Greetings!
About 80 million years ago, when the Pacific plate (led by
the Farallon plate) headed down under the North American plate, all of western
North America east of Nevada was lifted up about 20,000 feet. What was to become the Canadian and
American Rockies started out as the western edge of the bottom of an inland
ocean reaching from near the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. Sedimentary rock layers containing
fossils from before the extinction of the dinosaurs headed for the sky with a
fury. We’re talking Tibet high
mountains, which erosion has used the time since to beat down.
The western edge of the Canadian stretch bent the existing
100 million year-old mountain
range sideways, creating a deep rift valley between it and the new higher
peaks. And it took the source of
the Columbia River 40 miles north.
It’s so much fun to poke around looking at history that
dramatic.
To see all of the photos we took today on the way from Revelstoke to Golden, click on Sunday, August 25th.
Gregory
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