Environmental Science, 10th Edition (Cunningham)

Chapter 2: Frameworks for Understanding: Science, Systems, and Ethics

GE Exercise: Paradigm Shifts: Valley of Yosemite National Park

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Paradigm Shifts: Valley of Yosemite National Park p. 41

Yosemite National Park is well known for many reasons, including the fact that John Muir developed much of his philosophy toward wilderness here. Yosemite is also a place with dramatic glacial features, including flat-bottomed, U-shaped valleys (compare these to the steep, V-shaped valleys in most mountains), and steep cliffs. When Muir lived in Yosemite, the dominant explanation for these features was erosion by water in Noah's flood. Muir and others turned this theory on its head by demonstrating that great, ancient glaciers had to be responsible for such features. This new explanation led to a "paradigm shift," a revolution in how people understood land forms, climate, and earth history.

1
Look at the flat-bottomed valleys in this area. What is the green on the valley floor? 
A)Grasslands on the valley floor
B)The roofs of homes and buildings 
C)Algae blooms on lakes 
D)Forested areas 
E)People hiking wearing green hats
2
Why are the walls along the sides of the flat-bottomed valleys mostly gray in color?
A)The valley walls aren’t gray; they are mostly forested.
B)The valley walls have been deforested by fire.
C)The gray represents sheer rock; the walls are too steep for trees to grow.
D)The gray represents mineral deposits left by rainfall.
E)Pollution colors the walls gray over time.
3
Turn on the "Terrain" layer (listed among layers in the lower left of your GE window), which shows you the elevations of the area. The valleys of Yosemite were famous for their scenery and geology when John Muir was there in 1869-1873. The distinctive shape of the central valley's bottom and walls helped Muir develop a revolutionary theory that this area was shaped by ice, rather than by running water or floods. The characteristic ice-formed valley shape you can see here is best described as
A)flat-bottomed, with nearly-vertical walls.
B)steep and V-shaped.
C)shallow and broad.
D)shallow and V-shaped.
E)narrow, with overhanging walls.
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