Wheeler Peak and Glacier
Wheeler Peak and Glacier
Wheeler Peak rises to 13,063 feet, making it the second highest
mountain in Nevada. The peak itself is a
horn,
a mountain peak carved by glaciers. In the
cirque,
a bowl shaped depression cut by glaciers, below the peak is the only
glacier left in the Great Basin. It is a
rock
glacier,
which is a glacier with a pure ice core coated by rocks and boulders.
Two glacier cut valleys that end in moraines,
piles of rocks and boulders left by the melting ice, swoop down on
the north facing side of the peak. Within these valleys are several
tarns,
which are lakes that fill depressions made by the glaciers when they
filled the U-shaped valleys.
Click here to see a movie about
The end of the moraine.
Wheeler Peak
A horn cut out of Prospect Mountain quartzite rock.
Wheeler Peak and rock glacier.
The rock glacier is the bump just
below the large patch of snow, which
some say is a true ice glacier. Note
the tall rock feature on the top left
that is referred to as "The Thumb".
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