Pillar Mountain
We stood on the 1,400 ft. summit of Pillar Mountain, looking down on excellent views of Kodiak below. Even by southern California standards, this mountain was not as tall as I expected. Not every mountain in Alaska is a Mt. McKinley. From up here, I saw the mountains of Kodiak Island continuing across the bay as the Kenai Peninsula. Geologically speaking, Kodiak Island is a part of the Kenai Mountain Range forming most of the Kenai Peninsula 90 miles to the northeast.
Figure 1: A view from Pillar Mountain.
 Since my scientific specialty is not mountain building, I came with the naïve expectation to see volcanoes. Where were they? All I saw on our hike were sedimentary rocks such as shale. Although the Kenai Mountains trend in the same direction as the Aleutian volcanoes, they are formed of deformed and uplifted sediments rather than volcanic material.
Figure 2: Map of regional tectonic setting.
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A C T I V I T I E S
• Activity 2.2a
Test your knowledge of rocks and fossils!
Click on the image below to learn about the rock types and fossils found on the shores of Kodiak Island.
• Link
Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley
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