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Geological Formations

Cathedral Peak, Yosemite

Inselbergs and Crystalline Monoliths

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Cathedral Peak is the summit that gives its name to the Cathedral Range, a mountain range in the south-central part of Yosemite National Park, California, and an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. It is built of Cretaceous-age granodiorite studded with large microcline crystals, dated to about 83 million years old, and its cathedral-like shape survived because the peak stood above the glaciers of the Pleistocene while the ice plucked at its sides and carved its base, leaving it as a nunatak. It reaches 10,916 feet with a topographic prominence of 919 feet.

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