Devils Tower - Wyoming

 Over spring break, my family and I traveled to the Bear Lodge Mountains of Wyoming. While there, we visited an amazing national geological wonder called Devils Tower. This amazing structure had been declared the first US National monument 1906 by President Roosevelt.

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As we stood at the base of the amazing 867-foot laccolith (intrusive igneous) rock structure with very defined columns and a metallic appearance, my daughter Ashlee asked if we were looking at a volcano. Before I could respond, an employee of the park approached us and said, “It certainly does look like a volcano, or more specifically the neck of an old volcano.” Ashlee asked if it was still full of hot lava. The park employee went on to explain more. We learned that while the structure did not hold any lava, geologists have confirmed that Devils Tower was the result of cooling hot magma from within the Earth's crust. In geologic terms this means the structure is made of igneous rock. The process under which the igneous rock structure formed has not been concluded, as geologists are unsure if the magma reached the surface (extrusive) or if the magma worked its way into or between already existing rock (intrusive). Devils tower has a porphyry texture, which indicates the rock contains two distinct crystals sizes as can be seen in the picture below.

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The rock that makes up this igneous structure is a rare volcanic rock, with an intermediate chemical composition containing felsic and mafic rock. Felsic rock contains primarily light silicates like quartz and potassium feldspar, and is of a coarse grain, while mafic rock contains primarily dark silicates and is fine grained. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the two distinct crystal sizes and color.

As the hot magma cooled, it formed into massive vertical columns, which is a characteristic that often causes people to mistake Devils Tower for basaltic rock. The massive columns have make Devils Tower a popular attraction amongst experienced climbers as seen in the picture below.

https://tripadvisor.co.uk

We had an amazing experience visiting and learning all about the creation the laccolithic structure known as Devils Tower. Now we need to sharpen our climbing skills and join the others in attempting to climb to the summit of this igneous rock wonder!