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Yellowstone National Park - Forces of the Northern Range - Glacial Boulder

Location of sign - on the Forces of the Northern Range Trail between Tower Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs 

in Yellowstone National Park.

Photo taken June 2008

Text of sign:

Glacial Boulder

The large boulder beside you was left by a glacier - the glacier that sculpted the broad valley you are standing in.

A Cold Rise

How did this boulder get here?  Like many others scattered across Yellowstone, it was scraped by the mountains by a glacier, 

then carried by the ice to a new site.  This granite boulder traveled from the northeast for many miles before settling here when the

glacier melted.

Frozen Landscapes

Glaciers. like those in Alaska today - and Yellowstone thousands of years ago - form in frigid climates where more and more

snow accumulates and turns to ice.  These massive "rivers of ice" carve the land as they slowly advance downslope.

Yellowstone's Icy Past

As you look at Yellowstone's beautiful mountains and valleys, imagine ice and snow in every direction.  Thousands of years ago, the

ice was so thick that only the highest mountain peaks rose above the frozen landscape.  The glaciers that buried Yellowstone 

shaped the mountains that you see today.  

Approximate boundaries of Yellowstone's most recent icecap about 20,000 years ago and earlier glaciation about 140,000 years

ago. 

This exhibit made possible by a generous grant from the Yellowstone Association.

Graphics on the sign

In addition to the text there is a picture of the glacial boulder, a glacier and a map of Yellowstone's icecap.

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