A massive hunk of rock fell off yosemite national park s el capitan on thursday a day after a rockfall in the same area of the granite monolith killed a british tourist and seriously injured.
Yosemite granite falling.
The best hikes in yosemite wind through valleys climb up granite faces to waterfall views and traverse alpine meadows through some of the most spectacular scenery in the lower 48.
Yosemite nature notes 20.
Visitors to the park from hikers to rock climbers experience a landscape dominated by granite.
El capitan granite is mostly unjointed.
A hunk of rock the size of an apartment building has fallen off the famous granite face of el capitan in yosemite national park in california killing one person and injuring another.
Many national parks were founded for their geology and yosemite is known throughout the world for its exceptional high cliffs and rounded domes.
However most of the time the exfoliation processes result in rock slides and ballistic rock free falls are rare.
El capitan granite is a type of granite also see granodiorite in a large area near el capitan in yosemite national park california united states the granite forms part of the tuolumne intrusive suite also known as tuolumne batholith one of the four major intrusive suites within the sierra nevada.
Rock falls are a natural consequence of the continuous exfoliation processes occurring on the granite cliffs in yosemite valley.
7 minutes 11 seconds.
Named for its shape it rises 4 737 feet from the valley floor.