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Cody Tunnels

The west end of the longest of 3 tunnels on US 14-16-20 in Shoshone Canyon enters the crystalline core of the Rattlesnake Anticline near the Buffalo Bill Dam just west of Cody Wyoming. The 3,202 foot long tunnel, the longest in Wyoming, was dug in 1960 when the road way was moved away from the river. The rocks, mostly gneiss and granitic gneiss (at this location) date to around 2.6 billion years ago. Geologist call this time period during the Precambrian the Archean Eon. These rocks represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent called the Wyoming Craton which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed. These rugged rocks in Shoshone Canyon are a favorite of climbers.

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Uploaded on March 18, 2020
Taken on March 12, 2020