Little is known in detail of the geologic events in Yellowstone during Oligocene and Miocene times. Rocks of these ages have not been recognized within the Park; if ever deposited there, they have since been removed by erosion or buried by younger volcanic rocks. Thus, we can only speculate as to what events took place during this 25-million-year period. No doubt the broad Absaroka volcanic plateau was eroded, but not deeply, because the topographic relief and stream gradients of the region remained low. There are also hints that some volcanic activity took place, for volcanic rocks representing parts of this time interval occur south of the Park, and some of these rocks may have originated within the Park area. Little transpired, however, to significantly alter the existing geological makeup of the Park; it was indeed a quiet time, particularly when compared with the extremely dynamic periods which immediately preceded and followed it. More mountain building and deep erosion Many features of the present-day landscape of Yellowstone stem from Pliocene time, about 10 million years ago. At that time the entire region—in fact, much of the Rocky Mountain chain—was being uplifted by giant earth movements to heights several thousand feet above its previous level. This episode of regional uplift accounts in large measure for the present high average elevation of the Yellowstone country. Although the precise cause of the uplift is unknown, the uplift assuredly reflects profound changes that were taking place deep within or beneath the earth’s crust. Great tensional forces, operating during Pliocene time, pulled the Yellowstone region apart and partially broke it into large steep-sided blocks bounded by _normal faults_ (fig. 13). Some blocks sank while others rose, commonly on the order of several thousand feet. The Gallatin Range, in the northwest corner of the Park, for example, was lifted as a rectangular mountain block along north-trending 20-mile-long normal faults that border it on each side (fig. 14, section A-A′; pl. 1). In the south-central part of the Park, the differential movements between several adjacent fault blocks totaled more than 15,000 feet (fig. 14, section C-C′). Farther south, the Teton Range moved up and the floor of Jackson Hole moved down along a normal-fault zone that stretches along the east foot of the range. An enormous offset of about 30,000 feet developed between the two crustal blocks, accounting in large part for the now incredibly steep and rugged east face of the Teton Range.