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GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERUPTION OF MT. STAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
It is the 41st anniversary of the eruption of the St. Helens volcano and as I think of those days, I realize that even though a majority of the population wasn't even alive at the time, the volcano still matters. Not because of the potential for future eruptions (although that remains a distinct possibility), but because of the way weprocess
GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: INSIDE THE BIGGEST CAVERN OPENING IN Yes, I had another field trip today! It was less academic then some, as it was a Geology Club tour, but learning was part of the experience. We headed into the Sierra Nevada foothills to check out some karst topography, visiting Moaning Caverns, and exploring NaturalBridges at
GEOTRIPPER: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT GEOLOGIC ROADCUTS Sunday, March 15, 2015. What are the Most Important Geologic Roadcuts in California? A Candidate in Coulterville. In a recent post, I explored the geology of the Charlie Brown outcrop. It included excellent examples of normal faults, welded tuff, and airfall tuff, features that served as a microcosm of the geology of the entireprovince.
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING It Seems That Half the Volcano is Missing: Travels at Pinnacles National Park. Sixty or seventy years ago, the San Andreas fault didn't exist. Well, it existed, but not in the way it exists for those of us in California today. It had been named only in 1895 after a valley and reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula by ProfessorAndrew Lawson
GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory.GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERUPTION OF MT. STAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
It is the 41st anniversary of the eruption of the St. Helens volcano and as I think of those days, I realize that even though a majority of the population wasn't even alive at the time, the volcano still matters. Not because of the potential for future eruptions (although that remains a distinct possibility), but because of the way weprocess
GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: INSIDE THE BIGGEST CAVERN OPENING IN Yes, I had another field trip today! It was less academic then some, as it was a Geology Club tour, but learning was part of the experience. We headed into the Sierra Nevada foothills to check out some karst topography, visiting Moaning Caverns, and exploring NaturalBridges at
GEOTRIPPER: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT GEOLOGIC ROADCUTS Sunday, March 15, 2015. What are the Most Important Geologic Roadcuts in California? A Candidate in Coulterville. In a recent post, I explored the geology of the Charlie Brown outcrop. It included excellent examples of normal faults, welded tuff, and airfall tuff, features that served as a microcosm of the geology of the entireprovince.
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING It Seems That Half the Volcano is Missing: Travels at Pinnacles National Park. Sixty or seventy years ago, the San Andreas fault didn't exist. Well, it existed, but not in the way it exists for those of us in California today. It had been named only in 1895 after a valley and reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula by ProfessorAndrew Lawson
GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory. GEOTRIPPER: 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERUPTION OF MT. ST It is the 41st anniversary of the eruption of the St. Helens volcano and as I think of those days, I realize that even though a majority of the population wasn't even alive at the time, the volcano still matters. Not because of the potential for future eruptions (although that remains a distinct possibility), but because of the way weprocess
GEOTRIPPER: WENT LOOKING FOR ROCKS AND BIRDS, CAME BACK We were headed to Yosemite Valley to see the waterfalls before they dried up (it has been an excruciatingly dry year). We had already missed what was apparently a spectacular Golden Poppy extravaganza in the Merced River canyon downstream of Yosemite, but there were still plenty of wildflowers to be seen, especially on the shady north-facingslopes.
GEOTRIPPER: ONE OF GEOLOGY'S LITTLE MYSTERIES SOLVED: THE But now, we are learning that Richard D. Norris, James M. Norris, Ralph D. Lorenz, Jib Ray, and Brian Jackson have shed light on the mystery, and produced digital images of the rocks in action. In their just released article, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, they document the conditions that resulted in the movement of numerous GEOTRIPPER: INSIDE THE BIGGEST CAVERN OPENING IN Yes, I had another field trip today! It was less academic then some, as it was a Geology Club tour, but learning was part of the experience. We headed into the Sierra Nevada foothills to check out some karst topography, visiting Moaning Caverns, and exploring NaturalBridges at
GEOTRIPPER: REVISITING THE GEOLOGIST'S LIFE LIST: THE 4. Visit the Cretaceous/Tertiary (KT) Boundary. Possible locations include Gubbio, Italy, Stevns Klint, Denmark, the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller, Alberta. 5. Observe (from a safe distance) a river whose discharge is above bankful stage. GEOTRIPPER: OUT IN AMERICA'S NEVER NEVER: GETTING THERE Out in America's Never Never: Getting There. A journey into the Never Never of America has to have a beginning in the green lands. From our base in the fertile Central Valley, we traveled through 200 miles of irrigated farmlands. They would be part of the desert were it not for a massive water project drawing water from northern California. GEOTRIPPER: THE ABANDONED LANDS: A COMPENDIUM OF GEOLOGY During the summer of 2012, I explored the margins of the Colorado Plateau with a group of geology and anthropology students. I was struck by the way that the land tended to defeat the best efforts of those who wanted to colonize and "tame" the landscape. From this grew a blog series that I titled "The Abandoned Lands". GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: WE RUN THE BIG RAPIDS Into the Great Unknown: We Run the Big Rapids, Sometimes in Rafts. The sun rose on day nine of our journey down the Colorado River, into the Great Unknown, as John Wesley Powell had called it. Powell and his men had a terrifying couple of days following their discovery of Bright Angel Creek. They had lost much of their equipment in boat GEOTRIPPER: PERMISSION TO PLAY: PICKING UP ROCKS IN Andrew Alden over at About.com Geology mentions a skill and privilege that geologists and rock/mineral lovers need to remind themselves they have: Permission to Play! In other words, get out and have some fun looking for stuff. I live in the middle of California, in a place that at first glance does not offer many chances to build a collection of nice specimens of rocks. GEOTRIPPER: JUNE 2013 The rocks and soil that form the framework on which all life thrives is passive. It has been witness to millions of years of change, and an ever-changing parade of life forms. The trail above was cut out of a separation plane on a sand dune that was trod on by reptiles and insects 200 million years ago.GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERUPTION OF MT. ST It is the 41st anniversary of the eruption of the St. Helens volcano and as I think of those days, I realize that even though a majority of the population wasn't even alive at the time, the volcano still matters. Not because of the potential for future eruptions (although that remains a distinct possibility), but because of the way weprocess
GEOTRIPPER: THE VERNAL EQUINOX: EQUALITY IN UNEQUAL TIMESAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
The Vernal Equinox: Equality in Unequal Times. The sun set today on an unequal and unbalanced world. But for a day, the whole world shared a moment of equality, the day and night being more or less equal at all latitudes. Supposedly the day and night are both 12 hours long no matter where you are. There is a bit of squishiness in that statement GEOTRIPPER: DRIVING THROUGH THE MOST DANGEROUS PLATE On our journey through the most dangerous plate boundary in the world, we've explored the accretionary wedge and forearc basin of the massive subduction zone that once existed off the California coast, and now we've reached the base of the most visible part of the system: the magmatic (or volcanic) arc . The arc is extinct today in this part of California, but one is still active in the GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: ONE OF GEOLOGY'S LITTLE MYSTERIES SOLVED: THE But now, we are learning that Richard D. Norris, James M. Norris, Ralph D. Lorenz, Jib Ray, and Brian Jackson have shed light on the mystery, and produced digital images of the rocks in action. In their just released article, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, they document the conditions that resulted in the movement of numerous GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory.GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERUPTION OF MT. ST It is the 41st anniversary of the eruption of the St. Helens volcano and as I think of those days, I realize that even though a majority of the population wasn't even alive at the time, the volcano still matters. Not because of the potential for future eruptions (although that remains a distinct possibility), but because of the way weprocess
GEOTRIPPER: THE VERNAL EQUINOX: EQUALITY IN UNEQUAL TIMESAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
The Vernal Equinox: Equality in Unequal Times. The sun set today on an unequal and unbalanced world. But for a day, the whole world shared a moment of equality, the day and night being more or less equal at all latitudes. Supposedly the day and night are both 12 hours long no matter where you are. There is a bit of squishiness in that statement GEOTRIPPER: DRIVING THROUGH THE MOST DANGEROUS PLATE On our journey through the most dangerous plate boundary in the world, we've explored the accretionary wedge and forearc basin of the massive subduction zone that once existed off the California coast, and now we've reached the base of the most visible part of the system: the magmatic (or volcanic) arc . The arc is extinct today in this part of California, but one is still active in the GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: ONE OF GEOLOGY'S LITTLE MYSTERIES SOLVED: THE But now, we are learning that Richard D. Norris, James M. Norris, Ralph D. Lorenz, Jib Ray, and Brian Jackson have shed light on the mystery, and produced digital images of the rocks in action. In their just released article, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, they document the conditions that resulted in the movement of numerous GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory. GEOTRIPPER: WENT LOOKING FOR ROCKS AND BIRDS, CAME BACK We were headed to Yosemite Valley to see the waterfalls before they dried up (it has been an excruciatingly dry year). We had already missed what was apparently a spectacular Golden Poppy extravaganza in the Merced River canyon downstream of Yosemite, but there were still plenty of wildflowers to be seen, especially on the shady north-facingslopes.
GEOTRIPPER: DAMNING DEL PUERTO CANYON, A GEOLOGICAL AND I awoke this morning mildly astonished to see my own words making up the headline of a Modesto Bee article about a proposed dam in Del Puerto Canyon, a deep gorge cutting into the heart of the Diablo Range in the western part of Stanislaus County.Del Puerto is one of the most unique landscapes of California's Coast Ranges, and as I noted, a geological and natural treasure. GEOTRIPPER: CALIFORNIA'S RAREST ECOSYSTEMS: THE SERPENTINE Imagine a world turned upside down and inside out. A place where the underworld realm is exposed to view, where all is out of equilibrium. It sounds like the introduction to a dystopian horror movie, but in this case, it is a description of one of the truly rare GEOTRIPPER: INSIDE THE BIGGEST CAVERN OPENING IN Yes, I had another field trip today! It was less academic then some, as it was a Geology Club tour, but learning was part of the experience. We headed into the Sierra Nevada foothills to check out some karst topography, visiting Moaning Caverns, and exploring NaturalBridges at
GEOTRIPPER: LITTLE BOXES ON THE HILLSIDE, LITTLE BOXES The next beach on our journey along the most beautiful coastline in the world may not actually be the prettiest beach ever, but there is a lot going on here. Mussel Rock lies along the coast between Pacifica and Daly City, and a high cliff of really unstable looking rock slopes precipitously towards the waves. GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING It Seems That Half the Volcano is Missing: Travels at Pinnacles National Park. Sixty or seventy years ago, the San Andreas fault didn't exist. Well, it existed, but not in the way it exists for those of us in California today. It had been named only in 1895 after a valley and reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula by ProfessorAndrew Lawson
GEOTRIPPER: THE ABANDONED LANDS: A COMPENDIUM OF GEOLOGY During the summer of 2012, I explored the margins of the Colorado Plateau with a group of geology and anthropology students. I was struck by the way that the land tended to defeat the best efforts of those who wanted to colonize and "tame" the landscape. From this grew a blog series that I titled "The Abandoned Lands". GEOTRIPPER: FAULTS AND FOLDS WEEKEND FOTOS! Faults and Folds Weekend Fotos! Following the example of Silver Fox and Lost Geologist, I decided to throw a fault and fold foto into the geomix this weekend. This is also still on the theme of my impending Colorado Plateau journey, not because it is there on the plateau, but because this is often my first stop on our trip. GEOTRIPPER: REVISITING THE OTHER CALIFORNIA:THE STORY OF The Pine Creek Tungsten Mine was an extraordinary operation. Begun in 1918, the mine operated until 2001, producing (along with the Climax mine in Colorado) 93% of the tungsten produced in the United States as of 1977. Low cost imports led to the mothballing of the mine in 2001 although the operation remains in place should prices rise, or strategic concerns cause an increase in demand for GEOTRIPPER: PERMISSION TO PLAY: PICKING UP ROCKS IN Andrew Alden over at About.com Geology mentions a skill and privilege that geologists and rock/mineral lovers need to remind themselves they have: Permission to Play! In other words, get out and have some fun looking for stuff. I live in the middle of California, in a place that at first glance does not offer many chances to build a collection of nice specimens of rocks.GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: DAMNING DEL PUERTO CANYON, A GEOLOGICAL ANDAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
I awoke this morning mildly astonished to see my own words making up the headline of a Modesto Bee article about a proposed dam in Del Puerto Canyon, a deep gorge cutting into the heart of the Diablo Range in the western part of Stanislaus County.Del Puerto is one of the most unique landscapes of California's Coast Ranges, and as I noted, a geological and natural treasure. GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: ONE OF GEOLOGY'S LITTLE MYSTERIES SOLVED: THE But now, we are learning that Richard D. Norris, James M. Norris, Ralph D. Lorenz, Jib Ray, and Brian Jackson have shed light on the mystery, and produced digital images of the rocks in action. In their just released article, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, they document the conditions that resulted in the movement of numerous GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING It Seems That Half the Volcano is Missing: Travels at Pinnacles National Park. Sixty or seventy years ago, the San Andreas fault didn't exist. Well, it existed, but not in the way it exists for those of us in California today. It had been named only in 1895 after a valley and reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula by ProfessorAndrew Lawson
GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: HIGHWAY 108 AND DONNELL Donnell Vista Point on Highway 108 about 18 miles above Pinecrest Lake and Strawberry is the site of today's exploration. The parking lot and quarter-mile trail to the viewpoint were recently renovated with funds provided by the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory.GEOTRIPPER
The experience of finding a gemstone in the rough, uncovering a dinosaur bone, feeling an earthquake, encountering a flash flood, or witnessing a volcanic eruption are unforgettable adventures, even if there are negative consequences and dangers. That, after all, is part of what makes an experience into a true adventure. GEOTRIPPER: DAMNING DEL PUERTO CANYON, A GEOLOGICAL ANDAUTHOR: GARRYHAYES
I awoke this morning mildly astonished to see my own words making up the headline of a Modesto Bee article about a proposed dam in Del Puerto Canyon, a deep gorge cutting into the heart of the Diablo Range in the western part of Stanislaus County.Del Puerto is one of the most unique landscapes of California's Coast Ranges, and as I noted, a geological and natural treasure. GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCK The Disappointing Cape: Land's End and Rock Pillows. Just over 200 years ago, the first expedition of Americans reached the Pacific Ocean after following the Missouri River over the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark and their crew arrived in November of 1805, and they knew they could not make the return trip until the GEOTRIPPER: ONE OF GEOLOGY'S LITTLE MYSTERIES SOLVED: THE But now, we are learning that Richard D. Norris, James M. Norris, Ralph D. Lorenz, Jib Ray, and Brian Jackson have shed light on the mystery, and produced digital images of the rocks in action. In their just released article, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, they document the conditions that resulted in the movement of numerous GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT In Memoriam: Ron Schott. I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron Schott. He passed away unexpectedly, and long before his time. Ron was a modern geological pioneer, writing one theearliest
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING It Seems That Half the Volcano is Missing: Travels at Pinnacles National Park. Sixty or seventy years ago, the San Andreas fault didn't exist. Well, it existed, but not in the way it exists for those of us in California today. It had been named only in 1895 after a valley and reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula by ProfessorAndrew Lawson
GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: HIGHWAY 108 AND DONNELL Donnell Vista Point on Highway 108 about 18 miles above Pinecrest Lake and Strawberry is the site of today's exploration. The parking lot and quarter-mile trail to the viewpoint were recently renovated with funds provided by the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN Lost Lake is the small pond in the center of the picture. The GoogleEarth image below shows the fault relations at Lost Lake, including a very nice example of an offset stream. The San Andreas is a right lateral fault, meaning that an object across the fault from the observer is moving to the right (note the arrows in the picture atthe bottom).
GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory. GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: ZERO HOUR AT LAVA The deposits along the river record a great many flooding events over the last 3,000 years. One of the prehistoric events dammed the river to a depth of nearly 100 feet. The rapid formed by that event would have dwarfed the present-day Lava Falls. More recent debris flows altered the rapid in 1939, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1966, and 1995. GEOTRIPPER: A CONVERGENCE OF WONDERS, DAY 14: TREASURES We had reached the last few days of our travels through a Convergence of Wonders, a tour of the spectacular geology of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains.We had moved south to Vernal, Utah, and prepared to follow a road I had never been on, but which promised interesting things: Nine Mile Canyon. GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: HEAT...AND ALL THINGS Into the Great Unknown: Heatand All Things Beautiful. It was our last full day on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, the Great Unknown as John Wesley Powell called it in 1869. One full day, and one more night on the life-giving stream of water through one of the spectacular canyons on Earth. We had eighteen miles to go, from our GEOTRIPPER: THE SEQUOIA UNDERGROUND: AN EXPLORATION OF The cave has a total of 2.42 miles of passageways (the third largest in California), but only a fraction ever receives visitors. The rest remains an underground wilderness. The cave is an integral part of our field studies course on the geology of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We paid a visit this last weekend and made the caveour
GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: "DISASTER" IN NATIONAL Just over the fall a cinder cone, or extinct volcano, stands on the very brink of the canyon. What a conflict of water and fire there must have been here! Just imagine a river of molten rock running down into a river of melted snow. What seething and boiling of the waters; what clouds of steam rolled into the heavens! GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: WE RUN THE BIG RAPIDS Into the Great Unknown: We Run the Big Rapids, Sometimes in Rafts. The sun rose on day nine of our journey down the Colorado River, into the Great Unknown, as John Wesley Powell had called it. Powell and his men had a terrifying couple of days following their discovery of Bright Angel Creek. They had lost much of their equipment in boat GEOTRIPPER: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT GEOLOGIC ROADCUTS Sunday, March 15, 2015. What are the Most Important Geologic Roadcuts in California? A Candidate in Coulterville. In a recent post, I explored the geology of the Charlie Brown outcrop. It included excellent examples of normal faults, welded tuff, and airfall tuff, features that served as a microcosm of the geology of the entireprovince.
GEOTRIPPER: PERMISSION TO PLAY: PICKING UP ROCKS IN Andrew Alden over at About.com Geology mentions a skill and privilege that geologists and rock/mineral lovers need to remind themselves they have: Permission to Play! In other words, get out and have some fun looking for stuff. I live in the middle of California, in a place that at first glance does not offer many chances to build a collection of nice specimens of rocks. GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: SPRINGTIME ALONG THE The Great Western Divide is a spectacular mountain range. It rises nearly to the height of the actual Sierra Crest, with several peaks exceeding 12,000 feet in elevation (A dozen or so peaks on the Sierra Crest reach 14,000 feet). Despite being far to the south, the peaks were high enough to be scoured by the glaciers of the Pleistocene IceAges.
GEOTRIPPER: JUNE 2013 The rocks and soil that form the framework on which all life thrives is passive. It has been witness to millions of years of change, and an ever-changing parade of life forms. The trail above was cut out of a separation plane on a sand dune that was trod on by reptiles and insects 200 million years ago.GEOTRIPPER
The Moon passed through the shadow of the Earth very early this morning. There hasn't been an eclipse like this in two years, and it was more remarkable because the Moon was at nearly the closest approach it ever makes, so it appeared a bit larger than normal. GEOTRIPPER: DAMNING DEL PUERTO CANYON, A GEOLOGICAL ANDAUTHOR: GARRY HAYESDEL PUERTO CANYONDEL PUERTO CANYON DAMDEL PUERTO CANYON FIRE UPDATEDEL PUERTO CANYON MAPDEL PUERTO CANYON ROADHISTORY OF DEL PUERTOCANYON
I awoke this morning mildly astonished to see my own words making up the headline of a Modesto Bee article about a proposed dam in Del Puerto Canyon, a deep gorge cutting into the heart of the Diablo Range in the western part of Stanislaus County.Del Puerto is one of the most unique landscapes of California's Coast Ranges, and as I noted, a geological and natural treasure. GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: SPRINGTIME ALONG THE The Great Western Divide? Where's that? My off and on blog series on the Other California is an exploration of the little-known places in my fair state with interesting, even fascinating geological features. Sequoia National Park might seem too familiar a place to be included as part of the "Other California", given that my own definition of the series is that it should include those places GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCKCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT CABINSCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT MAPCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARKCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARK MAPSTATION CAPE DISAPPOINTMENTWHERE IS CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT The mouth of the Columbia River is a nightmare for shipping. The discharge is more than enough to support even large freighters as far upstream as Portland, but the river carries vast amounts of sand and silt, and the shifting bars have caused vast numbers of shipwrecks. GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT Early on, I learned of Ron because of the "Schott Rule" in the "Where on (Google) Earth?" web contest. He was so good at tracking down the location of the most obscure Google image that as I recall, he had to wait to give others a chance to find the location. GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING Although it was right there on the state geologic map, few people seemed to notice that there was a little dot of volcanic rocks on one side of the San Andreas fault, and another 195 miles north along the fault on the other side of the fault. The rocks were broadly of the same age and general composition, but no one had carefully mapped them, and even more importantly, compared them. GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: HIGHWAY 108 AND DONNELLDONNELL VISTA CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA POINT HIGHWAY 108DONNELL LAKE CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA POINT DISAPPEARANCES Donnell Vista Point on Highway 108 about 18 miles above Pinecrest Lake and Strawberry is the site of today's exploration. The parking lot and quarter-mile trail to the viewpoint were recently renovated with funds provided by the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory. GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN My previous post on the geologic hazards of living at the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains resulted in a fair number of comments, essentially all correct, pointing out that the local inhabitants are threatened by earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, floods, fires, andpet-munching critters. Some also pointed out that every locality faces natural hazards, which is very true, but notGEOTRIPPER
The Moon passed through the shadow of the Earth very early this morning. There hasn't been an eclipse like this in two years, and it was more remarkable because the Moon was at nearly the closest approach it ever makes, so it appeared a bit larger than normal. GEOTRIPPER: DAMNING DEL PUERTO CANYON, A GEOLOGICAL ANDAUTHOR: GARRY HAYESDEL PUERTO CANYONDEL PUERTO CANYON DAMDEL PUERTO CANYON FIRE UPDATEDEL PUERTO CANYON MAPDEL PUERTO CANYON ROADHISTORY OF DEL PUERTOCANYON
I awoke this morning mildly astonished to see my own words making up the headline of a Modesto Bee article about a proposed dam in Del Puerto Canyon, a deep gorge cutting into the heart of the Diablo Range in the western part of Stanislaus County.Del Puerto is one of the most unique landscapes of California's Coast Ranges, and as I noted, a geological and natural treasure. GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: SPRINGTIME ALONG THE The Great Western Divide? Where's that? My off and on blog series on the Other California is an exploration of the little-known places in my fair state with interesting, even fascinating geological features. Sequoia National Park might seem too familiar a place to be included as part of the "Other California", given that my own definition of the series is that it should include those places GEOTRIPPER: THE DISAPPOINTING CAPE: LAND'S END AND ROCKCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT CABINSCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT MAPCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARKCAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARK MAPSTATION CAPE DISAPPOINTMENTWHERE IS CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT The mouth of the Columbia River is a nightmare for shipping. The discharge is more than enough to support even large freighters as far upstream as Portland, but the river carries vast amounts of sand and silt, and the shifting bars have caused vast numbers of shipwrecks. GEOTRIPPER: IN MEMORIAM: RON SCHOTT Early on, I learned of Ron because of the "Schott Rule" in the "Where on (Google) Earth?" web contest. He was so good at tracking down the location of the most obscure Google image that as I recall, he had to wait to give others a chance to find the location. GEOTRIPPER: GEOLOGIC CHANGE ALONG THE BIG SUR COASTLINE Okay, maybe a few people have chosen to take pictures of the scene above.The view of McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California is iconic. It is pretty much visible from only one trail and overlook, since the beach is (quite properly) closed to visitation (try googling an image from anyother angle).
GEOTRIPPER: IT SEEMS THAT HALF THE VOLCANO IS MISSING Although it was right there on the state geologic map, few people seemed to notice that there was a little dot of volcanic rocks on one side of the San Andreas fault, and another 195 miles north along the fault on the other side of the fault. The rocks were broadly of the same age and general composition, but no one had carefully mapped them, and even more importantly, compared them. GEOTRIPPER: THE OTHER CALIFORNIA: HIGHWAY 108 AND DONNELLDONNELL VISTA CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA POINT HIGHWAY 108DONNELL LAKE CALIFORNIADONNELL VISTA POINT DISAPPEARANCES Donnell Vista Point on Highway 108 about 18 miles above Pinecrest Lake and Strawberry is the site of today's exploration. The parking lot and quarter-mile trail to the viewpoint were recently renovated with funds provided by the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GEOTRIPPER: WHY NO ONE THINKS GEOLOGISTS HAVE A SENSE OF Yeah, we have this problem. People think we geologists have no sense of humor. Especially when it comes to geology jokes. Take this headline from the Onion News, please: SAN ANDREAS, CA—A local store specializing in fine china and delicate shelving was, for the 18th time this year, forced to re-order its entire inventory. GEOTRIPPER: FINDING FAULTS AND BOTTOMLESS LAKES IN My previous post on the geologic hazards of living at the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains resulted in a fair number of comments, essentially all correct, pointing out that the local inhabitants are threatened by earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, floods, fires, andpet-munching critters. Some also pointed out that every locality faces natural hazards, which is very true, but not GEOTRIPPER: A CONVERGENCE OF WONDERS, DAY 14: TREASURES We had reached the last few days of our travels through a Convergence of Wonders, a tour of the spectacular geology of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains.We had moved south to Vernal, Utah, and prepared to follow a road I had never been on, but which promised interesting things: Nine Mile Canyon. GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: ZERO HOUR AT LAVA Two very strange things happened to me when I climbed up to the scouting ledge at the top of the rapid. First, I didn't panic. It made a difference actually seeing the rapid, in contrast to thinking and pondering on the idea of a monster rapid.Somehow the analytical part of my mind was looking at the rapid and picking out the possible route through the pinball arrangement of holes, rocks and GEOTRIPPER: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT GEOLOGIC ROADCUTS The outcrop at Coulterville is the boundary between two terranes, bits of crust that were carried across the Pacific and added to the edge of the continent.The Calaveras Complex lies east of the fault, and the Foothills Terrane is found to the west. GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: HEAT...AND ALL THINGS It was our last full day on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, the Great Unknown as John Wesley Powell called it in 1869. One full day, and one more night on the life-giving stream of water through one of the spectacular canyons on Earth. GEOTRIPPER: THE SEQUOIA UNDERGROUND: AN EXPLORATION OF The trail itself is a pleasure, and a good introduction to the local geology. The rocks are part of the Kings Terrane, a group of metamorphic rocks that formed in a shallow marine setting in Triassic and Jurassic time (around 200-150 million years ago) with some partspossibly older.
GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: "DISASTER" IN NATIONAL It's hard to imagine the scale of the flood. Estimates put the flow at 15,000 cubic feet per second. To put that into perspective, the flow of the entire Colorado River for most of our journey was around 8,000to 12,000 cfs.
GEOTRIPPER: INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: WE RUN THE BIG RAPIDS The sun rose on day nine of our journey down the Colorado River, into the Great Unknown, as John Wesley Powell had called it.Powell and his men had a terrifying couple of days following their discovery ofBright Angel Creek.
GEOTRIPPER: PERMISSION TO PLAY: PICKING UP ROCKS IN Andrew Alden over at About.com Geology mentions a skill and privilege that geologists and rock/mineral lovers need to remind themselves they have: Permission to Play! In other words, get out and have some fun looking for stuff. I live in the middle of California, in a place that at first glance does not offer many chances to build a collection of nice specimens of rocks. GEOTRIPPER: REVISITING THE OTHER CALIFORNIA:THE STORY OF The Pine Creek Tungsten Mine was an extraordinary operation. Begun in 1918, the mine operated until 2001, producing (along with the Climax mine in Colorado) 93% of the tungsten produced in the United States as of 1977. Low cost imports led to the mothballing of the mine in 2001 although the operation remains in place should prices rise, or strategic concerns cause an increase in demand for GEOTRIPPER: JUNE 2013 We are into our third day on our journey through the Colorado Plateau, and yesterday we actually reached the plateau. We needed to get out of the Central Valley, cross the Sierra Nevada, and then make what once was a terrifying traverse of the dreaded Mojave Desert.GEOTRIPPER
News and views from the geologic realm MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020 INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN (REDUX II): JOURNEYING TO MY ROOTS, AND TO THEROOTS OF MOUNTAINS
_I was going over some of my old posts about my journey on the Colorado River in 2013 and came across this personal favorite, a post that discussed my own journey into geology back in 1976 during an earlier adventure of discovery in the Grand Canyon, on foot. It also included some of the most beautiful and dramatic rocks I have ever encountered. From August 30, 2013:_
The photo above is my favorite self portrait from my journey down the Colorado River, into the Great Unknown.
It's true that I appear in only a half dozen of my two thousand pictures from the trip, but this one captures best the sense of wonderment that I felt during the entire 227 mile long boating adventure. It was taken on one of the really special days of the trip, when we reached the ancients roots of a massive mountain range that today is long gone. It was also a day when I explored the roots of my own life adventure as a geologist and teacher. And a day when I started to pay really close attention to the rapidson the river.
As a passenger on a raft (really, only a fool would allow me access to the oars in any rapid bigger than a riffle), we trust the boatmen. They are the ones who can quickly read and assess a rapid, either by standing up and observing just before entering, or by pulling ashore and scouting from above. They are the ones who make the snap decisions in the midst of chaos, deciding in an instant whether to pull left or right to get by the unexpected hole or pourover or eddy wall. They are the ones who keep their cool when the giant waves threaten to completely envelop the raft and sometimes tip it over (flipping is a _highly_ undesirable outcome in a rapid; there's nothing fun about it at all). We trust them, and when they do their job really well, a passenger can actually become a bit complacent. If we've managed 40 or 50 rapids without problems, well, it can't really be that hard can it? And that's when things can get dicey. Passengers play an important role in the run of a rapid, so we have to be paying attention as well. It's hard to imagine that pulling the oars makes any difference in the chaos of a rapid, but it does make a big one. Inches sometimes count. And when the raft threatens to flip over, the passengers have to be thinking fast enough to "highside", to fling themselves towards the rising side of the boat during a tip-over, using their weight to hopefully push the boat back towardsthe horizontal.
Why was I suddenly watching rapids with a renewed interest? We had reached the point on the river where John Wesley Powell was inspired to write one of his most famous passages, the one which also inspired the name of this blog series: _We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown...We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth...We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river yet to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not._ The next morning he adds: _At daybreak we walk down the bank of the river, on a little sandy beach, to take a view of a new feature in the canyon. Heretofore, hard rocks have given us bad river; soft rocks, smooth water; and a series of rocks harder than any we have experienced sets in. The river entersthe granite!_
_
_ _We can see but a little way into the granite gorge, but it looksthreatening._
He and the mountain men who served as his crew had already been on the the river system for two months, and with their inadequate clumsy boats had run or portaged many dozens of rapids that were terrifying. They were running very low on food (the diet: unleavened flour, dried apples and rancid bacon). And now the nature of the rocks exposed along the river promised rapids far worse than any they had encountered upstream. Why were the rapids worse? Indirectly, it was indeed the harder rocks. They were entering a part of the canyon composed of harder rocks than anywhere else along the river. It isn't the rocks themselves that make bad rapids, though. The river does not fall over ledges and waterfalls. Rapids on the Colorado River happen because of debris flows that enter the channel from the small tributary canyons. The debris in essence dams the river and forces the river channel to the side, making the cross-sectional area of the channel much smaller. Since the same amount of water in a river passes a given point in a given amount of time (cubic feet per second is one measure), the river must speed up to pass the barrier. You can see this effect in the picture above in Nevill's Rapid. The severity of a rapid is determined by the volume and size of the boulders in the debris flows, and canyons cut into harder rocks produce larger boulders. Sprinkling a few giant boulders throughout a rapid turns a riffle into a terrifying roller coaster ride. So that was the day we were facing. We would be entering the Granite Gorge of the Grand Canyon for the first time, and we would now need to run a gauntlet of the biggest rapids to be found on the entire river. It started with Hance (8 on a scale of 10), Sockdolager (7), and Grapevine (7). The next day would include Horn Creek (9). The day after that, Granite (8), Hermit (8), and the ultimate rapid, Crystal (10). These would be followed the same day by the seven rapids of the gemstones (Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Emerald, Ruby and Serpentine, ranging from 5 to 7). And 70 miles downstream (with plenty more rapids in-between) Lava Falls (10) awaited our arrival. We came around a bend in the river, and I encountered a familiar sight in the midst of the Great Unknown. I had been here before! Not on a river rafting expedition, but on a backpacking trip in 1976. It had been one of the most important events in my young life, because it was the trip that set me on the road to becoming a geologist and teacher. Geology of the Grand Canyon was actually one of the more difficult courses I had ever taken because not only did we need to master a lot of geology in a short time, but we also had to prepare for a challenging backpack down and then back up a series of officially unmaintained trails in the canyon (the New Hance and Grandview trails). The co-requisite for the class was a 2 unit physical education course in backcountry camping that including an entirely separate shakedown trip in the mountains of Southern California. When I came out of the Grand Canyon six days later I knew what I wanted todo with my life.
Of course, a few things have changed since 1976. Geotripper weighs, um, a lot more than that gawky teenager on the right in the picture below. Picture quality has improved, not so much because of better photographers, but it used to be expensive to take and develop pictures, so we never took very many. Plus we were using the old Kodak Instamatic cameras or something similar. Still, seeing these pictures a few years ago on Facebook (thanks to J. Elson) brought a shock of memories, and now for the first time in forty years I was once again standing at the rapid that made a geologist out of me. Only this time my mind was on other things. Back then when we finished, we turned around and started hiking back out of the canyon. We were about to run a major Grand Canyon rapid in boats that suddenly seemed really small. Just like these river rafters in 1976. I noticed that the two biggest boulders haven't moved, and that the rapid was as chaotic looking as ever. We had reached the base of the Grand Canyon Supergroup, and could now see the three formations that make up the oldest units: the Shinumo Quartzite, the bright red Hakatai Shale, and the basal Bass Limestone (intruded by basaltic dikes). The rocks are tilted about 15 degrees, giving the illusion that the river gradient is even steeper than it already seems. It can't have been a comforting sight to Powell and hismen in 1869.
The Grand Canyon Supergroup sits on a mountain range of Andean proportions. Or more properly stated, the layers were deposited on the low erosional plain left behind when a mountain range of Andean proportions was completely washed away. The black schists and reddish granite intrusions once lay some five miles deep in the crust, and now they have been laid bare by the cutting of the Grand Canyon. The rocks today are called the Granite Gorge Metamorphic Suite, and they formed in a series of collisions between a group of volcanic islands (called terranes), and the ancient North American continent around 1.7 billion years ago. The metamorphic schist and gness units were intruded by granitic magmas at intervals between 1.7 and 1.4 billion years ago. And now those rocks are exposed in the very deepest part of the Grand Canyon. We successfully negotiated Hance Rapid (not without getting positively soaked), and looking back upstream, I could see the basalt dike that I had found so utterly fascinating on my first trip into the canyon. The canyon was dark, but I did not feel as sense of brooding. I was exhilarated, my imagination seeing the peaks and canyons that must have existed here in the distant past, mountain slopes which would have been utterly lifeless and barren. Deep gorges must have been cut by rushing rivers that were never seen by any living thing. Entire Grand Canyons could have been carved here and we will never know of their existence. We now entered a fascinating world of exceedingly rugged vertical canyon walls. The silt and sand polished the hard granite and metamorphic rock. Sockdolager Rapid (the word is an archaic term for knockout blow in boxing) was a fun ride, nothing like the terror-filled lining and portage in Powell's writings. It was hard to find a spot to scout, so the boatmen checked out the rapid by standing up as they approached. Between rapids the river was calm, and the canyon walls rose straightfrom the water.
The metamorphic suite was composed of the most diverse and beautiful rocks that I had seen anywhere on the trip. The polishing simply added to the beautiful sculpted appearance of the rock. We arrived at camp in Cremation Canyon by 2:30. We had pulled in early because we would be saying goodbye to three of our fellow travelers who would be hiking out of the canyon from Phantom Ranch, and meeting three others who would take their place for the remainder of ourjourney.
I turned in early once again...tomorrow we faced the biggest rapids sofar on the trip.
Posted by Garry Hayesat 11:07 PM
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2020 INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWNN (REDUX): A JOURNEY DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON As some of you remember, I took a rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 2013 with my brother's family. I later did an extended blog series on the journey, and I've compiled the posts in their original order, so you can follow whole story inone place.
I've been reliving the journey in my mind these last couple of weeks because I just finished an outstanding book called "The Emerald Mile"by Kevin Fedarko
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It describes an epic river journey during the singular flood event on the Colorado River that nearly destroyed Glen Canyon Dam. Instead of just being about the race down the river, it is a fascinating history of the exploration of the Colorado and the "taming" of the river by the giant (yet vulnerable) dams that were placed in its path. And it is a nail-biter of a narrative about the efforts of engineers to contain a failing dam in the face of an unprecedented flood (there are echoes of the more recent near-disaster at Oroville Dam here in California a few years ago). The story resonated with me for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I was imperiled by the insane raging waters of Crystal Rapid, though not at the crazy flows of 1983. I found myself reliving so many aspects of my journey down the river. The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is both a tourist "bucket list" thing that has become very popular (and therefore potentially dangerous for those who underestimate the river), but it also is a journey of the spirit and body through one of the great wilderness areas left on Earth. Here are the posts... Rafting the Colorado River: This is the original post in the series, explaining how I got there, and what I was feeling about a journey that I waited forty years tocomplete.
Everything you wanted to know about rafting on the Grand Canyon butwere afraid to ask
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A description of what's involved in a 16 day journey on a river with no stores, bathrooms or trashcans. Cloudburst (x2)! And Off We Go: Two intense thunderstorms give us a muddy sendoff down the river. Page and other towns got pounded that week by flooding. Passing through the Permian Period:
Our first day on the river takes us through the upper layers of the Grand Canyon, the Permian-aged Kaibab, Toroweap, Coconino and Hermitformations.
Whodunnit? A Mountain Range Goes Missing:
The Hermit Formation and Supai Group provide evidence of the existence of a long-eroded mountain in southwest Colorado. And I row a raft forthe first time!
Visions of Paradise and a Bug's Horror:
We enter Marble Canyon, dominated by the beautiful cliffs and caverns of the Redwall Limestone. A beetle has a tough day. Exploring 300 million year old and 50 year old caves (and some fossilhunting)
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We explore Nautiloid Canyon and an exhumed Paleozoic cavern. We also see evidence of a bone-headed plan to dam Marble Canyon. It would have been an unspeakable crime... Looking for the Rivers within the Rivers of Marble Canyon:
The Devonian Period is represented only by the Temple Butte Formation and the exposures are discontinuous because they were originally only the fill within eroded stream valleys. Plus a cool side trip to asmall waterfall.
We interrupt this scenery for a very recent flash flood and abiological disaster
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The cloudbursts we experienced a few days earlier caused some flooding in the side canyons. And a look at the tamarisk tree, an invasivespecies.
Catching an Iconic Scene in the Grand Canyon, and a Bi-Colored River:
The small Ancestral Puebloan granaries above Nankoweap Canyon are one of the more famous sights on the river, but oh, what a climb! And floodwaters in the Little Colorado change the color of the main river. Living in a Thomas Moran Painting, and Through a Canyon Storm:
A passing storm gives the canyon a dreamy impressionistic look. I get my favorite picture, and I don't get overly wet; there were too many gigantic boulders to cower under. In the depths of the Grand Canyon there are three more Grand Canyons...Checking out the Supergroup: There is around 12,000 feet of ancient sediments and volcanic intrusions tucked in the deepest parts of the canyon, and they are only accessible by river or long hot hikes. We give them a look. Journeying to my Roots, and to the Roots of Mountains: We reach some of the monster rapids, including Hance. It was here in 1976 that I was becoming a geology major on my very first field studies class. Who is that gawky thin kid? Exploring the Heart of a Long-Gone Mountain Range (and words fromhome)
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In the bottom of the Grand Canyon there are the roots of a huge mountain range that formed before complex life even existed on our planet. And I hear words from home for the first time in week. We Run the Big Rapids, Sometimes in Rafts:
We run three of the biggest rapids on the Colorado River. I experience something I haven't felt in a long time: terror. We flipped on the biggest rapid and I took a long cold swim through the 10-foot waves and the Rock Garden. The Aftermath of Chaos...Finding Beauty in the Oldest Rocks of GrandCanyon:
The Granite Gorge was a terror-filled place for John Wesley Powell and his men in 1869, but for me on a day after the rapids disaster it wasa beautiful place.
The Hidden Places and Putting a Hand Across 1.2 Billion Years: Every side canyon in the Grand Canyon holds a treasure. We visited two, the Elve's Chasm and Blacktail Canyon, and we laid our hands across 1.2 billion years at the Great Unconformity. We also met with a herd of bighorn sheep. Crossing the Great Unconformity Again...But Which One? There are really two major unconformities in the depths of the canyon (and more than a dozen more minor ones). We got a glimpse of the angular unconformity, and explored the billion year old sills, intrusions of basaltic rock that lined the canyon for a few miles. A Gigantic Failure Produces One of the Most Beautiful Sights in theGrand Canyon:
Slope failure and landslides had as much to do with the formation of the Grand Canyon as the Colorado River. At Deer Creek, a landslide produced one of the most beautiful canyons and waterfalls in theentire canyon.
Mad Cats and Amoebas? Trying to Keep Names Straight in the GrandCanyon:
Not many people saw this post for some reason, but Matkatamiba Canyon is one of the prettier side canyons on the river, and one of the favorites of the veterans of previous river trips. "Disaster" in National Canyon, and the Volcanoes of Grand Canyon:
An unbelievable flood last year, and an unbelievable amount of basalt lava in Grand Canyon. And just like that we are facing Lava Falls, the single worst rapid on the river, in turbulence if not length. Zero Hour at Lava Falls: A story of courage, redemption and the triumph of the human spirit? No. I tried to ride Lava Falls in a raft, but had to swim instead. Involuntarily. See the video version! Vulcan the fire god says "You call that little piece of concrete adam?:
Lava dams in the Grand Canyon may have stood 2,000 feet high, and may have backed up dams for three hundred miles or more upstream. Heat...and All Things Beautiful: It was post-Lava Falls, and one of the hottest days we had on the river. And the beauty surrounded us, in the water, in the cliffs, andin the animals.
The Last Day...An Elegy for a Journey, and for a River: I didn't want to leave. The last two miles on the river were the most precious of all, drifting slowly in the current. And then it was over. We derigged and made our ways to our homes, and the Colorado justrolled on.
Posted by Garry Hayesat 10:57 PM
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Kevin Fedarko
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Emerald Mile
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2020 THE ISLANDS OF INTERIOR CALIFORNIA: THE PYGMY MAMMOTHS AND THE DOOMEDSKY ISLANDS
An 80,000-year-old pygmy mammoth tusk discovered on Santa Rosa Island. (Image credit: Daniel Muhs, USGS.) The waves crash against the cliff, tearing at the rock on Santa Rosa Island off of Southern California. The face of the cliff is in constant retreat, changing yearly, and sometimes daily as more of the rock disappears into the surf. In one brief moment, a visitor notices a strange object exposed in the cliff. Is it a tree trunk? No, that white stuff is ivory...it's a tusk! There were elephants on the island! How in the world did that happen? The presence of fossils of elephantine species on the island has been known since the late 1800s, and a survey in the late 1990s discovered at least 150 sites with remains of the creatures, now called the Pygmy Mammoth (_Mammuthus exilis_). There is little doubt that these creatures were descended from the mainland's Columbian Mammoth, but as their name suggests, they were small. A full-sized Columbian Mammoth stood 14 feet high, but the Pygmy Mammoth was only half as high at most, and perhaps a quarter the weight. A nearly complete skeleton discovered and excavated in 1994, and the adult was only 5.5 feet tall(below).
Pygmy mammoth skeleton found on Santa Rosa Island in 1994. It was 5.5 feet tall (Image: © Bill Faulkner, NPS) It seems impossible that mammoths could have made it out to the islands, and under current conditions it probably would be. The nearest island is more than 20 miles away from the mainland. But things were much different 150,000 years ago. A phase of the ice ages was ongoing, and when a vast ice sheet covered Canada and 30% of the United States, sea level was around 300-400 feet lower than today. The four main Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa) would have been a single large island, which has been given the name Santarosae. The open water gap between the island and the mainland was only about 4.5 miles. Elephants actually are excellent swimmers, what with having a natural snorkel and all. Present-day elephants have been documented as have swam more than 20 miles. So it is not hard to imagine mammoths on the mainland, perhaps suffering food shortages because of drought or wildfires, catching the scent of fresh vegetation on the islands and swimming out to investigate. A population was established, but then things began to change. The ice age was ending and the globe was warming up. The ice melted and sea rose to near today's level. The single large island was inundated, forming the four islands of today, and the total area was reduced by 76%. For the mammoths, this was a crisis. The islands were no longer big enough to support the mammothpopulation.
Outline of Santarosae and the present-day Channel Islands (Image credit: U. S. Geological Survey) The outcome might come as a surprise because the cliché about evolution is sometimes misstated as "survival of the strongest". It is actually the survival of the best adapted. Although the biggest mammoths may have been able to consume much of the decreasing food supply, their dietary needs were also much higher. The evolutionary lottery favors those individuals who have the best adaptations for the specific environment, and it was the runts of the litter who could survive on less food. Over time the size of the adults decreased until they constituted a new species, the _Mammuthus exilis_. They survived on the islands for tens of thousands of years (from at least 80,000 years before present).
In the end, the Pygmy Mammoths also succumbed to extinction sometime around 12,000 years ago.
Their disappearance coincided with the extinction of numerous other large mammals in North America, the "megafauna". Many reasons have been offered as hypotheses, but the cause (or causes) remain elusive. It needs to be noted that humans arrived on the islands around 11,000 years ago, and the small mammoths would have had few defenses againstarmed human beings.
As we can see, islands are places of refuge, but they can also be a prison of no escape. Which brings us to the doomed sky islands of theMojave Desert.
The New York Mountains in the Mojave National Preserve (image credit: Garry Hayes) People may envision a number of stereotypes of what constitutes a desert. Many people see vast seas of sand dunes, while others may see mesas and spires inspired by childhood memories of Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons. Others might see a landscape of huge saguaro cacti. These kinds of deserts exist of course, but except for several dune fields here and there, they don't exist in California. The deserts of eastern California (along with parts of Arizona and Utah, and all of Nevada) are within the Basin and Range Province, a region of the Earth's crust that has been stretched and broken into hundreds of high mountain ranges and deep faulted basins. The Clark Mountains as seen from Kokoweef (image credit Garry Hayes) Because the relief (the difference between the highest and lowest points) can range up to two miles, these mountain ranges encompass numerous life zones or ecosystems, from the hottest barren salt flat to alpine peaks. These mountains constitute rich biologic islands that are analogous to the Channel Islands off the coast of California. And like the Channel Islands, some of the inhabitants are ultimatelydoomed.
Because the mountain peaks are so isolated, one might not expect much diversity, but these environments are not static nor were they always isolated. They were influenced by the ice ages, even though the ice fields never reached the arid region. The climate was cooler and wetter so trees more characteristic of the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada were able to migrate into the region, including the Rocky Mountain White Fir. But as the ice age waned, the rising temperatures and growing aridity caused the trees to retreat higher and higher into the mountains. If the mountains weren't high enough, the trees were extinguished. In the present day, only three islands remain that possess the Rocky Mountain White Fir: the New York Mountains, Clark Mountain, and Kingston Peak. Scene from the Kingston Peak area (Image credit: Bureau of LandManagement )
None of these relict forests are easy to get to, and I have never had the privilege. And unfortunately I may never have the chance because these trees are ultimately doomed. They are at the very edge of survival, clinging to the cooler north-facing slopes in a micro-climate that is just wet enough to allow the trees to cling to life. As the world continues to warm up, the dry desert will continue creep up the mountain slopes, ultimately "flooding" the last trees inhot dry air.
Image
credit: https://www.amargosaconservancy.org/native-plants-wildlife/ We will never fully comprehend the full effects the changes on our planet brought about by global warming and climate change. In the mountains of the Mojave Desert, the "islands" are not occupied just by fir trees. There are dozens of species that shelter within these small forests and they will disappear too. It's a small corner of the world rarely visited by humans, but climate change is global, and there are literally millions of micro-environments like these that will disappear without ever being studied or appreciated. It's a crying shame and all the more tragic considering we've lost three decades of time that we could have acted on behalf of our planet.Image
credit: https://www.amargosaconservancy.org/native-plants-wildlife/ Posted by Garry Hayesat 11:29 PM
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,
Santarosae
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2020 THE ISLANDS OF INTERIOR CALIFORNIA: THE LITTLEST ISLANDS OF ALL Red Hill with the southern Sierra Nevada in the distance How often in life have you stepped back from the rat race and considered your life and your place in the cosmos? Wondered why you are here and what does it all mean? Do your conclusions and philosophy change over time? Or is life just such a rush that you deal with it, and look back and wonder where all the time went? If there is one thing we learn as we delve into geology, it is that time is a relative thing. We look at someone a hundred years old, and we think of a century as a very long time. And yet a human lifetime is miniscule in the face of geologic time on earth. The world has existed for _45 million centuries._ Whatever his other failings, Richard Dawkins put our existence into perspective nicely: > _"After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally > opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with color, > bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. > Isn’t it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in > the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come > to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked—as I am > surprisingly often—why I bother to get up in the mornings." _ With that idea in mind, can you imagine how ancient we humans would look to a creature that lives an entire life within maybe three or four weeks? That's where we find ourselves today, within the smallest of California's "islands".
By "islands", I'm referring to the isolated sources of water within one of the harshest deserts in the world, Death Valley and the surrounding Basin and Range Province. Red Hill (top picture) is a cinder cone and associated basaltic lava flow situated between the Sierra Nevada and the Coso Range south of Owens Lake. The lavas are tens of thousands of years old, maybe even several hundred thousand. This area is desert today, but several times in the last two million years global cooling radically changed the climate in the region. Meltwater from the Sierra Nevada glaciers filled Mono Lake Basin and Owens Lake to overflowing, and the resulting river flowed south towards China Lake and ultimately toDeath Valley.
Water is a rare phenomenon at Fossil Falls. This is a shot from several years ago on a very wet trip. Lava spilled out across the valley floor and blocked the flow of the ancestral Owens River, and the river formed a 40 foot tall waterfall. Over time erosion attacked the lava, causing the lip of the fall to migrate upstream. Pebbles rolling in the current started grinding out potholes in the lava, some small, and some more than ten feet deep. When the climate warmed up during the last 10,000 years, the river dried up and only the potholes and abandoned waterfall remain. It's a fascinating place to explore. But islands? The small potholes have their own kind of story, one of the persistence of life in the face of the harshest conditions imaginable. The potholes are natural collection sites, capturing windblown dust and silt as well as seeds and most importantly to this story, the eggs of small creatures, possibly carried in the mud adhering to the feet of birds. During storms water collects in some of the potholes (_very_ small islands of water in the midst of a desert). I can imagine the birds finding water in the potholes and stopping for a drink, with the eggs washing off in the water...and eventuallyhatching.
Within these pools are complete ecosystems of creatures who must live their entire lives on a scale of a few weeks. It begins with birth when a pothole is filled with water and ends in death when the water evaporates. The creatures include small fairy shrimp and what I assume are ostracods, small bivalved crustaceans. These animals are the distant and yet direct descendants of the first complex forms of life that evolved on this planet some 500 million years ago, creatures like trilobites and sea scorpions. Their original ancestors were creatures of the sea, requiring water to survive. They still require water today, but water is a precious and rare commodity in the desert environment. To survive, these descendants evolved eggs that could survive years of desiccation in a harsh desert environment. One could speculate in a slightly humorous vein that these creatures don't have a whole lot of time to consider their place in the cosmos, and don't have much of a chance to ask themselves why they exist when life is compressed to a few weeks at best. But consider how short our lives are in the face of vast time across the Universe. Are we all that much more aware of ourselves? A Fairy Shrimp (carrying an egg sac). The "sesame seeds" are Ostracods, very small bivalved crustaceans who were in constantmotion.
This is the first installment of a mini-blog series about the biological islands of interior California, an exploration of the geological conditions that allow life to survive in the harsh deserts in the vicinity of Death Valley National Park. Fossil Falls is readily accessible to travelers on Highway 395 between Ridgecrest/Inyokern and Lone Pine. The one mile gravel road is a few miles south of the rest area at Coso Junction and just north of Little Lake. The falls themselves are at the end of a quarter mile walk across the lava flow. A small and decidedly barren campground is nearby. In addition to the potholes and falls, explorers can also find petroglyphs and small shelters where Native Americans carved arrowheads and spear pointsfrom obsidian.
Posted by Garry Hayesat 11:07 PM
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potholes , Red
Hill , Seed
Shrimp
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 THE ISLANDS OF INTERIOR CALIFORNIA: A NEW GEOTRIPPER SERIES I've always been fascinated by islands. I visit the Hawaiian Islands every chance I get, and I am literally haunted by the vast expanses of open ocean that separate the islands from any other landmasses. It's an odd combination of loneliness and wonder. It's not something you ever feel when you are staying in Waikiki hotels and sunning yourself on a crowded beach. The sense of isolation comes when you spend time in the rainforests, the alpine deserts, and the barren volcano slopes. When you read about and experience the incredible biological isolation, it becomes an incredible story of survival and adaptation that has produced hundreds of unique endemic species found nowhereelse in the world.
Which leads to a question: what does that have to do with a bunch of pictures of localities in the California desert? I was in Death Valley National Park for much of the past week, and while I was teaching a field course, I also had a few moments of observation and reflection about life in the desert. I was watching for bird species in particular, and I was struck by an odd contradiction: Death Valley (Furnace Creek specifically) has more bird species (339) than my county in California's Great Valley (315). It doesn't seem possible, since conditions are far more benign at home, and in fact the Great Valley can support vastly greater numbers of birds. But Death Valley has a way of forcing more species together in one place where they can be seen and recorded...it is a system of biological islands. The islands are made of water, and the intervening space is largely barren land. The concept of biologic islands in a landscape is not a new concept at all, so I am not introducing any kind of new idea here. It's just that I sensed the concept more than usual during the recent trip. So in the next few posts I want to describe some of the unique and different "islands" that exist in the California desert, and the geological conditions that caused them. Some of these we explored last week, but as I considered the idea of a series, I thought of a few unique spots I've visited in earlier journeys, so I will include a few of them aswell.
Coming up in the next post: the spot that made me think of islands inthe first place...
Part 1: The Littlest Islands of All Posted by Garry Hayesat 9:55 PM
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* Garry Hayes
I am a teacher of geology at Modesto Junior College and former president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Far Western Section. I have led field trips all over the western United States, and a few excursions overseas, but my homebase is the Sierra Nevada, the Great Valley, and the Coast Ranges of California. View my complete profileASK GEOTRIPPER
Is there something about geology that you are curious about? Do you have questions about the scientific aspects of political controversies? I can try to provide a scientist's perspective. Your questions and possible answers could be a springboard to a blog discussion, or they can be private. Anonymity is always assumed. Contact Geotripper at hayesg (at) mjc.edu.GEOBLOGGER FEEDS
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* Urban Legends at Snopes.com BLOOKS, BOOGERS AND BLERIES Here are some of the series I've produced for the Geotripper Blog: The Other California: what to see when you've seen all the really famous places in the Golden State (in progress). Into the Great Unknown: A rafting journey down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The most incredible adventure of my life (sofar)!
The Hawai'i That Was:
An exploration of the geology, natural history, and anthropology of the most isolated lands on the planet. It's a lot more than beaches, shopping, and palm trees! Vagabonding on Dangerous Ground:
An exploration of the Cascadia Subduction Zone from Northern California to British Columbia Where the Sierra Nevada Rises from the Sea: A journey through the Salinian Block, the displaced Sierran rocks between Big Sur and Point Reyes on the California Coast Driving Across the Most Dangerous Plate Boundary in the World:
A journey across the former subduction zone that formed much of Central California, including the Coast Ranges, the Great Valley, andthe Sierra Nevada.
Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel:
A journey through the geological wonderland in central Nevada, Utahand Colorado.
A Convergence of Wonders,
a compilation of posts on our journey through the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains in 2011.The Abandoned Lands
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a compilation of posts on our journey around the margins of the Colorado Plateau in 2012. Out of nowhere, a strange political issue: California's state rock is serpentine, and there is a effort to remove it. Learn why we shouldn't in this series of posts on a beautiful rock.
Time Beyond Imagining: A "Brief" History of the Colorado Plateau - this was an extended exploration of the geology of one of the great geological showplaces on planet Earth Under the Volcano and Into the Abyss: Yosemite National Park - Exploring a few of the lesser known corners of Yosemite Valley, from below and from above The Airliner Chronicles: My First Blog Series - Seeing geology from the perspective of seven miles above. See Of Vooks and Blooks(and
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