Alabama Hills
| Alabama Hills | |
|---|---|
Rocks of the Alabama Hills with the Sierra Nevada in the background, winter dawn
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 5,354 ft (1,632 m) |
| Geography | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| District | Inyo County |
| Range coordinates | 36°37′N 118°06′W / 36.61°N 118.1°WCoordinates: 36°37′N 118°06′W / 36.61°N 118.1°W |
| Topo map | USGS Lone Pine, Union Wash |
The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California, United States.
Though geographically separate from the Sierra Nevada, they are part of the same geological formation.
The Alabama Hills, managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as the BLM Alabama Hills Recreation Area, are a protected habitat and for public enjoyment.
The rounded contours of the Alabamas contrast with the sharp ridges of the Sierra Nevada to the west. Though this might suggest that they formed from a different orogeny, the Alabamas are the same age as the nearby Sierras. The difference in wear can be accounted for by different patterns of erosion.
Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, towers several thousand feet above this low range, which itself is 1,500 feet (460 m) above the floor of Owens Valley. However, gravity surveys indicate that the Owens Valley is filled with about 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of sediment and that the Alabamas are the tip of a very steep escarpment. This feature may have been created by many earthquakes similar to the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake which, in a single event, caused a vertical displacement of 15–20 feet.
There are two main types of rock exposed at Alabama Hills. One is an orange, drab weathered metamorphosed volcanic rock that is 150-200 million years old. The other type of rock exposed here is 82- to 85-million-year-old biotite monzogranite which weathers to potato-shaped large boulders, many of which stand on end due to spheroidal weathering acting on many nearly vertical joints in the rock.
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Wikipedia