Boulders at Joshua Tree

by Patricia Januszkiewicz

Title

Boulders at Joshua Tree

Artist

Patricia Januszkiewicz

Medium

Photograph - Photo Art

Description

Joshua Tree National Park, California ...

The rock formations of Joshua Tree National Park were formed 100 million years ago from the cooling of magma beneath the surface. Groundwater is responsible for the erosion that created the spheres from rectangular blocks. These prominent outcrops are known as inselbergs or monadnocks.

Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act (Public Law 103-433), it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests native to the park. It covers a land area of 790,636 acres (1,235.37 sq mi; 3,199.59 km2) .. an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. A large part of the park, some 429,690 acres (173,890 ha), is a designated wilderness area. Straddling the San Bernardino County/Riverside County border, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park.

The rock formations of Joshua Tree National Park were formed 100 million years ago from the cooling of magma beneath the surface. Groundwater is responsible for the erosion that created the spheres from rectangular blocks.[5] These prominent outcrops are known as inselbergs or monadnocks.

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March 16th, 2013

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