Rocky Mountain Afternoon
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Rocky Mountain Afternoon
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture And Enhancement
Description
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America stretching more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie farther to the west.
Initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny during which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate as the North American plate began to uplift even further. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys.
This image of the Big Thompson River is as it normally looks when it it not flooding. Here shown along the Cub Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park in Northern Colorado, the river recently flooded large areas of the territory below the park, including Estes Park, Glen Haven and smaller settlements along the river. The swollen river completely removed about 17 miles of road in the Big Thompson Canyon between Estes Park and Loveland. This means that in the past 37 years (1976 - 2013) the region has seen two "100 year floods".
Image copyright 2013 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
September 26th, 2013
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