Talk:Rocky Mountains

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Contents 1 Colorado Quarter 2 Population density 3 Tallest peak 4 Metric 5 Climate 6 Mexico 7 map 8 Tourism correction 9 Requested additions 10 Okay i need help with this project!! 11 Industries and several other bits, possible plagiarism? 12 Colorado River Basin template

[edit] Colorado Quarter

An earlier version stated that Long's Peak is on the reverse of the Colorado State quarted. This is inaccurate, as there was not a specific mountain or real world image selected for the minting (US MINT, Colorado.gov)--Tbkflav 21:37, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I am removing the picture of the quarter, it is not necessary for this article; actual pictures of the Rockies are far better than a picture on a coin. Furthermore, the placement of the picture broke the article up and didn't fit right. If someone is absolutely against this change, please post your argument in favor in its inclusion.

[edit] Population density

Something is not right here: "an average of four people per square kilometer (2.5 per square mile)." 4 people/km^2 does not equal 2.5 people/mi^2, but I don't know which number is wrong. --GJKing 19:38, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Tallest peak

If the Rockies are seid to extend all the way to Alaska, Mt. Elbert isn't the tallest mountain, is it? What about the many taller peaks in Canada and Alaska? --LMS

I find the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies listed as Mt. Robson at less than 13000 feet. Canada's tallest peak, Mt Logan is in the St. Elias Mountains. It may depend on our exact definition of mountain ranges.

Yes, Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954m (12,972') RedWolf 04:20, Feb 6, 2004 (UTC)

It appears that the Rockies in Alaska are called the Brooks Range, with maximum heights around 10000 feet. Taller mountains are in the Alaska Range.

As long as we are on issues about the Rockies, I've got to throw in my 2 cents. As a long time resident of the Rockies, I can say that there are no "Rockies" in Colorado, by that I mean we have names for ranges in Colorado that together comprise the rockies. Mt. Elbert for example is the highest point in Colorado, but it is in the Sawatch Range, So would you say it is not in the Rockies? I had always understood the Rockies to stretch from Mexico to Alaska, could the Alaska Range still be in the rockies? Just a thought. --Throughthelens 23:39, 7 March 2006

I think Mt. McKinley is the tallest of all, approximately 6,194 metres (20,320 feet). --Maxl 19:13, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

To address Throughthelens, all the 'ranges' in Colorada, such as the Sawatch Range, are essentially regions of the greater range known as the Rocky Mountains. These 'miniature ranges' are named so as to distinguish different parts of the Rockies. Thus the Sawatch Range is part of the Rockies. Mt. Elbert is, therefore, part of the Rockies. In addition, the Alaska Range is a separate mountain range entirely and not, geologically or geographically part of the Rockies. To address Max, Mt. McKinley is not in the Rockies.

[edit] Metric

For everyone in the world other than Americans, shouldn't peaks be given in metric?

Mountains/peaks should be given in metres and feet. Even in the USA, the US gov't now lists elevations in metres and feet in the modern maps I have seen. RedWolf 04:20, Feb 6, 2004 (UTC)

What about the British? Our increasingly dictatorial government is trying to force us to use foreign units, but millions of us are ingoring it. Piccadilly 23:04, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Be that as it may, the SI for length and height is metres, and should be used. more British and American people understand metres than other people understand feet. Blupping 13:59, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Citizens of the United States are, by and large, not taught the metric system and the average US citizen does not have a good conception of how long a metre is. Given that the Rockies are in the US both feet and metres should be given. --The Way 06:15, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Climate

I believe that the second section of Climate should be removed. The Rockies stretches from N.Mex. to NW Alaska, one description WILL NOT cover all the variation in their climate. The current version is likely written by someone who took the data from a specific location.

I'll leave that up for one more week. If there are no objections, I will begin to make correction by first removing that section. — LegolasGreenleaf 13:43, Nov 28, 2004 (UTC)

• Currently, it seems to describe the climate in the Rockies of Colorado or Wyoming. The Canadian Rockies are typically much colder in winter and not as warm in the summer. -2°C is hardly "very cold" for winter temps. RedWolf 06:42, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Mexico

The Rockies extend from N.Mex. to NW Alaska. Their southernmost peaks are in the northern part of the American state of New Mexico. The ranges in Mexico are called by other names.

Even though they are called by a different name in Mexico, aren't they the same chain of mountains?

Answer... there is a great deal of confusion as to what the Rockies encompass. The definition used in the article is the continuous chain of dolomitic fold mountains on the eastern edge of North America's Western Cordillera. This is the correct definition. However, in popular usage, the term is often used to mean the entire Cordillera, which extends from Western Alaska to Panama. So the Rockies do not extend into Mexico, although the Cordillera does. The Rockies were formed by the same westward continental drift as the rest of the Cordillera, but are a geologically distinct subunit of it.

[edit] map

although i like the pictures, i think that a map showing the rocky mountains is would be a beautiful addition. so, a suggestion for someone who has the time... peace — ishwar  (SPEAK) 21:37, 2005 May 18 (UTC)

I have drawn a new map (Image:RockyMountainsLocatorMap.png) that includes both the Canadian and United State sections of the Rocky Mountains. As I was drawing it, I discovered some discrepancies on the northern extent of the range. This article says the Rockies continue into Alaska but other sources (including Canadian Rocky Mountains and Encarta [1]) say the Rockies end in northern British Columbia near the Liard River. If any notices any errors in my map, let me know and I'll fix it. Al guy 23:27, May 20, 2005 (UTC)

thank you very much for your work. cheers — ishwar  (SPEAK) 16:22, 2005 May 23 (UTC)

[edit] Tourism correction

Have removed Glacier and Revelstoke national parks from the Canadian list, as neither are within the Rocky Mountains.Ian mckenzie 03:52, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested additions

The Britannica article covers some things this articles doesn't yet cover, or barely does:

• Soils
• Plant life
• Animal life
• Water resources

It also has more detail on glaciation. Piccadilly 23:08, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Okay i need help with this project!!

I need to know Three animals 2 plants DEscription of the habitat with the niche of each one and the f living organisms

[edit] Industries and several other bits, possible plagiarism?

Part of this article bears a staggeringly accurate resemblance to the article on The Rocky Mountains by Thomas J. Stohlgren of the USGS Biological resources division, Fort Collins, Colorado, to be found at biology.usgs.gov. The parts of this article about hydrology, industry (and I ran out of time to check any more), are almost word-for-word. Also the "inaccurate" calculation of population density discussed earlier is from his article. Does anybody know, is Mr. Stohlgren a willing or "accidental" contributor and does HE know? --ATeacher 3/Dec/06, 10:15 GMT

If the work is part of his employment with the USGS, it is public domain and there is no legal obligation to even acknowledge his authorship. There is, of course, significant moral reason to cite sources, and Wikipedia normally encourages even public domain sources to be re-cast into Wikipedia style, amalgamating multiple sources. I know nothing about by who or when the sections you mention were "created" but if you can add references that would be good. cheers --Geologyguy 14:47, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, we can indeed copy and paste directly from most federal websites such as [2] (as an example)...but it must be attributed and referenced in some manner.--MONGO 15:21, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Panic over, there's a string of references for it now, perhaps there was before and I'm too new/dumb/tired to notice. I'll remove this bit in a few days, so you see this reply. Unless that's bad Wikietiquette, tell me if you have time.

--ATeacher 5/Dec/06, 22:20 GMT

You're fine, another user, Hike395, added those references after your first notice was posted, so it did what you needed it to do. Just leave everything here, so others can see how the page developed. If you want to see how it came about, go to the article itself (not this talk page) and click on the history tab - you'll see Hike395's edits and if you click on "diff" you can see the specific things he or she added. Cheers and thanks Geologyguy 22:56, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

ATeacher had originally overlooked a reference to the Stohlgren web site (in the external links section), so the article had met a basic level of citation. However, I thought it was better to bring the whole article up to date with inline citations, including noting in detail the usage of the Stohlgren material. hike395 19:56, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Nice work, thanks. --Geologyguy 20:18, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colorado River Basin template

It sure takes up a lot of room for a page that's about mountain ranges....so what's the deal if there's a Columbia River basin template, a Missouri River basin template, a Fraser River basin template, etc? Wouldn't it get kinda cluttered around here? I think a template showing the proper hierarchy of the subranges of the Rockies is much more a propos, but I'm not equipped to design it (see e.g. Continental Ranges, which are a subdivision of the Canadian Rockies; those and related articles I've just put all subranges into as listed in bivouac.com, which sourced USGS in the States and S. Holland in Canada).Skookum1 06:54, 3 January 2007 (UTC)