Yucca Mountain

Yucca Mountain is a mountain in Nevada, near its border with California,. It is approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Las Vegas. Yucca Mountain is in the Great Basin. The mountain is east of the Amargosa Desert, south of the Nevada Test and Training Range and in the Nevada National Security Site. It is the site of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. As of 2021, laws have identified thid site as the place where spent nuclear waste is to be stored. Because of politics, the funding of the site was cut in 2010.

Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain
Highest point
Elevation 6,707 ft (2,044 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence 1,333 ft (406 m)[2]
Coordinates 36°56′25″N 116°29′06″W / 36.940210656°N 116.485006506°W / 36.940210656; -116.485006506Coordinates: 36°56′25″N 116°29′06″W / 36.940210656°N 116.485006506°W / 36.940210656; -116.485006506[1]
Geography
Yucca Mountain
Topo map USGS Topopah Spring
Geology
Mountain type Caldera, cinder cones
Last eruption 80,000 years ago
View to the west from the top of Yucca Mountain

Geology

 
Map of the Location of the Mountain

Several large eruptionsd from a caldera volcano created Yucca Mountain. The mountain is composed of changing layers of different kinds of rock. The volcanic units have been tilted along fault lines. They formed the current ridge line called Yucca Mountain. In addition to these faults, Yucca Mountain is criss-crossed by fractures, many of which formed when the volcanic units cooled.

Cultural history

Yucca Mountain and surrounding lands were central in the lives of the Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute peoples, who shared them for religious ceremonies, resource uses, and social events; Yucca Mountain is still considered sacred by the Shoshone people living today.

Yucca Mountain Media

References

 

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Yucca". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  2. "Chocolate Mountain, Nevada".

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