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"Denali" is an Athabascan word meaning "High One,"
and at 6100m (20, 320 feet), Mount Denali, also called Mount McKinley,
is the tallest mountain in North America. Denali actually has two
peaks, the lower of which is the second highest peak on the continent.
Denali is part of the Alaska Range, a series of mountains formed
from the interaction of the Pacific and North American plates. These
mountains tend to have granitic
cores, though some are made up of Jurassic
and Cretaceous sedimentary
rocks such as shale and mudstone. The granite intruded into some
of these mountains, such as Denali, during the Mesozoic.
The Denali Fault is nearby, running
just north of Mount Denali; some scientists believe that Denali's
great height is the result of the fault bending and thickening the
crust. Denali is located in the Denali
National Park and Preserve, which covers more area than the
entire state of Massachusetts.
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