Quote:
Originally Posted by jcruz
When I look at pictures like these I'm always struck at how puny and insignificant man is compared to the forces of nature.
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I agree completely. The vastness and scale of the mountains cannot be captured with a camera. The entire surface of the mountains around the glacier was shattered rock, "waiting" to be transported to the valley below. The tectonic forces that created the Alaska Range are continental in scale. Mt McKinley is a monolith of granite. It formed from a volcano below the surface of the earth millions of years ago. Since it is a lot harder than the surrounding continental plate, as the Pacific plate slides under the North American plate, Mt McKinley is pushed up more than the surrounding material to form the tallest mountain in North America.
Jim