Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Geologic and Soil Resources Inventory Summary
Henderson T. 2025. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Geologic and Soil Resources Inventory Summary. National Park Service
This document summarizes the status of National Park Service (NPS) Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) and Soil Resource Inventory (SRI) deliverables for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. It also provides information on current geology and soil resources management concerns, with a focus on identified inventory needs related to geologic heritage, geohazards, and related soil features and processes. This document is intended to assist park staff with prioritizing technical assistance or new inventory and assessment funding requests in the near term (roughly 1–5 years). GRI hosted a baseline scoping meeting for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in 2002. Baseline bedrock and surficial geologic maps were delivered to the park in 2010. SRI delivered an updated legacy soil database and map in 2015, and an additional Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil survey area encompasses the recreation area. The most up-to-date soils data for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is available on Web Soil Survey. The geologic heritage of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is subdivided into several categories that include (1) Indigenous resources (e.g., bedrock mortars, campsites, shelters, pictographs, projectile points, hearths, hunting blinds, lithic fragments, and ceramic sherds); (2) the geologic record of the giant sequoia; (3) early geologic exploration of the southern Sierra Nevada; (4) historic mining and timber industries; and (5) stratotypes. These geoheritage connections all relate to the complex geologic history of the Sierra Nevada region, which has been heavily influenced by multiple stages of tectonic deformation and igneous activity followed by uplift, exhumation, and glaciation. The geologic and soil resources inventory needs for the national parks include various data and/or GIS needs related to the inventory and monitoring of cave and karst resources, cultural resources, disturbed lands, fossils, geothermal resources, glaciers, groundwater, soils, stratotypes, and visitor use. Additional mapping needs have been expressed regarding detailed glacial and floodplain studies, park-wide LiDAR, and the generation of a high-resolution digital elevation model for the national parks. Geologic hazards identified in the national parks include cave and karst development, debris flows, disturbed lands (e.g., historic overgrazing, trespass livestock, illegal marijuana cultivation), flooding, mass wasting (e.g., avalanches, landslides, rockfalls), permafrost, radon, seismicity, shrink-swell soils, and toxicological soil. Most, if not all, of these geohazards may be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Inventory needs related to geohazards address monitoring strategies to help predict, quantify, and mitigate the damage these processes pose to the geologic and soil resources of the national parks.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Henderson, Timothy
- Date of Issue
- 2025-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRI , PWR , SEKI , SIEN , SRI
- Keywords
- Geologic Features, Geologic Hazards, Geologic Heritage, Geologic History, Geologic Processes, GIS, GSRI, Map Units, Resource Management
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Windblown Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Glacial Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Hillslope Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Stream/River Channel Characteristics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Geothermal Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Cave/Karst Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Volcanic Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Seismic Activity , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology