TOPOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL 

 WYOMING 



Few regions of the United States are so well fitted for topo- 

 graphical study as that of southern and central Wyoming, 

 through which the "Fossil Fields Expedition" passed. The 

 scenery is constructed on a generous scale; the immensity of 

 the high plains and the great size of the terraces are notable 

 features. There is little vegetation to obscure the details of 

 the topography; the semi-arid climate tends at once to develop 

 and preserve these details, so that all of them stand out in clearest 

 definition. 



Taking up the prominent types of topography in turn, we 

 may discuss each briefly: 



Mountains : These features are the most conspicuous in 

 the state, the frontal range of the Rocky Mountains and the 

 central portion of many other ranges are granitic; these are ordin- 

 arily characterized by their rounded summits, forming the well 

 known dome type of topography, so marked a trait of granitic 

 regions. Their general appearance recalls the mountains of 

 Scotland or of Norway. Long slopes of waste cover the flanks 

 well up toward the top, and often only the summits are com- 

 posed of solid rock, and even here the process of weathering is 

 so rapid that they are destined soon to be wholly buried in 

 their own debris. The exfoliation of the granite is notice- 

 able in many cases and this accounts for the rounded summits 

 already mentioned. Because the mountains have become 

 thus weathered, they have lost many of the sharper features of 

 youth and have taken on the softer and block-like topography 

 of old age. This feature of the mountains dominates all of the 

 Wyoming scenery. 



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