Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (1952) — John Shaqi
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (1952)United States. National Park Service
History
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (1952)
United States. National Park Service
Grand Teton National Park (Wyo.) -- Guidebooks
East of the Teton Fault, in the Jackson Hole area, another great earth
block lies deeply buried beneath debris brought down into the basin by
mountain streams and glaciers. Changes wrought by the great glaciers of
the Ice Age have given the region much of its distinctive character.
Glacial erosion is strikingly evident in the sharply chiselled peaks,
the U-shaped canyons and the profound basins (“cirques”) at their heads,
and the numerous little alpine tarns (lakelets occupying ice-gouged
basins). The irregular wooded ridges of Jackson Hole, on the other hand,
are due to glacial deposition, being composed of bouldery debris heaped
up by the ice. Some of these moraines form the dams which enclose the
beautiful lakes at the foot of the Teton Range—Phelps, Taggart, Bradley,
Jenny, Leigh, and Jackson Lakes. The broad terraced plains of Jackson
Hole are for the most part great sheets of gravel spread out on the
valley floor by the glacial streams of the Ice Age.
Small glaciers still found among the Teton Peaks are now believed to be
youthful ice bodies only a few thousand years old, rather than the
dwindling remnants of great glaciers of the Ice Age, as was formerly
thought.
A fuller account of the geologic features is given on the reverse side
of the topographic map of Grand Teton National Park, for sale at the
museum.
Wildlife
The Jackson Hole country, long famous for its big game, is the home of
one of the world’s largest elk herds. The elk, or wapiti, have been the
most important big-game animals in Jackson Hole since the occupancy of
white men. In the spring they leave the low country of the park and the
National Elk Refuge, near the town of Jackson, and move toward the
highlands surrounding the valley. When snowfall comes in the high
country the elk return to the refuge, which is administered by the Fish
and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior.
Shiras moose, the most commonly seen big game animal, is frequently
observed in the smaller ponds and marshy meadows. The moose, largest
member of the deer family, is not as wary as other deer. Mule deer are
increasing in the park and environs, and, though quite shy, are often
seen along the trails by hikers and horseback riders.
Small herds of bighorn, or Rocky Mountain sheep, range in isolated
sections of the park, and bears may be found in the mountains and
canyons.
Beavers, martens, minks, weasels, coyotes, marmots, conies, and rabbits
inhabit the park, and ground squirrels and chipmunks are numerous. More
than 100 species of birds may be identified by the careful observer.
Trees and Plants
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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