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MONTANA Granite Peak 7 ˝’ quadrangle: Granite Peak, MT Park County Custer National Forest, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Beartooth Range, Rocky Mountains
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Metamorphic (metamorphosed igneous) 12,799 ft (3,901 m) |
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| Location of Granite Peak, south-central Montana | |
| Bedrock: Gneiss | Archean |
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Predominantly granitic gneiss and migmatite, commonly with alternating layers of more felsic and more mafic gneiss. The Absaroka Range, by contrast, is made largely of volcanic rocks. The gneiss contains inclusions of metamorphosed country rocks. Northwest-trending mafic dikes traverse Granite Peak’s southwest slope.
Surficial Geology: Alpine glaciers have carved cirques into Granite Peak and the surrounding mountains, producing dramatic scenery. The main ridge is an aręte between cirques to the northeast (Granite Glacier and Avalanche Lake) and to the southwest (Sky Top Glacier and Sky Top Lakes). A spur aręte leads east to Tempest Mountain. Granite Peak lies at the western edge of Froze to Death Plateau, which gradually decreases in elevation from more than 12,000 feet to 10,800 at Saddleback Mountain. Soil Series: No soil survey has been published for Park County. Alpine tundra with no trees makes for a very slow rate of soil generation in the Beartooths, in contrast to the Absarokas.
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