Weathering Pans on Granite / Yosemite National Park

Weathering Pans on granite. These pans often form on relatively flat granite exposures in the Sierra. There seem to be several possible explanations for the process. It is likely that chemical decomposition of the granite occurs more rapidly at the margin of shallow water-filled depressions, leading to a self-perpetuating cycle in which the depressions deepen and widen. The rock here is the El Capitan Granite, intruded during the Cretaceous period, about 102 million years ago. Sentinel Dome. Yosemite National Park. Mariposa Co., Calif.

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