Yosemite Granite Domes

Granite granite dominates the geology of yosemite national park.

Yosemite granite domes.

Massive granite dominates the yosemite area and much of the sierra nevada as well. The dashed horizontal lines show the lowest contours that do not encircle higher peaks. Many granite domes are in yosemite national park. Granite domes are domical hills composed of granite with bare rock exposed over most of the surface.

Mount hoffmann and most of the terrain visible from it are composed of granite formed deep within the earth by solidification of formerly molten rock material and subsequently exposed by erosion of the overlying rocks. As granitic plutons cool kilometers below the earth s surface minerals in the rock crystallize under uniform confining. The park boundary perfectly frames a landscape that is composed almost entirely of granite and it s no surprise that this landscape contains some of the most iconic rock formations on earth. Toward the end of earth s last ice age huge glaciers moved down from the sierra nevada high country carrying debris that scoured and polished yosemite s granite rocks to a smooth surface.

Generally domical features such as these are known as bornhardts bornhardts can form in any type of plutonic rock but are typically composed of granite and granitic gneiss. The best hikes in yosemite wind through valleys climb up granite faces to waterfall views and traverse alpine meadows through some of the most spectacular scenery in the lower 48. The ocean is the absolute bottom.