Geology of Pikes Peak
It's no secret that Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colo. is a famous mountain with a history of the Gold Rush and "Pikes Peak or Bust" but there is already so much information about why people came to Pikes Peak. I recently took a Geology of National Parks class which not only inspired this blog but also aided in some of the topics, and I learned some valuable things about Colorado's beloved Mountian. The material/rock Pikes Peak is made out of is a reddish pinkish granite. Photo by James St. Johns on Flickr Granite is an intrusive igneous rock that forms when molten rock solidifies underneath the surface. It is important to understand that igneous rocks form from volcanic lava and magma. Pikes Peak is a batholith which is the intrusive igneous rock that is exposed to the crust of the Earth's surface. In order to be considered a batholith the exposed area has to be at 100 square km or more. The mountain range formed from two tectonic plates meeting and conver