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62-711: Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington , on the Olympic Peninsula . The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline , alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest , and the forests of the drier east side. Within the park there are three distinct ecosystems , including subalpine forest and wildflower meadow, temperate forest, and the rugged Pacific coast. President Theodore Roosevelt originally designated

124-503: A Rocky Mountain conifer forest ( 3 ) vegetation form; and a spruce/cedar/hemlock ( 1 ) vegetation type with a Pacific Northwest conifer forest ( 1 ) vegetation form. Because the park sits on an isolated peninsula , with a high mountain range dividing it from the land to the south, it developed many endemic plant and animal species (like the Olympic Marmot , Piper's bellflower and Flett's violet ). The southwestern coastline of

186-406: A change to the density of the fluid. This is usually achieved by highly turbulent liquids which have a suspended load of fine grained particles forming a slurry . In this case, larger fragments of rock can be transported at water velocities too low to otherwise do so because of the lower density contrast (that is, the water plus sediment has a higher density than the water and is therefore closer to

248-452: A combination of muddy steep trails and fixed ropes. During winter, the viewpoint known as Hurricane Ridge offers numerous winter sports activities. The Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club operates Hurricane Ridge Ski and Snowboard Area , a not-for-profit alpine ski area that offers ski lessons, rentals, and inexpensive lift tickets. The small alpine area is serviced by two rope tows and one poma lift . A large amount of backcountry terrain

310-543: A consequence, a slightly different set of sedimentary structures develops in turbidites deposited by high-density turbidity currents. This different set of structures is known as the Lowe sequence , which is a descriptive classification that complements, but does not replace, the Bouma sequence. Turbidites are sediments which are transported and deposited by density flow, not by tractional or frictional flow. The distinction

372-601: A considerable distance; the Columbia River formerly contributed huge amounts to the Northwest Pacific coasts. The smaller coastal portion of the park is separated from the larger, inland portion. President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally had supported connecting them with a continuous strip of parkland. The park is known for its unique turbidites . It has very exposed turbidities with white calcite veins. Turbidites are rocks or sediments that travel into

434-1508: A designated wilderness area , was established by the federal government in 1988 that contained 877,000 acres (355,000 ha) within Olympic National Park. It was renamed the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness in 2017 to honor Governor and U.S. Senator Daniel J. Evans , who had co-sponsored the 1988 legislation. A proposed expansion of the wilderness area by 125,000 acres (51,000 ha) in 2022 was not successful. Animals that inhabit this national park include chipmunks , squirrels , skunks , six species of bats , weasels , coyotes , muskrats , fishers , river otters , beavers , red foxes , mountain goats , martens , bobcats , black bears , Canadian lynxes , moles , snowshoe hares , shrews , and cougars . Whales , dolphins , sea lions , seals , and sea otters swim near this park offshore. Birds that fly in this park including raptors are Winter wrens , Canada jays , Hammond's flycatchers , Wilson's warblers , Blue Grouses , Pine siskins , ravens , spotted owls , Red-breasted nuthatches , Golden-crowned kinglets , Chestnut-backed chickadees , Swainson's thrushes , Red crossbills , Hermit thrushes , Olive-sided flycatchers , bald eagles , Western tanagers , Northern pygmy owls , Townsend's warblers , Townsend's solitaires , Vaux's swifts , band-tailed pigeons , and evening grosbeaks . There are several roads in

496-475: A destination, and hunting and extractive activities are prohibited. National monuments , on the other hand, are also frequently protected for their historical or archaeological significance. Eight national parks (including six in Alaska ) are paired with a national preserve , areas with different levels of protection that are administered together but considered separate units and whose areas are not included in

558-478: A high resolution record of seismicity, and terrestrial storm/flood events depending on the connectivity of canyon/channel systems to terrestrial sediment sources. Turbidites from lakes and fjords are also important as they can provide chronologic evidence of the frequency of landslides and the earthquakes that presumably formed them, by dating using radiocarbon or varves above and below the turbidite. Turbidite sequences are classic hosts for lode gold deposits,

620-535: A house. Within the center of Olympic National Park rise the Olympic Mountains whose sides and ridgelines are topped with massive, ancient glaciers . The mountains themselves are products of accretionary wedge uplifting related to the Juan De Fuca Plate subduction zone . The geologic composition is a curious mélange of basaltic and oceanic sedimentary rock. The number of glaciers within

682-416: A mechanism for assigning a tectonic and depositional setting to ancient sedimentary sequences as they usually represent deep-water rocks formed offshore of a convergent margin , and generally require at least a sloping shelf and some form of tectonism to trigger density-based avalanches. Density currents may be triggered in areas of high sediment supply by gravitational failure alone. Turbidites can represent

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744-539: A rare rainforest fire in the summer of 2015. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Olympic National Park encompasses two classifications: a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb ) in the western half, and a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csb ) in the eastern half. According to the United States Department of Agriculture , the plant hardiness zone at Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center

806-506: A thin deposit), or upslope from the deposition centre and manifested as a scour channel filled with fine sands grading up into a pelagic ooze . It is now recognized that the vertical progression of sedimentary structures described by Bouma applies to turbidites deposited by low-density turbidity currents. As the sand concentration of a flow increases, grain-to-grain collisions within the turbid suspension create dispersive pressures that become important in hindering further settling of grains. As

868-540: Is Gateway Arch National Park , Missouri , at 192.83 acres (0.7804 km ). The total area protected by national parks is approximately 52.4 million acres (212,000 km ), for an average of 833 thousand acres (3,370 km ) but a median of only 220 thousand acres (890 km ). The national parks set a visitation record in 2021, with more than 92 million visitors. Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee has been

930-479: Is 8a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 14.5 °F (−9.7 °C). Before the influx of European settlers, Olympic's human population consisted of Native Americans , whose use of the peninsula was thought to have consisted mainly of fishing and hunting. However, recent reviews of the record, coupled with systematic archaeological surveys of the mountains (Olympic and other Northwest ranges) are pointing to much more extensive tribal use of especially

992-481: Is accessible for skiers, snowboarders, and other backcountry travelers when Hurricane Ridge Road is open. Winter access to Hurricane Ridge Road is currently limited to Friday through Sunday weather permitting. The Hurricane Ridge Winter Access Coalition is a community effort to restore seven-day-a-week access via the Hurricane Ridge Road (the only park road accessing alpine terrain in winter). Rafting

1054-516: Is available on both the Elwha and Hoh Rivers. Boating is common on Ozette Lake , Lake Crescent , and Lake Quinault . Fishing is allowed in the Ozette River, Queets River (below Tshletshy Creek), Hoh River, Quinault River (below North Shore Quinault River Bridge), Quillayute River and Dickey River. A fishing license is not required to fish in the park. Fishing for bull trout and Dolly Varden trout

1116-468: Is more readily accessible than the interior of the Olympics; due to the difficult terrain, very few backpackers venture beyond casual day-hiking distances. The most popular piece of the coastal strip is the 9-mile (14 km) Ozette Loop. The Park Service runs a registration and reservation program to control the usage levels of this area. From the trailhead at Ozette Lake , a 3-mile (4.8 km) leg of

1178-533: Is not allowed and must be released if incidentally caught. Views of the Olympic National Park can be seen from the Hurricane Ridge viewpoint. The road leading west from the Hurricane Ridge visitor center has several picnic areas and trailheads. A paved trail called the Hurricane Hill trail is about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long each way, with an elevation gain of about 700 feet (210 m). It

1240-467: Is not uncommon to find snow on the trails even as late as July. Several other dirt trails of varying distances and difficulty levels branch off of the Hurricane hill trail. The picnic areas are open only in the summer and have restrooms, water, and paved access to picnic tables. The Hurricane Ridge visitor center burned down on May 7, 2023. Constructed in the 1950s, it contained a 3D topographical map of

1302-399: Is representative of strong to waning flow regime currents and their corresponding sedimentation. It is unusual to see all of a complete Bouma cycle, as successive turbidity currents may erode the unconsolidated upper sequences. Alternatively, the entire sequence may not be present depending on whether the exposed section was at the edge of the turbidity current lobe (where it may be present as

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1364-531: Is that, in a normal river or stream bed, particles of rock are carried along by frictional drag of water on the particle (known as tractional flow ). The water must be travelling at a certain velocity in order to suspend the particle in the water and push it along. The greater the size or density of the particle relative to the fluid in which it is travelling, the higher the water velocity required to suspend it and transport it. Density-based flow, however, occurs when liquefaction of sediment during transport causes

1426-461: Is the opportunity for backpacking along the beach. The length of the coastline in the park is sufficient for multi-day trips, with the entire day spent walking along the beach. Although idyllic compared to toiling up a mountainside ( Seven Lakes Basin is a notable example), one must be aware of the tide; at the narrowest parts of the beaches, the high tide washes up to the cliffs behind, blocking passage. Several promontories must be struggled over, using

1488-410: Is to preserve for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of the people, a large wilderness park containing the finest sample of primeval forest of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fir, and western red cedar in the entire United States; to provide suitable winter range and permanent protection for the herds of native Roosevelt elk and other wildlife indigenous to the area; to conserve and render available to

1550-571: Is to restore anadromous stocks of Pacific Salmon and steelhead to the Elwha River , which have been denied access to the upper 65 miles (105 km) of river habitat for more than 95 years by these dams. Removal of the dams was completed in 2014. List of national parks of the United States The United States has 63 national parks , which are congressionally designated protected areas operated by

1612-498: The A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, the park encompasses five classifications: Alpine Meadows & Barren, aka Alpine tundra ( 52 ) potential vegetation type with an Alpine Meadow ( 11 ) potential vegetation form; a Fir/Hemlock ( 4 ) vegetation type with a Pacific Northwest conifer forest ( 1 ) vegetation form; a cedar/hemlock/Douglas fir vegetation type with a Pacific Northwest conifer forest ( 1 ) vegetation form; Western spruce/fir vegetation type ( 15 ) with

1674-583: The Hoh Rainforest and Quinault Rainforest , which receive annual precipitation of over 12 feet (370 cm), making this perhaps the wettest area in the continental United States . As opposed to tropical rainforests and most other temperate rainforest regions, the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest are dominated by coniferous trees, including Sitka Spruce , Western Hemlock , Coast Douglas-fir and Western redcedar . Mosses coat

1736-700: The National Park Service , an agency of the Department of the Interior . National parks are designated for their natural beauty, unique geological features, diverse ecosystems, and recreational opportunities, typically "because of some outstanding scenic feature or natural phenomena." While legislatively all units of the National Park System are considered equal with the same mission, national parks are generally larger and more of

1798-660: The Roosevelt elk herds native to the Olympics. Public desire for preservation of some of the area grew until President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill creating a national park in 1938. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a headquarters in 1939 with funds from the Public Works Administration . It is now on the National Register of Historic Places . The national park was expanded by 47,753 acres (19,325 ha) in 1953 to include

1860-602: The territories of American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands . The state with the most national parks is California with nine, followed by Alaska with eight, Utah with five, and Colorado with four. The largest national park is Wrangell–St. Elias in Alaska: at over 8 million acres (32,375 km ), it is larger than each of the nine smallest states . The next three largest parks are also in Alaska. The smallest park

1922-608: The National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Many current national parks had been previously protected as national monuments by the president under the Antiquities Act or as other designations created by Congress before being redesignated by Congress;

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1984-619: The Olympic Peninsula is also the northernmost non-glaciated region on the Pacific coast of North America, with the result that – aided by the distance from peaks to the coast at the Last Glacial Maximum being about twice what it is today – it served as a refuge from which plants colonized glaciated regions to the north. The park also provides habitat for many species (like the Roosevelt elk ) that are native only to

2046-581: The Olympic Wilderness, which was renamed Daniel J. Evans Wilderness in honor of the former Washington state Governor and U.S. Senator Daniel J. Evans in 2017. During his tenure in the Senate, Evans co-sponsored the 1988 bill that created the state's wilderness areas. It is the largest wilderness area in Washington. As stated in the foundation document: The purpose of Olympic National Park

2108-517: The Olympic mountains, and important artifacts have been found. When settlers began to appear, extractive industry in the Pacific Northwest was on the rise, particularly in regards to the harvesting of timber , which began heavily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Public dissent against logging began to take hold in the 1920s, when people got their first glimpses of the clear-cut hillsides. This period saw an explosion of people's interest in

2170-439: The Olympics, a media center which showed nature documentaries of the area as well as other interpretive exhibits, and a gift shop. There is currently no timeline for when the center will be replaced; the project to rebuild the lodge and establish a temporary visitors' center was allocated $ 80 million in federal funding in late 2023. The Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project is the second-largest ecosystem restoration project in

2232-504: The Pacific Northwest coast. As a result, scientists have declared it a biological reserve and studied its unique species to better understand how plants and animals evolve. The park is home to sizable populations of black bears and black-tailed deer . The park also has a noteworthy cougar population, numbering about 150. Mountain goats were accidentally introduced into the park in the 1920s and have caused much damage on

2294-458: The Pacific coastline between the Queets and Hoh rivers, as well as portions of the Queets and Bogachiel valleys. Even after ONP was declared a park, though, illegal logging continued in the park, and political battles continue to this day over the incredibly valuable timber contained within its boundaries. Logging continues on the Olympic Peninsula, but not within the park. The Olympic Wilderness,

2356-600: The area placed within some protected status. On February 22, 1897, President Grover Cleveland created the Olympic Forest Reserve, which became Olympic National Forest in 1907. Following unsuccessful efforts in the Washington State Legislature to further protect the area in the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt created Mount Olympus National Monument in 1909, primarily to protect the subalpine calving grounds and summer range of

2418-464: The bark of these trees and even drip down from their branches in green, moist tendrils. Valleys on the eastern side of the park also have notable old-growth forest , but the climate is notably drier. Sitka Spruce is absent, trees on average are somewhat smaller, and undergrowth is generally less dense and different in character. Immediately northeast of the park is a rainshadow area where annual precipitation averages about 17 inches. According to

2480-406: The beach. The mostly unaltered Hoh River, toward the south end of the park, discharges large amounts of naturally eroded timber and other drift, which moves north, enriching the beaches. Even today driftwood deposits form a commanding presence, biologically as well as visually, giving a taste of the original condition of the beach viewable to some extent in early photos. Drift material often comes from

2542-658: The density of the rock). This condition occurs in many environments aside from simply the deep ocean, where turbidites are particularly well represented. Lahars on the side of volcanoes, mudslides and pyroclastic flows all create density-based flow situations and, especially in the latter, can create sequences which are strikingly similar to turbidites. Turbidites in sediments can occur in carbonate as well as siliciclastic sequences. Classic, low-density turbidites are characterized by graded bedding , current ripple marks , climbing ripple laminations, alternating sequences with pelagic sediments, distinct fauna changes between

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2604-449: The effect of sea level fluctuations, regional tectonic events, sediment supply type, sediment supply rate, and sediment concentration. Autogenic controls can include seafloor topography, confinements, and slope gradients. There are about 26 submarine fan models. Some common fan models include the classical single-source suprafan model, models depicting fans with attached lobes, detached lobes fan model, and submarine fan models relating to

2666-506: The eventual depositional environments of turbidite deposits. They are aimed at providing insights into the relationships between different geologic processes and turbidite fan systems. Geologic processes influencing turbidite systems can either be of allogenic or autogenic origin and submarine fan models are designed to capture the impact of these processes on reservoir presence, reservoir distribution, morphology, and architecture of turbidite deposits. Some significant allogenic forcing includes

2728-552: The figures below. The 431 units of the National Park System can be broadly referred to as national parks, but most have other formal designations. A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone , was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks ), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created

2790-499: The history of the National Park Service after the Everglades . It consisted of removing the 210-foot (64 m) Glines Canyon Dam and draining its reservoir, Lake Mills and removing the 108-foot (33 m) Elwha Dam and its reservoir Lake Aldwell from the Elwha River . Upon removal, the park will revegetate the slopes and river bottoms to prevent erosion and speed up ecological recovery. The primary purpose of this project

2852-412: The largest of which is Hoh Glacier at 3.06 miles (4.93 km) in length. In the east, the range becomes much drier due to the rain shadow of the western mountains; the eastern mountains include numerous high peaks and craggy ridges. The tallest summit in the eastern Olympics is Mount Deception , at 7,788 feet (2,374 m). The western side of the park is mantled by temperate rainforests , including

2914-867: The most-visited park since 1944, and had almost 13 million visitors in 2022. In contrast, only about 9,500 people visited the remote Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska in 2022. Download coordinates as: The following table includes the 30 states and two territories that have national parks. Exclusive parks refer to parks entirely within one state or territory. Shared parks refer to parks in multiple states. Territories are set in italics . Turbidites Turbidites were first properly described by Arnold H. Bouma (1962), who studied deepwater sediments and recognized particular "fining-up intervals" within deep water, fine-grained shales , which were anomalous because they started at pebble conglomerates and terminated in shales. This

2976-625: The mouths of two rivers. The Hoh River has the Hoh people and at the town of La Push at the mouth of the Quileute River live the Quileute . The beach has unbroken stretches of wilderness ranging from 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km). While some beaches are primarily sand, others are covered with heavy rock and very large boulders. Bushy overgrowth, slippery footing, tides, and misty rainforest weather all hinder foot travel. The coastal strip

3038-487: The national park declined from 266 in 1982 to 184 by 2009 due to the effects of climate change . The western half of the range is dominated by the peak of Mount Olympus , which rises to 7,965 feet (2,428 m). Mount Olympus receives a large amount of snow and consequently has the greatest glaciation of any non-volcanic peak in the contiguous United States outside of the North Cascades. It has several glaciers,

3100-409: The native flora. The NPS has activated management plans to control the goats. The park contains an estimated 366,000 acres (572 sq mi; 1,480 km) of old-growth forests. Forest fires are infrequent in the rainforests of the park's western side; however, a severe drought after the driest spring in 100 years, coupled with an extremely low snowpack from the preceding winter, resulted in

3162-472: The newest national park is New River Gorge , previously a National River, and the most recent entirely new park is National Park of American Samoa . A few former national parks are no longer designated as such , or have been disbanded. Fourteen national parks are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS), and 21 national parks are named UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR), with eight national parks in both programs. Thirty states have national parks, as do

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3224-478: The ocean as suspended particles in the flow of water, causing a sedimentary layering effect on the ocean floor. Over time the sediments and rock compact and the process repeats as a constant cycle. The park also is known for its tectonic mélanges that have been deemed 'smell rocks' by the locals due to their strong petroleum odor. Mélanges are large individual rocks that are large enough that they are accounted for in map drawings. The Olympic mélanges can be as large as

3286-462: The outdoors; with the growing use of the automobile , people took to touring previously remote places like the Olympic Peninsula. The formal record of a proposal for a new national park on the Olympic Peninsula begins with the expeditions of well-known figures Lieutenant Joseph P. O'Neil and Judge James Wickersham , during the 1890s. These notables met in the Olympic wilderness while exploring, and subsequently combined their political efforts to have

3348-407: The park as Mount Olympus National Monument on March 2, 1909. The monument was re-designated a national park by Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 29, 1938. In 1976, Olympic National Park was designated by UNESCO as an International Biosphere Reserve , and in 1981 as a World Heritage Site . In 1988, Congress designated 95 percent of the park (1,370 square miles (3,500 km)) as

3410-471: The park, but none penetrate far into the interior. The park features a network of hiking trails , although the size and remoteness mean that it will usually take more than a weekend to get to the high country in the interior. The sights of the rain forest, with plants run riot and dozens of hues of green, are well worth the possibility of rain sometime during the trip, although July, August, and September frequently have long dry spells. An unusual feature of ONP

3472-427: The people, for recreational use, this outstanding mountainous country, containing numerous glaciers and perpetual snow fields, and a portion of the surrounding verdant forests together with a narrow strip along the beautiful Washington coast. The coastal portion of the park is a rugged, sandy beach along with a strip of adjacent forest. It is 60 miles (97 km) long but just a few miles wide, with native communities at

3534-467: The prime example being Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria, Australia , where more than 2,600 tons of gold have been extracted from saddle-reef deposits hosted in shale sequences from a thick succession of Cambrian-Ordovician turbidites. Proterozoic gold deposits are also known from turbidite basin deposits. Lithified accumulations of turbidite deposits may, in time, become hydrocarbon reservoirs and

3596-433: The response of turbidite systems to varying grain sizes and different feeder systems. The integration of subsurface datasets such as 3D/4D seismic reflection, well logs, and core data as well as modern seafloor bathymetry studies, numerical forward stratigraphic modeling, and flume tank experiments are enabling improvements and more realistic development of submarine fan models across different basins. Turbidites provide

3658-401: The subalpine meadows than seemed formerly to be the case. Most if not all Pacific Northwest indigenous cultures were adversely affected by European diseases (often decimated) and other factors, well before ethnographers, business operations and settlers arrived in the region, so what they saw and recorded was a much-reduced native culture base. Large numbers of cultural sites are now identified in

3720-499: The trail is a boardwalk-enhanced path through near primal coastal cedar swamp. Arriving at the ocean, it is a 3-mile walk supplemented by headland trails for high tides. This area has traditionally been favored by the Makah from Neah Bay . The third 3-mile leg is enabled by a boardwalk which has enhanced the loop's accessibility. There are thick groves of trees adjacent to the sand, which results in chunks of timber from fallen trees on

3782-766: The turbidite and native pelagic sediments, sole markings , thick sediment sequences, regular bedding , and an absence of shallow-water features. A different vertical progression of sedimentary structures characterize high-density turbidites . Massive accumulations of turbidites and other deep-water deposits may result in the formation of submarine fans . Sedimentary models of such fan systems typically are subdivided into upper, mid, and lower fan sequences each with distinct sand-body geometries, sediment distributions, and lithologic characteristics. Turbidite deposits typically occur in foreland basins . Submarine fan models are often based on source-to-sink [S2S] concepts linking sediment source areas, and sediment routing systems to

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3844-593: Was anomalous because within the deep ocean it had historically been assumed that there was no mechanism by which tractional flow could carry and deposit coarse-grained sediments into the abyssal depths. Bouma cycles begin with an erosional contact of a coarse lower bed of pebble to granule conglomerate in a sandy matrix, and grade up through coarse then medium plane parallel sandstone; through cross-bedded sandstone ; rippled cross-bedded sand/silty sand, and finally laminar siltstone and shale. This vertical succession of sedimentary structures , bedding, and changing lithology

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