The Granite Landscape: A Natural History of America's Mountain Domes, from Acadia to Yosemite

by Tom Wessels, Brian D. Cohen (Illustrator)

Overview

From the author/illustrator team that produced the bestselling Reading the Forested Landscape: a fascinating and beautiful natural history of North American granite summit balds.

In The Granite Landscape Tom Wessels synthesizes history, geology, biology, and personal narrative to enhance our understanding and appreciation of these high, wild placesthe granite summit balds of North America. He explores the unique and fragile ecosystem that is common to exposed granite expanses from Acadia to Yosemitehow it evolved slowly over millennia, and how it is threatened today by foot traffic and overuse. Wessels' wonderfully informative and accessible text combine with his dramatic photographs and Brian Cohen's beautifully detailed illustrations to bring the denizens of the granite bald to life. The mountains they celebrate include: Acadia National Park in Maine; the White Mountains of New Hampshire; the Adirondacks of New York; the Wind River Range of Wyoming; the Beartooths of Montana; the Enchantments of Washington; and Yosemite National Park in California. 18 photographs, 30 illustrations, 1 map, glossary, index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881505283
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	11/17/2002
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	210
Sales rank:	245,795
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Tom Wessels is an ecologist and the author of Reading the Forested Landscape and Forest Forensics. He is the director of the Environmental Biology program at Antioch New England Graduate School.

Brian D. Cohen is a printmaker, artist, teacher, and publisher of fine edition letterpress books.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	9
	Introduction: Black Mountain	11
Part 1	The Making of Granite Domes
Chapter 1	Origins of Granite	21
Chapter 2	Sculpted by Glaciers	33
Chapter 3	Graced with Lichen and Moss	49
Chapter 4	Exposed by Fire and Ice	65
Part 2	America's Granite Mountains
Chapter 5	Acadia: Land of Fire and Fog	77
Chapter 6	The Whites and Adirondacks: Fragile Summits	93
Chapter 7	The Wind Rivers: Temples of Stone	111
Chapter 8	The Beartooths: Alpine Gardens	129
Chapter 9	The Enchantments: Land of Contrasts	143
Chapter 10	Yosemite: Range of Light	157
Part 3	Appendixes
Appendix A	Geological Time Line	173
Appendix B	List of Plants	175
	Glossary	181
	Selected Bibliography	189
	Index	191

Editorial Reviews

Wessels is one of the great cartographers of the New England landscape,and of the New England imagination.

Bill McKibben

A 'must have' for any naturalist's library.

Ann Zwinger

Why would a man who is neither a geologist nor a rock climber write about granite domes? Because he has an inordinate fondness for lichen: "I am particularly enamored of the moss and fuiticose lichen communities on granite outcrops," writes Wessels, a professor of ecology at Antioch New England Graduate School and chair of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. "Looking down at them from a few feet above, I am reminded of flying over mixed forests of conifers and hardwoods Lilliputian woodlands surrounded by crustose-lichen covered fields." Wessels tracks the unique lichen and shrub ecology of barren granite mountains that exists in Acadia and Yosemite National Parks, as well as the White Mountains (NH), Adirondacks (NY), Wind Rivers (WY), Beartooths (MT), and Enchantments (WA). This is a natural history in the best tradition, describing how geology, geomorphology, plant community interactions, environmental forces, and human history are all interrelated. Written with a combination of scientific clarity and poetry, this book will give readers a new appreciation for life in these austere yet intricate places. For most collections. [Wessels and Cohen's previous collaboration, Reading the Forested Landscape (Countryman, 1997), traced the evolution of New England's forests. Ed.] Amy Brunvand, Univ. of Utah Lib., Salt Lake City Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Written as a journalistic narrative of the author's experiences in the places described, this book is part personal account, part scholarly commentary on the ecology of granite environments in the US and the impact they experience from tourists, hikers and climbers. Wessels teaches ecology at Antioch New England Graduate School. The volume is illustrated with pencil drawings by Brian Cohen of Vermont. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR