Colorado is blessed with an amazing abundance of natural “experiences,” from its diverse wildlife, varying ecosystems, and a plethora of differences in climates and microclimates. Traveling across the state takes you from the grasslands of the Great Plains, over gently rolling hills and wetlands just east of the Front Range, then continuing upwards into the heights of the famed mountain ranges and peaks, and back down to the sun-baked and eroded plateaus of the high desert in the west. All of these varying aspects of the natural world have their roots in quite literally the “bedrock” of all natural phenomena, the geology that formed our beautiful state.

The Rocky Mountains, and specifically Rocky Mountain National Park (for the purposes of this article) are unique in their formation in that they did not form within the understanding of how mountains are made via plate tectonics. Generally speaking, most of Earth’s mountain ranges are formed by the great plates colliding, moving away from each other, or rubbing against one another. The Rockies differ in that they are located in the middle of what is considered a stable and inactive plate interior. They are quite a distance from any plate boundaries. They also hold a mystery as to how the range gained its height in a region that, based on current geological understanding, should only allow for mountains half their height.

While there are a number of theories that strive to define how these mountains came to be, there are a few key points that lead us in the right direction of understanding the grand scenery we enjoy every day. Nearly a billion years ago it is understood that much of what is now North America was under a vast body of water. Deposited sands and silts later hardened into vast fields of sandstone and limestone that we see along the Front Range. Roughly 300 million years ago the ancient predecessor of the modern Rockies rose out of the waters. A much “gentler” range assumed to reach only a few thousand feet in elevation formed a chain of islands in this massive inland sea that stretched roughly from Boulder to Steamboat Springs.

Over time these peaks diminished from erosion, washing much of the sedimentary rock eastward into what is now the Great Plains. This left the harder granite that we see prevailing in the mountains of the park. About 75 million years ago a tectonic event known as the Laramide Orogeny began the process of raising the modern ranges. This period was known for its vulcanism that produced great ash falls and igneous rock formation discovered in the Never Summer range.

Later upheavals brought the peaks even higher, with erosion taking away more of the sedimentary rock and exposing more of the harder bedrock from the earliest days of our planet. Evidence of the continuation of geologic activity remains today, with a 3.5 magnitude earthquake occurring in Silverton last month, and many more happening with regularity in the Trinidad area.

These upheavals formed a gentle and rolling landscape that is still evident when traveling the famous Trail Ridge Road that traverses the park. It took two major glaciation periods to carve out much of what we know as the peaks and valleys of the park, but it is theorized that the top of the range has been relatively bare for much of its existence.

What were once gentle valleys filled with snow and ice, became the great carving glaciers that made the park what it is today. The majority of the valleys are a U-shape, signifying the slow and devastating grind of ice movement, as compared to narrower V-shaped valleys formed by streams and running water (such as Boulder Canyon). These valleys are also littered with great boulders, remnants of the larger granite formations broken down from the relentless grind.

This lack of glacial erosion along the summit of Trail Ridge Road provides a unique look at that ancient sea bed remaining from so many hundreds of millions of years ago. If one takes the short Tundra Communities Trail at the Rock Cut viewpoint, one comes to a summit ridge that is dotted with the rock formations seen in this week’s image. These formations stand as a tribute to the tribulations of time that shape the very nature of nature in our beautiful state, and the greater amazing planet we all call home.

Additional information for this article came from https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-rocky-mountain-national-park.

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