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Mount Baker in Bellingham, Washington Essay

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I decided for my project that I would spend the time researching Mount Baker. Mount Baker is located about 30 miles east of Bellingham, Washington. The Cascade Mountain range extends over 140 miles between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, Canada. Mount Baker is a Stratovolcano, which is also known as a composite volcano, it is also the highest peak in the North Cascades and the fifth highest in the Cascade mountain range (Volcano Hazards Programs). Cities located near Mount Baker include Abbotsford, British Columbia and Bellingham, Washington. The closest stream to the mountain is the Nooksack River which runs near the west side of the mountain. On the southwest side of the mountain is Baker Lake. I chose this area because it is a very …show more content…

As I looked out the window, I saw walls of rocks all over the place. I also saw a lot of good rock exposure on the top of the mountain where the rock was to steep for the snow to stick to. You will notice that Mount Baker has an abundance of all sorts of rocks. From the rocks I examined I observed a lot of extrusive igneous rock, metamorphic rock and sedimentary rocks and you will find few places where you can walk continuously from shale or basalt into well-metamorphosed gneiss (Tabor & Haugerud). I observed rocks such as gabbro, shale, and types of extrusive and intrusive igneous rock such as basalt. The ages of the rocks range from about as old as the mountain, which is about 140,000 years old.
Structures:
When you look at a topographic map of Mount Baker, you will notice many different structures and interesting landforms. The first thing I noticed when I was observing the map were all the different peaks within the mountain. From what I have been reading I have found two major faults that are within Mount Baker. These two faults are the Straight Creek Fault and the Ross Lake Fault Zone; these faults are thought to be primarily strike-slip. In addition, on the geologic map you will notice the Sherman Crater, which originated from a large hydrovolcanic explosion (Tabor, Haugerud, Hildreth, & Brown). This crater is responsible for many of Mount Bakers past lahars that have flowed down the mountain and into Baker Lake. The pattern of hills, valleys, ridges, and

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