(Thunder Mountain’s inspired by Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah (left), Walt
Disney Imagineering's Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Tony
Baxter (right), designed the ride in the 1970s)
(The hoodoos reddish color is from a mixture of
limonite, iron and magnesium oxide)
Located in Frontierland, Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad was formed from layers of iron-rich sandstone, shale,
and conglomerates deposited in layers.
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.
Within the mountain sits a section called Dinosaur Gap which holds the
skeletal remains of a T-Rex. Millions of
years ago after this particular dinosaur died it was quickly buried by sediment
encasing the remains. When particles
were washed away from weathering with the desiccation of the rock half the
skeleton became visible.
(Geothermal heated water rising
to the surface by convection through porous and fractured rocks)
Geysers sit just beyond Dinosaur Gap ejecting water up into the air.
Generally on fault lines geysers have to build up pressure before an eruption
happens. Heat is needed for the geyser
came from magma near the earth’s surface.
Pressure and heat brings the water to the boiling point where it travels
through an underground “plumbing system” made up of deep pressurized fissures
in the crust.
(Miners created the cave sitting near the fall with dynamite then placed
a railroad inside)
This small tiered waterfall was formed from the
streams that carved out the surfaces of Thunder Mountain. The water dropped over multiple vertical
tiers shaped from the movement of small sediment particles downstream. This water holds organic acid forming moss
that is eating away at the rocks it splashed onto.
The waterfall enters into a
huge lake behind the hoodoos. This lake
was formed from the streams flowing through the area over a long period of time
forming a deep curve. Once the river
overflows whatever can’t be held in the curve continues flowing over leaving
the water the rest inside the deeper area.
“This here’s the
wildest ride in the wilderness!”
Photo
Courtesies (in order):
