Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Sequoia and Kings Canyon 

National Parks and Vicinity, California, 1996

North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27). Polyconic projection 

5000-meter ticks: Universal Tranverse Mercator, zone 11 

50,000-foot ticks: California coordinate system of 1983 (zone 4)

North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) is shown by dashed 

corner ticks. The values of the shift between NAD 27 and NAD83 

for 7.5-minute intersections are obtainable from National 

Geodetic Survey NADCON software

Map Showing Limits of Tahoe Glaciation in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

By

James G. Moore1 and Gregory S. Mack2

2008

13 / ° 2 3

MAGNETIC NORTH

MEAN DECLINATION, 2008

(at center of map) TRUE NORTH

1U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA

2National Park Service, Seattle, WA

Tahoe glaciation mapped by J.G. Moore, 2005

Sierra redwood distribution mapped by Staff of Sequoia and 

Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service

Database by G.S. Mack and J.E. Robinson

Edited by J.L. Zigler

Digital cartography by G.S. Mack, J.E. Robinson, and D.A. Ryan

Manuscript approved for publication September 21, 2006

INTRODUCTION

The latest periods of extensive ice cover in the Sierra Nevada include the Tahoe 

glaciation followed by the Tioga glaciation, and evidence for these ice ages is widespread 

in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks area. However, the timing of the 

advances and retreats of the glaciers during the periods of glaciation continues to be a 

matter of debate. A compilation of existing work (Clark and others, 2003) defines the 

Tioga glaciation at 14-25 thousand years ago and splits the Tahoe glaciation into two 

stages that range from 42-50 and 140-200 thousand years ago. The extent of the Tahoe ice 

mass shown in the map area is considered to represent the younger Tahoe stage, 42-50 

thousand years ago.

Evidence of glaciations older than the Tahoe is limited in the southern Sierra Nevada. 

After the Tioga glaciation, only minor events with considerably less ice cover occurred. 

The Tioga glaciation was slightly less extensive than the Tahoe glaciation, and each 

covered about half of the area of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The Tahoe 

glaciers extended 500-1,000 ft lower and 0.5-1.2 mi farther down valleys. Evidence for the 

Tahoe glacial limits is not as robust as that for Tioga, but the extent of the Tahoe ice is 

mapped because it covered a larger area and the ice did leave prominent moraines (piles of 

sediment and boulders deposited by glaciers as they melted at their margins) lower on the 

east front of the range. 

Current Sierra redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) groves occur in a belt on the 

west side of the Sierra Nevada, generally west of the area of Tahoe glaciation. 

TAHOE GLACIATION

Field evidence, aerial photographs, and topographic maps were used to prepare this 

map. Many canyons contain moraines of both Tahoe and Tioga ages. Where juxtaposed, 

the Tioga moraines lie within, and upstream from, the Tahoe moraines. The boulders of the 

younger Tioga moraines are less extensively weathered. 

The preserved moraines were mapped in the 15-minute quadrangles (see index map) 

that show the geology within the parks (Bateman and Moore, 1965; du Bray and Moore, 

1985; Moore, 1963, 1978, 1981; Moore and Sisson, 1985, 1987; Moore and Nokleberg, 

1992; Sisson and Moore, 1994; Stone and others, 2000), and they provide the primary 

evidence for the position of the lower ice margins. At higher elevations where deposition 

of moraines is limited, glacial polish, glacial striations, transported boulders of different 

character than their site of deposition (erratics), glacial lakes, and shape of valley walls 

help fix the position of the upper glacial margins. Aerial photographs and topographic 

maps were used to relate mapped moraines with characteristic glacial features, such as 

U-shaped valleys, lakes, and cirques, and to estimate the extent of glacial ice where no 

morainal deposits remain.

About 2,000 lakes longer than 200 ft occur in the map area. They average about 

11,000 ft in elevation, and most lie between 8,000 and 12,500 ft. Nearly all the natural 

lakes have a glacial origin and occur within the bounds of the Tahoe ice cover. They 

formed where glacial ice scooped out bedrock basins or dammed canyons and their 

tributaries with morainal debris. The only natural lakes in the map area that do not have a 

glacial origin are Kern Lake (6,200 ft elev) in Kern Canyon, which is dammed by a 

landslide, and Oriole Lake (5,600 ft elev) 5 mi west of Silver City, which also has a 

landslide origin. 

The glaciers occupied five major drainage basins: San Joaquin, Kings, Kaweah, and 

Kern River drainages on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada and the Owens River drainage 

on the east Sierra slope. The glaciers covered much of the country above 9,000 ft elevation 

except for the highest peaks and ridges. Valley glaciers commonly descended to 8,000 ft. 

In general, the main trunk glaciers of the west flank descended to lower elevations in the 

north than in the south because of a broader slope and lower temperatures in the north. The 

lower extents of the glaciers in the San Joaquin river drainage extend beyond the map area. 

Tahoe glacial terminal elevations of the North, Middle, and South Forks of the Kings River 

were about 3,800, 4,100, and 4,500 ft, respectively. Termini of the Marble, Middle, East, 

and South Forks of the Kaweah River were at 6,100, 5,900, 5,100, and 6,200 ft, respectively. The Kern River glacier terminated at 6,300 ft. 

Glacier termini on the east slope were at higher elevations because of lower precipitation and smaller drainage basins (Moore, 2000). The glacial deposits are better preserved 

on the more arid east slope of the range. Also on the east slope, the lower elevation reached 

by the toes of Tahoe glaciers increases from north to south, from about 6,000 ft to 10,000 

ft.

SIERRA REDWOOD GROVES

Sierra redwood, or sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), groves are shown on the 

map, and their location provides an interesting comparison with the extent of the past 

glacial ice. About three dozen groves occur in a belt on the west side of the range, where 

they thrive in a zone of restricted elevation and microclimate that generally lies west of the 

area of Tahoe glacial cover. The source data for groves within the parks is from the 

National Park Service and for groves outside the parks is from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

The sequoia groves occur at 5,000 to 8,000 ft elevation and, within the mapped area, 

the average elevation of the trees increases about 1,000 feet from north to south: from 

5,000-7,000 ft in the north to 6,000-8,000 feet in the south. Hence, the sequoias, like the 

glaciers, are affected by the latitudinal effect on climate. Sequoia groves have grown on 

glaciated terrain in only two places where large glaciers reached low elevations in major 

canyons: in the canyon of the East Fork of the Kaweah River (Atwell Grove and East Fork 

Grove) and in and near the canyon of the South Fork of the Kaweah River (South Fork 

Grove and Garfield Grove). 

SUMMARY

The mapped Tahoe glaciation, which ended about 42 thousand years ago, covered 

about half of the parks area. This glacial period was followed by a slightly less extensive 

ice age, the Tioga glaciation, which ended about 14 thousand years ago. The margins of the 

Tahoe ice fields, and the lower limits to which the main trunk glaciers descended, occur at 

progressively higher elevations from north to south, because the average temperature 

generally increased to the south. The Sierra redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) groves 

occur in a belt immediately west of the area covered by Tahoe glaciation with only minor 

overlap. The groves, like the much earlier ice, also increase in elevation from north to 

south, because they, too, are sensitive to climatic variability. 

REFERENCES CITED

Bateman, P.C., 1965, Geologic map of the Blackcap Mountain quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-428, scale 1:62,500. 

Bateman, P.C., and Moore, J.G., 1965, Geologic map of the Mount Goddard quadrangle: 

U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-429, scale 1:62,500. 

Bateman, P.C., and Wones, D.R., 1972, Geologic map of the Huntington Lake quadrangle: 

U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-987, scale 1:62,500. 

Clark, D., Gillespie, A.R., Clark, M., and Burke, B., 2003, Mountain glaciations of the 

Sierra Nevada in Easterbrook, D.J., ed., Quaternary geology of the United States: 

International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) 2003 Field Guide Volume, p. 

297–311. 

du Bray, E.A., and Moore, J.G., 1985, Geologic map of the Olancha quadrangle, southern 

Sierra Nevada, California: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map 

MF-1734, scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., 1963, Geology of the Mount Pinchot quadrangle, southern Sierra Nevada, 

California: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1130, 152 p., scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., 1978, Geologic map of the Marion Peak quadrangle, Sierra Nevada, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1399, scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., 1981, Geologic map of the Mount Whitney quadrangle, Inyo and Tulare 

Counties, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1545, 

scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., 2000, Exploring the highest Sierra: Stanford, Calif., Stanford University 

Press, 448 p., 180 illus. 

Moore, J.G., and Nokleberg, W.J., 1992, Geologic Map of the Tehipite Dome quadrangle, 

Fresno County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map 

GQ-1676, scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., and Sisson, T.W., 1985, Geologic Map of the Kern Peak quadrangle, Tulare 

County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1584, 

scale 1:62,500. 

Moore, J.G., and Sisson, T.W., 1987, Geologic map of the Triple Divide Peak quadrangle, 

Tulare County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map 

GQ-1636, scale 1:62,500. 

Sisson, T.W., and Moore, J.G., 1994, Geologic map of the Giant Forest quadrangle, Tulare 

county, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1751, scale 

1:62,500. 

Stone, Paul, Dunne, G.C., Moore, J.G., and Smith, G.I., 2000, Geologic map of the Lone 

Pine 15' quadrangle, Inyo County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic 

Investigation Series I-2617, scale 1:62,500. 

Blackcap

Mountain

Huntington

Lake

Mount

Goddard

Big

Pine

Tehipite

Dome

Marion

Peak

Mount

Pinchot

Giant

Forest

Triple

Divide

Peak

Mount

Whitney

Lone

Pine

Kaweah Mineral

King

Kern

Peak Olancha

Index map showing 15-minute quadrangles for the map area and references for 

associated published geologic maps.

Big Pine—Not published

Blackcap Mountain—Bateman, 1965

Giant Forest—Sisson and Moore, 1994

Huntington Lake—Bateman and Wones, 1972

Kaweah—Not published

Kern Peak—Moore and Sisson, 1985

Lone Pine—Stone and others, 2000

Marion Peak—Moore, 1978

Mineral King—Not published

Mount Goddard—Bateman and Moore, 1965

Mount Pinchot—Moore, 1963

Mount Whitney—Moore, 1981

Olancha—du Bray and Moore, 1985

Tehipite Dome—Moore and Nockleberg, 1992

Triple Divide Peak—Moore and Sisson, 1987

Groves of Sierra redwoods (or Sequoias, Sequoiadendron giganteum)

Extent of glacial ice during Tahoe glaciation, 42-50 thousand years ago

DESCRIPTION OF MAP UNITS

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Prepared in cooperation with the

National Park Service Scientific Investigations Map 2945

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services, Box 25286, 

Federal Center, CO 80225, 1–888–ASK–USGS

Digital files available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2945

Printed on recycled paper

County Line

Roads and

buildings

Trails Glacier

Streams,

lakes

Intermittent

Streams

Gaging

station

Spring Contours Elevation above

mean sea-level

Bench Mark Triangulation

station

Campground

National Park

boundary

Nat Forest

boundary

PARK

AREAS