- The Olympic Mountains were born in the sea. The basalts and sedimentary rocks that form the mass of these peaks were laid down 18 to 57 million years ago offshore, then uplifted, bent, folded and eroded into the rugged peaks you see today.
- The blue glacier a 2.6 mile long glacier that descends from 7,980 which is the highest peak of the Olympic Mountains.
- over many years glaciers have carved away at Olympic national park rock.
- The last survey was taken in 1982 tallied 266 glaciers and permanent ice lands in the Olympic mountains, covering 18 square miles.
- The glaciers of the Olympic Mountains and neighboring Cascades helped form the wild and beautiful landscape that attracts millions of visitors to Olympic national park. The amazing geology in our national park provides the answer to many questions about the Earth. The answer can be appreciated through plate tectonics, and exciting way to understand the ongoing natural processes that sculpt our Landscape. Parks and plates is a visual and scientific voyage of discovery!