Millions of years ago, the North American continent was dragged over the world's largest continental hotspot, a huge column of hot and molten rock rising from the Earth's interior that traced a 50-mile wide, 500-mile-long path northeastward across Idaho. Generating cataclysmic volcanic eruptions and large earthquakes, the hotspot helped lift the Yellowstone Plateau to more than 7,000 feet and pushed the northern Rockies to new heights, forming unusually large glaciers to carve the landscape. It also created the jewel of the U.S. national park system: Yellowstone. Meanwhile, forces stretching apart the western U.S. created the mountainous glory of Grand Teton National Park. These two parks, with their majestic mountains, dazzling geysers, and picturesque hot springs, are windows into the Earth's interior, revealing the violent power of the dynamic processes within. Smith and Siegel offer expert guidance through this awe-inspiring terrain, bringing to life the grandeur of these geologic phenomena as they reveal the forces that have shaped--and continue to shape--the greater Yellowstone-Teton region. Over seventy illustrations--including fifty-two in full color--illuminate the breathtaking beauty of the landscape, while two final chapters provide driving tours of the parks to help visitors enjoy and understand the regions wonders. Fascinating and informative, this book affords us a striking new perspective on Earth's creative forces.

An introductory chapter briefly reviews Yellowstone's geology followed by a series of road guides with the local particulars. The authors tell you what the rocks are and what they mean. Useful graphics and charts supplement the text and help you to unde

The chilling tome that launched an entire genre of books about the often gruesome but always tragic ways people have died in our national parks, this updated edition of the classic includes calamities in Yellowstone from the past sixteen years, including the infamous grizzly bear attacks in the summer of 2011 as well as a fatal hot springs accident in 2000. In these accounts, written with sensitivity as cautionary tales about what to do and what not to do in one of our wildest national parks, Whittlesey recounts deaths ranging from tragedy to folly—from being caught in a freak avalanche to the goring of a photographer who just got a little too close to a bison. Armchair travelers and park visitors alike will be fascinated by this important book detailing the dangers awaiting in our first national park.

Interpreting the Landscape of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks takes us into the natural world we see today through the prism of geology. It is difficult to gaze upon the Teton Range, the high plateaus of Yellowstone, the lakes, canyons, and land forms of the two parks and their immediate environs without asking how and when they were formed. This book answers these questions, and more. The text, photography, and graphics demonstrate that most of what we see today is young, geologically speaking - the product of volcanic eruptions, profound glaciation, and earth movements. Perhaps the most interesting of all, the book describes how processes originating half way to the earth's center seem to be the primary force which created volcanic fires, glacial ice, and the mountain ranges of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.