tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71649618394416890072024-02-07T15:10:04.683-07:00Clastic FillA Nontrad's Journey Through SchoolAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-24642957987329517592013-06-15T14:51:00.002-06:002013-06-15T14:51:46.167-06:00The end of an era, or eon, ok maybe an age at best.<div class="MsoNormal">
When I first started this blog I had just moved to a new
town where I didn’t know anyone but my boyfriend. I was taking 17 freshman
level undergraduate credits at a new school (five of which were online) and I
was not working a job. Needless to say,
this was an outlet for not only being social, but a way to write about my new
found love of Geology. Many of the bloggers I followed previous to starting were
women in academics, either as professors or graduate students and many posted
under pseudonyms. So, I followed this
trend in setting up my blog separate from my personal accounts. While I wasn’t so busy, it was much easier
for me to keep up with semi regular-posting. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the past two and a half years I have added a second major
(chemistry) gained three jobs (tutor, teaching assistant, research assistant)
and not to mention a bit of a social life and my blog has been neglected. The
one thing I do know is that I still find time to check my personal google+ account
and post fairly often. Because of this I have decided to restart the blog
engine, so to speak, back on my personal account. I love what I do and don’t
feel the need to be anonymous anymore.
So I hope you join me on my new journey at <a href="http://clasticphile.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Clasticphile</a> (yeah a little
different title, but I still like clastics ;) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Also, here is a picture of some lazy cats.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLBqu61kOjjp-mxUcC6Jedhuw9aGbGVgSbj5jxk4KgZRd4glm00Zo0l7fR5iRPwddJh9qSkIYJ-xy1i_kUYdLpheogZt-RVUz1cVhItLMq5HcrbzE5yLE43S7Ah9506reZFHkz89gMxA/s1600/Photo0239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLBqu61kOjjp-mxUcC6Jedhuw9aGbGVgSbj5jxk4KgZRd4glm00Zo0l7fR5iRPwddJh9qSkIYJ-xy1i_kUYdLpheogZt-RVUz1cVhItLMq5HcrbzE5yLE43S7Ah9506reZFHkz89gMxA/s320/Photo0239.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm touching you, I'm touching you, does this bother you?<br /></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-24351732737079260042013-01-30T21:02:00.001-07:002013-01-30T21:02:30.723-07:00Procrastination and AirplanesA new post you say? A new post I say! Indeed I have been horrible at updating this thing, but tonight (due to procrastination of homework and a need to look at pretty pictures) I present my own "Airliner Chronicles" a la <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/108945799992481342099" target="_blank">+Garry Hayes</a> style.<br />
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These photos were taken on a flight from Grand Junction, CO to Denver, CO. They are a little blurry due to the fact that they were taken with my phone, and I was behind the wing, but I still managed to get some alright shots.<br />
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This is the view within a few minutes of leaving Grand Junction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAr0OHRd1wMT2K-CXttJazWeaTJRyDvfG0oVhBtMP0BjJURdg_JWZGly8cWkSGrPstvwyZHb2ezA7Z8c-_bNftAwVjCI3tFab5QkCsBleWwUWgboyBFFQUJgBhq0B-U26186Bo3LT8eA/s1600/Photo0247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAr0OHRd1wMT2K-CXttJazWeaTJRyDvfG0oVhBtMP0BjJURdg_JWZGly8cWkSGrPstvwyZHb2ezA7Z8c-_bNftAwVjCI3tFab5QkCsBleWwUWgboyBFFQUJgBhq0B-U26186Bo3LT8eA/s400/Photo0247.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bright white area is an old alien landing strip, or so I've been told.</td></tr>
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<br />Actually, that flat white landform under the wing is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mesa" target="_blank">Grand Mesa</a>. It is made up of a series of basaltic lava flows which originated to the east from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissure_vent" target="_blank">fissure style eruptions</a>. The flows range in age from 9-11 Ma and overlie thousands of feet Cenozoic to Mesozoic rocks. Basalt slump blocks flank the edges of Grand Mesa creating lakes which are used for recreation. At heights averaging around 10,000ft, it towers above the Grand Valley in which Grand Junction lies at 4,500 ft. Why is everything so grand around here? Well it is home to the confluence of the Grand River (now named the Colorado)and the Gunnison River. Recently (within the last couple years) river gravels have been discovered directly under the lava flows. The origin of these are currently subject to debate as to whether they belong to an ancestral Colorado River, Gunnison River or possibly both! (At the beginning of January I was in Arizona at the <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/laserchron.org/laserchron/home/" target="_blank">Arizona LaserChron Center</a> processing a sample from these gravels. Unfortunately with the new semester starting I have yet to review the data.)<br />
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Heading further east, we encounter the <a href="http://www.cliffshade.com/colorado/black_canyon/index.htm#west_elks" target="_blank">West Elk Mountains</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5METsmVJQB5pvdG9ONzH_zG9Jhep6yzw10mj_VGGicf6GFAVNBg7tkUDAA2weivz0zHxa9SdOjKy453uS-FussDhSNXDKH4XM-osDvjc1mmspu_t0tLp4oRsNJrDCmFXLwqUlk3wg3w/s1600/mt.+Gunnison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5METsmVJQB5pvdG9ONzH_zG9Jhep6yzw10mj_VGGicf6GFAVNBg7tkUDAA2weivz0zHxa9SdOjKy453uS-FussDhSNXDKH4XM-osDvjc1mmspu_t0tLp4oRsNJrDCmFXLwqUlk3wg3w/s400/mt.+Gunnison.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And a bit less blurry photography as well!</td></tr>
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In the foreground lies Mt. Gunnison with several other peaks in the background. These tell a story of Oligocene volcanic activity in Colorado and are made up of several volcanic tufts and breccias which overlie the same sedimentary rocks as the Grand Mesa. Glacial activity accentuated the peaks into the sharp <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier" target="_blank">aretes and horns</a> we see today, although they are much less dramatic than the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Mountains" target="_blank">San Juan Mountains</a> which hold the same history.<br />
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Onward to South Park! No, not the TV show, but the actual South Park in Colorado.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzoOpWvSRlnUjOFIdZtCRBOweX5wdaCMDC5xvsQIFHpU89oQ6Rw_ddtOq-6WhYd22kVcFrsCpNjL-9Q5BCx1UpEGjMYilhpnKx9XwgVgWwbtzcVoidPl3Zs7Hgl2-wP606LvapPyu7wM/s1600/Photo0253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzoOpWvSRlnUjOFIdZtCRBOweX5wdaCMDC5xvsQIFHpU89oQ6Rw_ddtOq-6WhYd22kVcFrsCpNjL-9Q5BCx1UpEGjMYilhpnKx9XwgVgWwbtzcVoidPl3Zs7Hgl2-wP606LvapPyu7wM/s400/Photo0253.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at the friendly places everywhere and humble folks without temptation!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_(Colorado_basin)" target="_blank">South Park</a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncline" target="_blank">synclinal</a> feature and is one of the high basins in Colorado along with North Park, Middle Park and the San Luis Valley. South Park sits between the Front Range to the east and the Sawatch Range to the west which contains several of Colorado's <a href="http://www.14ers.com/" target="_blank">14ers</a> and boasts the headwaters of the Arkansas River.<br />
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While the Arkansas flows south out of the valley, we head north and eastward towards Denver to find the beginnings of a new river, the South Platte.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpiTkxnJDhxozvQcEVhEBLO6NGBYK_UUCLOcOOrQeuY2S7IVFqIbkgPsLBhg2Hh0uUSd_XSHyPp_hZSJwkJh5O6YUr-bLbvzt-oCUkEMTCLlPZ1C2We9SOUva980SBTBnS-6zSeOfsm8/s1600/Photo0260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpiTkxnJDhxozvQcEVhEBLO6NGBYK_UUCLOcOOrQeuY2S7IVFqIbkgPsLBhg2Hh0uUSd_XSHyPp_hZSJwkJh5O6YUr-bLbvzt-oCUkEMTCLlPZ1C2We9SOUva980SBTBnS-6zSeOfsm8/s400/Photo0260.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! Racing Stripes!</td></tr>
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<br />It is here we encounter the boundary between the physiological divisions of the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. The displacement in this region along the many faults reaches upwards of 7,000 feet in places. The long ribbons of rock were formed when the Rocky Mountains were uplifted relative to the Great Plains, shoving any rock covering them upwards as well. Chiefly made of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_Formation" target="_blank">Fountain Formation</a> which is eroded remains of the ancestral Rocky Mountains, these hogbacks run for miles along the Front Range and include sites such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rocks_Park" target="_blank">Red Rocks amphitheater</a> in Morrison, Colorado and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatirons" target="_blank">Flatirons</a> in Boulder. The break in these ridges about midway in the picture are due to the South Platte River exiting the Rocky Mountains an creating a path out onto the Great Plains.<br />
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This brings us to our last photo.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjez9W2W3gp0Qw-KboiE9E_bvif9BhYTJ7Ck-1fs9tgfMgm7NIyqOlvXUuStyFlDhgHOxL1c9nAuMgkAw4YeU6fTlxNBm8xjDuN-9z7N46UKZApD5cd_qlf0FDZQJ9NHvXOJpzW8ozjSTw/s1600/Photo0264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjez9W2W3gp0Qw-KboiE9E_bvif9BhYTJ7Ck-1fs9tgfMgm7NIyqOlvXUuStyFlDhgHOxL1c9nAuMgkAw4YeU6fTlxNBm8xjDuN-9z7N46UKZApD5cd_qlf0FDZQJ9NHvXOJpzW8ozjSTw/s400/Photo0264.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, how'd it get so flat?</td></tr>
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<br />Here the plain-ness (if that is a word, which I'm sure it isn't) of the Great Plains is seen in full view. The ridge of snow capped peaks in the far background is our rather tiny looking Rocky Mountains. Every time I drive towards the mountains I can't help but wonder what the first pioneers thought as the towering behemoths of the Rockies slowly crept into view. Covered with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loess" target="_blank">loess</a> deposits and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Shale" target="_blank">Cretaceous marine rocks</a>, among others, it is hard to escape the flatness of the Denver Basin area as compared to the Rocky Mountains.<br />
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This flight was just one leg of a trip to Philadelphia so next time, we shall continue eastward!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-19971971385562859902012-07-18T13:26:00.001-06:002012-07-18T13:26:39.639-06:00Why I love Flying. (hint, it's all about the window seat!)I have flown a lot over the course of my life, probably more than most folks who don't have to travel for a job. I have always loved occupying the window seat. Being able to look down at buildings and cars and the landscape was always magical, but it wasn't until getting into geology that I began to really appreciate flying in a window seat. <br />
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Seeing geologic structures from the air makes me feel like a superhero (Geology Girl! photographing plunging synclines in a single shot!), so now I carry a camera whenever I'm on a flight. Here is a series of the Colorado Plateau from Phoenix, AZ to Grand Junction, CO taken upon returning from lab work at University of Arizona's LaserChron Center.<br />
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Much thanks to Google Earth for helping me locate the photos!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrwrysMfWMMEKYXc9oev9177jgIVqJgl1vCuZ4pyaLNO84_Nngb59cln3Tq01fP4c3NyiJSeIj9tDlkZm5QTOFOOO_EgtFPLfuu7-JdEzL8-JdSAr5Trclv4nIY1Pm2jTFucIo-r-6pw/s1600/Navahoe+Mnt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrwrysMfWMMEKYXc9oev9177jgIVqJgl1vCuZ4pyaLNO84_Nngb59cln3Tq01fP4c3NyiJSeIj9tDlkZm5QTOFOOO_EgtFPLfuu7-JdEzL8-JdSAr5Trclv4nIY1Pm2jTFucIo-r-6pw/s400/Navahoe+Mnt.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards west towards Navajo National Monument in Arizona with Navajo Mountain peaking out in the background.</td></tr>
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Navajo Mountain is actually just over the border in Utah. It shares a similar history as the Henry Mountains and the La Sal Mountains as they are all intrusive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laccolith">laccoliths</a> within the Colorado Plateau.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkXNviMKVQaJNGCbAZ9uGCGOxatEc-506uWRXQvGfaWcB72XJf_EkDXEKqc1MO37MEmmdJvB_Myu4Yr18OIbU5zvJ3oI6NschUpoSudaHGikq9PSovLrm40Pqkdq3wsNBJrd8gi-muEI/s1600/boot+mesa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkXNviMKVQaJNGCbAZ9uGCGOxatEc-506uWRXQvGfaWcB72XJf_EkDXEKqc1MO37MEmmdJvB_Myu4Yr18OIbU5zvJ3oI6NschUpoSudaHGikq9PSovLrm40Pqkdq3wsNBJrd8gi-muEI/s400/boot+mesa.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The southern end of Monument Valley in Arizona. Boot Mesa is in the center of this photo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqtLywR_Je1Qfx1Dk8hwZOcyeWJQs06aSpA_oQ7sZewcvcOsG82KKQsP_6N6TeOONDyDGs_Q81HJar_EqF_f95epkY6cYmjL1PjsZMBngXR-4catTU7LfjM9084bE8cgw4hs_0MMMExg/s1600/oljato-MV.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqtLywR_Je1Qfx1Dk8hwZOcyeWJQs06aSpA_oQ7sZewcvcOsG82KKQsP_6N6TeOONDyDGs_Q81HJar_EqF_f95epkY6cYmjL1PjsZMBngXR-4catTU7LfjM9084bE8cgw4hs_0MMMExg/s400/oljato-MV.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oljato-Monument Valley. Oljato Mesa is in the center of the photo, and Train Rock is present on the right.</td></tr>
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The Permian DeChelly Sandstone is responsible for the large vertical cliffs of the buttes, mesas and spires within Monument Valley. The underlying shales are Permian in age as well and are of the Organ Rock Formation. The formations overlying the DeChelly are the Triassic Moenkopi and Chinle formation.</div>
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Here is a link to an amazing Gigapan (read really detailed large photograph) of
<a href="http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/52690">Monument Valley</a> by Geologist Ron Schott. <br />
According to <a href="http://www.utah.com/stateparks/goosenecks.htm">Utah.com</a>, Goosenecks State Park covers 300 million years of time through the rocks of the canyons. Here is another Gigapan by Ron Schott looking into the <a href="http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/52656">goosenecks</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGSemJjPrHy2NAOycPgoO_wk9g_bMBoYMIWrcAlmlTo3Bag00-52kY9yTuPBQq5rRZhDNzoUR6f5HAi4w0xad0Ex75jGpYWmNxW1oO4F1VpihYvGu44E9TGHVzGgPhvwZKzTXkT3rwfU/s1600/gooseneck+NP.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGSemJjPrHy2NAOycPgoO_wk9g_bMBoYMIWrcAlmlTo3Bag00-52kY9yTuPBQq5rRZhDNzoUR6f5HAi4w0xad0Ex75jGpYWmNxW1oO4F1VpihYvGu44E9TGHVzGgPhvwZKzTXkT3rwfU/s400/gooseneck+NP.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goosenecks State Park in southern Utah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVar1juIpv6Xy4z1IkNLx7boiMbX_TGqfr_BP8kGtnUUTVYpr8FH_hEPhkcp52NaXPiSkQKFPajRZs2OuBjBDrGkJtGevKQSTjxQy4slpipEcAFlZqXW0Q3S2NY7F0x_fvcd-8ePbC-JU/s1600/needles+entrance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVar1juIpv6Xy4z1IkNLx7boiMbX_TGqfr_BP8kGtnUUTVYpr8FH_hEPhkcp52NaXPiSkQKFPajRZs2OuBjBDrGkJtGevKQSTjxQy4slpipEcAFlZqXW0Q3S2NY7F0x_fvcd-8ePbC-JU/s400/needles+entrance.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northwest towards the entrance to the Needles district of Canyonlands Nation Park in Utah.</td></tr>
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This valley holds the road into the entrance of the Needles district. You can find petroglyphs on the canyon walls before reaching Canyonlands. Below is a shot of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_Rock_State_Historic_Monument">Newspaper Rock</a> taken on my last trip to Moab.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAIU23gFaSpwEhjHdAEvZ0tSVEYmPGvGyQaNuQOCBSoUpclFQ6wrxi0Q3woPwXE7MfaJXW0u4sfCZ7xY4_StsTQE_cjBevAgHci3CimA-K-6k1vcau2-FpQQ0_PX_leUaaFtnlVF31kI/s1600/DSC04525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAIU23gFaSpwEhjHdAEvZ0tSVEYmPGvGyQaNuQOCBSoUpclFQ6wrxi0Q3woPwXE7MfaJXW0u4sfCZ7xY4_StsTQE_cjBevAgHci3CimA-K-6k1vcau2-FpQQ0_PX_leUaaFtnlVF31kI/s400/DSC04525.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petroglyphs!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6H5oV-lXa0m_ONAoscrva2YQc0Ted33d1zZyzmsT9PWzG9WNgSWedSnJqYYrOMvBrJ2IwfGv_fvjPsmquA9rzbccXrhrLHAFuBs4kNXswi-Z0LG4jFJGxPc_FU8O0xqaOckoY2fTnGU/s1600/Mt.+Peale.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6H5oV-lXa0m_ONAoscrva2YQc0Ted33d1zZyzmsT9PWzG9WNgSWedSnJqYYrOMvBrJ2IwfGv_fvjPsmquA9rzbccXrhrLHAFuBs4kNXswi-Z0LG4jFJGxPc_FU8O0xqaOckoY2fTnGU/s400/Mt.+Peale.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking northwest at the La Sal Mountains- Mt. Peale, Mt. Tukuhnikivatz and Mt. Mellenthin</td></tr>
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As mentioned above, the La Sal Mountains are an exposed laccolith. They sit on the eastern edge of Utah on the Colorado border. Edward Abbey wrote about Mt. Tukunikivatz in his book <u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Solitaire">Desert Solitaire</a></u>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0LXojgPxjCFLBaeVV1ksLRtuD8MgCOAL3fvSk2V8AD5ibfByYQ2Q8BqaaANADmuXfXYTXFyqVZioZAKhdJfCFeZHDraDjJ_f2QhvL_DrcQyDU_4fy8ACkxS-3UIdVTczRbzUF8WxSzk/s1600/DSC04796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0LXojgPxjCFLBaeVV1ksLRtuD8MgCOAL3fvSk2V8AD5ibfByYQ2Q8BqaaANADmuXfXYTXFyqVZioZAKhdJfCFeZHDraDjJ_f2QhvL_DrcQyDU_4fy8ACkxS-3UIdVTczRbzUF8WxSzk/s400/DSC04796.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking Ute Canyon in the Colorado National Monument with Grand Junction and the Bookcliffs in the background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzyAdd6tlARWt-bZfv7XNqPYKvKEJGR-bJshspjwBR1L626MA2TQb4vhB25wvzn2KnAEKEzuSjIzt7WI1ekCNQHxnDzeNrz_BEXkkZzi7dAF_ujIl5rPwxy96bM2HnHROUaarnoo3xww/s1600/DSC04798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzyAdd6tlARWt-bZfv7XNqPYKvKEJGR-bJshspjwBR1L626MA2TQb4vhB25wvzn2KnAEKEzuSjIzt7WI1ekCNQHxnDzeNrz_BEXkkZzi7dAF_ujIl5rPwxy96bM2HnHROUaarnoo3xww/s400/DSC04798.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north towards the East Entrance of CNM and the Serpents Trail with Grand Junction in the Background.</td></tr>
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Oh give me a home...where the monocline roam...or something like that. Colorado National Monument is part of a huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocline">monocline</a> (which I'm pretty sure I have mentioned before). In fact, there is a picture of the Monument on the linked page. Anyway, with all the traveling this summer, it was sure nice to come home to beautiful weather and clear enough skies to take these couple pictures. The last time I flew from Arizona, it was dark before hitting Utah!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-90855481482024176222012-04-28T11:29:00.002-06:002012-04-28T11:35:45.853-06:00100 things to see: Geology related.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Hello dear readers!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I found this meme via <a href="http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2008/12/100-things-youve-done-meme-geologists.html">Geotripper</a> and decided to give it a whirl. Here is a list of 100 geology related sites to see. The ones in bold I have seen.Though shome of these I have seen in photos or video, I would jump at the chance to see some in person. Hopefully in the next year I can check off some more!\</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">1. See an erupting volcano</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">2. See a glacier</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>3. See an active geyser such as those in Yellowstone, New Zealand or the type locality of Iceland</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>4. Visit the Cretaceous/Tertiary (KT) Boundary. Possible locations include Gubbio, Italy, Stevns Klint, Denmark, the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller, Alberta.</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">5. Observe (from a safe distance) a river whose discharge is above bankful stage</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>6. Explore a limestone cave. Try Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, or the caves of Kentucky or TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia)</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">7. Tour an open pit mine, such as those in Butte, Montana, Bingham Canyon, Utah, Summitville, Colorado, Globe or Morenci, Arizona, or Chuquicamata, Chile.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">8. Explore a subsurface mine.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">9. See an ophiolite, such as the ophiolite complex in Oman or the Troodos complex on the Island Cyprus (if on a budget, try the Coast Ranges or Klamath Mountains of California).</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">10. An anorthosite complex, such as those in Labrador, the Adirondacks, and Niger (there's some anorthosite in southern California too).</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>11. A slot canyon. Many of these amazing canyons are less than 3 feet wide and over 100 feet deep. They reside on the Colorado Plateau. Among the best are Antelope Canyon, Brimstone Canyon, Spooky Gulch and the Round Valley Draw.</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">12. Varves, whether you see the type section in Sweden or examples elsewhere.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>13. An exfoliation dome, such as those in the Sierra Nevada.</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">14. A layered igneous intrusion, such as the Stillwater complex in Montana or the Skaergaard Complex in Eastern Greenland.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">15. Coastlines along the leading and trailing edge of a tectonic plate (check out </span><a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;">The Dynamic Earth - The Story of Plate Tectonics</a></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b> - an excellent website)</b>.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">16. A gingko tree, which is the lone survivor of an ancient group of softwoods that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere in the Mesozoic.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">17. Living and <b>fossilized stromatolites</b> (Glacier National Park is a great place to see fossil stromatolites, while Shark Bay in Australia is the place to see living ones)</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">18. A field of glacial erratics</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">19. A caldera</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">20. A sand dune more than 200 feet high</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">21. A fjord</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>22. A recently formed fault scarp</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">23. A megabreccia</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">24. An actively accreting river delta</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">25. A natural bridge</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">26. A large sinkhole</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">27. A glacial outwash plain</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">28. A sea stack</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">29. A house-sized glacial erratic</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">30. An underground lake or river</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">31. The continental divide</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">32. Fluorescent and phosphorescent minerals</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">33. Petrified trees</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">34. Lava tubes</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">35. The Grand Canyon. All the way down. And back.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>36. Meteor Crater, Arizona, also known as the Barringer Crater, to see an impact crater on a scale that is comprehensible</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">37. The Great Barrier Reef, northeastern Australia, to see the largest coral reef in the world.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">38. The Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, to see the highest tides in the world (up to 16m)</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">39. The Waterpocket Fold, Utah, to see well exposed folds on a massive scale.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">40. The Banded Iron Formation, Michigan, to better appreciate the air you breathe.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">41. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania,</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">42. Lake Baikal, Siberia, to see the deepest lake in the world (1,620 m) with 20 percent of the Earth's fresh water.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">43. Ayers Rock (known now by the Aboriginal name of Uluru), Australia. This inselberg of nearly vertical Precambrian strata is about 2.5 kilometers long and more than 350 meters high</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">44. Devil's Tower, northeastern Wyoming, to see a classic example of columnar jointing</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">45. The Alps.</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">46. Telescope Peak, in Death Valley National Park. From this spectacular summit you can look down onto the floor of Death Valley - 11,330 feet below.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">47. The Li River, China, to see the fantastic tower karst that appears in much Chinese art</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">48. The Dalmation Coast of Croatia, to see the original Karst.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">49. The Gorge of Bhagirathi, one of the sacred headwaters of the Ganges, in the Indian Himalayas, where the river flows from an ice tunnel beneath the Gangatori Glacier into a deep gorge.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">50. The Goosenecks of the San Juan River, Utah, an impressive series of entrenched meanders.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">51. Shiprock, New Mexico, to see a large volcanic neck</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">52. Land's End, Cornwall, Great Britain, for fractured granites that have feldspar crystals bigger than your fist.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">53. Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Argentina, to see the Straights of Magellan and the southernmost tip of South America.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>54. Mount St. Helens, Washington, to see the results of recent explosive volcanism.</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">55. The Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Plateau, Northern Ireland, to see polygonally fractured basaltic flows.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">56. The Great Rift Valley in Africa.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">57. The Matterhorn, along the Swiss/Italian border, to see the classic "horn".</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">58. The Carolina Bays, along the Carolinian and Georgian coastal plain</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">59. The Mima Mounds near Olympia, Washington</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">60. Siccar Point, Berwickshire, Scotland, where James Hutton (the "father" of modern geology) observed the classic unconformity</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">61. The moving rocks of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">62. Yosemite Valley</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">63. Landscape Arch (or Delicate Arch) in Utah</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">64. The Burgess Shale in British Columbia</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">65. The Channeled Scablands of central Washington</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">66. Bryce Canyon</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>67. Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">68. Monument Valley</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>69. The San Andreas fault</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">70. The dinosaur footprints in La Rioja, Spain</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">71. The volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">72. The Pyrennees Mountains</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">73. The Lime Caves at Karamea on the West Coast of New Zealand</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">74. Denali (an orogeny in progress)</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>75. A catastrophic mass wasting event</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">76. The giant crossbeds visible at Zion National Park</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">77. The black sand beaches in Hawaii (or the green sand-olivine beaches)</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">78. Barton Springs in Texas</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">79. Hells Canyon in Idaho</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>80. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">81. The Tunguska Impact site in Siberia</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">82. Feel an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 5.0.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">83. Find dinosaur footprints </span><em style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">in situ</em><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">84. Find a trilobite (or a dinosaur bone or any other fossil)</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>85. Find gold, however small the flake</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">86. Find a meteorite fragment</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">87. Experience a volcanic ashfall</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>88. Experience a sandstorm</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">89. See a tsunami</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>90. Witness a total solar eclipse</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">91. Witness a tornado firsthand. </span><a href="http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/Chasing2.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;">(Important rules of this game)</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">92. Witness a meteor storm, a term used to describe a particularly intense (1000+ per minute) meteor shower</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>93. View Saturn and its moons through a respectable telescope.</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">94. See the Aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights.</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">95. View a great naked-eye comet, an opportunity which occurs only a few times per century</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">96. See a lunar eclipse</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">97. View a distant galaxy through a large telescope</span></b><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">98. Experience a hurricane</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">99. See noctilucent clouds</span><br style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">100. See the green flash</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Well, I have been close on a few of them (felt an earthquake of 4.4, but not above 5 and saw Dinosaur footprints in Moab and Colorado instead of Spain) but there are plenty of items on that list for me to strive for!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">One more week of school, then one day of finals (all of them happen to be on the same day) then off to New Mexico for the ASG Rocky Mountain Section meeting!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Yeeehaw!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-23411165261485490132012-03-26T21:23:00.000-06:002012-03-26T21:23:15.015-06:00Ye Olde Coal MineI can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I'm going to make a point to post something at least once a month (especially with the backlog of photos from trips in my possession!)<br />
<br />
Todays post is brought to you by PBF's suggestion to go out and find the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Cliff_mines">old Bookclif Mine</a> and reminants of the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter,_Colorado">Carpenter, Colorado</a>. This was a great excursion for the both of us between the geology of the area (for me) and the engineering of the old buildings (for PBF).<br />
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We parked where PBF's truck, Black Betty, could no longer trek. Here is the view looking into the hills. You can faintly see the line where the trail runs up to the mine on the left.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHll450NLJDxIg-pSyR9zjvt36IvPq9rbQzgSu3y9VlTNXnNV5-i_DraG3vY8wcXa9Ek81hPKeCs4WIXEZ7FmvMSu2TnuYpreN_o_PWo0d9T4ZsE66JpaX84HXK5oFzUXBEEMTo95wuY/s1600/DSC04249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHll450NLJDxIg-pSyR9zjvt36IvPq9rbQzgSu3y9VlTNXnNV5-i_DraG3vY8wcXa9Ek81hPKeCs4WIXEZ7FmvMSu2TnuYpreN_o_PWo0d9T4ZsE66JpaX84HXK5oFzUXBEEMTo95wuY/s320/DSC04249.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up toward the mine, which is hidden behind a hill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Only walking a short distance, we came upon this retaining wall. It looked to be built from fallen sandstone of the <a href="http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/NewUnits/unit_9414.html">Mt. Garfield Formation</a> above.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxL3O3Aay3YFxIoWGU4I5rj2tSbo-86V7AJ-SWoqRjHCizd_ZJEjrLoeXq71JvGu6SFAz-kdSS3Szk5LPCLfyn8JBIF1mbKnmdLn3mnwTIiNu9zxWSOlnsKRzH9If1stzmoIUDbK-ORDk/s1600/DSC04252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxL3O3Aay3YFxIoWGU4I5rj2tSbo-86V7AJ-SWoqRjHCizd_ZJEjrLoeXq71JvGu6SFAz-kdSS3Szk5LPCLfyn8JBIF1mbKnmdLn3mnwTIiNu9zxWSOlnsKRzH9If1stzmoIUDbK-ORDk/s320/DSC04252.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This probably spans 20 feet or so.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WinASlhAU2aifo-LB29e8fRDdH4xDiIVuik4cMF_U9sB4reZx9o2x-5CrzXSke3YakULc6e_m5iuz6TTZUreFxhY_1rILM1ELjz2sfZpfZcTo2R3k7XAEsQOf6YieCLQ0uRKjIPH840/s1600/DSC04254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WinASlhAU2aifo-LB29e8fRDdH4xDiIVuik4cMF_U9sB4reZx9o2x-5CrzXSke3YakULc6e_m5iuz6TTZUreFxhY_1rILM1ELjz2sfZpfZcTo2R3k7XAEsQOf6YieCLQ0uRKjIPH840/s320/DSC04254.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of a drainage/tunnel entrance? <br />
Pretty awesome engineering in the building of an arch!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Just up from the retaining wall was this block of flaggy to fissile siltstone weathering away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSkW5CuNs0g8Zg1EwbdN3xRtzhjRH_SyJ82eMNfH2ZaWf3n2vFXSMYZXwzd5u6bOh1m1Db9SMKq-dsEwp6SebzGGPcTF_lV5kdF08sxMHEPNoCxShqiTe0mJMxKKAPkI7_v0AewY6xUI/s1600/DSC04256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSkW5CuNs0g8Zg1EwbdN3xRtzhjRH_SyJ82eMNfH2ZaWf3n2vFXSMYZXwzd5u6bOh1m1Db9SMKq-dsEwp6SebzGGPcTF_lV5kdF08sxMHEPNoCxShqiTe0mJMxKKAPkI7_v0AewY6xUI/s320/DSC04256.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PBF surveying the rock from above.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> We continued up the road to find a flattish area with some debris.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhLfTiqB7mHLlT2Nm-hCFKEAyv5jA7edNmXE2EhE9HE85aphV4pQOuuDDUhOC3l6WE2oKQszmbwQwvXFccNQe58PTGct4vKDFCXHut5mgxZ63iVtGEdLJI5dyXQOBjG6nAtFnKm4bmQM/s1600/DSC04259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhLfTiqB7mHLlT2Nm-hCFKEAyv5jA7edNmXE2EhE9HE85aphV4pQOuuDDUhOC3l6WE2oKQszmbwQwvXFccNQe58PTGct4vKDFCXHut5mgxZ63iVtGEdLJI5dyXQOBjG6nAtFnKm4bmQM/s320/DSC04259.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rusted out metal door to something.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Then entered upon this!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXQ5SQZNKNaF55AvM4OA-Pk0NFZH-fCcru2hgp0KnqKtclVR4hAhyMA5aqpmmt-TyWv-GlEZUU4WsoljpTN_WAlkN_mnuLXmuNG9J8ihdiiUsckWxBqDxvnqrMYH3EaNrwuOoyXTvjek/s1600/DSC04261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXQ5SQZNKNaF55AvM4OA-Pk0NFZH-fCcru2hgp0KnqKtclVR4hAhyMA5aqpmmt-TyWv-GlEZUU4WsoljpTN_WAlkN_mnuLXmuNG9J8ihdiiUsckWxBqDxvnqrMYH3EaNrwuOoyXTvjek/s320/DSC04261.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall of a domicile with wooden beams in place. <br />
The far corner has some sort of pipe coming out of the wall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Then a bit further upwards, through much coal debris (of which my little camera would not take a decent picture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYBIlpYsOkQB5nJRF9cXGonDU0oQ-vpvF4i6b6PQsgWKOzbWeUWwlWEDTPsUVfiMPePxJygoLAh0tAgMC5QKfv9bkJ2Q3rODD5fCCnxLKWD8unHm6Y_2EaFg62fIRzYxt0jmorGFhCQs/s1600/DSC04262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYBIlpYsOkQB5nJRF9cXGonDU0oQ-vpvF4i6b6PQsgWKOzbWeUWwlWEDTPsUVfiMPePxJygoLAh0tAgMC5QKfv9bkJ2Q3rODD5fCCnxLKWD8unHm6Y_2EaFg62fIRzYxt0jmorGFhCQs/s320/DSC04262.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That smallish grey smudge is coal. I promise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Finally up to the mine entrance itself.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RW8a3KRGqlt7vwwWJxVBNLwzqCm43JQz9-QB3uFCEyCLrgEIoDuL91T0D7Dsx2Lj4WlwnQq5M_ciFx_lXcoPiMMwLciOjz_5TIMwBZqmEvycn3TPVkTlvgDOe3d5zqwkWP68d3ZXs-8/s1600/DSC04268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RW8a3KRGqlt7vwwWJxVBNLwzqCm43JQz9-QB3uFCEyCLrgEIoDuL91T0D7Dsx2Lj4WlwnQq5M_ciFx_lXcoPiMMwLciOjz_5TIMwBZqmEvycn3TPVkTlvgDOe3d5zqwkWP68d3ZXs-8/s320/DSC04268.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taadaa! The entrance!<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBI_op7zzcWA713mz6VnqdzlKGlaQsWtPtvZPn4pTLfAz__9TZ1wYpQ7Pv7ICAoiQyAk59EmbHBJd7J38B_uHpTzwkQlXGUkpFKoLisVdrkLFYEWkEtybW9rgTtZTi87_I8HN5Dpv8CA/s1600/DSC04267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBI_op7zzcWA713mz6VnqdzlKGlaQsWtPtvZPn4pTLfAz__9TZ1wYpQ7Pv7ICAoiQyAk59EmbHBJd7J38B_uHpTzwkQlXGUkpFKoLisVdrkLFYEWkEtybW9rgTtZTi87_I8HN5Dpv8CA/s320/DSC04267.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A closer look into the deep! Ok well kind of.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> On the way back we found a block of sandstone (probably from the Mt. Garfield Fm.) which was tagged and painted over at some point. It is possibly displaying some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummocky_cross-stratification">hummocky cross-stratification</a>, which is evidence of hurricanes in Colorado's past!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeXck0OiaE25HUYGOCyQSoSd-hSls-mYDbOtoZNZg04C1wtdjW4UB-6WyOpi54i5nETjBqUgb35sPWNHLr6ZmiPf0amoO_x94FiCSPX08LlDoRPbh61a4Equ8GDyQQqwjqV0Q5CDm7ok/s1600/DSC04270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeXck0OiaE25HUYGOCyQSoSd-hSls-mYDbOtoZNZg04C1wtdjW4UB-6WyOpi54i5nETjBqUgb35sPWNHLr6ZmiPf0amoO_x94FiCSPX08LlDoRPbh61a4Equ8GDyQQqwjqV0Q5CDm7ok/s320/DSC04270.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Identification possible through your support and the support <br />
of GEOL 444, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Once back at Black Betty we wandered a bit and found possible glass remains from the town. These were decidedly so due to the type and thickness of the glass which is not found today.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQFBdsESZxcSxwbL9RwUyi5VyvYeAaojJBYhifxqcguBfCLFcs2SUj0nDDAE1WbMxzchDDKRIxVsPHD53Ev649rzMr7HLFZELFfpVaHyse94PI_aa0sVgIZoz0qevgzhmHbx2xr3yMss/s1600/DSC04274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQFBdsESZxcSxwbL9RwUyi5VyvYeAaojJBYhifxqcguBfCLFcs2SUj0nDDAE1WbMxzchDDKRIxVsPHD53Ev649rzMr7HLFZELFfpVaHyse94PI_aa0sVgIZoz0qevgzhmHbx2xr3yMss/s320/DSC04274.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As well as an old shoe in the shadows.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The Bookcliff Mine was served by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Book_Cliff_Railway">Little Book Cliff Railway</a> which was in operation for 36 years before shutting down.<br />
<br />
So there is the Bookcliff Mine adventure! Well a brief incantation of it anyway. I have a backlog of photos from Arizona and Moab to go through so until next time! Rock on!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-85964300423246220462011-11-28T07:59:00.001-07:002011-11-28T08:01:31.725-07:00Black Friday RoadtripInspired by a post over at Garry Hayes over at <a href="http://geotripper.blogspot.com/">Geotripper</a>, I decided to post some of my favorite scenery along I-70 between Denver and Grand Junction. PBF and I spent Black Friday returning to Grand Junction after visiting family in Denver for Thanksgiving. In my opinion, a much better way to "spend" Black Friday! And because I forgot to bring a camera, Google Street View will be assisting in the photos.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspL2yklhY8cAVzQA5QhMk-USRZIIyfEmXqfY8sm5oAA79BIEsKpg7jUC_AWNzPlL_kK66PY6gXQNuZuijQoYn-Niv1YP_BrAnh87CrOiC2c5PWR0rQrW1KBbd_9GH6AQOdhduVhb2D4w/s1600/water+wheel.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspL2yklhY8cAVzQA5QhMk-USRZIIyfEmXqfY8sm5oAA79BIEsKpg7jUC_AWNzPlL_kK66PY6gXQNuZuijQoYn-Niv1YP_BrAnh87CrOiC2c5PWR0rQrW1KBbd_9GH6AQOdhduVhb2D4w/s400/water+wheel.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This water wheel (faint in center) outside <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_Springs,_Colorado">Idaho Springs</a> was built in 1896. They had it covered with a big jack'o'lantern left over from Halloween of which I did not manage to get a picture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqhGODM8PgaXfL0z3ruQpJVRsleMuv8i5KPEzoKpxHXklAFl1jS4KI8OgqXO6OlQBuvBPBt4zz5yheDc8mtcNZEKqXrCYARcCCdzanqUo99dwSWnJbRpXT8s1Ycnztn9F1XcqsccO-dY/s1600/mining+talus.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqhGODM8PgaXfL0z3ruQpJVRsleMuv8i5KPEzoKpxHXklAFl1jS4KI8OgqXO6OlQBuvBPBt4zz5yheDc8mtcNZEKqXrCYARcCCdzanqUo99dwSWnJbRpXT8s1Ycnztn9F1XcqsccO-dY/s400/mining+talus.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorado's rich <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_mining_in_Colorado">mining histor</a>y has traces left along the sides of the highway. Here is a tailing pile just west of Idaho Springs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSHLM8yZe3GYLzS7bnYwTcF01BuCFMi_SVjzSKrxVGQsXThGdJfwPJDrcFyT-65cTHWh3ZF2y4cSdFNxGsP6xCIJGmly3IDK_o3PvvwefCvglQCF5SJw_FWBZJ9SSxJiqDQ2TUsXaGxM/s1600/Eisenhauer.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSHLM8yZe3GYLzS7bnYwTcF01BuCFMi_SVjzSKrxVGQsXThGdJfwPJDrcFyT-65cTHWh3ZF2y4cSdFNxGsP6xCIJGmly3IDK_o3PvvwefCvglQCF5SJw_FWBZJ9SSxJiqDQ2TUsXaGxM/s400/Eisenhauer.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The approach to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Tunnel">Eisenhower Tunnel</a>. This amazing feat of engineering takes one over a mile and a half through a mountain from the Atlantic watershed to the Pacific watershed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4CDTbGjt6TPn169zdfzWzCCYGQynFdm9Fnd7L7pvU4ZgSr3JD0CYr09RYzHnOOwooobQ7K3DkgrSnGk_zexz-05C-GrTLZr8_LXLUS9ClI7rLa7UOxcCal-XZqPmuGI5Uy-GbKLD4gQ/s1600/vail+layers.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4CDTbGjt6TPn169zdfzWzCCYGQynFdm9Fnd7L7pvU4ZgSr3JD0CYr09RYzHnOOwooobQ7K3DkgrSnGk_zexz-05C-GrTLZr8_LXLUS9ClI7rLa7UOxcCal-XZqPmuGI5Uy-GbKLD4gQ/s400/vail+layers.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing like some high elevation sedimentary rocks. These are located up near the top of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vail_Pass">Vail Pass</a>. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7aso6-22kwsNVVqRkKR_8zA7_TNk622BMPK0qpOKWHRDP75M5QbCGmnXkXgGu60VO2pOGe7-wgNJXoo47OQoRBxsiYi4YDEEeUibesHiAFtXCyUraKkzB9csuHJqdf691ijx3-DqWtM/s1600/past+vail.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7aso6-22kwsNVVqRkKR_8zA7_TNk622BMPK0qpOKWHRDP75M5QbCGmnXkXgGu60VO2pOGe7-wgNJXoo47OQoRBxsiYi4YDEEeUibesHiAFtXCyUraKkzB9csuHJqdf691ijx3-DqWtM/s400/past+vail.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike_and_dip">Dipping</a> layers southwest of Vail, CO </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMf4U3QiCCWxQChytxSy8V_cHrzan4m9bi4ILLwjkA3JF26FbWdgleqmC4at6Kmqsej4D9dnv0CdbmMvi_vtLuPE6o_bbyi18movtT4B4FbIVb6R4ErWFdiU_BDFh9vheMATkmQUNEYBM/s1600/lake+wilmor.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMf4U3QiCCWxQChytxSy8V_cHrzan4m9bi4ILLwjkA3JF26FbWdgleqmC4at6Kmqsej4D9dnv0CdbmMvi_vtLuPE6o_bbyi18movtT4B4FbIVb6R4ErWFdiU_BDFh9vheMATkmQUNEYBM/s400/lake+wilmor.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steeply dipping layers just a few miles down from the last photo. This is just west of Wilmor Lake in the Eagle Basin. This is easily one of my favorite <a href="http://geology.about.com/library/bl/images/blroadcut.htm">roadcuts</a>. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadOdonDanBUeVO-Yjdn1kvFwItNjtObxnNsnUHTuDQOYN1tSXV19fYUSMx7SCvgx3mHREPJ1RIXpeB92wVTGMEf00ue3Vo4nHdm6kIu8e1C9AZlZDx6oramVpqUpQ-CGgCNHcefNSXGs/s1600/rock+train.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadOdonDanBUeVO-Yjdn1kvFwItNjtObxnNsnUHTuDQOYN1tSXV19fYUSMx7SCvgx3mHREPJ1RIXpeB92wVTGMEf00ue3Vo4nHdm6kIu8e1C9AZlZDx6oramVpqUpQ-CGgCNHcefNSXGs/s400/rock+train.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't tell you how great of timing the Google Van had in capturing a train running through debris from what was one of the many rock slides which plague <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenwood_Canyon">Glenwood Canyon</a>. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0S-xox2aKiLG4yxP_LD5knPfw4-McaCoRZL4lFj8kryVkSncTtsQhaK5P-lxCRnCZilKSRQzU72c2mk1736bviOqmbcJ6IelSXOm0W9qJwaISJD19Nylg1x27mGjfB5d8OXC7-JiqRU/s1600/gypsum.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0S-xox2aKiLG4yxP_LD5knPfw4-McaCoRZL4lFj8kryVkSncTtsQhaK5P-lxCRnCZilKSRQzU72c2mk1736bviOqmbcJ6IelSXOm0W9qJwaISJD19Nylg1x27mGjfB5d8OXC7-JiqRU/s400/gypsum.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Eagle Basin is home the town of Gypsum, Colorado. The city is aptly named due to the extensive <a href="http://www.americangypsum.com/about/">gypsum mining operation</a>. The layers that were neatly organized in the last few photos are seen here super deformed due to the "flow" of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum">gypsum</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwn7olP7-LL86jZ-Lrhyphenhyphen196M8oRfE11ih1UVfbjnkQPecfRF72F7PxCk-XkGXkSltuGdC_tOHm5q8BUCd66_e-AkPo3t77loFV0vIfgEuxEYqcd1h4a1sM-Y8X6ZnsXd6nz5SbzWxqopU/s1600/falling.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwn7olP7-LL86jZ-Lrhyphenhyphen196M8oRfE11ih1UVfbjnkQPecfRF72F7PxCk-XkGXkSltuGdC_tOHm5q8BUCd66_e-AkPo3t77loFV0vIfgEuxEYqcd1h4a1sM-Y8X6ZnsXd6nz5SbzWxqopU/s400/falling.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though not as well publicized for rock falls, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debeque_Canyon">DeBeque Canyon</a> has it's share of lesser stable rocks. This triangular on in the middle of the screen is one of my favorites. Though the rock itself is a well cemented sandstone, the rocks holding it up are close to silt and mudstone.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">There is a brief highlight of how I spent my Black Friday. Much more fun than shopping!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-79575154992843829482011-11-06T18:00:00.000-07:002011-11-06T18:00:00.027-07:00Legos!I just had to share this series of Lego creations I found on the internet today.<div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://remocable.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-08-31T19%3A25%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1">Lego Antiques</a> </div><div><a href="http://remocable.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-03T06%3A49%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1">Lego Architecture</a></div><div><a href="http://microbricks.blogspot.com/2011/11/wwii.html">Micro scale Lego Airport</a></div><div><a href="http://lego4all.blogspot.com/2009/09/repair-building-cracks-with-lego-bricks.html">Urban Lego Art</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Ok, you may return to your regularly scheduled Sunday night!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-11022625562465160552011-10-30T19:31:00.000-06:002011-10-30T19:31:31.852-06:00Mars Sedimentary Structures Attack!!Update...it's Sunday night and I'm finally editing a post that was supposed to be finished Friday.<br />
<br />
Yes it is Friday night and I am at home, watching SNL from the 70's with PBF, playing Words with Friends and finally getting around to my expanded post about Mars. This is the topic I would love to research and study. It is the part of the reason I came back to school for Geology. This post is basically a summary of the presentation I gave a few weeks ago. ( By summary I mean lots of pretty pictures!) Relating structures seen on Earth is a great way to start gaining understanding of what we see on Mars. Well, at least we can tell that our planet and Mars has some similarities.<br />
<br />
Exhibit 1! Here is an arial photo of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sand_Dunes_National_Park_and_Preserve">Great Sand Dunes National Park</a> in Colorado. This is a high altitude sand dune field in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. The dunes are backed up against the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangre_de_Cristo_Range">Sangre De Cristo Mountains</a> to the east.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6Ym1m2ADGZ7IEMA-cQeOdshhryEhlRcpQ-EPbYzMoBA73R-DGN-Ok7ebHNlfQJHbWrwdWtg6XZZRP9eyPmBaLBM7YJctRE1s9On_lXQ41bqVGA-XaO7AIbaxuuJMTDvqfacYu3H5s1o/s1600/great+sand+dunes.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6Ym1m2ADGZ7IEMA-cQeOdshhryEhlRcpQ-EPbYzMoBA73R-DGN-Ok7ebHNlfQJHbWrwdWtg6XZZRP9eyPmBaLBM7YJctRE1s9On_lXQ41bqVGA-XaO7AIbaxuuJMTDvqfacYu3H5s1o/s320/great+sand+dunes.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duney goodness in Colorado!</td></tr>
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This is a satellite photo from the Mars Global Surveyor in orbit around Mars. <br />
It's a dune field blown up at the base of a chasm in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Marineris">Valles Marineris</a> system. Instead of the silt, sand an soil that makes up the Sand Dunes National Park, these are made mostly out of volcanic ash!<br />
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<span id="goog_954686858"></span><span id="goog_954686859"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA6UIQQXj9rD1j_auiq3a-ejZTLLsdaruLP2dqfsViXvT9i51kRhR0ykA1G3VNPPTGBCVTk5MPxqyeYZ7bsYptSs9ja-ghCiYb6j2aLGOn5VjiMN8aaZCDtTwfp1CvNVER8mU2_fsJ7I/s1600/Melas+Dunes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA6UIQQXj9rD1j_auiq3a-ejZTLLsdaruLP2dqfsViXvT9i51kRhR0ykA1G3VNPPTGBCVTk5MPxqyeYZ7bsYptSs9ja-ghCiYb6j2aLGOn5VjiMN8aaZCDtTwfp1CvNVER8mU2_fsJ7I/s320/Melas+Dunes.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volcanic ash duney goodness on Mars!</td></tr>
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Exhibit 2!!<br />
A close up of the a section of the Grand Canyon. In the upper region, you can see various layers which make up the canyon walls. This photo is lit from the south west..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9LOTqeoDCAl4YIGUmFiaWp8ZTIBo0kZOwK-mWriIBg6piNoSVZBPOKg0-cqi1GIX6-IjYjUuoE2aoLWr51RLqwZ_-KxMgn2RMt7DttFs6oWQ_sWnqA0P8mevhtlyeFWRqGjo4AQKqgk/s1600/close+grand+canyon.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9LOTqeoDCAl4YIGUmFiaWp8ZTIBo0kZOwK-mWriIBg6piNoSVZBPOKg0-cqi1GIX6-IjYjUuoE2aoLWr51RLqwZ_-KxMgn2RMt7DttFs6oWQ_sWnqA0P8mevhtlyeFWRqGjo4AQKqgk/s320/close+grand+canyon.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very small part of the Grand Canyon.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is a close up of the Terby Basin on Mars. You can see layers of sedimentary rocks eroded by some force of nature (wind, water, or something). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlF6AqEx35tBeRcFyZbfNcaIq_QJVML6A4zAnwuFl2smUX9O_aN1261QB_JoLRyjzqvxs-ZsV-P7D8AinfquBb_IP6deDfljGtrXn-wC3ziFlwNjhhl0ka0w_jfKvXp4VdaGpIioXgIw/s1600/terby+crater.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlF6AqEx35tBeRcFyZbfNcaIq_QJVML6A4zAnwuFl2smUX9O_aN1261QB_JoLRyjzqvxs-ZsV-P7D8AinfquBb_IP6deDfljGtrXn-wC3ziFlwNjhhl0ka0w_jfKvXp4VdaGpIioXgIw/s320/terby+crater.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Exhibit 3!!<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluvial_fan">Alluvial fans</a> in Death Valley, CA. Think of them as the mountain shedding.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iCE2q6HqgEi32E9ZlLKQFZYu6y23DJr_KfDxTFJE-obs2j4Rd0DwLvyMvXGmv7upH70B5tH6U7kNyJWbmQ1Y75O0hDKrlA_nSVIhZoTjmGBfbAoSU2mrtkK1Oru5P96it8il6m8VpAA/s1600/death+valley.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iCE2q6HqgEi32E9ZlLKQFZYu6y23DJr_KfDxTFJE-obs2j4Rd0DwLvyMvXGmv7upH70B5tH6U7kNyJWbmQ1Y75O0hDKrlA_nSVIhZoTjmGBfbAoSU2mrtkK1Oru5P96it8il6m8VpAA/s320/death+valley.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erosion from the Panamint Range to the west of Death Valley</td></tr>
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Alluvial Fans on Mars! These are in the East Candor Chasma in the Valles Marineris of Mars. Notice the falls are more linear. This is because they are not water driven like the ones in Death Valley.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfion4ak1XMu8liYS0RHbh_wszPVh1rYisSYZ1e7w2NASx7TNeL9HzyN1dI_PXtGKqn3tMxtDweKvu4-7SPpjneTbFpbkHmKxbgx5kZModCrffieTtDP987kR2zJe9J5EExySVBCszcE/s1600/East+Candor+Chasm+fan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfion4ak1XMu8liYS0RHbh_wszPVh1rYisSYZ1e7w2NASx7TNeL9HzyN1dI_PXtGKqn3tMxtDweKvu4-7SPpjneTbFpbkHmKxbgx5kZModCrffieTtDP987kR2zJe9J5EExySVBCszcE/s320/East+Candor+Chasm+fan.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fans on Mars!</td></tr>
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Exhibit 4!!<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_delta">Mississippi River Delta</a> System! This is in the process of dumping millions of tons of sediment in the Gulf of Mexico each year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_6i81NO_JkRJkY5izSvQVVoa7lLNmBNctpt7WUjZ32xlCOK1ubsfjEboeDlgsu529tBIPpnzkeVSuKs4f8zKgWyciK21kg-Jy0p7i_2fgZoNHN3P13jkVVUYKETNk7rInwP8BtK2Ydc/s1600/mississippi+river+delta.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_6i81NO_JkRJkY5izSvQVVoa7lLNmBNctpt7WUjZ32xlCOK1ubsfjEboeDlgsu529tBIPpnzkeVSuKs4f8zKgWyciK21kg-Jy0p7i_2fgZoNHN3P13jkVVUYKETNk7rInwP8BtK2Ydc/s320/mississippi+river+delta.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The long "bird's foot" look of the delta is due to the Army Corps of Engineers keeping the channel clear for ships.</td></tr>
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If the sediments above are buried deep enough, they can become <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagenesis#Lithification">lithified</a>. That is what we see hear in Holden Crater on Mars!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGq_qfMSA6hv212J_INoGtucWbn_sWieDxjoImtA33Bzh_z4inQ8szWxlETLotVMi0KtegQ7a197LcK_hbVBnj8cs16EWimW64r9b-EdEGBXMfWT7JOe2OjI5gHa4Q-eGOQz6RBC4priM/s1600/Mars_fan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGq_qfMSA6hv212J_INoGtucWbn_sWieDxjoImtA33Bzh_z4inQ8szWxlETLotVMi0KtegQ7a197LcK_hbVBnj8cs16EWimW64r9b-EdEGBXMfWT7JOe2OjI5gHa4Q-eGOQz6RBC4priM/s320/Mars_fan.JPG" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Fossilized" deltaic system on Mars.</td></tr>
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Well, this post was quite a bit less wordy that I can be, the pictures are pretty to look at! Hehe :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-30196215210920159082011-09-22T18:24:00.000-06:002011-09-22T18:24:23.414-06:00Mars!<div>For one of my Geology classes, I was asked to pick any topic in geology and give a 10 minute presentation over the topic. I chose...Geology..... Of......Mars....!!! (Meant to be read in your best <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvZtROeJrE">Pigs in Space</a> announcer voice) </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm not too far into my research, but I thought I would post a couple neat sites and articles I have found so far.</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://marsrover.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20110914a.html">This</a> is a press release from NASA concerning the possible origin of some rocks the rover Opportunity found at the Endeavor Crater rim.</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.nasaimages.org/luna/servlet/detail/nasaNAS~20~20~120821~227523:Victoria-Crater--at-Meridiani-Planu?qvq=q:mars%2Bsedimentary%2B%2Bcrater;lc:NVA2~25~25,NVA2~57~57,NVA2~31~31,NVA2~60~60,NVA2~33~33,NVA2~26~26,NVA2~36~36,NVA2~62~62,NVA2~56~56,NVA2~55~55,NVA2~54~54,NVA2~45~45,NVA2~35~35,NVA2~53~53,NVA2~29~29,NVA2~27~27,NVA2~17~17,NVA2~46~46,NVA2~30~30,NVA2~44~44,NVA2~16~16,NVA2~47~47,NVA2~48~48,NVA2~61~61,NVA2~19~19,NVA2~52~52,NVA2~4~4,NVA2~1~1,nasaNAS~22~22,NVA2~20~20,nasaNAS~8~8,nasaNAS~10~10,NVA2~15~15,nasaNAS~13~13,nasaNAS~5~5,NVA2~18~18,NVA2~23~23,NVA2~8~8,nasaNAS~16~16,nasaNAS~2~2,NVA2~34~34,NVA2~14~14,nasaNAS~7~7,nasaNAS~6~6,NVA2~24~24,NVA2~13~13,nasaNAS~9~9,nasaNAS~4~4,NVA2~58~58,NSVS~3~3,NVA2~9~9,nasaNAS~20~20,nasaNAS~12~12,NVA2~21~21,NVA2~22~22,NVA2~49~49,NVA2~50~50,NVA2~51~51,NVA2~28~28,NVA2~43~43,NVA2~38~38,NVA2~32~32,NVA2~37~37,NVA2~39~39,NVA2~41~41,NVA2~42~42,NVA2~59~59&mi=29&trs=189">This</a> is a link to a picture taken by the martian satellite Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Victoria Crater on Mars. It shows sand dunes in the base of the crater!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Short post today, but as I do more research this weekend, I'm sure I will have more to share!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-61816843255275418802011-09-04T14:11:00.001-06:002011-09-04T14:11:09.379-06:00Back to SchoolNot that I actually took much time off between summer classes and working, but it is that time of year again. I'm hoping to get back into a regular posting schedule, though with 18 credit hours and 15 hours of work a week...that may mean a few posts with more links than observations. Either way, I hope to make it interesting.<br />
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On that note, here are some links for you to enjoy!<br />
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Ever wonder about geologists on other planets? Here is one from mars!<br />
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20110901.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20110901.html</a><br />
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This is a photograph of the earth and the moon from the spacecraft Juno, who is on it's way to the moon.<br />
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/news/juno20110830.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/news/juno20110830.html</a><br />
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If that makes you feel small, here are some visitors to earth in the next week.<br />
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroid20100907.html">http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroid20100907.html</a><br />
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Apparently I am feeling spacey today. I'm going to chalk that up to putting off my Organic Chemistry Lab book. So for something related to organics...kind of...ok maybe its a bit of a stretch...a picture or three of the garden.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wwImQT1zeU3sbxikfoI2af8X5dyMTv6fAJfSuzY1djhTmSCiKjQ56nVFFtjsX2vAZabhi0seaHkj23Yo3rlpuz4X4_H5_ZK4VpNi3q6ijFQiGwa-lDAmy9RjpZD_M1BtbA1UjJh4IWE/s1600/Image08232011180637.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wwImQT1zeU3sbxikfoI2af8X5dyMTv6fAJfSuzY1djhTmSCiKjQ56nVFFtjsX2vAZabhi0seaHkj23Yo3rlpuz4X4_H5_ZK4VpNi3q6ijFQiGwa-lDAmy9RjpZD_M1BtbA1UjJh4IWE/s320/Image08232011180637.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These were supposed to be cherry tomatoes. Talk about over achieving.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykyxhaBE_CMr5uRA0NQRU8Nk3cUTRxDHp9xHY-PEmDJzk-liSvzqWFZ-is_VuPucLFbnCJ2-uXQpsIGCILhagelo3SdQmuZvGxDavEWsdXz4BKroGSlyICbFUTrirsJoxzpxZJ07Agxg/s1600/Image08222011190004.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykyxhaBE_CMr5uRA0NQRU8Nk3cUTRxDHp9xHY-PEmDJzk-liSvzqWFZ-is_VuPucLFbnCJ2-uXQpsIGCILhagelo3SdQmuZvGxDavEWsdXz4BKroGSlyICbFUTrirsJoxzpxZJ07Agxg/s320/Image08222011190004.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken in the middle of August, this is a very small portion of the new batch of tomatoes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyXNkqEzrUwdYDYftwnOHDXPGL1ocIVIToE4oN_FHJnIAv22pzVlXubvm2Y8KGsBCYPMHHTTDYGtRLEcQztBoNYCUV7cSgaU6Z5mM9C2yhI1WgO40YA9TDgv7Pve7UBkGIEIqmFy9ReE/s1600/Image08222011185935.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyXNkqEzrUwdYDYftwnOHDXPGL1ocIVIToE4oN_FHJnIAv22pzVlXubvm2Y8KGsBCYPMHHTTDYGtRLEcQztBoNYCUV7cSgaU6Z5mM9C2yhI1WgO40YA9TDgv7Pve7UBkGIEIqmFy9ReE/s320/Image08222011185935.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the best picture, but here is the jungle.<br />
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</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The poor plant in the front got hit with <a href="http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05507.html">spider mites</a>. Nasty little guys who basically suck the plant dry. We did manage to save all of the tomatoes however, so lucked out there. The rest of the plants are about five feet tall and doing great thanks to the kindly old man that lives behind us. He saved the day with a miticide he uses for his roses (mites cannot be killed by just insecticide, as they are technically in the spider family and therefore not an insect.) and in return, he and his wife were able to enjoy about three pounds of tomatoes from the garden!<br />
<div><div><br />
</div><div>Ok, enough procrastination, O-Chem here I come!<br />
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</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-56364593448907022562011-07-15T07:43:00.000-06:002011-07-15T07:43:35.167-06:00Something for ThoughtJust a quick note to make you think, inspired by this post over at <a href="http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2011/06/26/a-pretty-cool-rock/">Mountain Beltway</a>. (Check out the comments to see what the rock actually from). I had forgotten, but the top of Mt. Everest is made up of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomite">dolomite</a> which is only formed at the bottom of the ocean. In fact, a lot of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Everest#Geology">Mt. Everest</a> is made up of ocean-based sedimentary rock. There are fossils of trilobites, a purely ocean dwelling animal, in the tallest mountain on Earth.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MmXnuCF79Oe7YIerePuLKWP4EI39qBTlj6YCBEaVsxuwEKary1v4xDtvVF_C98tk1xYhcTC78mImyrrHvjRToyw5iuXr6LayDQOrO8tq6wmM18KKiHWRNQMYHra-SnBX-YOIYhh2jWk/s1600/smoker.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MmXnuCF79Oe7YIerePuLKWP4EI39qBTlj6YCBEaVsxuwEKary1v4xDtvVF_C98tk1xYhcTC78mImyrrHvjRToyw5iuXr6LayDQOrO8tq6wmM18KKiHWRNQMYHra-SnBX-YOIYhh2jWk/s320/smoker.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Think about that for a second.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8tZ4Fe77VSvOH4waNQ5AZblmKTzl0QLuhtGEv50JQt47cKXnxa2YHDAiEz2ZztRhpP_YoZ0utXlB6_DTI-u2xKccDAN0yPvZzhuEIT6Z2bTx_lzMFfq4O_2gHvakpW5o12bd0cxvlX0/s1600/Everest-closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8tZ4Fe77VSvOH4waNQ5AZblmKTzl0QLuhtGEv50JQt47cKXnxa2YHDAiEz2ZztRhpP_YoZ0utXlB6_DTI-u2xKccDAN0yPvZzhuEIT6Z2bTx_lzMFfq4O_2gHvakpW5o12bd0cxvlX0/s320/Everest-closeup.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The highest point on our planet, is made from rocks formed in the deepest parts of the ocean. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_techtonics">Plate Tectonics</a> is a pretty darned amazing thing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-2150809349268793622011-07-10T13:35:00.000-06:002011-07-10T13:35:29.592-06:00I'm back!I decided that two months is too long to go without a post. (So I'm getting one just shy of two months) Between two classes and work (that's right I'm gainfully employed now!) this summer has been flying by. I'm working as a math/geology/statistics peer tutor for my school and will be able to continue to do so during the school year. I'm really enjoying helping other students and it is definitly solidifying my desire to become a teacher. Now that I am back in a routine however, I should be back to regular posts. This one is about the garden PBF and I have been tending.<br />
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We live in an apartment so there isn't much room for a normal garden but we have a small back patio with enough room for a few tomato and pepper plants. We started the garden indoors in March. I believe I have a few pictures up from then. Finally towards the end of May we were able to transplant the pepper and tomatoes into their final destinations, five gallon buckets from Home Depot.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyPybrh_756mHHN9B2xkg_S5R3bOIx7jhusRvoTkAbfEZ9wu6y2iUy0YNBv3aqlC3_ryi94kA6uVMJAUkFfme7zxS_0-5W3xlSsY3gurpI-zFWOJK_eX39C0tVM9_BZ_1tXf3Mo6XN2s/s1600/Photo0293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyPybrh_756mHHN9B2xkg_S5R3bOIx7jhusRvoTkAbfEZ9wu6y2iUy0YNBv3aqlC3_ryi94kA6uVMJAUkFfme7zxS_0-5W3xlSsY3gurpI-zFWOJK_eX39C0tVM9_BZ_1tXf3Mo6XN2s/s320/Photo0293.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here they are looking a little sickly from being stuck in small containers for far too long.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They get about 6-8 hours of sun a day, and after about three weeks, they had grown to this! I do wish I had a picture of what the weeds in the area looked like before I finally got to pulling them all. They were starting to overgrow the buckets.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDx_DJqlO9Me3p0FYGCbQqXWGIdvTS4VYOrKJloYGSKqYTx1aYg7JML6IdeIpeoRU3dBpqhN3JV0f3cnsuiNBFquKdPGI4DscvQm100S0j1833vnzPUJL_hLEpKxJSkKCA9N4LMxDwpJw/s1600/Photo0306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDx_DJqlO9Me3p0FYGCbQqXWGIdvTS4VYOrKJloYGSKqYTx1aYg7JML6IdeIpeoRU3dBpqhN3JV0f3cnsuiNBFquKdPGI4DscvQm100S0j1833vnzPUJL_hLEpKxJSkKCA9N4LMxDwpJw/s320/Photo0306.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomatoes to the right and center and peppers to the left.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The bushy guy in the front center is made up of three cherry tomato plants in the same container. The plan is that the three plants will support each other without a tomato cage and once the outdoor growing season is over, we can bring them inside with a grow lamp and keep them going through the winter! Homegrown tomatoes year round!<br />
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They have all done amazingly well, and here is what they look like today! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGp6jD2Xep539uLwZCffp3pYyt71hZ00GXR-IzGCUCtdRT6Nqym8yctv9PR7fOfjgq-DW_x0iMI8Pty9ycwR6v-GG4VJ-lSyJJseUIopHZyuLDEM2El2HgXuJaDkS-GgBr3XNV8Jd_6w/s1600/Photo0341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGp6jD2Xep539uLwZCffp3pYyt71hZ00GXR-IzGCUCtdRT6Nqym8yctv9PR7fOfjgq-DW_x0iMI8Pty9ycwR6v-GG4VJ-lSyJJseUIopHZyuLDEM2El2HgXuJaDkS-GgBr3XNV8Jd_6w/s320/Photo0341.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They are growing so fast!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div>The count as of Monday was at least 50 tomatoes that are at least the size of a dime (and about 10 that are close to full grown), and 10-15 peppers. I'm hopeful that within the next two weeks we will be able to harvest the first batch!<div><br />
</div><div>Not bad for starting from seeds.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnizmh97Ok2lR9lYd3_f6cOgyt8FJAOrXCForzG6T4rR5v7BXW6HexA3HNtImPGgCPX49Qt-Do51kx_WeeqORk9cGFORPzdcXhBVk_M-47qzlZ0CGiZyrm_54LQt-8Djt6_xiNWH2Lfo/s1600/Photo0195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnizmh97Ok2lR9lYd3_f6cOgyt8FJAOrXCForzG6T4rR5v7BXW6HexA3HNtImPGgCPX49Qt-Do51kx_WeeqORk9cGFORPzdcXhBVk_M-47qzlZ0CGiZyrm_54LQt-8Djt6_xiNWH2Lfo/s320/Photo0195.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seedling starter tray back in March.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><div><br />
<div>Yum salsa garden!</div><div><br />
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</div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-87147238945671556682011-05-19T16:38:00.000-06:002011-05-19T16:38:05.382-06:00Another short postIn the last week and a half I have completed finals, gone camping, started my intensive Statistics class and had my sister out to visit for a few days. Tomorrow, I leave for Denver to visit family, so no big post until next week. <br />
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I would liketo put up a short post on a current event. Here link to the blog of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomorphology">Geomorphologist</a> from Illinois and his takes on the problems with current media coverage of the disastrous flooding along the Mississippi. <a href="http://lrrd.blogspot.com/">http://lrrd.blogspot.com/</a> There are quite a few posts, so I will put up a couple which I think are important.<br />
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This one explains the reasons for a floodway.<br />
<a href="http://lrrd.blogspot.com/2011/05/floodways-are-for-floods.html">http://lrrd.blogspot.com/2011/05/floodways-are-for-floods.html</a><br />
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This one breaks down poor media coverage of the flood with an article from The New York Times.<br />
<a href="http://lrrd.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-york-times-falls-down-on-this-flood.html">http://lrrd.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-york-times-falls-down-on-this-flood.html</a><br />
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See you next week!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-8331202754608062992011-05-10T20:42:00.001-06:002011-05-10T20:57:04.276-06:00Study intermission!Down to my last final tomorrow and wouldn't you know it, I got distracted looking around the USGS website (What do you mean I don't have time for that while studying the entire 4.6 billion year Geologic history of North America?). Lucky for you, I found some exciting pictures and videos of recent volcanic activity in Hawaii.<br />
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This video shows the collapse of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Pu`u `Ō `ō crater.</span><br />
<a href="http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2011/Mar/PuuOoCollapse_20110305_small.mov">http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2011/Mar/PuuOoCollapse_20110305_small.mov</a><br />
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This video shows lava pouring from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissure_vent">volcanic fissure</a> into a large crack running through the surface.<br />
<a href="http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2011/Jan/20110306_0675_torr_small.mov">http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2011/Jan/20110306_0675_torr_small.mov</a><br />
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Here is a picture of the above in case Quicktime is being a pain.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeJQGH39VQY-2IDnadVzsvwmBbFH8sAcIe7SqrmQ9hO8oQ_zG70I4MsTymO2ynY3Ac-x2uq_cyM2c0CJ4TyUK2xe27S9VAlTY9_gFaaeU0AbXUoIsZRnFOQGtMdiDHq4-5AxrEDZRpHE/s1600/vent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUeJQGH39VQY-2IDnadVzsvwmBbFH8sAcIe7SqrmQ9hO8oQ_zG70I4MsTymO2ynY3Ac-x2uq_cyM2c0CJ4TyUK2xe27S9VAlTY9_gFaaeU0AbXUoIsZRnFOQGtMdiDHq4-5AxrEDZRpHE/s320/vent.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Here is the main site if you want to peruse some more lovely photos.<br />
<a href="http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html">http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html</a><br />
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Ok enough exciting vulcanism (no, not <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(Star_Trek)">this</a> kind)...back to studying.<br />
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Just kidding, one more quick movie. This is of a phenomenon called "gas pistoning" where lava is pushed up by underlying gases which ends up looking like the piston of an engine.<br />
<a href="http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/gallery/kilauea/volcanomovies/movies/Drainhole%20pistons%20night%20-%20Jun%203,%202006-small.mov">http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/gallery/kilauea/volcanomovies/movies/Drainhole%20pistons%20night%20-%20Jun%203,%202006-small.mov</a><br />
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Ok, I'm done...or am I? <br />
Yeah, I am.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-46584923914147128282011-05-08T13:59:00.000-06:002011-05-08T13:59:45.554-06:00Busy busy busy!Sorry for the lack of posts these past couple weeks. Between last tests/presentations, my cousin's wedding and now finals coming up this week, I have been feeling like a <a href="http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/032608/perpetual-motion-machine.gif">perpetual motion machine</a>. Yesterday I embarked upon a makeup field trip (which I missed for my wonderful cousin Natalie's wedding) that entailed driving up through Rifle, Dotsero, Gypsum and Glenwood Springs (where I was able to have lunch with Natalie and her awesome new husband Dany as they are spending a honeymoon at the hot springs) . Here are some of the photo's from the trip!<br />
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This first picture is from the east end of the bike trail that runs through Glenwood Canyon. The rocks directly to my right are from the Leadville Limestone which near the town of Marble, with some help from metamorphism, turns into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_Marble">Yule Marble</a> which was used for construction of the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The stratified layers in the background are much older in age and were forced up with the White River <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectonic_uplift">Uplift</a>. This area is near the boundary of the White River Uplift and the Eagle Basin.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWevSt-Ynb-eOYYMqnU8rTEdNLUExZwxDqgr-vrXGAMZ2gvhnz6-MD2dAMyh8A68thXiNsQ0VAmlFb_sVMTNKZnozA5iXCHDdPFxaXXK2As8wAGNTNoDq7Dn5j7B2uVWKgezEBY2oR4ss/s1600/Stop+2+Cambrian-Mississippi+exposures.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWevSt-Ynb-eOYYMqnU8rTEdNLUExZwxDqgr-vrXGAMZ2gvhnz6-MD2dAMyh8A68thXiNsQ0VAmlFb_sVMTNKZnozA5iXCHDdPFxaXXK2As8wAGNTNoDq7Dn5j7B2uVWKgezEBY2oR4ss/s320/Stop+2+Cambrian-Mississippi+exposures.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west down Glenwood canyon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The next two pictures are from the youngest volcano in Colorado. The Dotsero volcano last erupted over 4000 years ago. At present, it is being mined to make cinder blocks and landscaping materials.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RrP7hrGxY_ZP2DsIMPfo7WurRpC6fZcwcIQBEs1p0IPad75PQIFw3NLd2onxfuH3GhagKiShEOF0YA9uXeBC88oWOpt66UOoD6wUeB5DEpQo5DOKJKnLBhV3FEFXCTFfxBi-XcAYvzo/s1600/Stop+3-Basalt+Flow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RrP7hrGxY_ZP2DsIMPfo7WurRpC6fZcwcIQBEs1p0IPad75PQIFw3NLd2onxfuH3GhagKiShEOF0YA9uXeBC88oWOpt66UOoD6wUeB5DEpQo5DOKJKnLBhV3FEFXCTFfxBi-XcAYvzo/s320/Stop+3-Basalt+Flow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basalt flow from a fissure eruption at the base the Dotsero volcano.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPBGCt175vdv6bel2LzsOx3zRZTtbfsCUdAOs80IU4nK80Z3gBvqKGx3wP8BxPD96z2I8Tufrp62ui1wWU3haZdHxJE_tmoxGP9ivXrdIN0oyoBZR2Mgu7ZmHyD_MclYkgYuDOMJzHP4/s1600/Stop+3-Cinder+Cones.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPBGCt175vdv6bel2LzsOx3zRZTtbfsCUdAOs80IU4nK80Z3gBvqKGx3wP8BxPD96z2I8Tufrp62ui1wWU3haZdHxJE_tmoxGP9ivXrdIN0oyoBZR2Mgu7ZmHyD_MclYkgYuDOMJzHP4/s320/Stop+3-Cinder+Cones.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dark red to black in the center of the photo denote the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinder_cone">cinder cone</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The town of Gypsum is aptly named for the flows of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum">gypsum</a> throughout the area.Gypsum is a lighter mineral and will flow, somewhat like Silly Putty, to reach the surface. The sedimentary layers in this area are churned up and folded in this process. The company American Gypsum mines the mineral and produces varieties of wall board which are shipped throughout the nation.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6O5ILjQaX3TLT-w8cr0fn4a5IYX0sPwWadcQiPXyR61QeuMVAEdgRa_t60sUxuGzGhHObJQZMgDz7itYCeNPyh7xzMVKZ78IBPjEyVL3l_XyRvjG3v3sSsIfOIhTWAB6oL7bM5zOlg0/s1600/Stop+4-looking+towards+Maroon+Formation.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6O5ILjQaX3TLT-w8cr0fn4a5IYX0sPwWadcQiPXyR61QeuMVAEdgRa_t60sUxuGzGhHObJQZMgDz7itYCeNPyh7xzMVKZ78IBPjEyVL3l_XyRvjG3v3sSsIfOIhTWAB6oL7bM5zOlg0/s320/Stop+4-looking+towards+Maroon+Formation.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dark rocks to the right contains both siltstone and gypsum. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFU94zGsudhmP63mL9aYxhYmzHeltVQcWwPD8gMDgS8yLA-slxz28utjLtYEdlngCbyTesUd0OGZ0QT9RjPdz6nWFMVVw8wblfFoOxbe9QKZjFW6pABXCqWT7kMP74fNUi7P-TBb0tuxg/s1600/Stop+4-Gypsum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFU94zGsudhmP63mL9aYxhYmzHeltVQcWwPD8gMDgS8yLA-slxz28utjLtYEdlngCbyTesUd0OGZ0QT9RjPdz6nWFMVVw8wblfFoOxbe9QKZjFW6pABXCqWT7kMP74fNUi7P-TBb0tuxg/s320/Stop+4-Gypsum.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A white chunk of gypsum lying on the surface of the road cut.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Rifle Gap, also known for the Cristo's <a href="http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/vc.shtml">Valley Curtain</a>, is a large recreational state park. The damn that holds in the reservoir was constructed between a fairly narrow gap in the Grand <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogback_(geology)">Hogback </a>. The Grand Hogback also helps define the boundaries of the white River Uplift to the northeast and the Piceance Basin to the southwest.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8khJvvCBLTWIHCfgh9UJBiXnJIjCDMVdaq6M4jNjZyZJ9v7j92lgsnFqd4Ry97S9BH-nf7m1pQ9vf8J1t2nIzntXcGy8X6nhEUxJXYhPUSrCmiwocU_Tn2g6FePx4F6Ed95bdWHyFNEg/s1600/DSC03940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8khJvvCBLTWIHCfgh9UJBiXnJIjCDMVdaq6M4jNjZyZJ9v7j92lgsnFqd4Ry97S9BH-nf7m1pQ9vf8J1t2nIzntXcGy8X6nhEUxJXYhPUSrCmiwocU_Tn2g6FePx4F6Ed95bdWHyFNEg/s320/DSC03940.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking from the gap out into the resevoir.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0uCbkqYkV72wv7Uiyx75I-jBNgRpVkqWhPHBjzPDyII9aHy62bEHbZEkbJftIrW47BXdkboek8jXgWM0O4uuU1QEml9bSOdCU3UVTNFhSKzA56gsoTq4nTTplgLS6KO-Xa4Gw1f7Tiw/s1600/Stop+7-Cretaceous+Clams.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0uCbkqYkV72wv7Uiyx75I-jBNgRpVkqWhPHBjzPDyII9aHy62bEHbZEkbJftIrW47BXdkboek8jXgWM0O4uuU1QEml9bSOdCU3UVTNFhSKzA56gsoTq4nTTplgLS6KO-Xa4Gw1f7Tiw/s320/Stop+7-Cretaceous+Clams.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cretaceous fossile clams are abundant in the rocks seen in the foreground of the photo above.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Here is a picture of the Rifle Meteorite Crater. It is actually disputed as to whether a meteorite or a landslide produced the feature. A meteorite was in the area in the early 1900's, though no records show from where exactly it was collected.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5s24LEVvc29EiJlrbRDEXllGwpLQp46YtDuGSQ8uNiEuHecpk2TCXvNCQrmzLwjGGCbbBGwPmcozpkq6ltdtTnd5ngCHMAZl7gbf8AvOh6y654dxxLf0vTg2BZxkTWQ9UL5j2nKMTjI/s1600/Stop+9-%2527%2527Meteorite+Crator%2527%2527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5s24LEVvc29EiJlrbRDEXllGwpLQp46YtDuGSQ8uNiEuHecpk2TCXvNCQrmzLwjGGCbbBGwPmcozpkq6ltdtTnd5ngCHMAZl7gbf8AvOh6y654dxxLf0vTg2BZxkTWQ9UL5j2nKMTjI/s320/Stop+9-%2527%2527Meteorite+Crator%2527%2527.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see it? No it's not the lake in the bottom of the photo. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOINxNlZjmEKzoxTPArwDU2A3uAdPK3tcOA3_Pjgi2YfXGlHOHEktTU3TYnWgOUG-fCLlDQk7CnKM1Rc5xUUFq9OiKpcAGtl7RG4t4_sD4y70EE7guKsur9v675eiUJRWAiC251GRSfE/s1600/crater+arrow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOINxNlZjmEKzoxTPArwDU2A3uAdPK3tcOA3_Pjgi2YfXGlHOHEktTU3TYnWgOUG-fCLlDQk7CnKM1Rc5xUUFq9OiKpcAGtl7RG4t4_sD4y70EE7guKsur9v675eiUJRWAiC251GRSfE/s320/crater+arrow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tadaa! Yes, that little guy is the culprit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While there were quite a few more photos from this trip, I must begin studying for my final tomorrow. I do have a backlog of subjects on which to post, so you may get a second installment of Geology joy later this week, or I may just sleep for a few days. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-66842993113336779462011-04-18T20:53:00.000-06:002011-04-18T20:53:49.819-06:00Monday Night Supplimental!I couldn't contain myself. Three quick photos.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RrbTwgCb2MI2lEk3SWOCkRYtCU3vFZ8HsW5zuEGlfEtw_JA53TeUORxBnhIxMB6ZAgEDyUaKGCx4G-d7leRQh3Su4ExQ_Jdhki5OsAgAe7vPVsIsgnMCOPCax8dPNSpq9zMCh6PNWYw/s1600/mixer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RrbTwgCb2MI2lEk3SWOCkRYtCU3vFZ8HsW5zuEGlfEtw_JA53TeUORxBnhIxMB6ZAgEDyUaKGCx4G-d7leRQh3Su4ExQ_Jdhki5OsAgAe7vPVsIsgnMCOPCax8dPNSpq9zMCh6PNWYw/s320/mixer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stand mixer decal came in the mail today. Now we can really take down those pastries!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhad2BupEfKIo1iTWgD7KCP_WiDE8cYw7dtUfVE_IUDEqcjkn21QdoX2v-iH2zkoMfavt45r2M7LpAY__GHsqv8PlzhNwmbr8m7HXln58hRQR0DK8iMh6DsPaWBjO4eLt2zZEI8B4OetMI/s1600/proto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhad2BupEfKIo1iTWgD7KCP_WiDE8cYw7dtUfVE_IUDEqcjkn21QdoX2v-iH2zkoMfavt45r2M7LpAY__GHsqv8PlzhNwmbr8m7HXln58hRQR0DK8iMh6DsPaWBjO4eLt2zZEI8B4OetMI/s320/proto.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pre-container planting tomatoes and peppers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPFIDqdlH3XirCsBVb4wH5HTxSP7l2JXE6d99Za-1G9xrVQxeWUTZxR_tR3_8kif8ref9CTfreTLWT3o4CjHhNc4jS3bp9sJdaxqSrYjrT4aEneLjMMqctfrQqwXuT15eTrT_byVP0F4/s1600/herb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPFIDqdlH3XirCsBVb4wH5HTxSP7l2JXE6d99Za-1G9xrVQxeWUTZxR_tR3_8kif8ref9CTfreTLWT3o4CjHhNc4jS3bp9sJdaxqSrYjrT4aEneLjMMqctfrQqwXuT15eTrT_byVP0F4/s320/herb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The herb garden. Basil, dill and cilantro (that lazy rosemary still has a while to pop up.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Good night!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-56973431763612693202011-04-18T16:10:00.000-06:002011-04-18T16:10:34.631-06:00Rattlesnake Arches, the quick version.Yes, another quick post. Two of the tests from last week got pushed to today, then I have one more tomorrow. Also, I found out that my final speech is to be presented on Thursday, so you get a post with lots of pretty pictures this week, then more on the Geology next week.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, PBF, some friends and I headed out to hike the Rattlesnake Canyon trail. I cannot stress how beautiful it is. It has one of the larges collection of natural arches outside of Arches National Park in Utah. We took a 4x4 road to get to the upper trailhead instead of hiking in from the bottom of the canyon, and for the views, it was worth it (despite the climb back up the cliffs). <br />
<br />
On a side note, I figured all the running I've been doing since moving here would get me in shape for hikes like this, but from the feel of my calves today, I need to hit up the stair machine a little more instead.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6x65b_CYifOFekxL_Tv2Pbocv-oTvmjVZkQPiEHwn9-JFXXBrNSXI0-_fKj4d8X5pWAQntOvjbARlKGqqbNrllCHYdKrWgj9nY92EYVlbHDp0Sa0SCq78uNlgWWPMyU-VNe690t22Tw/s1600/DSC03896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6x65b_CYifOFekxL_Tv2Pbocv-oTvmjVZkQPiEHwn9-JFXXBrNSXI0-_fKj4d8X5pWAQntOvjbARlKGqqbNrllCHYdKrWgj9nY92EYVlbHDp0Sa0SCq78uNlgWWPMyU-VNe690t22Tw/s320/DSC03896.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A veiw looking back from the upper road. <br />
You can faintly see Mt. Garfield (left) and Grand Mesa(center-right) in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbj6jbepM5E3kNlP4x3CMpMxMifgKhxrR7Wztx8XWpirp1ZUWEz44241_ED4toUlf_f8CPVaJzZiszVDw_IZ_iay3fewJgL7bjAcorB7q6UHSNF0KH3KXH7CErazUx14oeSFQ4vEoXH8/s1600/DSC03851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbj6jbepM5E3kNlP4x3CMpMxMifgKhxrR7Wztx8XWpirp1ZUWEz44241_ED4toUlf_f8CPVaJzZiszVDw_IZ_iay3fewJgL7bjAcorB7q6UHSNF0KH3KXH7CErazUx14oeSFQ4vEoXH8/s320/DSC03851.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first great view of Rattlesnake Canyon from the 4x4 road. <br />
It is hard to miss this on your way to the trailhead.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfKhH2tGEceDrSEodOSp58u6ESU-h2lfdP1_hnPDnqySff5R933BV60v4E71jgGNPw-9gCqxoyNyoW9UXYijdxeHZhPByFXlb4COhB141X2-BkH0YGQ2CzEdBJ-v13snkeHnp4-fuBtk/s1600/DSC03886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfKhH2tGEceDrSEodOSp58u6ESU-h2lfdP1_hnPDnqySff5R933BV60v4E71jgGNPw-9gCqxoyNyoW9UXYijdxeHZhPByFXlb4COhB141X2-BkH0YGQ2CzEdBJ-v13snkeHnp4-fuBtk/s320/DSC03886.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first view from the upper trail. <br />
This is from the backside of Rattlesnake Canyon, looking out northwest into Utah and the Colorado River Valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaq0Mi-jNi8m8PpSR_miiQ2XtL4E8s5Js5L4SDrUBzQPl_NmeR4LBQ0ZaS-JYk1JoyNyej84j8QBwepsAm3Mp53QggKfB-lxG9p0tbw8ryKsJt6tR0hbLMPudiNmEMcili4DL6l7DUTYY/s1600/DSC03862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaq0Mi-jNi8m8PpSR_miiQ2XtL4E8s5Js5L4SDrUBzQPl_NmeR4LBQ0ZaS-JYk1JoyNyej84j8QBwepsAm3Mp53QggKfB-lxG9p0tbw8ryKsJt6tR0hbLMPudiNmEMcili4DL6l7DUTYY/s320/DSC03862.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The white layer in the middle is leaching out salts.<br />
(I know because I licked it. Geology involves all of the <a href="http://www.thebubble.org.uk/science/a-beginner-s-guide-to-licking-rocks">senses</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQOPzpOwoEtfec8NRPSYBygoOzn0UftVBuQBbQcqZO0Ts2cN6O1-TR4tWoY1NuoRlZXySVxrjEermP4GcdmxmDEjHhuwcMTP-69FLpdDceEXjf8LPL0HDgXxx2dSWZVnMX2qe-qRhvHs/s1600/DSC03864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQOPzpOwoEtfec8NRPSYBygoOzn0UftVBuQBbQcqZO0Ts2cN6O1-TR4tWoY1NuoRlZXySVxrjEermP4GcdmxmDEjHhuwcMTP-69FLpdDceEXjf8LPL0HDgXxx2dSWZVnMX2qe-qRhvHs/s320/DSC03864.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of the three arches you first come upon. <br />
I couldn't get back far enough to get all three without falling off the cliff behind me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXNpDuVBgGM_f5nG3aud7Gpy9uJ5Mx25jcxrxYaRORvMZ2kGThEYIvjyhIvLAXWaLgOmXbf2k7jFZBD9o9-7uh52QqsHkCsy5ZTpHg2223IkymGz1U3btAbwNmxVraPeKKNNXQasIJPg/s1600/DSC03871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXNpDuVBgGM_f5nG3aud7Gpy9uJ5Mx25jcxrxYaRORvMZ2kGThEYIvjyhIvLAXWaLgOmXbf2k7jFZBD9o9-7uh52QqsHkCsy5ZTpHg2223IkymGz1U3btAbwNmxVraPeKKNNXQasIJPg/s320/DSC03871.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the most well defined arches. <br />
There is an overlook trail that comes out on top of the canyon rim next to the top of the arch.<br />
Have to undertake that one next time.<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwO6KZ8ZyddVXty_4aC1E38KOlL1CoUs2OsgVcOO1NaS9J-VxOageHnt11e0tUukjfkArH521J4wT0fChFyFsPnCxhEAX-zvGZI7ZRtZaeq98Jmuj_kNIyVtIgCPPGX9rC8MNhNM4cVA/s1600/DSC03874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwO6KZ8ZyddVXty_4aC1E38KOlL1CoUs2OsgVcOO1NaS9J-VxOageHnt11e0tUukjfkArH521J4wT0fChFyFsPnCxhEAX-zvGZI7ZRtZaeq98Jmuj_kNIyVtIgCPPGX9rC8MNhNM4cVA/s320/DSC03874.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A formation below the trail we were on. PBF named it the Railroad Spike. <br />
You can see the faint trace of an even lower trail in the canyon below.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMqn2ztbD9SQuU3sgty9GnP3ih8PODR7F2LagcPAaqJGcdU7A8HQC7KD2aT8Aq32MU69GhXCNzyCR27Sn2qjCOf4CSB0QZeztiZEDxk8uT9cb_jG5iZg-aQQCLi1sbMA8O17PnrITjyA/s1600/DSC03895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMqn2ztbD9SQuU3sgty9GnP3ih8PODR7F2LagcPAaqJGcdU7A8HQC7KD2aT8Aq32MU69GhXCNzyCR27Sn2qjCOf4CSB0QZeztiZEDxk8uT9cb_jG5iZg-aQQCLi1sbMA8O17PnrITjyA/s320/DSC03895.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the drive back to Grand Junction.<br />
View of the Colorado Plateau from the 4x4 road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The pictures don't do the place the justice it deserves, but hopefully you get an idea of the beauty. Next week, observed sedimentary structures!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-80362458576848642202011-04-11T20:30:00.001-06:002011-04-11T20:30:35.597-06:00Monday QuickyAs I have a total of 5 tests in the next week, I'm going to wuss out and do a quick post today. In my Historical Geology course, we are currently pursuing our fossil unit. Here are my favorite fossils we have covered so far (and almost covered I suppose).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite">Trilobites</a>. So Cool. They were amazingly diverse prehistoric bugs that completely disappeared from the fossil record during the P<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event">ermian Extinction</a>. I don't have pictures of any yet (lab tomorrow!), but you can find several online. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiopod">Brachiopods</a>. While I don't find them to be particularly interesting, this specimen in lab was fossilized in a manner called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permineralization">permineralization</a>. It resulted in the shell being filled with pyrite.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw_DY1swR46CAbntxRNxUeog2hTIjp0ejYhv0M77LSsxBQhaTrkfQGHwdvqo5WhLhED-n74OqRqs0EGPjNBFNI_p0VgdpLI8CVz2PSaJr9f-OZsXXMM1XvN5JLOgVyNqPzAloosWgeH4/s1600/Photo0220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw_DY1swR46CAbntxRNxUeog2hTIjp0ejYhv0M77LSsxBQhaTrkfQGHwdvqo5WhLhED-n74OqRqs0EGPjNBFNI_p0VgdpLI8CVz2PSaJr9f-OZsXXMM1XvN5JLOgVyNqPzAloosWgeH4/s320/Photo0220.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top shell. you can't see the pyrite very well with this picture as it was from my phone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv-ogxGSZ3tPq9CrmuaQyXQGmhh-uIZhNKZOV2WtMr1juqSru3QZiVNB60oxeztmHyER1ZCOMEILZUf4mWNluxYIAAKDtyctevApqXsChkWLTQQ0qzPnGnBYPj7HoIM4a5e5x4S7KC8A/s1600/Photo0221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv-ogxGSZ3tPq9CrmuaQyXQGmhh-uIZhNKZOV2WtMr1juqSru3QZiVNB60oxeztmHyER1ZCOMEILZUf4mWNluxYIAAKDtyctevApqXsChkWLTQQ0qzPnGnBYPj7HoIM4a5e5x4S7KC8A/s320/Photo0221.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom shell. You can see the top shell overlaying at the top of the photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One neat way to tell Brachiopods from their similar looking friends the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelecypod">Pelecypods </a>is the symmetry. Brachiopods have a strong symmetry looking down at the top, while Pelecypods are symmetrical from the side.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom">Diatoms</a> are really neat single celled organisms. They still exist today, but have been found as far back as the Jurassic (200 million years ago). What I love about them, is the unique shell shapes (well, cell wall shapes would be a better term) they secrete. Pretty complex looking for a single cell. They also used to be used as an abrasive in toothpaste!<br />
<br />
Anyway, off to take one more run at my Weather and Climate practice test. Happy fossil hunting!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-90589053477859836702011-04-04T18:03:00.000-06:002011-04-04T18:03:27.121-06:00Details from the No Thoroughfare Trail in Colorado National Monument Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Last post, I focused on the older Precambrian rocks that make up most of the base of No Thoroughfare Canyon. For this post I'm switching gears, actually more like throwing it in reverse, to look at some of the most recent activity in the canyon; the flood and rockfall deposits of less than a million years ago. That may still sound pretty old, but remember, we were looking at rocks older than 1.4 billion years last week.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Close to the mouth of No Thoroughfare, you come upon this:</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtd33afqNrrB1300TBjOKNa3urtEzpo0phEVBMmLQ3SnOfzjuwiW0TZVUksQBwpPjBjA_cYk2q6EKQikxTQA5Z6SwqjEChHS9QM0z_JtGk_lSqtbfz7WsZrHSzwoH7LLbsUCxHfskboI/s1600/flood+boulder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtd33afqNrrB1300TBjOKNa3urtEzpo0phEVBMmLQ3SnOfzjuwiW0TZVUksQBwpPjBjA_cYk2q6EKQikxTQA5Z6SwqjEChHS9QM0z_JtGk_lSqtbfz7WsZrHSzwoH7LLbsUCxHfskboI/s320/flood+boulder.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The natural habitat of the elusive hiking backpack. Look at that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">camouflage!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My backpack on the ground is about a foot high so the larger boulders in the upper layers are a good foot in length at least. This is evidence of flood and possibly rock fall deposits (hehe, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_wasting">mass wasting</a>). These poorly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorting_(sediment)">sorted</a> deposits run up the canyon quite a ways. The sorting classification is based on variation in grain size of the sediments that make up the rock. There is a system of measure called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_size_(grain_size)">Wentworth Scale </a> that is used in geology to classify the grain size of sedimentary rocks. This will come in handy in a few minutes. The next picture is a bit further up. </div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2Dp8TWajtDfuHig9G7lqfybatdEZbkrBhMIa0tduQP9NhbcA1QnvvP-uYj7pQlCj7vM1_FplV8p-32s_6QavuoY6_LCLEtakjFaoq2KgN_I251NHCmO6zl_4o3919YtMUazTS4bpRIY/s1600/floods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2Dp8TWajtDfuHig9G7lqfybatdEZbkrBhMIa0tduQP9NhbcA1QnvvP-uYj7pQlCj7vM1_FplV8p-32s_6QavuoY6_LCLEtakjFaoq2KgN_I251NHCmO6zl_4o3919YtMUazTS4bpRIY/s320/floods.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small cliffs in the mouth of the canyon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've highlighted the portions of the poorly sorted gravels in the next photo. Differences in rock size show differences in the environment in which the rocks were deposited. The faster and stronger the force of the water, the larger and heavier rocks it has the ability to transport. Each layer of the larger cobbles and pebbles represent a flood deposit, with the fine grained sands representing calmer water deposition.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXTyKG2r40Fbm4ddSWuAikU4Mq5U1Ohkc4D59LskxrmU8O93iXtT-_MPE99vFeZzriS-51H7qBNHS0kA58d079Q5U4H56AMZlrLbcV2SVAkNwP0K6dKD4HaAs6939ekxwAmZwY8FmBUU/s1600/floods+marked.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXTyKG2r40Fbm4ddSWuAikU4Mq5U1Ohkc4D59LskxrmU8O93iXtT-_MPE99vFeZzriS-51H7qBNHS0kA58d079Q5U4H56AMZlrLbcV2SVAkNwP0K6dKD4HaAs6939ekxwAmZwY8FmBUU/s320/floods+marked.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing off a common tool in Geology. Outlining rocks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This picture has a very stark contrast between the fine grained sand deposits and the large boulders and cobbles above. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7wvFwjAV1gXjU5GsrGLjaW7pcruJH1q0aBfvqrCK1RdvhHDKMOpU_CPoalBrZXAdvii_m00SjCX_dq66pg7gMkOA47aePssZBdCqSkFned94yA80uN_QvFJdCmhpnw7GLauOCKODcyA/s1600/Photo0160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7wvFwjAV1gXjU5GsrGLjaW7pcruJH1q0aBfvqrCK1RdvhHDKMOpU_CPoalBrZXAdvii_m00SjCX_dq66pg7gMkOA47aePssZBdCqSkFned94yA80uN_QvFJdCmhpnw7GLauOCKODcyA/s320/Photo0160.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do not stand here during a flood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> The rock piles on the ground have either fallen from the cliff above, or have been transported by another flooding event.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5nrzA96Fk23i7HNLpVcM1KKQbzNy0DGCETHUuC3o89uvjtWtTK_bUTl44sluT1w6JyLGBoNnihJpdr52901nfxK8UGUyHWlzIksDsgoCp4NeW-sZM868bFLjQZ6zDMfJBjJl0nKoP0w/s1600/Photo0160+marked.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5nrzA96Fk23i7HNLpVcM1KKQbzNy0DGCETHUuC3o89uvjtWtTK_bUTl44sluT1w6JyLGBoNnihJpdr52901nfxK8UGUyHWlzIksDsgoCp4NeW-sZM868bFLjQZ6zDMfJBjJl0nKoP0w/s320/Photo0160+marked.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More exciting yellow outlining.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Each of the deposits above are really just loose sediment. They have not undergone the <a href="http://www.rocksandminerals4u.com/sedimentary_rock_formation.html">burial and lithification</a> necessary to cement the grains together to become a full fledged rock. Lucky for us another deposit in the area, a bit older, has eroded into the canyon and shows what the rocks from similar deposition environment a few hundred million years ago can look like. These are what the deposits above can become if they are not eroded away before they can be buried.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mNX_L2RIxHtk7ykE-ldBF1yQDoWLmIrlNnqFLGXbwK5UKcp-kRUkZ9G1kJgYPrMpj6wSfkUHQDOkxCOlrujgsypX98MnCYYySMN6eyyAQI7NCIFR5hXkfM7vr-bcgpA-Yk_lnefTUtU/s1600/Photo0171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mNX_L2RIxHtk7ykE-ldBF1yQDoWLmIrlNnqFLGXbwK5UKcp-kRUkZ9G1kJgYPrMpj6wSfkUHQDOkxCOlrujgsypX98MnCYYySMN6eyyAQI7NCIFR5hXkfM7vr-bcgpA-Yk_lnefTUtU/s320/Photo0171.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What the first deposits aspire to be....if rocks have aspirations I suppose.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRN3sruE6GZP__hRmQVyxtZWXRT3LW2Yqr495tmlxSxztbE41wXL0wU39iPZ80t7V5KHc8IuB9fDaR85VNy6ulLFGpJjdnyR4bxEGlRhQjzpDLJeJ7h4Rd4fpYcXkX4zU3kFCCfzIBLo/s1600/Photo0162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRN3sruE6GZP__hRmQVyxtZWXRT3LW2Yqr495tmlxSxztbE41wXL0wU39iPZ80t7V5KHc8IuB9fDaR85VNy6ulLFGpJjdnyR4bxEGlRhQjzpDLJeJ7h4Rd4fpYcXkX4zU3kFCCfzIBLo/s320/Photo0162.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pebble conglomerate, and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(graphical)#Foreshortening">foreshortened</a> leg.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div><div>The last picture I'll leave you with is one I meant to put up last week, but for some reason or another spaced out. If you ever needed proof the earth loves you, here it is.<div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKVHS_hMGEKs-Y3yoBUBM4WVfDeofY2p9OfZ1PWYTDRXD28PnaeYuPYfitHEOM54Zvu-O7WfmI2uOQoUqwXPW9mcOKsyP_LhtguHiMP63KRIua80wEn4PqCgJWLxJQFnQBeq19qwesN4/s1600/Photo0187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKVHS_hMGEKs-Y3yoBUBM4WVfDeofY2p9OfZ1PWYTDRXD28PnaeYuPYfitHEOM54Zvu-O7WfmI2uOQoUqwXPW9mcOKsyP_LhtguHiMP63KRIua80wEn4PqCgJWLxJQFnQBeq19qwesN4/s320/Photo0187.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
</div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-71471920688551153792011-03-29T10:37:00.000-06:002011-03-29T10:37:59.394-06:00Details from the No Thoroughfare Trail in Colorado National Monument Part 1One of the few hikes I was able to undertake over spring break was back to No Thoroughfare Canyon. While there was still some ice back up at the first waterfall, most of the trail was fairly dry this time. The ice from the creek had melted as well, so for the first time I was able to see some of the small (and by small I mean maybe a couple feet) canyons through which the creek had started to erode. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfq0oLqyKIPjh2UOCsImTbR-NBNNjiIRMc45abFaTAWpcTMzx2QBiQPEkZ2BzYDvYCWn7YrnHV7Gat_BLitCHJJ_fWGb9n6C0LBi3QLw7GLNWhOM3WLDlMaeClRgfwrQZtSis_89c_Ns/s1600/Photo0164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfq0oLqyKIPjh2UOCsImTbR-NBNNjiIRMc45abFaTAWpcTMzx2QBiQPEkZ2BzYDvYCWn7YrnHV7Gat_BLitCHJJ_fWGb9n6C0LBi3QLw7GLNWhOM3WLDlMaeClRgfwrQZtSis_89c_Ns/s400/Photo0164.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precambrian rocks cut by the creek.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
You may remember this little guy from the last post I had on this trail. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPphQB_-J7nW2k6n1P60wNdwQd2GWEBciTP35I7Q6vACJTOTgscDpsZ3KLOFY41fReiU_YDMdDFMRAnVDyW04sGGS7WFldW4fNuqpZUpRXHMcQe0WvOjtIJ4d4yLIQC6CXLQGmaqKt-q8/s1600/Photo0169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPphQB_-J7nW2k6n1P60wNdwQd2GWEBciTP35I7Q6vACJTOTgscDpsZ3KLOFY41fReiU_YDMdDFMRAnVDyW04sGGS7WFldW4fNuqpZUpRXHMcQe0WvOjtIJ4d4yLIQC6CXLQGmaqKt-q8/s320/Photo0169.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This time with scale!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKNQtvesHbU9xfxa3saRAUidwsikvLXBkQc9AUImjRrkGoJGpMegX1NuBRXjeuT846rRJ4XPd7gAwYjo4a1kAm57wEfST1QdTcSSevP16zbitwTvIipbp631LLenXvEMhG_W5I2eXWFg/s1600/Photo0170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKNQtvesHbU9xfxa3saRAUidwsikvLXBkQc9AUImjRrkGoJGpMegX1NuBRXjeuT846rRJ4XPd7gAwYjo4a1kAm57wEfST1QdTcSSevP16zbitwTvIipbp631LLenXvEMhG_W5I2eXWFg/s320/Photo0170.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here it is in relation to the boulder, hiding in the corner.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was pretty fascinated by it the first time around, so it was mostly my goal this hike to find him again. Turns out, it wasn't as far up the trail as I had remembered. It's on a boulder just past the first pool the creek forms, maybe a mile or so in from the trailhead. I took a few more pictures to bring in to my Geology teacher and continued up the trail. <br />
<br />
Well, I found quite a few more of these little <a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_principle_of_inclusion_state_In_geology_for_relating_to_rocks">inclusions</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precambrian">Precambrian</a> rocks.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7q0_5bjmy31NbBym0q9dq6KlN8b7NzDhJZXBYygGfph71kGEaWZnuhzof0ZGSgEnuZQuJXK0PxpO7pSG3XitFYlkMWyiUd30XM87vV2gATmHbDDVMdQTOBVJXdGXKKmbe0cAIqSFoTcg/s1600/Photo0182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7q0_5bjmy31NbBym0q9dq6KlN8b7NzDhJZXBYygGfph71kGEaWZnuhzof0ZGSgEnuZQuJXK0PxpO7pSG3XitFYlkMWyiUd30XM87vV2gATmHbDDVMdQTOBVJXdGXKKmbe0cAIqSFoTcg/s320/Photo0182.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relatively large inclusion with chapstick for scale because I forgot the swiss army knife I usually carry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ITpNsHGBP7BZyvmQbzF37XUYh_FbmMsUzjT7O4YkJufGFlrc_hL29_c5DjbQggp676NqDDRwwuQKMXtY-JfkMUVe5dCL5o9YreZRujCrRqCLnqVG3p6HbHlG1AAfO9ylZPubBC-NPK0/s1600/Photo0183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ITpNsHGBP7BZyvmQbzF37XUYh_FbmMsUzjT7O4YkJufGFlrc_hL29_c5DjbQggp676NqDDRwwuQKMXtY-JfkMUVe5dCL5o9YreZRujCrRqCLnqVG3p6HbHlG1AAfO9ylZPubBC-NPK0/s320/Photo0183.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partially eroded inclusion. you can see the deep red by the rusting of iron rich minerals.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrXmOTefT1uMkQ-nnkYxlX4eK3NysykIE5AfKBp3auMTt02E0ZHjr6Ao9OU9i2OlYzMwdVt3AhTFyvJjW0xHv0H_nDkOSabIiYKq-QR9hpTCWaaSdYTG5fnXegKJPA_SX_WzIlMF1XDk/s1600/Photo0184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrXmOTefT1uMkQ-nnkYxlX4eK3NysykIE5AfKBp3auMTt02E0ZHjr6Ao9OU9i2OlYzMwdVt3AhTFyvJjW0xHv0H_nDkOSabIiYKq-QR9hpTCWaaSdYTG5fnXegKJPA_SX_WzIlMF1XDk/s320/Photo0184.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost fully eroded inclusion.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After seeing several of these along the hike, I had come to the hypothesis that these were older, possibly sedimentary rocks (due to the fact that they are more easily eroded than the surrounding rock) from before the igneous and metamorphic Precambrian rocks formed. I brought this theory, along with a picture to my geology teacher last week, and he said there were indeed some sandstones and limestones (both sedimentary rocks) that had been included in the Precambrians. <div><br />
</div><div>Huzzah! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZEgvViNAFk">I'm learning!</a></div><div><br />
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<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-55793329416470448222011-03-20T11:02:00.000-06:002011-03-20T11:02:49.595-06:00Importance Of GeologySpring break was busier than I had anticipated. My Calculus class is online, and while it starts a week later than on-campus classes, the drawback is that there is no spring break. So I had a unit to work on over the past week for that class. I did get out on a couple good hikes, however I am still wading through the photos I took so the posts don't end up sounding like a jumble of rocks at the end of a rock slide, jagged and poorly sorted. <br />
<br />
So why am I posting now you say? Well, the other big school project that has dominated my spring break is a persuasive speech I have to give for my speech class Thursday. Almost a month ago, I had already decided to show people the importance of studying Geology and how it effects everyday lives. I had a lot of vague categories in mind to talk about and had started jotting down notes for it when the earthquake hit Japan over a week ago. So here is the introduction to my modified speech.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><ol type="I"><ol type="A"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Before Japan was devistated last week by a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake, I was trying to narrow down all the reasons why I believe the study of Geology is important to humanity. </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We utalize it intuitivly when we head to the outdoors for recreation. What conditions are out there? Should I bring something with 4x4 capabilities? Should I climb to higher ground from a canyon if it starts raining? Even winter sports like Skiing and Snowboarding which are a large part of Colorado's economy would not be possible here if the Mountains hadn't begun to lift out of the seaway that covered Colorado for much of it's Geologic Past.</div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Speaking of economic impacts, where would Colorado be without it's natural resources. Colorado has been among the top producers of gold/silver/uranium and various other minerals in the United States throughout it's history. Construction materials such as gypsum and aggregate to salt for food to clay for pottery can all be found lurking somewhere in Colorado. Yule Marble, which is Colorado's state rock, was used in the construction of the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the unknown soldier. The largest resource industry that impacts Colorado can be seen even a few miles from where we stand. Colorado's oil production over time ranks eleventh in the nation and natural gas ranks fifth. </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All of these factors are great reasons why Geology is important, but after last week, one of the strongest factors emerged. The greatest impacts on our lives comes from the force of which our Earth is capable. In one moment, lives, economies and entire nations can be changed. Our key to minimizing this devistation, lies in the science of Geology.</div></li>
</ol></ol></blockquote> So there you go. The rest of the speech should be fully written in a few days. There is no way to prevent events such as the Sendai or the Haitian earthquake that hit last year, so the speech focuses on the ways that Geology can help lessen the impacts of such disasters. There is a lot of information coming out of the Earthquakes, so if you are looking for some good links about the geology of the earthquake in Japan (and because I am nowhere near qualified yet to make these observations on my own.) here is a list of some of the best posts I have found out there.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/tsunami-ripple-effect-2/">The Tsunami's Ripple Effect</a><br />
<a href="http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/">Several posts on the earthquake, though some a little detailed</a><br />
<a href="http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2011/03/12/secondary-effects/">Secondary Effects of Earthquakes</a><br />
<a href="http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2011/03/15/new-gps-vectors/">Movement of GPS ground units after the Earthquake</a><br />
<a href="http://www.geologyinmotion.com/">This blog has posts covering just about everything you might want to know.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-15421700843403586492011-03-08T13:17:00.000-07:002011-03-08T13:17:24.557-07:00Brief IntermissionThis is midterms week. The dreaded week before spring break. I am already working on a speech concerning why should you care about geology, so I'm sure that will turn into a post over spring break. I'm also hopeing the weather will cooperate, and I can fill your eyes with the beauty that is Western Colorado. For now, however, I will be short and sweet, with some "Oooh and Aaaah" links of pictures from various sources I try to read with some regularity. <br />
<br />
I follow a lot of geology and astronomy pages on twitter. They provide many spectacular photos of which I probably would never see.<br />
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1888.html">This</a> is a photo taken from the International Space Station as the Shuttle Discovery detaches for it's journey home.<br />
<a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/03/08/seriously-jaw-dropping-picture-of-the-sun/">This</a> is a photo of the Sun from Earth using a filter that only accepts a wavelength of light emitted by the element Hydrogen.<br />
<a href="http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002946/">This</a> (if you scroll down a bit) is a photo of a seriously huge storm on Saturn.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/magisstra/5508050959/in/photostream/">This</a> is a photo taken form the International Space Station while two of the astronauts are on a space walk.<br />
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Sorry for the short post, see you after midterms!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-3642484932230388202011-02-28T12:22:00.000-07:002011-02-28T12:22:31.197-07:00Hiking the Colorado National Monument<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ejNJqTauDd1EaH1sHk-ZgxsVLE2u8GB8WMsdrxI5Nu6mTXAgREY6abzzqgXm8ROl26Y73jz1Xj71QlYiPD0KxfNSFGROkCdHd07Lzq8NulyWm_IaQDbIcDkjiqKf3y4zUdV1lig2YPg/s1600/independence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Moving to Grand Junction in the middle of winter had made hiking a bit of a challenge so far, but as the weather warms up, I hope to provide a more detailed geologic look at the array of formations surrounding the Grand Valley area. But for now, I will provide a few pretty pictures from the short hikes that weather and school have permitted.<br />
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This first picture is from the base of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Cliffs">Book Cliffs</a> after a snowstorm had passed through the area. It is looking south towards the Colorado National Monument. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymjK7rwUH6CofPgKwSmygLKGyqrmFDYi5uqEJ91H8cFxHu8dECSUb1uOPeIHWBPjv9IkWWCVW34_XF76qSRhM4YGDK2J7D-v5XwH_wCFLifuRSuAnUbdQye6D_5_iYV_Ac1LgKEX43w4/s1600/bookcliffs+base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymjK7rwUH6CofPgKwSmygLKGyqrmFDYi5uqEJ91H8cFxHu8dECSUb1uOPeIHWBPjv9IkWWCVW34_XF76qSRhM4YGDK2J7D-v5XwH_wCFLifuRSuAnUbdQye6D_5_iYV_Ac1LgKEX43w4/s320/bookcliffs+base.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oooooh, Aaaaah!</td></tr>
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PBF and I ventured out to the No Thoroughfare Canyon trail, just inside the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_National_Monument">Colorado National Monument</a>. This will definitely be a topic for several hikes to come. The variety of Precambrian metamorphic rocks and the layered sandstones above create many topics for the geologist in me. Here are a few pictures from the initial hike.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQrHc3jfcaJWyNHsCiXfii3ie3v4DH2Xp-Mlho5tMl1BfKOzpo6A2Reijn1n-0UQ2z4ttYcHDMmmkJvwxi1_BhCVirkL956BWGOI__XTnDUi0S1JyBttNDJfozVTjXr1nST-2QNFG66I/s1600/no+thuroughfare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQrHc3jfcaJWyNHsCiXfii3ie3v4DH2Xp-Mlho5tMl1BfKOzpo6A2Reijn1n-0UQ2z4ttYcHDMmmkJvwxi1_BhCVirkL956BWGOI__XTnDUi0S1JyBttNDJfozVTjXr1nST-2QNFG66I/s320/no+thuroughfare.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the canyon.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEGaMlc8jftPSPFYqZCOqKMde6QpgpY8109I2B9TxZFu6lM2LpP6iZCg15awP0afWM5E_Hab_kEkNFFP3gx3TVSFIMYrwXlSMYCaI7xqA6u8UEcaqH1Hrs0to4KrEaHrgFWJdW5d90kI/s1600/no+T.+waterfall.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEGaMlc8jftPSPFYqZCOqKMde6QpgpY8109I2B9TxZFu6lM2LpP6iZCg15awP0afWM5E_Hab_kEkNFFP3gx3TVSFIMYrwXlSMYCaI7xqA6u8UEcaqH1Hrs0to4KrEaHrgFWJdW5d90kI/s320/no+T.+waterfall.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Waterfall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSarrdHS-QcaGqP1wBTuBdpVWNcJYMuBRdrqzqpBZU_LeGRTX479M8ZfY1RK86Eh2PLEN2MoxTRLLk0oPvFkrF_fSHEwV93mZRYA06KwdiDQ2h-vGwp8gqhcDipUhcYlqe9mFYIOsDcQ/s1600/N.T.+intrusion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSarrdHS-QcaGqP1wBTuBdpVWNcJYMuBRdrqzqpBZU_LeGRTX479M8ZfY1RK86Eh2PLEN2MoxTRLLk0oPvFkrF_fSHEwV93mZRYA06KwdiDQ2h-vGwp8gqhcDipUhcYlqe9mFYIOsDcQ/s320/N.T.+intrusion.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some sort of intrusion with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphism#Contact_.28thermal.29_metamorphism">contact metamorphism</a> around the edges. Definitely returning to this one</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>For the next nice patch of weather, we headed to the opposite side of the C.N.M. and trekked up the Lower Monument Trail to Independence Monument.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rIlYKduyGd2oC7HmN-Rm_IIfM5HPUGbrfKZ8tqj5vrWaN3If-nES8jtbaA5qKTTppxci3igoUmSY4ZovW6lkGSsvDWugkjVg8POhDu0kM0s0ILONi9XeZfS_NtPCNVcjBzfWdClN8CA/s1600/independence+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rIlYKduyGd2oC7HmN-Rm_IIfM5HPUGbrfKZ8tqj5vrWaN3If-nES8jtbaA5qKTTppxci3igoUmSY4ZovW6lkGSsvDWugkjVg8POhDu0kM0s0ILONi9XeZfS_NtPCNVcjBzfWdClN8CA/s320/independence+side.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side of Independence Monument</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUQGE8LNAdPBqYA9RdqXOw4_XbFg5MvhRaOgCB2Kridn9EJ19mTh5_wvG0J9jtv0mA59Bzage6Xs30SshoY9dZCMNkzXNGvF6eMlu12S4CUS5WyBKdKNwHh6SHJSMwry0Ve-iJu_Jzaw/s1600/independence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUQGE8LNAdPBqYA9RdqXOw4_XbFg5MvhRaOgCB2Kridn9EJ19mTh5_wvG0J9jtv0mA59Bzage6Xs30SshoY9dZCMNkzXNGvF6eMlu12S4CUS5WyBKdKNwHh6SHJSMwry0Ve-iJu_Jzaw/s320/independence.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thin view of Independence Monument.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BFwRXa4ES7LC2q0iYNCXty5oy8fnS7EpLI9qJk8XDQt1ev5x30YoUm-KeArLB2OvLd2f-q7Y7zp0VqKjTZ-Y-VtZlg6JEwpSmR-cSksEA9f5i69l6I50YGexty0hVJ4wDWBoryN-zuw/s1600/lower+monumnet+trail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BFwRXa4ES7LC2q0iYNCXty5oy8fnS7EpLI9qJk8XDQt1ev5x30YoUm-KeArLB2OvLd2f-q7Y7zp0VqKjTZ-Y-VtZlg6JEwpSmR-cSksEA9f5i69l6I50YGexty0hVJ4wDWBoryN-zuw/s320/lower+monumnet+trail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rock Monster ready to chomp on unsuspecting hikers.</td></tr>
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The last attempted hike was to Ute Canyon. The weather had climbed to 45 degrees and was amazingly clear, thus providing for great hiking weather!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbT1ggVt7L3hKfpS-0wFsqhomtXBWCidzVlGPYOrkPp7tkBc2oXiZjQGwviBKhaJcOF0USpyVR6M6b0iG30V_9Oxvf3dGUvHOkDHTEM8XO7KFpt8PHtWva5_AOIxRuUvYahfHIeB6Xuzk/s1600/Ute+Canyon+trailhead.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbT1ggVt7L3hKfpS-0wFsqhomtXBWCidzVlGPYOrkPp7tkBc2oXiZjQGwviBKhaJcOF0USpyVR6M6b0iG30V_9Oxvf3dGUvHOkDHTEM8XO7KFpt8PHtWva5_AOIxRuUvYahfHIeB6Xuzk/s320/Ute+Canyon+trailhead.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlook from the start of the trail looking across Ute Canyon.</td></tr>
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The attempted part comes in because of a massive snowstorm that had hit the monument earlier in the week, leaving at least a foot of snow on the steep canyon trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOyXrG-VJhiV0PKsrHjcGzK2LbP4NuQtVpq1a8syGb0WODEtGOmnRQtcoYCYErQeO69V71I6-ghm9CQlo9Ii3z8u9xqtf-ZjcdpJEVDgTz2KSFWwlBKxd0_0KoJVOCf40PUPy_cOKn-eA/s1600/ute+canyon+snow.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOyXrG-VJhiV0PKsrHjcGzK2LbP4NuQtVpq1a8syGb0WODEtGOmnRQtcoYCYErQeO69V71I6-ghm9CQlo9Ii3z8u9xqtf-ZjcdpJEVDgTz2KSFWwlBKxd0_0KoJVOCf40PUPy_cOKn-eA/s320/ute+canyon+snow.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PBF attempting to blaze a trail through the snow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So after about ten minutes of trudging a bit, we decided to turn back. Instead, we headed back down the road to Devil's Canyon, which shares the trailhead with No Thoroughfare. On a short hike (as we had time constraints in meeting folks for dinner) we took the trail to where it forks with Echo Canyon Trail. Along the way we got to see some petroglyphs, and a short half hour or so later, we got this view looking back across the Grand Valley towards the Book Cliffs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1akxNCQJ6E2FvFDz5fUg363_JKRELrvDNtABolvP3RqZ8SNjuJDkS0b4U_xoNF8h5I_gb8Zmn717m0CpYkHA9bbXZ9CEyJsB7vFfkhiX6l91Pzpdhgc6oqiBPeUi5-3dORixYEN4Nvo/s1600/devil%2527s+kitchen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1akxNCQJ6E2FvFDz5fUg363_JKRELrvDNtABolvP3RqZ8SNjuJDkS0b4U_xoNF8h5I_gb8Zmn717m0CpYkHA9bbXZ9CEyJsB7vFfkhiX6l91Pzpdhgc6oqiBPeUi5-3dORixYEN4Nvo/s320/devil%2527s+kitchen.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tiny hills in the far distance are the Book Cliffs.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAkZlh0G1inh8V9CGb5Q5K1Vkw38NiBjmGiQz7BZtltsvHZ0x_WSGMkPRRDY5DhQKo7nQmmvmnqqWMR-pVb_OiFN8J44NS0OkcJuXMF5vErTEx5m-keYwTFQ1WQxQDKnLxHDwzPWzs6s/s1600/petroglyph.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAkZlh0G1inh8V9CGb5Q5K1Vkw38NiBjmGiQz7BZtltsvHZ0x_WSGMkPRRDY5DhQKo7nQmmvmnqqWMR-pVb_OiFN8J44NS0OkcJuXMF5vErTEx5m-keYwTFQ1WQxQDKnLxHDwzPWzs6s/s320/petroglyph.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the few intact petroglyphs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>While I haven't been able to hike as much as I would like, being cooped up inside has provided PBF and me with plenty of good food however! Here is our inaugural batch of tamales!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhTeylpKhk0z2qmCZBpTjFaTfD8pDkXPb7f38cSorjYmKr5yQl1DDOMWDs0w4q2q0QcbJPZTzHmFAxXBS45bKf3ibW50b_CRDYiZTK6xpo2hm_xZaoI2jc64RX3O-f1hQA5occ7Pbn6M/s1600/tamale.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhTeylpKhk0z2qmCZBpTjFaTfD8pDkXPb7f38cSorjYmKr5yQl1DDOMWDs0w4q2q0QcbJPZTzHmFAxXBS45bKf3ibW50b_CRDYiZTK6xpo2hm_xZaoI2jc64RX3O-f1hQA5occ7Pbn6M/s320/tamale.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hopefully with the weather warming up and spring break approaching, I will reload my blog material with more hiking!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-24127746348711623232011-02-25T12:12:00.000-07:002011-02-25T12:12:08.780-07:00Making Rocks BleedFor my core curricula I have to take a basic speech class of which I am enrolled this semester. Years of working customer service, teaching art at a recreation center and running a small cafe have rendered this class a bit on the boring side, plus I have been speaking or performing in front of groups for more than twenty years, so I decided to pursue topics for my speeches which are interesting to me. My first two minute introductory speech I prepared on the ten minute walk from my house to campus. It was about how much of a geek I am, from the interest in science and math, right down to the glasses and asthma. For the second speech, "how to" do something, I built a lego mosaic of the school mascot: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzfnFNtHtoIV7HsqX1ks1BuL0yG3cGoAvJ_mHfbUvTvIkj8QBdRgg_mB7LvIZ-Fedig2OFUpKaUtAxndN9Uv1CLsWLvE3m1nGhsp5f04nVWHIawoxHEpJbDqPzcX8cYeBDCWMX-EinkTQ/s1600/mesa+logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzfnFNtHtoIV7HsqX1ks1BuL0yG3cGoAvJ_mHfbUvTvIkj8QBdRgg_mB7LvIZ-Fedig2OFUpKaUtAxndN9Uv1CLsWLvE3m1nGhsp5f04nVWHIawoxHEpJbDqPzcX8cYeBDCWMX-EinkTQ/s320/mesa+logo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go Mavs!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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I spent much more time on building the bull than on the speech itself, so that was fun.<br />
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So for my next speech, I went with a book I had been reading in my spare time entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Natural-History-Victoria-Finlay/dp/0812971426/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1"><u>Color; A Natural History of the Palette</u></a>. It is a great mix of fiction and fact surrounding the origins of paints and dyes used by humans. The author includes the imagined journeys of fictitious characters of the past on the search for various pigment to supplement her own journeys to far away lands in search of various bugs, plants and rocks which have been processed for color throughout history. A few interesting tidbits from the book:<br />
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1. The Aborigines still go on pilgrimages to secret ochre bearing locations as rituals. <br />
2. The Cochneal bug is still used (in the crushed, dried, processed form) to color several foods and makeups, so if you see E120, you are using bugs.<br />
4. For all the green that occurs in nature, it is surprisingly hard to find a good pigment. <br />
3. Ultramarine (from the Italian oltromarino or "beyond sea") is made from the Lapis Lazuli stone that was only mined in a single place in Afghanistan. It was so expensive in the past, that Michelangelo couldn't afford it to finish his painting, "The Entombment". <br />
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If you are looking for a fairly quick read, I completely recommend Victoria Finlay's book. It is a great look into the past and continuing processes in the quest to color our lives.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164961839441689007.post-82361015415743969412011-02-08T18:30:00.000-07:002011-02-08T18:30:42.745-07:00The BeginningI have been telling myself for years that I should start a blog, if for no other reason than to get in some writing practice and refine my tone. So here it is. The title, Clastic Fill, is a play on a phrase from a movie, The Hangover, that came to me while listening to a lecture on sedimentary rocks.<br />
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I study Geology. It happens to finally be in an official capacity as I am enrolled in a geology program but I have always loved rocks, the earth and the science surrounding them. Most kids seem to have a rock collection at some point, but mine got to the point of the parents limiting the amount of rocks per hike or camping trip. I was allowed one. I still limit myself to this same amount. Most are little fragments of granite or gneiss. I'm a huge fan of metamorphic rocks. The little ones are now the matrix in which my bamboo plants sit, but I still have a few large ones. <br />
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I am also a huge Lego maniac. I have a tattoo of a Lego on my hip. That is how much I love them. Legos are my art form. I make portraits and mosaics, and the occasional statue. I am currently working on some models with which to teach science.<br />
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My long term boyfriend, who will be referred to in this blog as PBF (Pseudonym Boyfriend), and I love to cook. A lot of our time spent together is cooking various and delicious meals. In the past month, we have learned to make our own salami, make tamales and make both refried and baked beans from scratch.<br />
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So now I have begun what I hope to be at least an entertaining endeavor for myself, but hopefully for some others as well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08874630527825254732noreply@blogger.com0