Running water—canyons and waterfalls
Yellowstone is, among its many attributes, the source of large and mighty rivers. Located across the Continental Divide, the Park feeds two of the most extensive drainage systems in the nation—(1) the Missouri River system (and ultimately the Mississippi River) on the Atlantic side, via the Yellowstone, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers, and (2) the Columbia River system on the Pacific side, via the Snake River ([fig. 1]). These streams are fed by an annual precipitation which averages about 17 inches at Old Faithful and Mammoth, but which is considerably greater in the mountain ranges.
Many stretches of the main river valleys in Yellowstone are broad and flat bottomed. In these, the stream gradients range from about 10 to 30 feet per mile, and there is little erosion going on at present (Hayden Valley is a good example, [fig. 4]). But here and there the gradients are steeper, and the valleys are narrow and rugged. In some places these streams drop 50 or even 100 feet per mile, and the fast-moving waters have carved deep V-shaped gorges ([fig. 36]).
Waterfalls, features for which Yellowstone is also justly famous ([fig. 40]), generally result from abrupt differences in rock hardness. If a stream flows over rocks that are more resistant to erosion than the rocks immediately downstream, a ledge or bench will form across the streambed at that place because the less resistant rocks are worn away faster. And, as the ledge becomes higher, the softer downstream rocks will erode even faster. A true waterfall is one in which there is a free, vertical fall of water. If the ledge or ledges form only a rough, steep runway in the streambed, then the term “rapids” or “cascades” is more appropriate.
The existence of many waterfalls in Yellowstone today is due in large part to the fact that, because of recent volcanism and glaciation, much of the region’s topography is very young in terms of geologic time. Streams, even some of the largest ones, have not had enough time to wear away all the features that may produce waterfalls, cascades, or rapids along their channels. This is particularly true along the margins of lava flows, where there are sharp dropoffs between the tops of the flows and the lower ground beyond. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Upper and Lower Falls, well illustrate the erosive power of running water.