Last week, Barbara, Ellie and I enjoyed the beauty of Acadia National Park (NP). This is Barbara’s and my second trip here. I love the geology and natural beauty here and Barbara loves the natural beauty. Ellie, just enjoys going for rides and being outside.
At 1,530 feet, Cadillac Mountain is the highest peak on the east coast of the United States. It is also the first place that receives sunlight in the US each morning. It is a great place to see most of Acadia NP all at once, but you have to make reservations to be able to drive to the top of the mountain. The same processes that created the mountains in Acadia NP are the same processes that created all of the Appalachian Mountains, including the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains. These same forces also built the mountains across the Atlantic Ocean, in Ireland, Britain, and Scandinavia. These rocks were formed from magma deep underground that cooled slowly over millions of years to become the granitic rocks we see today. Once these rocks cooled, basalt, from below intruded into joints, cracks, in the granitic rocks above. The rocks in Yosemite NP were formed by the same process but a few million years after the rocks in Acadia NP. During the formation of the super continent, Pangaea, the North American Continent and the European Continent collided which forced these rock up to the surface, which created the Appalachian Mountains.
Over the next several million years, these mountains have been worn down by erosional processes including, but not limited to, the thirteen glacial advances and subsequent glacial retreats that occurred during the Ice Ages, ending approximately 11,000 to 15,000 years ago. Evidence of the thick layers of ice is visible all over Acadia NP, including Cadillac Mountain. Today, the Earths crust beneath the eastern portion of the US is still rebounding; rising up, after the melting, removal, of ice up to a mile thick is some locations.
One thing that I find interesting about the rugged coastline of the state of Maine is that due to the glacial and ocean forces that have been sculpting this area for thousands of years, Maine’s coastline is actually longer than California’s.
Acadia NP is a beautiful park that everyone who enjoys the natural beauty of this country should experience and enjoy at least once in their lives.
RV There Yet? 