Geology
During the formation of the Rocky Mountains 170 million years ago, a region of rocks known as the Lewis Overthrust was forced eastward 50 miles, leading to the formation of Glacier's mountains.
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Geology Details
During the formation of the Rocky Mountains 170 million years ago, tectonic action forced a slab of the Earth's crust known as the Lewis Overthrust eastward 50 miles, leading to the formation of Glacier's mountains. The overthrust was several miles thick and hundreds of miles long, and the action resulted in older rocks being displaced over newer ones. The overlying Proterozoic rocks are between 1.4 and 1.5 billion years older than Cretaceous age rocks they now rest upon. A dramatic example of the effects of this overthrust is Chief Mountain, on the edge of the eastern boundary of the park, which rises 2,500 feet above the Great Plains. These mountains were carved into their present shapes by the glaciers of the last ice age, although the glaciers have largely disappeared over the last 12,000 years. Evidence of glacial action is apparent throughout the park in the form of U-shaped valleys, glacial cirques, arêtes, and large outflow lakes radiating from the base of the highest peaks. The rocks in Glacier represent the best preserved Proterozoic sedimentary rocks in the world, and have proven to be some of the world's most prolific sources for records of early life. The discovery of the Appekunny Formation, a well-preserved rock stratum in the park, pushed back the established date for the origination of animal life a full billion years. This rock formation has bedding structures which are believed to be the remains of the earliest identified metazoan (animal) life on Earth.
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