Climate

Glacier Marks on Mount Chirripó

On his sixth day on Mount Chirripo, Lamont’s Max Cunningham finds clues of the mountain’s origins and evolution.

By
Guest Blogger
July 09, 2014

By Max Cunningham
June 12, 2014
We continued to sample boulders in Valle de Las Morrenas, Valle Talari, where the hostel sits, and several places along Mount Chirripó’s ridgeline.

Max 7.1
Large boulders of granodiorite line the ridge of Mount Chirripó. These are likely produced by exfoliation, a process that occurs in response to stress release associated with the melting of glacier ice.

The view from the top of Mount Chirripó is spectacular.  Looking out along the ridge I could see huge boulders of granodiorite produced by exfoliation, or the response of rock at the surface to the removal of ice.

Max 7.2
Striations in the meta-sandstone at the summit of Mount Chirripó point down the axis of Valle de Los Lagos, (a mechanical pencil and sample bag are included in the picture for scale, the pencil points in the direction of striations). Striae are a telltale sign of glacial coverage.

The actual summit of Chirripó, however, is a very different kind of rock.  I believe the peak is composed of a sedimentary rock that was melted and then fused back together as the magma that formed the granodiorite rocks moved toward the surface.  This metamorphosed sandstone (meta-sandstone) is extremely hard, and resistant to weathering processes.

In the meta-sandstone near the summit of Mount Chirripó, I discovered glacial striations.  These striations occur at 12,513 feet (the summit is 12,529 feet), which is a good 1,000 feet above the moraines in the upper portion of Valle de Las Morrenas.

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