(Map of the landforms throughout the
lands of Disney)
Disneyland is made up of eight different lands
and each land is different from the other.
These lands are all made up of different landforms, from the jungles of
Africa and Asia to the mountains of Utah and the Alps. The three mountains that
can be found inside Disneyland are Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn Mountain,
and Splash Mountain. The mountains are all found on different plates and are
each made up of different materials like gneiss or
sandstone. These mountains spent
thousands to millions of years growing, but have all started weathering and
eroding at their own paces. The Rivers
of America and river in Splash Mountain will change as time goes on and helped
carved out the land we see today making Disneyland a fluvial landscape. 
(Matterhorn is eroding away from water
evaporation of a nearby body of water was carried to the mountain top where it
was released as snow and when it melts it runs of into the mountain side where
a river has formed into a waterfall. It
runs over the bedrock causing erosion to happen slowly reaching downstream
where it occurred rapidly.)
Matterhorn was created by the plates of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and
when these two lands converged against one another forming a Fold Mountain made
of gneiss. When the plates hit they wrinkled lifting the mountain to the
surface causing the folds. In 10 years the waterfall carve deeper
into the mountain side carrying more of the sediment way. In 100 years the top will also start to recede
away as more snow falls into the top and melts carrying the tops sediment down
the river. In 1000 years the mountain
will decrease in size by a few inches as the top erodes, and the waterfall will
be a little bigger as is continues to carve into the side.
(At one point this area was a plateau
until streams weathered over the rock creating fins. Water seeped into the fins and froze during
the night causing the ice to expand and fracture the rocks. The structure erodes away creating the tower
like formations call hoodoos.)
Located in Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad was originally formed from layers of iron-rich sandstone, shale, and
conglomerates deposited in layers making this originally a plateau. 10 years
from now the hoodoos will hardly have any noticeable changes as they weather
away. However in 100 years the structure
will start to thin and some may start to fall over if the thinner areas
continue to erode faster than the bigger areas.
The biggest changes will happen in 1000 years when the fins get bigger the
hoodoos will start to break apart from the bottom and some of the bigger ones
will start to fall.
(Left: The top of the mountain was
broken off by the pressure roots from the breaking off rocks when it was alive.
The waterfall was formed from the river that flows throughout the area. Right: The river is a perennial flow and
carries bedload with large clasts inside helping shape the river.)
The final mountain is in Critter Country where
Splash Mountain was formed by blocks of rock materials slide along faults causing a fault mountain formed by large
areas of bedrock widely broken up by faults creating large vertical
displacements in the continental crust. 10 years from now the waterfall and
river will continue to carve deeper into the mountain. 100 years from now the shape of the river will
change from point bars and cut banks defining it into an s-shape. 1000 the river will cut into the valley
making its flood plain larger as the waterfall digs deeper and widens into the mountain.
(Rivers of
America is a perennial flow carrying a suspended load)
The major river
in Disney is the Rivers of America a mature
river which is less steep than youthful rivers and flows more slowly and
is fed by many tributaries. The channels erode wider rather than deeper. In ten
years Rivers of America will not have any major changes except for a little bit
more erosion on the sides. In 100 years
this river will have expanded a few more inches causing some trees to fall in
when the land erodes away. In 1000 this river will become an old river with a low gradient and low
erosive energy.
Here You Leave
Today and Enter the World of Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy
Photo
Courtesies (in order):
http://gallery.toursdepartingdaily.com/Disneyland-Resort/Photos/16408290_jb4Kv8#!i=1494675415&k=pkZtnSw&lb=1&s=A
& http://gallery.toursdepartingdaily.com/Disneyland-Resort/Photos/16408290_5frkw#!i=1321925994&k=sJpPBjb&lb=1&s=A
Video by Asianjma123
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub9DWHDfqC0
