Monday Walk: Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rock at Fredericksburg Texas, rises 425 feet above the base elevation of the park. Its high point is 1,825 feet above sea level, and the entire dome covers 640 acres. Climbing the Rock is like climbing the stairs of a 30- or 40-story building.
Why is this giant dome here?
One billion years ago, this granite was part of a large pool of magma, or hot liquid rock, perhaps seven miles below the earth’s surface. It pushed up into the rock above in places, then cooled and hardened very slowly, turning into granite. Over time, the surface rock and soil wore away.
Although the rock appears to be solid and durable, it continues to change and erode.
It is an exfoliation dome (as are the other domes here). That means it has layers like an onion.
Notes:
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Humans have camped in this area for 12,000 years.
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One enduring sign of their time here remains: Prehistoric people ground or pounded their food on granite rocks throughout the park. They left depressions in the granite, called bedrock mortars
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