#success cleaver

[mountrainiernps]

The upper portion of Mount Rainier was built of many lava flows that erupted between 40,000 to roughly 15,000 years ago. You can clearly see some of these lava strata, or layers, in the side of Success Cleaver, pictured here.

These lava eruptions coincided with the last major ice age which peaked about 20,000 years ago. The massive ice age glaciers hemmed in the lava flows. Numerous thin layers of lava built up between the glaciers, creating the rough ridges that radiate from the summit of Mount Rainier. Modern glaciers, like the Success Glacier at the bottom of the photo, are much smaller than the ice age glaciers.

NPS Photo showing a detail of Success Cleaver viewed from Ricksecker Point, 10/19/18.

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Strata (noun) – horizontal layers (singular: stratum)

In geology, strata are layers of material. The upper portion of Mount Rainier was built of many lava flows that erupted between 40,000 to roughly 15,000 years ago. You can see some of the lava strata clearly in the side of Success Cleaver, pictured here. These lava eruptions coincided with the last major ice age which peaked about 20,000 years ago. The massive ice age glaciers hemmed in the lava flows. Layer after layer of lava built up in the channels between the glaciers, creating the rough ridges that radiate from the summit of Mount Rainier. Modern glaciers, like the Success Glacier at the bottom of the photo, are much smaller than the ice age glaciers.

_____ NPS Photo showing a detail of Success Cleaver viewed from Ricksecker Point, 10/19/18. Description: Layers of red and brown rock show in the side of a cliff above a glacier. ~kl