Geology of Lake Clark National Park & Preserve

Geologically speaking, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve really ain’t very old at all. Well, there are a few very old bits, some greenstone deposits date are around 400 million years old and some of the rocky outcrops have been there since the start of time around 4.6 billion years ago – both of which is very old geologically, but the rest of it isn’t very old at all.

Lake Clark National Park & Preserve is a kind of living scene, where dynamics and geology are happening before our eyes. This relatively young landscape has been shaped by intrusion, earthquakes, glaciation, volcanoes and uplift.  Within the Aleutian Range which is part of the Ring of Fire, this is one of the liveliest volcanic belts across the globe. The most recent volcanic eruptions witnessed in the park was Redoubt in 2009, and in 1989 – 90  Redoubt had previously erupted altering the geomorphic and hydrologic conditions of a huge area towards the north and east side of the volcano. These eruptions caused the melting and eroding of glacier snow and ice, filling the bottom of the valley with sediment and destroying vegetation. The changes of Lake Clark due to the eruption are still being documented.