Ancient โคwyoming Once straddled the Equator, Geological Evidence Reveals
JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING โ – A groundbreaking analysis of ancient volcanic deposits โฃin wyoming is rewriting the state’s geological โฃhistory, confirming it once lay near the equator millions of โขyears ago. New research focusing on the Kilgore Tuff and Huckleberry โคRidge Tuff – remnants of massive Yellowstone super-eruptions – provides compelling evidence of a dramatically different past forโค the region, and illuminates the forces that shaped theโ iconicโข landscape of Jackson Hole.
The story of Wyoming‘s equatorial past is etched in the anglesโ of these ancient โขvolcanic flows. Geologist John Hebberger Jr. has observedโ that the Kilgore Tuff, formed โค4.5 million years ago by a Yellowstone volcano located โwest of present-day Wyoming, dips at 22 degrees.The younger Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, created two million years ago in theโ current Yellowstoneโฃ location, exhibits a shallower dip of 11 degrees. These angles aren’t random; they indicate the initial movement โalong the โฃTeton Fault, the geological feature responsible for the down-dropping of the land that would โคeventually become Jackson Hole. โUnderstandingโ this ancient positioning and subsequentโค tectonicโ activity isโข crucial for assessing long-term seismic risk and predicting future geological events in the Intermountain โWest.
Millionsโค of years ago, โthe landmass encompassingโฃ modern-day Wyomingโข wasn’t where it is today. Continental drift placed it much closer to the equator. The Kilgore Tuff’s formation, predating the currentโฃ Yellowstone hotspot’s location, occurred when theโข ancestral volcanoโ was situated in a region resembling present-day Oregon. Over โขeons, โคthe Northโข American plate shifted, carrying Wyoming northward to it’s current latitude.โ
This movement wasn’t without โoutcome. โฃThe faulting that created Jackson Hole also โคresulted in the lossโค of the western portion of the Gros Ventreโค Mountains,โ which were effectively truncated, once extending further into eastern Idaho. The study of these ancient tuffs provides โa window into the immense โคgeological forces that have sculpted the American West,demonstrating a dynamic Earth constantly reshaping itsโฃ surface.