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Yellowstone was established as a national park on March 1, 1872, to protect its unique wilderness features from industrial development. Isolated from most of the early settlement of the West, it is a microcosm of the Northern Rockies as they existed before the westward expansion of the US.

Yellowstone and the surrounding areas were primarily formed by volcanic events over the last million years, although glaciation during the Ice Ages also changed the landscape there. More recently it has been more shaped by geothermal activity, and by extensive water erosion of the lava flows.

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12y ago

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