Devil's Tower National Monument Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Devil's Tower National Monument - Research Paper Example The Devil’s Tower National Monument is comprised of red rocks. The red colored stones are known as dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone. A thin layer of white gypsum is seen above the red spearfish rocks. Yellow sandstones as a result of Sundance formation, which are very delicate, can be seen on the vertical cliffs which surround the tower. A river runs under the feature. This landmark is made up of polygonal columns, which make up its striking features. The bigger columns narrow from the base 6-8 feet in diameter to about 4 feet at the pinnacle (Britton & Tamara, 4). This feature is located at Crook County, in north eastern Wyoming. It is situated in The United States of America. This attraction feature is a laccolith or ingenious intrusion in the black hills next to Hulett and Sundance. It is above the river known as Belle Fourche (Ludmer, 38). The Devil’s Tower has a fabulous significance to the plains tribes, which are more than twenty in native tribes. These tribes viewed this feature as a sacred zone (Britton & Tamara, 4). They used this section for sacred activities, including worship, rituals, and sacrifices. These native tribes have a sacred legend concerning the origin of this landmark. These native tribes have special names for this monument they include; bear’s tipi, bear’s lodge, bear’s house, bears peak, and bear’s lair among many more names.The most basic maps concerned with this area named this monument â€Å"bear lodge†. They named it after the terms the natives of the region were using. In 1875, Colonel Dodge guided a survey group to the black hills. The surveyors misunderstood the description given by the natives concerning this area. They translated it as â€Å"Bad God’s Tower†. Dodge reported this expedition area as the Devil’s Tower; this na me has stuck ever since (Gunderson, 66). Origin of the Tower The origin of this landmark has been a debatable issue among geologists from time immemorial since its discovery. Geologists believe that this tower was formed by intrinsic intrusion activities. They believe that this attraction was formed by the forced entry of magma amid various rocks. The debatable issue is how the formation process happened and if the magma reached the surface of the earth region. Geologists have estimated the age of this amazing monument to be more than 50 million years. The work of erosion led to the visibility of this Tower. Before the action of erosion, this monument could not be seen above the sedimentary rocks covering it (Monroe, James, and Reed, 102). Erosion action, mostly water resulted into wearing off of the fine grained sandstones and gray- green shales on top of and in the region of the geologic feature. The tough igneous rock layers of this landmark resisted the action of erosion, result ing into gray columns above the surrounding scenery. Rain and snow continually erode the sedimentary rocks around the base of the monument. The debris is then carried by the Belle Fourche River to other locations. This eroding activity results into further exposition of the Devil’s Tower National Monument