern, higher Rocky Mountains are much more densely forested than the south, which are often covered to the summit with grass. The precipitate at this stage is about half than on the bottom two. Here are common Douglas, American aspens and Colorado -fir to find.
The fourth stage is enough to approximately 3800 m to the tree line. The local trees grow less strong in the air and the woods come apart. The most common tree species at this stage are the Engelmann, blue and white spruces, firs and rocks Nevada and bristlecone pines.
At the last stage, the alpine tundra, grow dwarf plants such as shrubs, bushes, flowers and grasses. Are particularly common to see (for example, Arctic willow ) here willow species. In the buttercup family perennial dominate (Ranunculus adoneus ), professional herbs ( Erigeron simplex), Boraginaceae ( Eritrichum aretioides ) and Crassulaceae ( Rhodiola integrifolia ); in the grasses and alpine bluegrass lawn Schmiele.
History of human occupation
Since the last major ice age inhabited Indian peoples of the Rocky Mountains. At the time of the conquest of North America by European colonists, among others, the Absarokee, Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Flathead, Lakota, Shoshone and Ute were living temporarily or permanently in the Rocky Mountains or the intervening plateaus. Many of these tribes migrated in the fall and winter in the plains to live by bison and other big game, and in spring and summer in the mountains, where they caught fish, game hunted and gathered berries and roots.
As of 1720, the first white trappers, hunters and minerals seekers invaded the Rocky Mountains. Soon the mountains as a rich fur region was known. Fur trading companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company in Canada and the American Fur Company and the Missouri Fur Company (later: Rocky Mountains Fur Company ) in the United States fought hard for supremacy in the Rocky Mountains. Among the white pioneers of the Rocky Mountains included William Henry Ashley, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, John Colter, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Andrew Henry, and Jedediah Smith, David Thompson. In 1793, Alexander MacKenzie crossed by the Hudson 's Bay Company as the first white man the Rocky Mountains. His route led from the Fort Chipewyan on the Peace and Fraser River in the area of present-day Vancouver. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06 was the first scientific expedition across the mountains. Botanists, zoologists, geologists and other professionals gathered preliminary data on the Rocky Mountains. The expedition was the prelude to the conquest of the West of North America. In the spring of 1824 Jedediah Smith discovered the South Pass in Wyoming today a passable with loads caravans and vans transition in the middle Rocky Mountains. The pass was the central point of all trade and settlers flows for the colonization of the American West 1830-1869.
In 1847, the Mormons began the Great Salt Lake to settle. 1858 was found in Colorado gold. As a result, the White opened up the area, built a transcontinental railroad, and opened with the Yellowstone the first national park in the world. More and more white settlers settled in the valleys and mining towns and displaced the indigenous peoples into reservations. Towards the end of the 19th century, other areas in the Rocky Mountains were placed under protection. The U.S. government defined mines, the timber industry, agricultural and recreational zones. From camps and tent sites were forts and farms, and ultimately towns and villages.
Tourism and industry
Mining and tourism are the main economic activities in the Rocky Mountains. There are also livestock, forestry and some agriculture.
Mining
In the Rocky Mountains valuable minerals such as lead, gold, copper, molybdenum, silver, tungsten, and zinc were found. The intervening plateaus also include coal, natural gas, oil and oil shale.
The Climax Mine near Leadville, Colorado was over 100 years ( 1879-1986 ), long the world's largest producer of molybdenum. Molybdenum is used as an alloying element for heat-resistant steel, for example, in turbines and power plants. The mine in Climax once employed over 3000 workers. The Coeur- d'Alene Mine in northern Idaho promotes silver, lead and zinc. Canada's largest coal mine is located in the Crowsnest Coal Field near Sparwood and Elkford, British Columbia, in addition there are coal mines near Hinton, Alberta.
The extraction of mineral resources resulted in the Rocky Mountains in many places contaminated and polluted waters and soils.
Tourism
With an average of four people per square kilometer, the population density of the Rocky Mountains is quite low and there are few cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Nevertheless, it is in the mountains is a popular tourist destination for people who either enjoy the scenery or are into sports. Every year millions of tourists travel to the Rockies. In summer are the most popular attractions in the USA Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Glacier National Park and Canada Waterton Lakes National Park, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park. Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park are located west of the actual Rocky Mountains in the Columbia Mountains, separated by the broad Rocky Mountain Trench, which is drained by the Columbia River. In winter, skiing is the main attraction. The main ski areas are Aspen, Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain in Colorado; Alta, Park City and Snowbird, Utah; Sun Valley, Idaho; Whitefish Mountain Resort (formerly Big Mountain ) and Big Sky in Montana; Lake Louise and Sunshine Village in Alberta, as well as Fernie and Whistler in British Columbia.