Mountain Magic

This magical scene features the crystal clear blue-green Moraine Lake, in Banff National Park.... more

by Alan Socolik

Title

Mountain Magic

Artist

Alan Socolik

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

This magical scene features the crystal clear blue-green Moraine Lake, in Banff National Park.
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The Canadian Rockies are the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, the collective name for the mountains of Western Canada. They form part of the American Cordillera, an essentially continuous sequence of mountain ranges that runs all the way from Alaska to the very tip of South America. The Cordillera in turn are the eastern part of the Pacific Ring of Fire that runs all the way around the Pacific Ocean.
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Mount Robson (3,954 m (12,972 ft)) is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, but not the highest in British Columbia, since there are some higher mountains in the Coast Mountains and Saint Elias Range. However, Mount Robson is particularly impressive because it stands out on the continental divide towering over Yellowhead Pass, one of the lowest passes in the Canadian Rockies, and is close to the Yellowhead Highway. Its base is only 985 m above sea level, meaning it has a total vertical relief of 2,969 m or nearly 10,000 feet. In addition, it rises the 3 km to its summit in a distance of only 4 km from its base at Kinney Lake. Climbing Mount Robson is a challenge suitable for experienced and well-prepared mountaineers, and usually requires a week on the mountain.
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The Canadian Rockies are quite different in appearance and geology from the American Rockies to the south of them. The Canadian Rockies are composed of layered sedimentary rock such as limestone and shale, where as the American Rockies are made mostly of metamorphic and igneous rock such as gneiss and granite. The American Rockies are, on average, higher in elevation than the Canadian Rockies, but have less vertical relief, which is to say they are shorter from base to summit because the mountain valleys are higher.
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The Canadian Rockies are more jagged than the American Rockies, because the Canadian Rockies have been very heavily glaciated, resulting in sharply pointed mountains separated by wide, U-shaped valleys gauged by glaciers, where as the American Rockies are more rounded, with river-carved V-shaped valleys between them. The Canadian Rockies are cooler and wetter, giving them moister soil, bigger rivers, and more glaciers. The tree line is much lower in the Canadian Rockies than in the American Rockies.
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Five national parks are located within the Canadian Rockies, four of which interlock and make up the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage site. These four parks are Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho. The national park not included in the World Heritage Site is Waterton, which does not interlock with the others (it lies farther south, along the international boundary). The World Heritage site also includes three British Columbia provincial parks that adjoin the four national parks: Hamber, Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson. Together, all these national and provincial parks were declared a single UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for the unique mountain landscapes found there, comprising peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves as well as fossils (e.g. the Burgess Shale, once a World Heritage Site in its own right, is now part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site). Numerous other provincial parks are located in the Canadian Rockies.
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Much of the text above copied/paraphrased from wikipedia.org
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FEATURED PHOTO, Fine Art America Water Water and Water Group, 12/11/2012
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FEATURED PHOTO, FAA Comfortable Art Group, 12/29/2012
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FEATURED PHOTO, FAA Nature From Around the World Group, 12/29/2012
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FEATURED PHOTO, FAA Weekly FUN For ALL Group, 12/30/2012
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FEATURED PHOTO, FAA 200 Plus Views Group, 11/24/2015
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FEATURED PHOTO, FAA All Natural Beauty Of this World Group, 2/10/2017

Uploaded

October 28th, 2012