Greater Yellowstone Geology

In addition to its biotic attributes (wildlife, vegetation), the Greater Yellowstone region is widely recognized for its abiotic features (mountains, geothermal). Geological research addresses glaciation, volcanism, faulting, uplift and other processes that have shaped the region. In turn, geological studies inform paleoecology, archaeology, fire ecology, and natural resource management.

Some featured publications of geologist Kenneth L. Pierce are now available online:
  • History and dynamics of glaciation in the northern Yellowstone National Park area (PDF 46MB)
  • Northern Yellowstone Glaciation Map 1 (PDF 3.1MB)
  • Northern Yellowstone Glaciation Map 2 (PDF 2.4MB)
    This report reconstructs the complex sequence of glaciation of the encompassing mountains and the Yellowstone plateau during the last (Pinedale) glaciation, and contrast with the penultimate (Bull Lake) glaciation. Given the Kirk Bryan Award in 1982.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L., 1979, History and dynamics of glaciation in the northern Yellowstone National Park area : U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 729 F, 91 p.
  • The track of the Yellowstone hotspot: volcanism, faulting, and uplift (PDF 14.6MB)
    This report documents the progression of the three processes of volcanism, faulting, and uplift that define the Yellowstone the hotspot track, and a mantle plume explanation most compatible with the surface geologic history.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L., and Morgan, L.A., 1992, The track of the Yellowstone hot spot--volcanism, faulting and uplift , in Link, P.K., Kuntz, M.A., and Platt, L.W., eds., Regional geology of eastern Idaho and western Wyoming: Geological Society of America Memoir 179 p. 1-53, 24 figs., 1 color map.
  • Hotspot Map (PDF 10.4MB, printable at 11x17")
  • Field guide to the Quaternary geology of Jackson Hole, Wyoming (PDF 10MB)
    This field guide documents changing interaction of three glacial lobes entering Jackson Hole in the last (Pinedale) glaciation and the much bigger (Bull Lake) glaciation that filled Jackson Hole.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L., and Good, J.D., 1992, Field guide to the Quaternary geology of Jackson Hole, Wyoming : U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-504, 49 p.
  • Yellowstone plume head: postulated tectonic relations to the Vancouver slab, continental boundaries, and climate (PDF 930KB)
    The Yellowstone hotspot starts with flood basalts and extensive rhyolite eruptions 17-14 Ma considered to indicate a plume head. Implications are explored including: 1) interaction of the plume head with eastward inclined Vancouver slab, 2) decompression melting producing flood basalts through Mesozoic oceanic crust but rhyolite by melting of silicic crust, 3) plume-head association with Basin and Range uplift and extension, and 4) plume head uplift followed by subsidence as the plume tail and associated uplift migrate northeastward to Yellowstone.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L., Morgan, L.A., and Saltus, R.W., 2002, Yellowstone plume head: Postulated tectonic relations to the Vancouver slab, continental boundaries, and climate, in Bill Bonnichsen, C.M. White, and Michael McCurry, editors, Tectonic and Magmatic Evolution of the Snake River Plain Volcanic Province : Idaho Geological Survey Bulletin 30, p. 5-34.
  • Quaternary geology and ecology of the Greater Yellowstone area
    A field guide for a 7 day field trip through the greater Yellowstone area from Bozeman, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming and return. This field guide includes glacial geology, cosmogenic dating, relation between ecology and geology, paleoecology, archeology, fire history and associated sedimentation, and caldera unrest.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L., Despain, D.G., Whitlock, Cathy, Cannon, K.P., Meyer, Grant, Morgan, Lisa, and Licciardi, J.M., 2003, Quaternary geology and ecology of the Greater Yellowstone area , in Easterbrook, D. J., editor, Quaternary Geology of the United States , INQUA 2003 Field Guide Volume, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada, p. 313-344.
  • Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines
    A history of heavy breathing of the Yellowstone caldera on a millennial time scale is developed by study of Yellowstone Lake and Yellowstone River level changes through time. This history and negative cumulative overall inflation of caldera support a driving process of buildup and release of pressure associated with geothermal fluids. In press as chapter in USGS Professional Paper.
    Full Citation: Pierce, K.L, Cannon, K.P., Meyer, G.A. w J. Trebesch, M.J., and Watts, Raymond, 2002, Post-Glacial Inflation-Deflation Cycles, Tilting, and Faulting in the Yellowstone Caldera Based on Yellowstone Lake Shorelines , U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-0142, 62 p.

Greater Yellowstone Geology Resources
Showing 2 Results
CollapseYellowstone Caldera, Wyoming
Description: A summary of the Yellowstone Caldera, a resurgent caldera. Its formation and previous eruptions are described.
Resource Type: Issue Overviews
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: San Diego State University
CollapseYellowstone Geology
Description: Yellowstone National Park's official site for geological information about the Park. Includes highlights of geological features of different park areas; geothermal features such as hot springs, mudpots, fumaroles, and geysers; reports by Park scientists; and links to online videos about the Park's geology.
Resource Type: Issue Overviews
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Park Service

Featured Geologist

Kenneth Pierce
[Photo: USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center]

Dr. Kenneth L. Pierce is an Emeritus Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NRMSC). His research is in the field of Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology; specifically, he studies the geologic processes responsible for the formation of natural landscapes.

For the last several decades, Dr. Pierce has studied the track of the Yellowstone hotspot, Yellowstone caldera unrest, Pleistocene glaciations of the Rocky Mountains, and geologic controls on ecology of the Greater Yellowstone region.

Contact Information:
USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
214 AJM Johnson Hall
Montana State University
P.O. Box 173492
Bozeman, Montana 59717-3492
Phone: (406) 994-5085
Fax: (406) 994-6556
Email: kpierce@usgs.gov

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