Mount Zirkel Wilderness
Encyclopedia
The Mount Zirkel Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in Routt National Forest in northwest Colorado. The closest city is Steamboat Springs, Colorado
. The wilderness is named after Mount Zirkel
, the highest peak in the range, which itself is named after German
geologist
Ferdinand Zirkel
.
Some areas within the wilderness display bedrock
composed of metamorphic
schist
s with large garnet
crystals.
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
The city of Steamboat Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Routt County, Colorado, United States. The city is also known as "Steamboat," "The Boat," or "Ski Town USA". As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,088.The city is an...
. The wilderness is named after Mount Zirkel
Mount Zirkel
Mount Zirkel, elevation , is the highest summit of the Park Range in northern Colorado. The mountain in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness northeast of Steamboat Springs was named after German geologist Ferdinand Zirkel....
, the highest peak in the range, which itself is named after German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
Ferdinand Zirkel
Ferdinand Zirkel
Ferdinand Zirkel was a German geologist and petrographer.-Biography:He was born in Bonn. He was educated in his native town, and graduated Ph.D. at the University of Bonn in 1861. His training and initial interest was in mining...
.
Some areas within the wilderness display bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
composed of metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
s with large garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
crystals.