The Geologic Story of Mount Rainier / A look at the geologic past of one of America's most scenic volcanoes

by Dwight R. Crandell

Library of Congress Catalog-Card No. 79-601704

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1969

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402—Price 65 cents (paper cover)

contents

Page [The changing landscape of 12-60 million years ago] 3 [Thumbnail biography of Mount Rainier] 11 [Results of recent eruptions] 12 [Why glaciers?] 23 [Work habits of glaciers] 25 [Yesterday’s glaciers] 29 [Landslides and mudflows—past, present, and future] 35 [The volcano’s future?] 42 [Further reading in geology] 43

[Frontispiece. Eunice Lake, northwest of Mount Rainier.] Figure Page [1. Outcrop of sandstone and shale in the Puget Group] 6 [2. Outcrop of welded tuff in the Stevens Ridge Formation] 8 [3. Granodiorite looks like granite] 9 [4. Geological cross section of Mount Rainier] 10 [5. An old lava flow which forms Rampart Ridge] 13 [6. Columns of andesite at the end of an old lava flow] 13 [7. Layers of pumice on the floor of a cirque] 14 [8. Generalized distribution of some pumice layers] 16 [9. Breadcrust bomb enclosed in a mudflow deposit] 19 [10. Pumice layer C, which consists of light-brown fragments] 20 [11. The recent lava cone lies in a depression] 21 [12. Two ice streams meet to form Cowlitz Glacier] 23 [13. Glacier-smoothed and grooved rock] 26 [14. A lake lies behind an end moraine of Flett Glacier] 27 [15. Recessional moraines on the valley floor of Fryingpan Creek] 28 [16. Extent of glaciers between 15,000 and 25,000 years ago] 30 [17. Lateral moraine at Ricksecker Point] 31 [18. Rock-glacier deposit at The Palisades] 33 [19. Hummocky end moraine in front of Emmons Glacier] 34 [20. Avalanche deposits in the White River valley] 37 [21. The northeast flank of Mount Rainier] 39

Table [1. Characteristics, sources, and ages of pumice layers, Mount Rainier National Park] 17 [2. Summary of important geologic events in the history of Mount Rainier National Park] 41

The Geologic Story of
Mount Rainier
By Dwight R. Crandell

WASHINGTON Seattle Tacoma CASCADE RANGE Mount Rainier Mount Adams Mount St Helens OREGON Portland Mount Hood Crater Lake