Geotripper

Searching for the Green Flash...

2012-02-01T00:35:00.000-08:00

No, not a super-hero. The green flash that sometimes occurs as the sun sinks below the horizon. It lasts for a few seconds and to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever seen it. I got to thinking about it because Andrew Alden over at About Geology mentioned it in a recent post.

I was doing my darndest to catch it last summer on what had been a kind of somber day. We had visited the site of the St. Francis Dam disaster earlier in the afternoon for the first time, and after a long drive, we arrived at our campsite at Leo Carrillo State Park along the Malibu coast (yes, there had been another lucky reservation cancellation).

The canyon where the campground was situated was already deep in the shadows, so we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset. The pelicans did a nice job of helping to frame the setting sun...

So here's the thing: just as the sun hit the horizon, my autofocus started dropping in and out of focus, so I just snapped shots hoping one of them might catch something of the flash. I think I caught it below...but what do you experts out there think??

The Other California: "Surely they didn't build it there" The 2nd biggest disaster in California history

2012-01-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hindsight is harsh.

Sometimes choices and judgements are made to save time, to save money. Sometimes choices are made in unfortunate ignorance, in a time when no one could have foreseen or recognized the right choices to be made. Sometimes there is no one there to provide perspective, to provide alternatives. And then people die. Lots of people.

Ask folks what they think was the worst disaster in California history and many will get it right. Upwards of 3,000 people died in the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, and the event has shaped the psyche and attitude of many people in the state more than a century afterward. And it was brought about by a natural event.

The second worst disaster in the history of the state is far less known. Some might guess another earthquake, like the Long Beach quake of 1933 (115 dead) or the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 (63 dead). Historians might point to the Port Chicago munitions explosion of 1944 (320 dead). Few people are aware that it was the collapse of a dam, and that the collapse was the result of many poor choices. Hindsight is a harsh judge, but many of the mistakes were "before their time" so to speak. The fact that it happened maybe has prevented worse disasters in the intervening years.

Time (and a great deal of government effort) has erased much of the record of our state's second worst disaster. As far as I could see there is not a single plaque or monument, either concerning the horrific event, or commemorating those who were lost. There is a small cemetery where some of the victims were buried.

Looking at the slide area on the left side of the picture above, it is hard to believe that a 200 foot high dam was anchored there, in the incompetent mica schist. It is hard to believe that the failed slopes in the picture obscure an even deeper and bigger megaslide.

It is hard to look at the flat ridge on the right side of the picture above and realize that no one ever though to check the effect of soaking the seemingly solid conglomerate in water. It is glued together primarily with gypsum, a mineral that dissolves in water. The rock falls apart when saturated.

Maybe the most stunning realization is that the schist and the conglomerate are separated by a fault zone. An inactive fault by all appearances, but a fault nonetheless. They built the dam on a megalandslide, and on a fault zone.

It is difficult to envision that on the night of March 12, 1928, the recently completed dam failed so catastrophically that the floodplain in the photos above and below was inundated with 140 feet of water flowing at a rate of 1.7 million cubic feet per second (California's biggest river, the Sacramento, averages 30,000 cfs, and the record flood on the river was 650,000 cfs).

What happened?

As Ron and Randy correctly surmised, Friday's mystery photo was about the destruction of the St. Francis Dam in 1928. I consider it one of the most important geological events ever to happen in the state, not because a great many people died, but because they died as a result of a disregard or lack of knowledge concerning human construction projects and the geological foundations on which they are built. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are inevitable geologic events, but the events of 1928 were completely avoidable.

In the early twentieth century, Los Angeles was at a crossroads. The city was growing fast, and the water needs of the metropolis far exceeded locally available supplies (according to city officials anyway). The story of how the city stole (legally stole, but stolen nonetheless) the water from underneath the people of the Owens Valley is a legend of California history. The fact that much of the water went to irrigation in the San Fernando Valley instead of the city just added to the scandal. Having completed the Owens Valley Aqueduct, one of the largest public waterworks ever conceived, the city needed someplace to store the water locally, especially in preparation for drought conditions. William Mulholland, the superintendent of the predecessor to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, oversaw the design and construction of a series of reservoirs around the Los Angeles Basin. Nine were constructed, and St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon above the Santa Clarita Valley was the largest, with a storage capacity of 38,000 acre feet. The dam itself was about 200 feet high, and just over 600 feet across. It was a concrete gravity-arch dam, one that depended on the nature of the rock in the abutments to maintain stability.

Construction was begun in 1924 and complete in 1926. During the construction Mulholland directed that the dam be made 20 feet higher than in the original plans, but he made no alterations at the base to compensate for the additional weight of the water. The filling of the dam took another two years, and was complete on March 7, 1928. On the morning of March 12, the dam keeper noted a leak of muddy water and alerted Mulholland. Small leaks of clear water from dams are usually expected; muddy leaks from a dam are very bad. Mulholland declared that the mud was from some recent road construction and that the dam was safe. 12 hours later, the dam keeper was dead, the first victim of the collapse of the St. Francis Dam.

To his credit, Mulholland took the blame for the disaster. Although he was never convicted of any crime in the matter, his career was over. He died seven years later.

Accounts at the time suggested that failure occurred as water channeled through the conglomerate along the fault contact. A reassessment of the failure by J. David Rogers finds multiple causes for the disaster, with the reactivation of the ancient landslide being the most important factor, along with hydraulic lifting of the dam which was caused by water pressing against the topmost part of the dam (which had been made higher without compensating at the base). Rogers lists many other deficiencies, including the weakness of the rocks in the dam abutments (I refer interested readers to this very fascinating pdf by Rogers that provides a blow-by-blow analysis of failure of the dam and a great deal of background information on the disaster).

Incredibly, despite the total evisceration of the dam, the central part remained standing, a 200 foot high monument to the destruction. After a sightseer fell off the top (his "friends" had tossed a rattlesnake at him), the city quarried holes in the base, filled them with five tons of dynamite, and blew up the remaining tower. Other blocks were also destroyed, as if they were trying to erase all memory of the event. One of the blocks was the "outcrop" I used in the Friday mystery photo.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a (much appreciated) photo archive from which I have gathered these photographs of the aftermath. In the photograph below, the fault line dividing the Vasquez Conglomerate from the Pelona Schist can be clearly seen (the lighter Pelona in the foreground, the dark Vasquez on upper ridge). The fault is inactive, and no earthquakes are implicated in the failure, but had the dam not failed, rising water pressure along the fault could conceivably have eventually caused renewed quake activity. The phenomenon has been noted elsewhere.

Blocks of concrete weighing thousands of tons were carried in the floodwaters nearly a half mile downstream. The magnitude of the disaster is hard to comprehend. Normal rivers have trouble moving boulders only a foot across. Besides the sheer magnitude of the flow, debris from the landslide buoyed up the blocks.

The block below was a half mile downstream. It measured approximately 63 feet long, 30 feet high, and 54 feet wide.

It is hard to find much that is positive in this disaster, but changes were made in the aftermath. The input of qualified engineering geologists became a requirement in dam-building, and much more attention was paid to the geological setting of reservoir sites. Boulder Dam on the Colorado River, one of the largest dams in existence is not in Boulder Canyon. Following the St. Francis disaster, the site of the dam was changed to Black Canyon when it was decided that the rocks that would anchor the dam were more stable there.

It would not be at all correct to say that we learned every possible lesson in dam construction. The 1963 tragedy at Vaiont Reservoir in Italy and the 1975 collapse of the Teton Reservoir, Idaho are vivid examples of unlearned lessons.

Hindsight is harsh. But it can be a teacher, too.

The Other California: Adding Context to a Friday Mystery Photo

2012-01-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

I am always pleasantly surprised by the insight of the commenters on this blog, especially in light of yesterday's mystery photo. I provided very little in the way of clues, but many of you saw things that I didn't when I was standing on the hill above the outcrop. Part of the difficulty was that I was on the top of the hill without binoculars, and the photo (taken by Mrs. Geotripper) was on an extreme zoom. I was also flying blind, so to speak, with no maps or field guides about the road we were on. So today I am providing lots of context to judge what's going on in the picture. This will be a two-parter...

First is the google image of the site (above), and a wider view of the outcrop (below). One thing that stands out about the San Gabriel Mountains is the extreme steepness of the terrain. As I have noted several times (here, for instance), the only flat places are on river floodplains or the tops of landslides. That makes the green thicket of trees on the upper left of the GoogleEarth image immediately interesting. Why are the trees there, but not in other parts of the canyon floor? The second thing to note is the constriction in the canyon on the downstream side of the floodplain forest. Why is it there?

The third feature is the linear nature of the canyon itself. Streams tend to erode sinuous gorges unless the underlying geology (i.e., weak, easily eroded rock) is guiding the direction of the river carving. Why is that canyon so straight?

Here is the context shot. The dark oak tree in the upper left can be seen in the GoogleEarth image in the lower center as a dark dot where the canyon widens just downstream of the forest. The "outcrop" lies in the midst of the wider floodplain at the very bottom of the satellite image.

The linear canyon is rather adequately explained by the presence of a fault juxtaposing two kinds of rock. The rock on the west side (below) is an Oligocene terrestrial conglomerate-sandstone called the Vasquez Formation (known also as the Sespe Formation).

The gray rock on the east side (right side in the GoogleEarth image) of the fault is the Pelona Schist, a rock composed of parallel layers of muscovite mica and quartz grains. The rock is not overly tough, as the mica is soft and the layers separate easily. The Pelona is subject to landsliding...

Here is a final context shot for the mystery (below). The story is perhaps becoming clearer: the San Gabriel Mountains have been rapidly uplifted, so that even weak rocks have been deeply eroded and formed steep slopes. Fault lines cross the mountains, including this locality, so the canyon eroded in a straight line that divided the Vasquez Formation from the Pelona Schist. The Pelona is prone to slope failure, so ancient landslides blocked the stream, forming temporary lakes that filled with sediment, providing a nice environment for the growth of a riparian forest. The constriction in the canyon is the site of the old landslide.

All of which doesn't exactly provide an answer to yesterday's mystery. Many commenters (who never cease to amaze me with their insight) suggested the idea of a debris flow, and this is correct in a way. Others noted the regular pattern of holes and suggested that the outcrop has been quarried or otherwise altered by people. Also true, in a way.

Before I stumbled onto what was going on, I was thinking that this was an outcrop of the Vasquez conglomerate, but I was bothered by the bleached aspect (the Vasquez is red-brown). I thought maybe I was looking at a displaced fault sliver in which hot acidic groundwater had altered the original material. But when I saw the holes much later while processing the digital images, I realized I was looking at something much different. And something very tragic...

The next post may be titled "They didn't. Surely they didn't put it there..."

The Other California: A Friday Mystery for Armchair Geologists

2012-01-27T23:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of a mystery for a friday night...what do you make of this outcrop? I missed it's significance when I was there looking at it. What do you think it might be? We are in southern California, somewhere in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Answers in the next post...

Accretionary Wedge #42 "Countertop" Geology and the rock outcrops in downtown Venice

2012-01-27T00:19:00.000-08:00

This month's Accretionary Wedge is hosted by Volcanoclast and asks of us the following:

Have you seen a great countertop out there? Sure, everyone says it’s “granite”, but you know better. Take a picture, post it on your own blog or send it to me and I’ll post it for you. Do you think you know what it is or how it was formed? Feel free to include your own interpretation and I’m sure others will enjoy joining in the discussion. Ron Schott suggested that we expand the entries by including any decorative stone material that has been separated by humans from it’s source. This includes buildings, statues, etc. There’s a lot of really unusual stuff out there, so make sure to find a good one.

So...my countertops are made of reprocessed clay (tiles, in other words) and are thus unremarkable, so I will take advantage of Ron's suggestion. I am offering up the picture above. Here's the story of where I found it...

Several years ago we took a class of geologists and archaeologists to Italy and Switzerland for a taste of overseas geology and culture. I didn't have the connections to do our own chosen itinerary, so we were on an arranged tour with a few geological diversions. We made sure we got to Pompei, and climbed to the top of Vesuvius (above), and in the best moment of the trip we managed to find the site of the original Alvarez K/T boundary near Gubbio (the first place where evidence was found for the asteroid that ended the existence of the dinosaurs). That is one happy (and VERY relieved) professor in the picture below. I more or less knew where the outcrop was located, but we missed it on the first pass with our large bus on the very narrow road, and we had to go several miles before the bus could make an Austin-Powers-style back-and-forth U-turn.

Still, we were on a tour, and in the middle stretches of the trip we explored the very beautiful towns of Florence, Verona and Venice. Spectacular, but not a lot of actual geology (although we had a lot to say about the mountains in the distance). I tried to convince our crew to go see the marble quarries at Carrara, but they insisted on seeing some badly engineered tower in some coastal town called Pizza or something like that instead (below).

It was in Venice that I found my contribution to the Accretionary Wedge. Geology-wise, the city is interesting because it is sinking, in part for being built on mud, and partly because of the tectonic environment (it is near a convergent boundary, and is being compressed downwards between two mountain systems). But by its very nature it has no natural outcrops of rock at all.

No natural outcrops, but plenty of rocks! The sidewalks and squares are covered with marble tiles from quarries in the Alps and Apennines. And as I was walking in the shade at the edge of Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) I noticed unique swirls in some of the tiles: ammonites!

Ammonites were cephalopods related to octopi and the chambered nautilus that populated the seas in huge numbers during the age of the dinosaurs. It was nice to see these fossils in the middle of the urban environment of Venice, in a place so removed from their place of origin!

Teaching and Scholarship Opportunities in California

2012-01-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

From Teaching the Earth Sciences:

It's actually been awhile since I've seen any full-time teaching opportunities in the geology or earth science listings of the CCC Registry. This week there are actually two of them, for Bakersfield College and Santa Monica College. There are now a total of four positions open in the California Community College System (Info on openings at Mt. San Antonio College and Santa Barbara City College was posted earlier). Some of the application deadlines are approaching quickly.

And also from Teaching the Earth Sciences:

NAGT Scholarships for Field Study

NAGT offers $500 scholarships for students to attend field-based courses at any time of the year. In addition, the Association of Women Geologists sponsors two additional scholarships specifically for women in this program. Please pass this information along to students who may be interested in doing field courses. More information and the application instructions can be found on the program website - http://nagt.org/nagt/programs/field_scholarships.html
Application Deadline: February 14
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Outstanding Earth Science Teachers (OEST) Program

OEST awards are given for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences at the pre-college level." Any teacher or other K-12 educator who covers a significant amount of earth science content with their students is eligible. Ten national finalists are selected, one from each NAGT regional section. Some sections also recognize state winners. Individuals may apply themselves or nominate a colleague for the award. More information and the nomination instructions can be found on the program website - http://nagt.org/nagt/programs/oest.html
Application Deadlines vary by Section but begin as early as March 1
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Geoscience Teachers in the Park

The Geoscience Teachers in Parks (GTIP) program is a collaborative effort between NAGT and the National Park Service to provide professional development for K12 teachers of geoscience. Elementary, middle school, and high school teachers of geoscience, as well as recent graduates who are prospective geoscience teachers are eligible to take part in this program. The internship involves work at the Mammoth Cave National Park to learn from and collaborate with park personnel, local university staff, contracted researchers, and park partners. More information and the application instructions can be found on the program website - http://nagt.org/nagt/programs/GTIP.html
Application Deadline: March 15

The Other California: For a time it was the Black Golden State

2012-01-25T01:18:00.000-08:00

Talking about oil drilling in California...is that like kicking a beehive?
Picture of beehive in an old oil well taken by Mrs. Geotripper

We drill into the earth to find oil.

It is a measure of our dependence that we also fight wars over it, support vile dictators, and drill for it in the harshest conditions on the planet: in arctic tundra, in isolated deserts, and deep ocean basins. We end up dealing with huge environmental consequences as we attempt to clean up our spills and as our planet warms up at an unprecedented rate.

I can see where it once made perfect sense to go all in with oil and gas. No one knew of global warming and greenhouse gases, and in some areas the oil seemed practically as plentiful as water. It made sense when it was cheap and easy to get. But now it is different. Oil is expensive, but it is so completely integrated into our economy that we can't easily wean ourselves from it.

California was once one of those places where the oil seemed to flow like water. The freeway economy and near total lack of public transit in the southern California metropolitan area was a consequence of the vast amount of oil that was once drilled in the Los Angeles basin. Fuel was easy to get and cheap to purchase.

From the 2009 Annual Report of the California State Oil and Gas Supervisor

Things have changed in a radical way. California produced 230 million barrels of oil in 2009, fourth in the country after Texas, Louisiana and Alaska. But oil drilling in the state is in a long-term decline; the last time our state produced oil at a level this low was in 1941. But the state uses something on the order of 700 million barrels of oil each year. Nearly two thirds of our oil has to come from somewhere else.

I didn't know a lot about the story of California oil, but a possible opportunity to lead a field trip with foreign oil geologists popped up last summer. I hit the road (and the books) and found myself in the Santa Clarita Valley discovering the site of the state's first gold rush, and some of the oldest rocks. I also stumbled across a historic oil well. Not only was it the first commercially successful oil well in California, it was also the longest continually operating oil well in the world, pumping oil from 1876 to 1989 (a similar claim is made about a well in Pennsylvania, though). It was Pico No. 4.

Equipment has been removed throughout Pico Canyon, but the well casing was kept at Pico No. 4 because of the historic nature of the well. A historical monument can be seen in the background.

Pico No. 4 was not the first attempt at oil drilling in the state. The remote village of Petrolia in northern California was the site of a drilling attempt in 1861, but the oil was very quickly depleted. Other attempts were made in the 1860s, but none were successful until Charles Mentry started drilling a series of wells in Pico Canyon. The fourth well proved successful, and the production began. The town of Mentryville popped up in the lower part of the valley.

The oil drilling took a toll. When production started to fall, wells were abandoned, villages turned into ghost towns, and equipment littered the canyon. Eventually Chevron pulled out of the region entirely, but they clearly made an effort to clean up some of the worst of the damage, and turned the land over to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Pico Canyon is now a parkland, and it is a surprisingly pleasant place to visit, given the checkered history of our abuse of the landscape.

There is a modest fee for parking at Mentryville, and the "trail" leads up the canyon through the chaparral covered slopes and riparian woodland. Although the road is paved for a mile or so, the gates are locked, so you will see bikers, joggers and hikers, not cars.

The slopes are made of sedimentary rocks that formed in Pliocene time, mostly within the last 5 million years in a shallow marine environment. The exposed formations include the Pico Formation and the Towsley Formation. The rocks are steeply tilted, but at the head of canyon they fold over, forming an anticline that served as the oil trap. Around eighty wells were once present in the upper canyon.

It was an enjoyable stroll, even though the late August day was pretty hot. It was nice to find some occasional trees shading the road.

I found myself wondering how many wildflowers can be seen during the spring. It must be quite a show!

My time was limited, so I turned back at the end of the pavement. Trails continue beyond into adjacent canyons allowing for a number of choices in hiking destinations.

We wandered back down to Mentryville and looked at some of the buildings, and then headed back out to the highway.

The ghost town of Mentryville still has a few buildings.

The thought that occurred to me as I walked back down the canyon is that given enough of it, time does heal some wounds.

Latest Rockfall at Yosemite Closes Highway 120/Big Oak Flat Road

2012-01-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

From the Yosemite NP Facebook Page

This is the kind of thing I wish I could report on in person, but alas the semester has begun...

From the Press Releases for Yosemite National Park:

"Due to a large rockfall that occurred at approximately 11:30 last evening, the Big Oak Flat Road (the continuation of Highway 120) is closed in Yosemite National Park. The road is closed between the Foresta Junction on Highway 120 (Big Oak Flat Rd.) and the Highway 120/140 (El Portal Road) Junction. Yosemite Valley remains accessible via Highway 140 (El Portal Road) coming from Merced/ Mariposa and via Highway 41(Wawona Rd.) coming from Fresno/ Oakhurst. The Tioga Road remains closed. Foresta Road, between Foresta and El Portal, is not accessible. Yosemite National Park remains open. With a winter storm currently in the park, chain restrictions are in place on some park roads . For 24 hour road and weather information, please call (209)372-0200. The Big Oak Flat Road will remain closed indefinitely."

The Other California Compilation Updated

2012-01-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

I posted several entries in my long-running blog series on the "Other California" and realized that I was linking to a compilation page that was woefully out of date. I went through and added more than two dozen entries that I posted over the last two years, including a lot of material for the Sierra Nevada, the Transverse Ranges, and the Coast Ranges. If you are curious about some of areas I covered in the past, check out the compilation on the Other California on this page.

The Other California: The Oldest Rocks (well, maybe...)

2012-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Part of the mystery question I asked the other day suggested that the oldest rocks in California lie within a few miles of the Santa Clarita Valley. I kind of knew I would be opening a can of worms by pointing this out, and I will try to explain why this idea might be ambiguous at best, and highly controversial at worst. In essence, yes, some of the oldest rocks found in the state are found there, but defining how 'old' a rock is can be a real conceptual problem at times.

It wouldn't be that much of a problem if the rocks in question were volcanic or plutonic. Such rocks are usually ideal candidates for radioactive age dating. The rocks form by cooling from hot magma, and crystallization is either instantaneous (in the case of volcanic rocks), or takes place over several thousand years (as in plutonic rocks cooling deep underground). As the rocks crystallize, they trap small amounts of uranium, rubidium and other radioactive elements in a solid atomic prison. Isolated from weathering and other chemical changes, the radioactive substances start to decay at extremely regular rates, and the original material begins a very slow transformation to daughter elements like lead and strontium, or argon (in the case of radioactive potassium). By analyzing the proportion of daughter element to parent element, the age of the rock can be precisely determined. Because several methods can be used to date a single sample, results can be cross-checked for accuracy

A side note: Carbon dating is another form of radioactive age dating that is recognized by many people, if not well understood. It is rarely used in geology because it only useful in materials that are less than 100,000 years old. Since it is carbon-based materials like bone or wood that can be dated, the method is favored by archaeologists who are working with artifacts.

The problem comes when such rocks undergo metamorphism, that is, when they are changed by heat and pressure into new kinds of rock like gneiss, schist and marble. The heating in essence allows daughter elements to migrate out of the crystals and the radioactive 'clock' is reset to zero. If you age date metamorphic rocks, your results tell you when the rock was metamorphosed, not when the rock originally formed. This kind of information is critical to understanding the tectonic history of a region, but it isn't the age of the "oldest rock".

There is an additional complication. There are a few minerals that are not affected by the heat of metamorphism, including a mineral called zircon. When zircon crystals are present in a rock undergoing metamorphism, their 'clock' is not reset. So depending on which minerals are dated, you get the age of the metamorphism, or the age of the older zircon crystals. It gets even more tricky: zircon is also tough enough to survive erosional processes. So even though you can figure out the age of crystallization, the date you get may have come from the original plutonic rock, but it tells you little about how many cycles of uplift and erosion that the zircon may have gone through.

So there you go...it turns out that the "oldest rocks" in California can be found over a rather wide area. There are rocks that date to 1.7 or 1.8 billion years ago in Death Valley National Park, in the eastern Mojave Desert, in Joshua Tree National Park, and the San Gabriel Mountains, which form the eastern edge of the Santa Clarita Valley. Most of the rocks were part of a vast mountain system that developed in a series of terrane collisions as the supercontinent that we call Rodinia came together (here is an excellent overview if you want the gory details of the story). As I walked through Placerita Canyon, I was very close to exposures of the Mendenhall gneiss, which is dated, like the others, at 1.8 billion years.

Before calling this oldest rocks "contest" a tie, we should point out that the ancient rocks in the Basin and Range and Mojave Desert are part of a Proterozoic terrane called Mojavia, which has zircon dates that extend back to 2.5 to 2.7 billion years, and as far as I know such results have not been found in the San Gabriel Mountains terrane (but as always, I am welcome to correction!).

I wandered through the terrain around Placerita Canyon taking a look at some of the metamorphic and plutonic rocks of the San Gabriel Terrane (yes, terrain and terrane mean two different things; the first referring to the shape of the surface of the land and the other to the underlying crust). I haven't lived in Southern California for nearly a quarter century, but I immediately felt at home. The dry chaparral slopes and the oak and sycamore filled canyons were the places that I grew up in, poison oak and all. If trails weren't present, access was problematic. I had a number of memorable trips where I was climbing slopes using the bushes as a ladder. The San Gabriel Mountains are statistically the steepest mountain range in the world and I find that easy to accept. It is a wonderful place to explore.

One really big change, though: in the 1970s, when I was a budding geologist, the rocks of the San Gabriel Mountainswere mapped as "metamorphic-undivided" and were poorly known. Today there is a richness of data that allows us to see the role of the rocks in reconstructing the American West of nearly 2 billion years ago.

The Other California is my continuing series highlighting the geology of the fascinating places in my fair state that don't often show up on the postcards that tourists buy. The state is a big place and I have yet to see it all, so if you have a favorite corner of the state and would like to put together a blog entry, I would gladly add it to the series.

The Other California: Dreams of Avarice and the First Gold Rush

2012-01-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

The Santa Clarita Valley is a suburb north of the San Fernando Valley, a place one drives through while following Interstate 5 to other places. I've been through it dozens of times on my travels, but I haven't usually had a lot of reasons to explore the place. It seems like the whole valley consists of new housing developments and fast-food rows. Oh, and Magic Mountain Amusement Park. But that's the thing about the Other California. There are always surprises in this state, no matter where you go. The strangely sloping hills and rugged mountains that ring the valley hide some interesting secrets.

Yesterday's post was a mystery question, and as the commenters correctly surmised, the Santa Clarita Valley is the location of four very intriguing geological sites. Stay tuned for the other three in coming blog posts. Today I want to talk about the very first gold rush in California's history.

Most people in our state are familiar with the Gold Rush, the one in 1848 in which James Marshall discovered flakes of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills at Coloma while building a sawmill for John Sutter. The forty-niners. The Mother Lode. Black Bart and Joaquin Murrieta. Fewer people realize that this seminal event was actually the second gold rush in California's history.

Before the Mexican-American War, California was still part of Mexico, and large ranchos had been established in many parts of the territory. The Del Valle Rancho was established on 48,000 acres of the Santa Clarita Valley in 1839, under the ownership of Antonio Del Valle. In 1842, his brother-in-law Francisco Lopez y Arbello was taking a nap under a large oak (reputed to be the one in the picture at the top of the post) during which he dreamed of being surrounded by gold. A short while later he pulled some wild onions out of the ground, and found gold flakes adhering to the roots. California's first gold rush had begun.

Compared to the one that followed in 1848, the rush was relatively inconsequential. The Mexicans were not very interested in advertising the find to the world at large, and the gold played out after only a few years. It did however mean that Mexicans who were familiar with mining methods were situated just a few hundred miles from the Sierra Mother Lode. They played an important role in many of the early gold discoveries in 1848 and 1849.

The discovery site is now preserved as Placerita Canyon State Park just off Highway 14 near the town of Newhall. There are few signs of mining left, but the canyon is a pleasant place to explore. We saw woodpeckers and hawks during our short visit. Los Angeles County Parks administers an excellent nature center with an unusually detailed display of the local rock types. A nice network of trails can be followed, including a paved handicapped accessible trail to the Oak of the Golden Dream (top of the post).

Speaking of golden dreams, keep your eye on the north side of the road as you return to Highway 14. Ensconced in the oak woodland you will see a somewhat bizarre looking development. This is the Golden Oak Ranch, a permanent movie set that has been owned by the Disney Corporation since 1959. Even though you can't visit the place, you've probably seen it many times over in the movies. And if you make movies, you can rent the ranch!

This link to the California Geological Survey has the classic story of the California's gold rushes, originally published in the 1948 Geologic Guide to Highway 49. In the next post we will take a closer look at the rocks in Placerita Canyon. It turns out they are kind of old. Well, really old.

The Other California: A Minor Challenge...

2012-01-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

Now that I've finished my latest series on vagabonding, I can revisit one of my other long-term projects, one that may never actually end. It's the Other California, an exploration of the geological places to see in our beautiful state that don't tend to show up on the postcards that you find in our tourist traps.

To commemorate the resumption (for however long) of the Other California series, I want to give you a bit of challenge. Try to locate a spot in the state of California that is the center of a circle with a radius of 10 miles or so that has the following four things:

The site of the first discovery of gold in the state of California;

Exposures of the oldest rocks in California;

The site of the oldest and the longest continually active oil well in California;

And, the site of the second worst disaster in California history, in terms of lives lost.

Some of the claims may be controversial, but there is such a spot. Happy hunting!

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: A Compilation

2012-01-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

Geology is everywhere. You can't escape it. No matter where you go it is under you and all around you. Some of the joy in my life is learning as much as I can while I can. I'm always looking for new places, or trying to see familiar places in a new way. So it was that we set out last July to explore a strip of land between California and Colorado that turned out to lie pretty close to the 39th parallel of latitude (although we didn't constrain ourselves to it). My blogs on the journey turned out to be a six month project with more than thirty posts. I've gathered them all here so I can add a new blerie (blog series) to my sidebar, along with the Other California, Time Beyond Imagining (the Colorado Plateau), a Convergence of Wonders (the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains), Underneath the Volcano (Yosemite), and the Airliner Chronicles (a little bit of everywhere).

We had a few simple rules about our journey:

...we allowed an ultimate goal of reaching Rocky Mountain National Park, but we would plan our route no more than a day or two in advance...

...we would try to visit only places we had never been before, or hadn't been since childhood...

...if we did visit familiar sites, we would search out something new about the place...

...we would come home when the time was right (not too road-weary, and not too homesick)...

...and we promised ourselves to stop any time either of us wanted to snap a picture...

So, here's what happened....

Setting out on the Road: An overview of the trip, and a definition of a vagabond ( an itinerant wanderer, basically).

Crossing the Sierra Nevada: We set out one afternoon to cross the Sierra Nevada by way of Yosemite National Park and Tioga Pass. Along the way we checked out Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows.

Mono Lake, the Barren, Worthless Wasteland: A barren salty lake that is hardly barren at all; it helps keep millions of birds healthy on their seasonal migrations. A discussion of what is really important when it comes to desert landscapes.

Crossing the "Real" Loneliest Highway: Highway 50 gets a lot of attention as the "loneliest" highway with villages every 80 miles or so. But follow Highway 6 from Benton, California to Ely, Nevada, and you will see but a single town in 250 miles.

Aliens, Area 51 and UFOs! Desert mirages play games with our imagination along a very lonely highway.
A Trip to the Moon, and a Trip to the Mantle (well, sort of...): Off of Highway 6, we explored the strange Lunar Crater Volcanic Field, finding cinder cones, maars, and fragments of the Earth's mantle.

A Park without its Namesake, and an "Oh, s**t" moment in Science: Great Basin National Park doesn't have a basin in it. But it does have a great many other things worthy of our time, including a famous bad moment in scientific research.

We Reach the Wasatch Front, Finding Geologic and Archaeological Violence: The Wasatch Front is the junction of the Basin and Range, the Rocky Mountains, and the Colorado Plateau. We explored Fremont Indian State Park, a spot that preserved ancient rhyolite caldera ash deposits, and hundreds of Fremont petroglyphs. It is also a spot where we saved a village in order to destroy it.

Who knew the hoodoo was in Castle Rock? We discovered a most unusual place to camp, Castle Rock in Fremont Indian State Park. It's a great place to see hoodoos.

Having a "Swell" Time on the Reef! We start across the Colorado Plateau by traversing the San Rafael Swell, a huge dome that is one of the largest geologic structures in Utah. The "reef' is a spectacular monocline that forms the eastern edge of the Swell.

A Canyon along the Colorado River? Really? It isn't the Grand Canyon, it's Glenwood Canyon in Colorado, and it is rather spectacular. It is a critical transportion corridor for crossing the Rocky Mountain, but the engineers tried to preserve as much of the environment as they could.

A Moment of Pure Magic: The next day we reached Rocky Mountain National Park, the only actual stated goal of our trip. We spent the afternoon exploring the Bear Lake area and had a series of stunning vistas from reflections on the absolutely still lake (the photo at the top of the page is my favorite).

A Day of Black and White in the Rocky Mountains: We get hit by the first of several fierce storms in the Rockies, in this instance while walking around Sprague Lake. It was a wet couple of days for everyone across the region (there were even a few rainfall total records set).

In the Former Realm of Glaciers: We take a delightful hike to Nymph and Dream Lakes, and take in a variety of glacial features and some of the oldest rocks to be found anywhere in the American West. And then we got hit with an even worse storm than the day before!

In the Former Realm of Glaciers...Part II, on Trail Ridge: We turn towards home and cross the Continental Divide by way of Trail Ridge. We find the headwaters of the Colorado River, and an ominous dead forest.

The Birth of the Colorado River and Arboreal Apocalypse: Exploring the headwaters of the Colorado River in Kawuneeche Valley and the Never Summer Range. A river is flooding in front of us, and the forest is dying behind us.

Coke, Ancient Ice, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Heading home through central Colorado. See if you can figure out what this title means!

A Little Mystery on the North Rim: And that is what this short post is; a mystery question.

A Canyon Where Cameras Stand Sideways: Black Canyon of the Gunnison in western Colorado is one of the most rugged 9and scenic) places a person can imagine. In some places it is deeper than it is wide. It exposes some of the Proterozoic crustal rocks that are not all that easy to find in this part of the country.

A Problem With Vagabonding: Yellow Line Fever We follow a long, lonely highway through the Paradox Valley, and find the town of Bedrock. Fred and Wilma weren't home...and then we were in Utah!

Sun and Rock in Arches National Park: A hot day and a beautiful evening in Arches National Park.

Sun (and Moon) and Rock Revisited in Arches National Park We spend a morning exploring one of the most beautiful national parks in the world. And it's not just arches to be seen there.

Whispers of the Past in Stone: The story of past beings is told in stone in a couple of ways...on this day we saw two of them: petroglyphs and footprints. And a murder of crows.

A Magical Evening in the Mesozoic: A late evening exploration of Capitol Reef National Park, which protects a giant monocline, the Waterpocket Fold.

Crossing Through the Escalante River Country: We follow Highway 12 through what once was one of the most isolated and rugged corners of the country. It's still a challenging landscape and spectacular drive.

A Hoodoo Homily in Three Parts: We explore parts of Bryce Canyon we've never seen before, and at times we've never been there. In part one we check out the southern end of the park.

A Hoodoo Homily, Part Two: A late evening exploration of Fairyland Point and understanding the Aquarius Plateau. Hoodoos in pastel colors...

Hoodoo Homily, A Land of Glowing Rocks: Bryce Canyon without the summer crowds. How did we do it? We got up early! And the rocks were glowing, too.

A Hoodoo Homily Postscript: Red Canyon There is another aspect of the Claron Formation that one doesn't see in Bryce Canyon National Park. We explore Red Canyon in the Sevier River country.

A Heavenly Canyon of Sand - Mukuntuweap: We arrive in Zion National Park on a scorching hot day. Where do you go? The Narrows of the Virgin River.

A Bit of Mukuntuweap in the Morning (it was one in a trillion): The impending ending of our journey gets me thinking about time and mortality. We explore Zion National Park in the early morning.

Playing "Where's Waldo" with Bighorn Sheep in Zion National Park: An earlier post about our discovery of a herd of bighorn sheep near the Zion Tunnel.

Leaving Behind the Colorado Plateau (almost): Zion National Park has a higher and more verdant section: the Kolob Canyons. We take a look before setting out across the Basin and Range Province. Would the aliens get us???

More Hooved Animals on the Road...and a Quick Quiz Question Another earlier post about the herd of wild horses we saw near Tonopah, Nevada. The answer to the quiz question can be found here.

Clicking My Heels, Because.... well, there's no place like home. At all. No matter where you go, the geological story will be different. We cross the last great barrier between we, the vagabonds, and our home in the Central Valley. And the Sierra Nevada is a beautiful mountain range, even after all the wonders of our journey across the 39th.

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: Clicking my heels, because....

2012-01-15T23:48:00.000-08:00

...well, there's no place like home...

After a two week journey across the 39th parallel exploring the geology of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, we were finally to the last stage, the last mountain range between us and home in the Central Valley. It was the Sierra Nevada of California

It's no small barrier: the Sierra Nevada is the largest single mountain range in the United States, and for 400 miles it rises as a nearly inaccessible wall of solid rock. It has been a barrier to human and animal travel for thousands of years. Along the highest part of the Sierra Crest, from Sequoia National Park to Yosemite National Park, a distance of least 150 miles, only one throughgoing road crosses the crest, at Tioga Pass where we started our journey two weeks earlier. We crossed Sage Hen Summit, and the mountains came into view. Even though it was late July, snow still covered large parts of the high country. It had been that kind of year (compare to the extreme dry conditions we are seeing now).

The Sierra Nevada is such an extraordinary mountain range that it can dwarf other incredible mountains nearby. In any other region, a hundred mile long mountain range exceeding 14,000 feet in elevation would be world renowned. Instead, the White Mountains are barely known to most people, even in California. Likewise, a chain of thirty or so active volcanoes, some only a few hundred years old, would be getting far more attention in 2012 than good ol' Yellowstone. But they don't appear in the news very often, and not on the Discovery Channel either. As far as I can tell, there aren't even any conspiracy nuts weaving stories about UFOs and harmonic convergences at all.

We came across Highway 120 and wound our way around the north side of the Mono Craters (above), and stopped to enjoy a panorama of the Sierra Crest on the east boundary of Yosemite National Park. The prominent peaks in the picture below are Ritter and Banner, two spectacular mountains that were left outside the boundaries of Yosemite. I suspect the reason involved possible mineral sources in the metamorphic rocks (they are protected from development by their designation as a wilderness area).

A little further to the north we could see the Lyell Crest and the countryside near June Lake. The glaciers wreaked havoc with the topography there. In one spot the river flows towards the mountain range rather than away from it (by some incredible coincidence it is called Reversed Creek).

And then Mt. Dana, the second highest peak in Yosemite (below). We were close to our home territory, and it might have been quicker to go home the way we came two weeks earlier, but we still had a sense of curiosity about the other pass, Sonora, a little north of Yosemite National Park. We were tired, but we still wanted to explore...a little bit.

Something caught our eye in the foreground. There is almost nothing that can live on a surface of recently erupted pumice ash. Water simply percolates through and what little clay that forms in a few hundred years dries up within a few weeks of the last snows. But that was the kind of summer we had. Late July and spring was only beginning. The pumice flats east of the Mono Craters were alive with colorful wildflowers.

They certainly weren't tall. I was down on my hands and knees trying to get pictures of the common ones, like the magenta flowers above, that I assume is some kind of Monkeyflower (corrections are most welcome).

There were a few spindly lupines hanging on as well...

And some delicate yellow daisy types (again, any id is welcome!). We stopped for a sandwich in Lee Vining, and headed north on Highway 395, and then east in Highway 108 over Sonora Pass (9,624 feet). We stopped for a few minutes at the Leavitt Falls Overlook to see the snowmelt-swollen cascade pouring out of the hanging valley below the pass.

The road climbs steeply and becomes a narrow byway. If you have one of those RV's don't try this one! We passed meadows and waterfalls that had an air of familiarity. We were almost home. We had had a good trip, and seen a great many new places, and seen familiar places in a new way. But it was time to wrap things up.

What did we find? There's no place like home. Not the Dorothy's "We're not in Kansas anymore" kind of 'no place'. Literally: there is no place like home. One of the joys of teaching geology is the ability to say that you can never escape it (in a good sense, most of the time). Wherever you go there is a geological story that is distinct from everywhere else, and the story is almost invariably fascinating. We could have picked any line across the earth's surface, and we would have found something unique (but I must say the richness of the American West is unparalleled).

We crossed the pass and started down the canyon of the Stanislaus River. In two hours the vagabonds were relaxing once again in their own home. The dog and the cat were certainly happy to see us again. It was good to be back, but it wasn't a week before we wished we were on the road again.

For those of you who have been following this series, I hope you have enjoyed the journey!

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: Leaving Behind the Colorado Plateau (almost)

2012-01-15T01:06:00.000-08:00

The crowds were building in Zion National Park that morning in July, one of the last days of our vagabonding journey across the 39th parallel. It was time to get away. We were examining the geology of a swath of Colorado, Utah and Nevada, exploring as many new places as we could find. After two weeks on the road we were tired, dirty, and actually not quite ready to leave the beautiful Colorado Plateau. Surely there was one more place we could find before we set out across the Nevada desert?

Zion Canyon has sometimes been described as being like Yosemite Valley but without the glaciers. I find that spurious, as each park is unique beyond comparing, but there is one distinct similarity: most of the millions of visitors concentrate in the valleys, and far fewer people visit a particularly spectacular area of each park that is remote and higher. In Yosemite, that place is Tuolumne Meadows. In Zion, it is the Kolob Canyons (also called the Kolob Fingers).

The Kolob Canyons Section of the park is accessed from Interstate 15 between St. George and Cedar City, which just happened to be the route we were following that afternoon. We turned off and followed the five mile road to the end. There are no campgrounds or developments beyond a small visitor center near the freeway. There are a couple of trailheads that provide access to some pretty spectacular wilderness areas in the higher reaches of the park, including the Kolob Arch, which has been claimed as the largest free-standing arch in the world.

The Kolob Canyons are smaller than the gorge of Zion Canyon, and formed not from headward erosion of the Colorado River system, but from erosion along the scarp of the Hurricane fault. The Hurricane is a normal fault (east side up) that marks the edge of the Colorado Plateau in this region. Elevations are higher, so more vegetation is present to contrast with the red sandstones.

It had been a wet year, so wildflowers were relatively easy to find. Below is some Indian Paintbrush that we found near Taylor Creek.

It was peaceful, and hardly a soul was to be seen on the road. But it was getting late, and we still had to cross most of Nevada. We headed out to Cedar City and then set out across one of the loneliest stretches of the Basin and Range province in Nevada. No, not the tourist-filled Highway 50, but a really lonely road that drives people to distraction and hallucination.

Highway 375: The Extraterrestrial Highway...

I wonder what kind of alien they made the jerky out of?

Luckily we weren't abducted and experimented on, at least as far as I know. We passed Area 51 somewhere out there, and had a nice moment looking at a herd of wild horses.

We pulled into Tonopah and settled in for the last night of our trip....

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: A Bit of Mukuntuweap in the Morning (it was one in a trillion)

2012-01-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

"If I could I'd tell you now

there are no roads that do not bend

the days like flowers bloom and fade

and they do not come again.

We've only got these times we're living in...."

Words and music by Kate Wolf (1981)

Kate Wolf was a wonderful songwriter who died far too early. She wrote some beautifully evocative songs, many of which were set in Central California where I live. My list of road songs includes quite a few of her works, including "Across the Great Divide" (here is a YouTube version with Nanci Griffith and Emmylou Harris), and Redtail Hawk (here is Kate singing the song).

"These Times We're Living In" is a song about a long-term loving relationship, but the lines spoke to me in a geological sense while I was sifting through the images I shot in Zion National Park last July (the canyon was originally called Mukuntuweap). We were on our vagabonding journey across the geology of Nevada, Utah and Colorado, and we were rapidly approaching the end of our trip. The words remind me not so much of how little time we have, but more the luck of living in the times that we do.

In the geologic sense...

What am I talking about? In a geological sense, an incredible place like Zion exists for only an brief moment. The Colorado Plateau, the vast province that includes Zion National Park, has been a relatively stable region that existed mostly at or below sea level for more than a half-billion years. Several tens of millions of years ago, the province began to rise, and erosion began to eat away at some of the thick sedimentary layers that had covered the crustal rocks. But the canyon that we call Zion did not come into being until the last few million years when the Colorado River established a connection to the Gulf of California.

As the Colorado River cut deeper into the plateau country, headward erosion along the tributary streams like the Virgin River formed the Narrows and steep gorge at Zion that we see today. In a few more million years, the park that we see today will be gone, replaced by a landscape that will be very different. Eventually most of the rocks of the Colorado Plateau and their 700 million year story will be eroded away, all the way down to the Proterozoic bedrock. A fascinating story will be gone, as if it had never happened.

When Zion is gone, there will undoubtedly be other beautiful canyons and gorges elsewhere to be enjoyed by whatever intelligent life form is inhabiting our planet. But there will never be another place quite like Zion. I've been lucky enough in my life to see it several times. It will be many human generations before it looks substantially different. But the changes are occurring in our time, too.

Can you see the white scar crossing the forest in the center of the picture above? It's also in the top photo on the left side. It is the debris from a very recent rockfall. I don't know if it is the same rockfall, but not long ago we were camped in the lower valley we heard rumbling and crashing sounds in the distance, and a few moments later a huge dust cloud rolled down the valley. Zion had just become a slightly larger valley.

We got up and packed our gear first thing in the morning, and started wandering about the park. We were ahead of the crowds, and were in no rush to leave quickly, since our day involved a long drive across the hot desert. We drove up to the Zion Tunnel and stopped to snap photos whenever anything caught our eyes. It was a beautiful morning, one of close to 2 trillion that have taken place at this latitude and longitude since the Earth first formed out of the void of space. It wasn't the best ever, but it was most certainly not the worst. But I can't be the best judge; I only get about 30,000 chances to compare sunrises (if I am fortunate), and I've only seen about a dozen at Zion. That is a rather vanishingly small sample in the big picture.

We've only got the times we're living in. And there is a lot to try and see in our brief time...

By mid-morning the park was getting crowded again, so we headed out towards Cedar City.

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: A Heavenly Canyon of Sand - Mukuntuweap

2012-01-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

We'd been on the road for more than two weeks last July, on our vagabonding journey across the 39th parallel in Nevada, Colorado and Utah, and we could feel home calling. We had been going along, rarely making plans more than a day or two in advance, and we had explored many new and fascinating places that we had never seen before. And yet...we were sort of planning to cross the Wasatch Front in Utah and start across the Basin and Range province, but I took one last look at the computer, and noted that a cancellation had opened up a single campsite that day at Zion National Park. What the heck, I thought, let's take in one more national park. We headed south and west from Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon.

It was hot. Around 107 degrees. Sitting around in camp in the sun was an untenable proposition, so we erected the tent, and set about finding a cool place to hang out for awhile. In the main part of Zion National Park, that pretty much means upstream, in the Narrows.

The original name of the park appears to have been Mukuntuweap, which translates into something along the lines of "straight canyon" in the Paiute language. In the main part of the canyon where the roads and developments are found, the description is true. At the north end, things change. The walls of Zion Canyon are steep cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, the Jurassic record of a vast sand sea that once existed across several southwestern states. Where the Virgin River has cut into the underlying softer layers the canyon walls are undercut and the canyon widens rapidly (in the sense of geologic time, but also human time; rockfalls happen constantly). At the upstream end of the valley the Virgin River cuts exclusively through the sandstone, forming a very narrow winding slickrock canyon called, quite logically, the Narrows of the Virgin River.
On the hottest days, the sun barely shines into the narrows, and it is the coolest place to hide from the heat. We retreated into the shadows and waited for the sun to set. Others were hanging out in the coolness including a cute doe and fawn.

Canyons like the Narrows of the Virgin River are spectacular to see, but can sometimes be exceedingly dangerous. There are miles of river watershed upstream, and when deep in the canyon, you can't see if thunderstorms are dumping water into the gorges upstream. In the case of a flash flood there is no place to go. Things were calm the day we were there, but we could see huge masses of driftwood from some intense flooding from just over a year ago.

As we approached the actual narrows, the canyon walls closed in, rising as much as 2,000 feet above us.

The shale layer underlying the sandstone is a barrier to the movement of groundwater, so water percolating downward through the Navajo Sandstone is forced out of the canyon walls, forming clear fresh springs. There is enough water in this section of the canyon to form a small swamp, an island of greenery beneath the red cliffs.

The sun was dropping below the horizon and the shadows in the canyon deepened. It used to be that the road end at Temple of Sinawava was one of the busiest parking lots in Zion, but with only a few dozen slots, cars would circle for a long time waiting for something to open up. It was crowded and noisy. The park service eventually instituted a shuttle bus system and no longer allows cars in the upper canyon, at least during the summer. Having experienced the canyon both ways, I can say that the shuttle system has done wonderful things for the canyon. The shuttle stops at road's end, people pile out and immediately disappear. By the time the bus leaves, the canyon is quiet again. More and more animals can be seen, and the canyon feels wilder, even though the number of visitors each year has been fairly constant.

The only problem is the that the shuttles stop operating at nightfall. Lingering in the upper canyon as we were doing introduced the potential problem of missing the last bus of the day. We started walking a little faster in the rapidly disappearing light.

I fully support the shuttle system, but one drawback from my point of view is that the lack of access in the upper canyon at night makes it very difficult to do one of my favorite summertime activities: night hiking. The spot in Zion for night-hikes was the Emerald Pools Trail. It was a truly mystical experience to walk up to the pools in the dark and stroll behind the small waterfalls. It was especially striking if the moon was shining through the falling water, or if lightning was causing explosions of light and echoing thunder (followed that particular time by a complete drenching of rain).

There were a few hazards, though. One year we were sitting behind the waterfalls, and a two or three foot wide slab of rock broke loose and fell just a few feet from some of my students. Another time I was walking in near total darkness, enjoying my other senses (it was a concrete pathway so it was hard to get off the trail). I was walking through the high brush and I heard rustling, not at my feet, but right in front of my face. OK, that was a bit much. I turned on my flashlight and found that I had almost walked face-first into a porcupine munching away at the shrubs...

The canyon walls had taken on the pastel hues of the twilight. We caught one of the last buses of the day, and returned to camp, which aside from the ants was a much more tolerable place to hang out for the night.

It got past me, but January 7 was my fourth anniversary of blogging here at Geotripper. 943 posts and counting. Here is the first one...

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: A Hoodoo Homily postscript - Red Canyon

2012-01-11T01:26:00.000-08:00

Our vagabonding adventure continued...

People who are in a hurry to get to Bryce Canyon National Park from the west sometimes miss a little gem of a geological site on their way in: Red Canyon. The canyon (which unlike Bryce Canyon is actually a canyon) is carved through the same formation that makes up the spires and hoodoos of Bryce, the early Cenozoic Claron. We had left Bryce and were on our way to Zion National Park, but as we passed Red Canyon, we couldn't resist stopping and taking a look.

Although Red Canyon is not a specific park, it is on national forest land, and the NFS has constructed a decent visitor center, and developed a small network of trails in the area. The short nature trail we hiked was nice and level, in contrast to the steep trails below the rim at Bryce Canyon. It gave us some up close access to several vivid orange hoodoos. Because there are fewer of the them, the spires that are there stand out as individuals. Your imagination can have some fun here.

We wandered along the trail. Over the last few days the weather had stabilized. In Colorado we had been hit with some pretty severe thunderstorm activity, but now high pressure had settled in, and the temperatures soared. Even though we were at more than 7,000 feet, it was in the high 90's, and the sunlight reflecting off the rock just made it feel hotter. By the time we reached the visitor center again, we were happy the place was air conditioned.

The heat was a bit of some concern, because Zion Canyon was several thousand feet lower and would presumably be an oven. We felt no need to rush through things when we had such a pleasant place to explore.

As we passed the mouth of Red Canyon we had a startling view of the Sevier fault zone, which raised the Paunsaugunt Plateau (that includes Bryce Canyon) relative to the Sevier River, which drains north towards the Basin and Range and the Sevier Desert. This particular part of Utah is not yet part of the Colorado River drainage, but in a short period of time (geologically) it will be captured by headward erosion, and a new Bryce Canyon will develop.

We headed south. Zion National Park was next on our vagabonding itinerary...

This link provides a nice roadguide to the geology of Red Canyon and Bryce Canyon. It refers to the Wasatch formation instead of the Claron. The two names refer to the same rock layer, but I believe Claron is the currently designated name for the formation.

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: Hoodoo Homily, A Land of Glowing Rocks

2012-01-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

It's the third Hoodoo Homily (and now that I'm here there will be a fourth, probably). We had reached the two week point of our vagabonding journey across the geology of California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado last July more or less along the 39th parallel of latitude (at this point it was less, more like the 38th). We had experienced the late afternoon in the southern part of Bryce Canyon, an interesting sunset at Fairyland View, and a loud night at the campground (I suspect a geology field class was camped near by). We awoke early in the morning and headed to the some of the park's most famous and busy view points...an hour or so ahead of the tourist buses and car traffic.

The Claron Formation, the sedimentary layer responsible for the cliffs and hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, was laid down in freshwater lakes during early Cenozoic time. Iron in the sediments has oxidized into the vivid orange, pink, and red colors that make Bryce Canyon so memorable. When the sun is at a low angle, the rocks seem to glow from within. That makes mornings an especially intense time to be exploring the park.

And the parking lots were empty! I reveled in the silence...

Paria View offered some isolated hoodoos set against the dark forest below in the shadows.

We moved over to Bryce Point. There were two cars when we pulled up to one of the busier parking lots in the park.

The minutes were slipping away, but we saw one more chance for a serene view. We parked at Inspiration Point, and I worked my way up the steep hill to the viewpoint. It offers views into one of the most intricate and complicated of the amphitheaters. I had the point to myself, and I loved every moment.

Beyond the rim of Bryce Canyon, we could see some of the volcanic rocks in the distance that erupted millions of years after the deposition of the Claron. Some of the peaks in the distance exceed 11,000 feet in elevation.

I could hear the rumble of the buses in parking lot down below. More and more people were starting to wander up the trail. Things were returning to summer normal. It was time for us to move on.

Vagabonding across the 39th Parallel: A Hoodoo Homily, Part Two

2012-01-09T01:05:00.000-08:00

Back to my longer-term project, our vagabonding adventure across Nevada, Utah, and Colorado last July. We were about two weeks into our journey and had arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park. Although I've been there many times in the past, this was the first time in decades that we spent the night, so we had part one of the hoodoo homily in the afternoon, exploring the more remote viewpoints in the park. After a short dinner in camp, we went to the northern end of the park to see the sunset. We got out at Fairyland Point as the sun was disappearing over the horizon.

In structure, Bryce is a sort of plateau edge that is outlined by major faults running in a north-south direction. Standing on the rim looking east, you might be tempted to think you are standing on the uplifted side of the fault zone, seeing as how you look downwards into the adjacent valley. The reality is a bit more complicated, and is illustrated by looking northwest towards the Aquarius Plateau (below). The Claron Formation (the rock layer found at Bryce) is clearly visible on the high skyline, three thousand feet higher than the viewpoint at Fairyland Point. The rocks on the east side of the fault have clearly been lifted up relative to Bryce Canyon.

The reason Bryce "Canyon" is a cliff edge is the effect of headward erosion. The downdropped edge of the block slopes upwards to the west, so drainage was towards the Paria River to the east (that's hard to visualize the way I'm saying it. Look at the diagram above instead!). The erosion of the soft rocks of the Claron Formation formed a series of amphitheaters filled with the unique hoodoos that make Bryce Canyon National Park so spectacular.

In some respects, Bryce Canyon is not really a sunset kind of park. Since the plateau rim faces east for the most part, and the park is in deep shadow as the sun is setting. I liked the effect. So many pictures of Bryce Canyon use the intense radiation of the sun to produce incredibly vivid colors (including most of mine).

Looking at the Claron Formation in the twilight produces more pastel-like colors. Bryce Canyon takes on a much softer texture.

We started down the Fairyland Trail to get some sense of being below the rim. We had the parking lot and trail entirely to ourselves.

It was like visiting an entirely different place...

It was getting darker, and we had no flashlights. We turned around and headed back to camp for the night. I was intending to get up early for the third act of this Hoodoo Homily.

Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon? Perish the thought (well, except...)

2012-01-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

Having just returned from the Grand Canyon, I noticed with interest that the Obama administration is announcing the continuation of a moratorium on uranium mining on lands adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park. It's a contentious issue, the idea of mining uranium in one of the crown jewels of our national park system. I mean, really, can you imagine uranium mining at the Grand Canyon??

The Orphan Mine at Grand Canyon in 2002

It's not too hard to imagine, actually. It was going on right there on the South Rim, less than two miles from the El Tovar Hotel for more than a decade, from 1956 to 1969. And the Orphan Mine was no small effort, either. A vertical shaft 1,600 feet deep, a 1,200 foot drift, and an 80 foot headframe perched right on the rim of the canyon. It produced 4.2 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (and 6.7 million pounds of copper). I remember reading somewhere that mineworkers finished work and sat at the restaurants on the rim in their dusty work cloths. The chili must have been extra hot. Even glowing....

The headframe was still there only a couple of years ago, but most signs of mining are beginning to disappear as the park service starts to mitigate the property. They still have a real problem with ambient radiation levels, and the park's rim trail diverts around the mine site. It's going to take awhile to clean up. They're being quite open about the process; there are interpretive signs along the trail to Powell Point that explain the situation in detail.

The ores occurred in a unique geological environment: breccia pipes. Limestone is soluble in slightly acidic water, and whenever dissolution occurs, caverns form. When the caves get big enough, the ceiling may collapse. This will cause the formation of sinkholes in places where the limestone is close to the surface. At the Grand Canyon the Redwall Limestone is several thousand feet below the rim. When the collapse occurs, it leads to the collapse of the many layers above, and the breccia pipe is produced.

Source here

The breccia pipes provide a conduit for groundwater movement and mineralized solutions produce the uranium and copper ores. The breccia pipes are a sort of novel source of ores, and there are thousands of them on the Colorado Plateau, thus the interest in developing these resources near the Grand Canyon.

It was a breccia pipe at Grand Canyon that had a lot to do with my becoming a geologist. My first geology field trip was a five day backpack down the New Hance Trail at Grand Canyon back in the ancient days of 1976. We climbed up out of the river to Horseshoe Mesa, where we explored the interior of the Last Chance Mine (what was it with these names? Orphan? Last Chance?). The mine was also developed in a breccia pipe. We walked (or more properly 'crawled') up a trail that was designed to move burros carrying ore to the rim, not heavily laden backpackers. It was a fascinating introduction to the most dynamic of sciences!

Mining is not evil in and of itself. We have a civilization that has chosen for better or worse to consume vast amounts of natural resources, and they have to come from somewhere. It's clear that we need to use less, but there will always be a need for metals and other materials. Mining (and recycling) has to happen. But we still have choices as a society about where that mining should take place. Monetary gain cannot be the sole deciding factor.

Here's the thing: So many times the national interest is the justification given by those who want to mine or log or whatever. But when the price of the commodity drops, the companies are out of there for good. How important is it to mine coal within sight of Bryce Canyon National Park, or to mine uranium on the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park? Is it important enough that companies will do it on a non-profit basis to support their country? It's kind of like the question I keep asking about our involvement in wars of choice: are those wars important enough that the legislators who support them would put their own children on the front lines? That is how we should feel about our national parks as far as I am concerned.

The Right Place at the Wrong Time: A January Sunset at Olmsted Point

2012-01-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I saw sights I never thought I would see: Tioga Pass in mid-January, short of snow but full of incredible beauty. There was so much to see in few hours I had, not the least of which was the sunset. We drove west from the summit of Tioga Pass back down through Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake.

As we saw in yesterday's post, Tenaya Lake is covered with a thick sheet of ice. As the sun approached the horizon, the colors on the peaks above intensified. Being able to walk out onto the lake allows for unique photo angles that are more difficult during the summer.

We drove to Olmsted Point to watch the evening drama play itself out. I climbed up on the smooth granite slopes above the parking lot and snapped pictures in several directions. For those who have only seen Yosemite from the valley floor, Olmsted is an incredible sight. To the south, Half Dome rises above the ridge. Yosemite Valley is hidden deep in the shadows below the ridge.

The dominant mountain to the south is Clouds Rest, the highest peak visible from the floor of Yosemite Valley. It is a massive piece of granite that has been scoured by repeated snow avalanches, forming the unique chutes visible from Olmsted.

To the north is one of the most famous views of Yosemite, Tenaya Lake with the backdrop of Mt. Conness on the Sierra Crest. The glacial geology is a bit unusual here. Tenaya Lake's canyon barely has any kind of creek, much less a river. It doesn't seem like a big enough drainage to have had glaciers, but glaciers it had. It turns out that nearby Tuolumne Meadows was covered by a massive ice cap more than 2,000 feet thick. Most of the ice flowed down the canyon of the Tuolumne River, but some of the ice flowed over the low divide into the drainage of Tenaya Creek which flows into Yosemite Valley. The consequence is that Tenaya Creek had a much larger glacier than it otherwise would have had. It was Tuolumne River ice that carved a major portion of Yosemite Valley on the Merced River.

During the summer, the sun sets more to the northwest. Today, just a few weeks after the winter solstice, the sun was setting far to the southwest, and whatever light and shadows are present at that time are quite different from what one would see in the summer. I'll just have to come back up next summer and see how different things are at the opposite solstice (any excuse works for me!).

The color deepened, and I took another set of images as the sun settled into the horizon...

It was a real privilege to be in the High Sierra in the midst of January. With the lack of snow, I worry about our drought and the fires that are sure to come this summer, but today it was strange and wonderful.

The Right Place at the Wrong Time: A January Day at Tioga Pass

2012-01-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

If anyone had told me anytime in all the years that I have lived here in Central California that I would be where I was today, I would not have believed them. It just doesn't happen. Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park always closes in November or early December. Always (ok, in 2000 it was open for one day in January). Everyone in the Sierra knows that the pass closes and no one gets to go up there except for the hardy cross-country skiers until May or June. But that's the kind of year we are having here in California; water managers should be terrified. The snowpack is at 15% of normal, and after today, I'm saying "What snowpack?"

So off we went today, to see what we could see. There have been few storms yet this year or last, but it is plenty cold. Cold enough that Tenaya Lake and all the other high country lakes and ponds are completely frozen over. If you click on the photo above, you'll see ice-skaters out on the lake. It is a strange sight to see; frozen lakes, but no snow to speak of on the surrounding peaks.

Being a Californian born and bred, I admit to not knowing much about the dynamics of lakes freezing over, but I am pretty sure that these are pressure ridges caused by expansion of the surface of the lake as it freezes. It was a fascinating thing to see.

Oddly enough, the temperatures were in the forties and fifties, and I wore a short-sleeved shirt all day. We drove past Tenaya Lake and made our way to Tuolumne Meadows. Again, there was ice everywhere, but no snow other than scattered patches in the forest. The moon rose over Cathedral Peak (or is that Unicorn?)

Tuolumne Meadows was pretty as always, maybe even more so. I was happy to be able to visit in January, an absolutely new experience for me. I just worry about what this means for our water supply this year. These are Texas kinds of numbers, drought-wise, and no storms are in the long-term forecast.

We stopped at the top of Tioga Pass. On January 5. It was beautiful. And weird. Standing at 10,000 feet in the dead of winter and not dying of hypothermia. The last time my ancestors did something like this, very bad things happened (hint: my ancestors included the Donner family...look it up if you don't know the story).

Heck, we came this far, why not cross the Sierra? We headed a few miles down the road towards Lee Vining. We were tempted to hit the Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner, but we realized that an incredible sunset might be developing. We turned around and headed back towards Tioga Pass, but not before snapping a picture of Ellery Lake (also completely frozen over).

We stopped to walk on the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River (below). The silence of the frozen landscape was eerie. No water was flowing anywhere.

A lenticular cloud formed over the Sierra Crest. Or was it a UFO?

One more oddity. We did have an unusual storm earlier this year. It involved no rain or snow, but it did include hurricane force winds. Driving down from Tioga Pass I noticed hundreds of Lodgepole Pines that had been literally ripped from the ground. They were all pointing west. Again, an eerie day.

We headed back to Tenaya Lake and Olmsted Point to see how sunsets differ when the sun is setting far to the south of where it sets in summer or fall. Look for it in my next post.

100 Years of a Stubborn Little Hypothesis that Grew into a Big Theory

2012-01-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Why is this volcano here? Plate tectonics theory gives us the reason.

Thanks to my friends and colleagues over at Google+, I am realizing that two days from now is the 100th anniversary of the official introduction of the hypothesis of continental drift by Alfred Wegener. He wasn't the first to note the apparent fit of the continents, but he is recognized for gathering the additional evidence that turned speculation into a valid scientific hypothesis. As all first-year students of geology know, his hypothesis was not treated kindly by the geological community; he could not provide a valid mechanism for the movement of the continents, for instance. But his ideas were powerful, and eventually spurred more research, and by the late 1960s, the continental drift hypothesis had been incorporated into the theory of plate tectonics, the guiding model of geology in the present day.

The story of plate tectonics tells us much about how science works in general. New information spurs new research, and the sheer weight of the new knowledge tips the scales into entire new ways of thinking about the workings of geology, astronomy, biology, physics and chemistry. Every science undergoes a revolution every now and then. Sometimes we may get the feeling that these revolutions of thought happened long ago, but as I considered this particular anniversary, I realized how current it is: my grandmother and my wife's grandfather, who are both still with us, were kids when the first English translation of Wegener's work was published in 1922. I was a toddler when the paleomagnetologists were discovering independent evidence of plate motions in the late 1950s. I was a college student in the middle 1970s, just a few years after the basic outlines of plate tectonics had emerged. My first textbook barely mentioned the concept, in chapter 27 of 27 chapters. Today, plate tectonics is introduced in chapter one.

My students are often intrigued by the idea of plate tectonics. Many of them (some of them, anyway) actually remember learning some of the basics in elementary and secondary schools. But it seems like ancient history to them, since the events took place before they were born. But there is a big difference between an apple falling on Newton's head a few centuries ago, and events that were experienced by those who are still with us. Many of the researchers who confirmed the theory are not only still living, but are still producing important data. It would have been great to study under someone like Isaac Newton, or Johannes Kepler. Although many have retired, or will be doing so soon, geology majors can still do the equivalent today: study with the pioneers who discovered one of the most important scientific theories of our day.

Vagabonding across the 39th (er, 38th) Parallel: A Hoodoo Homily in Three Parts

2012-01-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

For more than two weeks last July we were vagabonds exploring the geology along a route that was mostly near the 39th parallel through Nevada, Utah and Colorado (our last junction choice had landed us south of the 38th). We rarely planned our route more than a day or two in advance, and we made an informal rule that we would make every effort to see something new every day, and if we were in a familiar place, we would try and see it in a new way. And that's what brought us to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce Canyon, you say? Haven't we been there many times? Well, yes, but almost always with a big bunch of students and a highly restricted schedule. We've usually had time for the visitor center, one or two viewpoints, and one quick hike below the rim. It's ok under the circumstances, but I have not had many chances to explore the park more fully. On this trip, we spent a night and spent as much time on the rim as we could. Three parts? The less-crowded south end, a sunset at the north end, and a deserted morning in the most heavily trafficked part of the park. For many hours in the midst of July we had the park to ourselves.

We headed out during the afternoon to the southernmost viewpoints in the park, Yovimpa and Rainbow Points. The long ridge of the Paunsaugant Plateau ends at this point at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet. The two viewpoints have sweeping views of the Grand Staircase off to the south, and north towards the rest of the park and the Aquarius Plateau beyond. I was mostly entranced by the sunlight on the orange and white towers (which are called hoodoos).

When you arrive at Bryce Canyon National Park, you have reached some of the youngest sedimentary rocks on the Colorado Plateau. Below the rim, the rocks are gray shales and sandstones of the Mesa Verde Group, and date from the end of the Cretaceous Period, the last stand of the dinosaurs. The pink and orange rocks of the rim of Bryce Canyon belong to the early Cenozoic Era. The lime-rich shale is called the Claron Formation, and it originated in a vast freshwater lake complex.

We moved on to Agua Canyon for a new perspective...

I'll bet that the single hoodoo in the image below has a name, but I don't know it. I know I've seen it in a lot of books. Someone fill us in!

A bit further along the road, we found Natural Bridge. Given that a bridge is supposed to have been formed by a river, this should actually be called an arch. It is one of the most striking features we ran across.

A pair of ravens were having an argument in a nearby Ponderosa tree...

Somehow that reminded us that it was dinner time, so we went to camp and whipped something in a can. We wanted to check out the sunset at Fairyland Point...that will be covered in part two...

A Pillar of the Sun

2012-01-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

Upon reading my blog, you will note that I spend a lot of time on the road, and for many reasons. One of them is that I live in a place that on a day-to-day basis is fairly unremarkable. The Central Valley of California is flat and the skies, which can often make up for flat landscapes in other places, are often equally unremarkable. We don't get many thunderstorms, or snow, or tornadoes, which is a blessing, but...unremarkable. This time of year, the most exciting weather phenomena is fog, which obscures things. So, driving home from work this evening, I was pleased to see something interesting, a sun pillar rising from the horizon. Pillars form as the sun reflects off of horizontally oriented ice crystals in the high stratus clouds. It's not the most spectacular picture you'll ever see, but it's the best one you'll see from me today...

The Delightful Details: Why I love the Grand Canyon

2012-01-03T00:43:00.000-08:00

As my readers may know, I made it to the Grand Canyon as my last trip of 2011 where I saw a nice sunset, and a glorious sunrise. It's kind of a yearly tradition to stop at the canyon, as several family members live near by (in the southwest, 200 miles is 'near'; if you get that close, it is worth the diversion!). There are many things to love about a place like the Grand Canyon. For me, on this trip, it was the details. I don't think I had walked out to Powell Point in past visits, but it looks to be one of my favorite South Rim stops now. The point juts out well into the canyon, and the short trail has steep drop-offs on both sides. The view extends a great distance both east and west. It's easy to get lost in the grandeur of the view. This time I was looking closer, at some of the details. In the picture above, look at the center-right, in the deepest part of the canyon. See if you can pick out where I zoomed in on the picture below.

I zoomed closer, and concentrated on the scene below. It was a familiar one for me, as it is repeated many times in the Grand Canyon, as well as several other spots around the southwest. There are two main elements here, a light brown layer of sandstone on the top, about 200 feet thick, and a sheer cliff below made up of metamorphic rock and granitic intrusions. The story told in these rocks is part of what led me into geology; I walked across a surface like this during my first geology field trip in 1976 and was duly impressed. I wanted to know more.

The contact between the two rock sequences is a nonconformity, an erosional boundary between two contrasting rock types. Many people who see the Grand Canyon for the first time might think that the rocks represent some sort of continuous record of deposition, a complete encyclopedia of earth history. This couldn't be further from the truth. The succession of rocks in the Grand Canyon has been interrupted many times by uplift and erosion, and huge gaps occur in the sequence. There are more rocks missing than there are present. The gap shown in the picture above spans something like a billion years!

The sedimentary rock is called the Tapeats Sandstone. It is typical of the kind of sand that might accumulate along a shoreline, although in this case, the beach existed 525 million years ago. It would have been a strange environment to those of us in the world today...there was no life on land, just barren rock and sediment. There was life in the sea, but few species that would be familiar to us. The fossils most commonly found are trilobites, arthropods that are vaguely similar to pillbugs and horseshoe crabs. There were sponges, and some brachiopods (lampshells), and many strange and wonderful soft-bodied creatures who left little in the way of a fossil record (google 'Burgess Shale' if you want to know what they looked like).

The rock beneath is exceedingly complex, and a complete understanding of its origin is still to be determined by further research. We have discovered enough evidence to tell a dramatic story that included deposition of sediments and lavas on a sea floor around two billion years ago, the subsequent crushing and deformation of those rocks, and their rise from the deep crust to form the core of a gigantic mountain range around 1.8 to 1.7 billion years ago. This was followed by intense erosion for hundreds of millions of years, and then renewed mountain-building activity around a billion years ago. These mountains were also worn away until a nearly flat surface remained, interrupted here and there by low hills and ridges of resistant rock.

Then the land slowly sank, and sea transgressed across the landscape. The beach sands of the Tapeats buried all but the highest of the hills, which projected as modest islands. They weren't completely inundated until several tens of millions of years later. That's what I found incredible about the Grand Canyon on my first trip all those years ago. When you know what to look for, you can see these islands exposed in the canyon walls.

Many years ago, the first geologists to explore the secrets of the Grand Canyon called this "The Great Unconformity". I agree...

I place my hand on a billion year gap in time at Frenchman Mountain near Las Vegas. This is the same unconformity as the one seen in the deepest part of Grand Canyon

The rock samples pictured above are to be found along the Trail of Time between Verkamps Visitor Center and Yavapai Point on the South Rim, a recently completed exhibit. The sponsors and innovators did a great job of bringing alive the concept of geologic time.

Grand Canyon, Quite Early Morning, and a Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of spending a very brief day in Grand Canyon this week. I last posted about the sunset we watched from Mather Point, which we mostly missed because of our late arrival. We didn't see any point in missing any more light in the canyon, so after a few hours of sleep we got up and wandered to the canyon edge in the 22 degree breeze. We still weren't quite used to Arizona's time zone, so we arrived on the rim at 6:15 for a 7:30 sunrise. We were the first to arrive at Hopi Point, but others soon followed. The first glow appeared on the horizon...

I was just now looking at the definition of 'twilight', which refers to the diffuse light in the sky between the setting of the sun and total darkness. The term can be related to both dawn and dusk, but the secondary meaning of twilight most certainly symbolizes evening...the loss of light and clarity, and coming darkness. What does it mean, for instance, when someone is in the twilight of their life?

Morning is something else entirely. It symbolizes renewal and birth and life. Out of darkness comes light, and deeper understanding. Standing on the rim of Grand Canyon canyon, we could only make out shapes on the horizon. There was depth below us, but the outlines were hazy.

Don't you know it's darkest before the dawn
And it's this thought keeps me moving on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning

Then comes first light, and the shapes and patterns of rock on the rim become sharper, but darkness still fills the depths of the canyon...

Some say that humankind won't long endure
But what makes them so doggone sure?
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing

The sun rises higher, illuminating more and more of the canyon. Instead of fuzzy grayness, the canyon becomes an intricate maze of ridges and recesses, each with its own story and drama. Each layer has a unique history that now has become visible in the rising light.

And so keep on while we live
Until we have no, no more to give
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger

So the new year is here, a date that was set to represent rebirth, a new dawning, the do-over time when we make resolutions to better ourselves. I like the sense of hope that comes with times like this. I have hope for those who are hungry, sick, unemployed, and all of those who are the victims of a society that at times has elevated greed to a virtue. I hope for a continued reawakening of caring for our community in hard times. I have hope that all of you will find happiness in this new year.

So though it's darkest before the dawn
These thoughts keep us moving on
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows

Quite Early Morning
Words and Music by Pete Seeger (1969)
(c) 1969 by Fall River Music Inc.
See Pete sing the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RL8ZcmLEB4

Dispatches from the Road: Cold White Volcanoes and Fiery Red Sunsets

2011-12-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

Mostly a day on the highway, making the 400 mile long drive from Tucson to the Grand Canyon. Didn't stop for photos at all, really, except for the moment we crossed a snow covered meadow at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona's active volcanic field (the last eruption was only 900 or so years ago at Sunset Crater). The peaks reach nearly 13,000 feet, and Humphreys Peak is the highest point in Arizona. They once stood much higher. The stratovolcano lost its summit during a major eruption/avalanche similar to Mt. St. Helens, or from the much slower process of glacial erosion.

We arrived in Grand Canyon in the last moments of a beautiful sunset. The canyon was already falling into shadow, but the sky was on fire all around us.

Getting some rest tonight, and looking forward to some sightseeing tomorrow!

Dispatches from the Road: Feeling Detached in Saguaro National Park

2011-12-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Had a few spare moments from family matters while in Tucson, Arizona today, so we headed out to Saguaro National Park and Tucson Mountain Park, which are both on the outskirts of the city. I'm not overly familiar with the area's geology, so it was a real learning experience. I really wish I had more time here!

The first thing that happened is that this mockingbird got in the way of my picture of the far mountain ridge. There was a beautiful bright red cardinal, too, but I couldn't convince it to block the scenery for me...

The Saguaro cacti kept getting in the way of the shots of the rocks, too, but I guess they provide some sense of proportion. The mountain ridges in the Rincon District of Saguaro National Park looked vaguely familiar to me, forming a roughly domal shape.

A convenient pull-out confirmed my suspicions...these rocks were reminding me of Death Valley...specifically the Black Mountains on the east side where several detachment faults are prominently exposed. Detachments are evidence of extreme extensional forces in the crust of the Earth. As the younger overlying rocks slip off the underlying ancient rocks, the rocks bow upwards forming the dome-like outlines. Deeply deformed rocks called mylonite are found along the fault contacts

The younger overlying rocks actually ended up on the other side of the Tucson valley. They make up the rocks exposed in Tucson Mountain Park, which we visited briefly while looking for a place to watch the sunset. Much of the rock is volcanic rhyolite, formed during intense caldera eruptions similar to those that produced Yellowstone and Long Valley (in California). The sharply jointed rocks form prominent peaks that do a nice job of catching the last rays of the sun.

I am almost never disappointed by an Arizona sunset...

The Saguaros always provide a nice frame for pictures of the sky and horizon...almost a cliche that you've seen a thousand times in calendars, but there is nothing like being there. I couldn't stop snapping pictures, and if I didn't have a camera, I would have sketched. And if I didn't have a sketch pad, I would have scratched images on the rock, much as the original inhabitants of this country did thousands of years ago. It's that pretty.

From Gates Pass, the view was stupendous. We watched until darkness, and headed back down into Tucson for dinner. Gotta get some sleep, because tomorrow we are headed to the Grand Canyon! To research the summer field trip, of course....

For some information on the geology of Saguaro National Park and the adjacent Tucson Mountain Park, check out this pdf file.

Dispatches from the Road: An Octet of Ocotillo (and other Desert Denizens).

2011-12-27T23:24:00.000-08:00

Traveling from here to there; sought a way to Tuscon without having to go through Phoenix and found Highway 85 to Interstate 8, a route that took us right through one of our nation's youngest national monuments, Sonoran Desert National Monument.

The park, administered by the Bureau of Land Management, has not been developed to any degree, and a large portion is designated wilderness. There is a nicely situated picnic stop on Interstate 8 a few miles east of Gila Bend, and we stopped for a look.

Ocotillo is one of the characteristic plants of the Sonoran Desert (sometimes called the "Low Desert"). In spring it comes alive with beautiful red flowers, but in summer and fall it simply exists. The photosynthesis occurs mostly in the branches rather than in leaves. The swirling chaotic patterns of the stalks is irresistible to photographers (and also me).

The other more famous desert plant is the Saguaro cactus. They are not in thick forests along the highway the way they are in nearby Saguaro National Park, but their distinctive shapes seem to be on every ridge.

The monument preserves three mountain ranges. It is amazing how untouched they look, given their proximity midway between Phoenix and Tucson.

The sun was getting low, and we still had a few miles to go.

A long day, but a beautiful finish!

A Merry Christmas and a Really Big Christmas Tree

2011-12-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! To celebrate, I offer up a very big Christmas tree, the General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park. The tree is so large (268 feet high, 40 feet across at the base) that it took three pictures to capture it.

The tree was declared by Calvin Coolidge in 1926 to be the nation's Christmas Tree. At an early ceremony, park superintendent Colonel John White said ""We are gathered here around a tree that is worthy of representing the spirit of America on Christmas Day. That spirit is best expressed in the plain things of life, the love of the family circle, the simple life of the out-of-doors. The tree is a pillar that is a testimony that things of the spirit transcend those of the flesh."

I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe holiday. I'll be on the road, so blogging will be sporadic for a while.

Oh, if you think Christmas trees should be decorated, I don't have one of the Grant Tree all dressed up for the holiday, but here is a nicely flocked Sequoia tree from a different trip...

Vagabonding across the 39th Parallel: Crossing through the Escalante River Country

2011-12-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

We woke up in the morning to a beautiful view of Boulder Mountain. The massive high plateau, topping out at over 11,000 feet, is said to be the highest timbered plateau in North America (I wonder if the people near Grand Mesa in Colorado would argue the point). The mountain is capped by thick basalt flows and was extensively glaciated during the ice ages. Black boulders litter the surrounding countryside where melt-swollen rivers dropped them.

For eleven days in July we had been exploring pretty close to the 39th parallel as we journeyed across Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. We were headed back home, and as we drove out of Torrey near Capitol Reef National Park, we had a choice to make: stay on the 39th and head over the high plateaus to Cedar City, or head south into the Escalante Country. More like the 38th parallel. The title of my ongoing vagabonding series may have to change...

It was really a choice of whether we wanted to rush home, or take a route that would gain us access to one more national monument and two more national parks. For us, a no-brainer. We were out there, we had no appointments back home, and we were still having fun. We drove south on Utah 12, over the high flanks of Boulder Mountain. The road climbed quickly to 9,000 feet, offering some pretty impressive views into the Capitol Reef country and the Henry Mountains.

We climbed a second long ridge, and a wide-ranging view opened up to the south, into one of our nation's newer national monuments, Grand Staircase-Escalante (established in 1996). It's a huge park, covering 1.9 million acres, and as the name suggests, it is a slightly schizophrenic park, too. The eastern end of the park is very different from the western end. The Grand Staircase (western side) is a series of escarpments that reveal something like 270 million years of earth history, from the end of the Paleozoic era to the beginning of the Cenozoic.

The Escalante portion of the park is mostly composed of just a few layers, primarily the Navajo Sandstone. The rock is well cemented, and forms prominent cliffs. The Escalante River and her tributaries have carved an intricate maze of canyons and gullies leading down to the Colorado River and Lake Powell. Some of the high benches and terraces have a combination of good soils and secure water sources, and have been occupied by various peoples over the last two thousand years or so. The most recent one, the little village of Boulder (founded in 1889), was so isolated that it was one of the last settlements in the country to receive mail by mule train (the particular road we were traveling was paved only in 1985). The town is built quite literally on top of the ruins of an Ancestral Pueblo village now preserved as Anasazi State Park.

Beyond Boulder, Highway 12 crosses the Hogsback, a narrow ridge that drops off for hundreds of feet on both sides. There is barely enough room for the two-lane road. The advice on the sign is well considered!

The crossbedded layers of the Navajo Sandstone speak of a vast sand sea during the Jurassic period. The layer is found all across the American West, and reaches thicknesses of 2,000 feet in some places (around 1,300 feet in the Escalante drainage).

In the foreground, the deep canyon of Calf Creek is visible, while the Straight Cliffs loom in the far distance. The plateau is some fifty miles long. It is composed of Cretaceous sediments that formed in a coastal environment with sandy beaches and vast estuaries where coal formed.

Higher up, the Pink Cliffs were visible. The Aquarius Plateau reaches 11,000 feet and contains the youngest of the sedimentary formations making up the stratigraphic column of the Colorado Plateau.

The road descended rapidly into the Calf Creek drainage, and passed the small campground on the valley bottom. There are beautiful waterfalls hidden up these canyons. The Ancestral Pueblo people were here too...we spied a small granary in the cliffs as we reached the Escalante River.

Oh, the Escalante River. It must have been quite the river that carved these deep and intricate slot canyons! We crossed it...here it is.

Of course, I've never seen the river flash-flooding, or in early spring during the snowmelt, or in an ice age. It is truly amazing how much sediment has been removed from this landscape since the Colorado River system was established.

Our road carved a winding path across the eroded sandstone ridges. After several hours we arrived at the village of Escalante. We were a little worried about getting a campsite, so we passed up some scenic state parks: Escalante Petrified Forest, and Kodachrome Basin. If we were at the beginning of our trip, we would have checked out Hole in the Rock or the Kaiparowits Plateau country. But not today...

We made it to our destination: Bryce Canyon National Park. I suppose there was some scenery, but there was a taco bar in the resort that afternoon...first things first...

With our hunger satiated, we grabbed our cameras and headed into the park...

Thanks to Mrs. Geotripper for her many splendid photos in today's post.

Postscript: Seems more than one geoblogger is thinking about Grand Staircase-Escalante in these bleak days of winter: check out this blogpost by Jack at Written in Stone.

Vagabonding across the 39th Parallel: A Magical Evening in the Mesozoic

2011-12-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

Ah, winter solstice! The longest nights, the shortest days, and although we don't get snow and hyperfreezing temperatures, there are mornings when I consider putting on a jacket before going for the newspaper. Yup, living in California can be tough. I admit, though, to really hating our tule fogs that occur this time of year. So what to do? Obviously, I need to go back and finish up my vagabonding series. We were exploring the geology of a swath of land between California and Colorado that happened to lie close to the 39th parallel last July. We were drifting along, not rushing, not planning more than a day or two in advance, and we were now on the homeward road. We had spent the morning and early afternoon exploring Arches National Park, and looking at petroglyphs, pictographs and dinosaur footprints, but now we had a bit of a distance to go, hoping to find a place to stay at Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef? In the desert? Being a geological blog, one might think that 'reef' refers to an ancient coral reef preserved in a limestone layer somewhere, but that is not the case here. Settlers in the region referred to cliffs and ridges that were barriers to travel as reefs. That was certainly the case here: Capitol Reef National Park preserves much of the Waterpocket Fold, a monocline fold that runs for more than 100 miles in a north-south direction. The fold defies travel; few of the canyons that cut across the fold are wide enough for trails, much less highways. The first paved highway wasn't constructed until 1962.

A monocline isn't like other folds. Anticlines are flexed upwards, while synclines are flexed downwards. Monoclines are neither; the sedimentary layers in a monocline can be thought of as a rug draped over a step. The layers are horizontal on both sides of the fold, but higher on one side. These features are most often caused when faults at great depth lift the overlying rocks, but without fracturing the softer sedimentary layers. A number of monoclines cross the Colorado Plateau; one forms the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon. But few monoclines are as dramatic as the Waterpocket Fold at Capitol Reef.

Erosion has cut deep into the fold, exposing thousands of feet of colorful sediments deposited during the Mesozoic era, the age of the dinosaurs. The layers tell a story of the giant supercontinent Pangea. In this part of the world, conditions changed from river floodplains to desert dune fields to rivers, to dunes again, and then the region was inundated by shallow seas several times. The story is readily discerned by carefully observing the rocks while exploring Highway 24 running east-west across the park. On the west side, the cliff-forming Wingate Sandstone protects the underlying soft layers from erosion, forming a tall escarpment that is nicely situated to capture the rays of the setting sun.

We arrived very late in the afternoon, just in time to see the setting sun lighting the cliffs. The roads were empty as people were settling in for the night. We weren't quite ready to turn in, so we headed south on the park's Scenic Road. I had told Mrs. Geotripper that the road was nicely paved, but when we arrived, we found that all the asphalt was torn out for construction. It was a bit bumpy and dusty, but I realized we were kind of reliving what it was like to explore the region half a century ago.

Capitol Gorge was the route of the old "highway" through the reef. In the narrows there is barely room for a car to squeeze through, and the watercourse was always subject to flooding and closure. In the daytime, one can walk through the gorge and see Fremont petroglyphs and pictographs, as well as more recent inscriptions from travelers in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

This evening, it was dark and lonely and I found myself imagining what it was like to travel this road decades ago, or centuries ago. Even today the population of the region is only a few thousand people scattered over thousands of square miles. A mistake, an accident, a flood, and one could be in real trouble. It is a harsh land, and it was a hard life for those who lived here: the Fremont and other Native Americans, the Mormon pioneers who settled nearby in Fruita, and those who make a life there now.

It was dark. We slowly made our way out the gorge and headed back to camp. The next day we would drive one of the most spectacular roads that no one knows about...

Accretionary Wedge Carnival #41: Geology in Progress...the night I got in big trouble

2011-12-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

OK, not that kind of trouble. I wasn't falling off a cliff or getting buried in earthquake rubble or anything like that. I wasn't swallowed up by a lava flow, although that was a possibility if I had been more stupid.

This month's Accretionary Wedge is courtesy of Ron Schott and the Geology Home Companion, and he says: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to relate the story of the most memorable or significant geological event that you’ve directly experienced.

What we seek for AccretionaryWedge #41 is an account of a geologic event that you experienced firsthand. It could be an earthquake, a landslide, a flood, a volcanic eruption, etc. (but don’t feel compelled to stick to the biggies – weathering, anyone?) – some geologic process that you were able to directly observe and experience."

Such questions certainly make you stop and think. I've been teaching for 27 years, and there were 8 years of college courses and tech work before that, so I have seen a great many places (as followers of this blog well know), but events? Not so many. I thought about the 1997 floods in Central California, when a 250-year flood nearly destroyed my in-law's mountain home. I thought of the three rock falls I've witnessed in the Yosemite area (story here, here, and here). I also thought about my first major earthquake, the 1971 Sylmar event. They were all important events, but their impact on my psyche was nothing like my encounters with lava in Hawaii.

I've had a somewhat rocky relationship with Hawaiian lavas, with some wonderful adventures and some real disappointments (and believe me, I wish I was there right now!). The ultimate adventure, though, was my midnight discovery of a new outbreak and ocean entry in 2006 that only five people saw, out of the thousands who had visited that week. Here's the story adapted from my post in June 2009:

"My third chance to see Pele's beauty came about in 2006 as a result of a family reunion that included a cruise of four of the Hawaiian islands. We arrived a few days early on the off-chance that there would be something to see on the Pu'u O'o flow that continued to erupt over the years. It had been a mostly quiet year, with lava flowing through tubes for seven miles before spilling into the sea.

I was not really expecting to see much. The problem is that the coastal cliffs around a lava entry are dangerously unstable. As the lava hits the water, it shatters and forms thick layers of unstable cinders, while being covered by lava flows. Every so often, the cinders slide downward, and the lava bench suddenly collapses into the sea. A number of people have been killed because they were standing on the benches when they collapsed. So, the national park service had erected a rope barrier to keep people from the most dangerous areas. Unfortunately, there was no view possible of the lava itself, according to reports. Just the bright orange glow of the steam rising from the turmoil below the coastal cliff.

These lava benches are killers! Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Still, it was worth a try. I told my wife and son and nephews that I would hike out, be safe, look at the glow of the invisible lava, and be back to the hotel by 9 PM or so. I took water, a flashlight, extra batteries, and my brand-new camera that I had bought that morning, and was just beginning to learn to use.

The hike was longer than I expected. There were so many people parked at the end of Chain of Craters Road that I literally had to walk an extra mile just to reach the trailhead. The flows were entering the sea two miles away, over trail-less pahoehoe flows. The sun set way too quickly and for route-finding I was down to my flashlight, and flashing beacons set up every quarter mile or so. Plenty of people were walking back with their flashlights, so the route was clearly evident. Most of the people I talked to expressed disappointment. Nothing to see but glowing steam. A few idiots who crossed the barriers. I was getting very tired. Pahoehoe may be smooth, but is still very uneven, and it only takes a single misstep to twist or break an ankle. I made it to the rope barrier, and could now see the glow and the steam. It was actually an awe-inspiring moment, as the moon had risen and was reflecting off the ocean behind the steam plumes. But no lava.

I realized that it had become very lonely. The only others about were four people in a party, and a flashlight off in the distance. I hung with the four people and a lady appeared out of the darkness. She suggested that we might want to walk to the far end of the rope barrier, another quarter mile away. And then she disappeared into the darkness again. I looked at my watch. Already 9:00 PM. I was going to be overdue. But, what was out there?

Curiosity got me, and I set off for the far end of the barrier. After 20 minutes or so, I surmounted a small cliff and looked down, and saw one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

Needless to say, I was in a heap o' trouble when I walked into the hotel lobby at midnight. But I can never forget the incredible gift of that magical sight of lava pouring into the sea."

As I noted, my camera was purchased the very same day. I found out that it used batteries fast, and at the big moment I had to cannibalize my flashlight to take pictures. I was also learning the new settings, and I'm actually surprised I got any decent pictures at all. I also managed to get a short video of the flow just before it plunged into the sea...

Geotripping on the Colorado Plateau: Archaeology and Geology Summer Field Studies, June 13-29, 2012

2011-12-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

There was a constant theme of the images I posted during geo-picture-a-day week: each picture was a locality that we will be visiting on our summer field studies adventure in June of 2012, offered by Modesto Junior College in Central California. I guess it was on my mind, as I had to secure the camp reservations last week...the reservations for groups at the national parks tend to get snapped up quickly.

The class is a hybrid, Geology 174 and Anthropology 174, taught jointly in the field. This is the fifth collaboration between our departments, and will be a two-week expedition that will take us through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. Our route will include Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Great Basin and Yosemite National Parks, and numerous other state parks, national scenic areas, and national monuments.We will be camping out for the duration of the trip, and meals and transportation are provided. The cost will be $650, plus about $150 in school and registration fees.

What will it be like? Imagine yourself on the high plateaus of central Utah hunting for dinosaurs, or on the brink of a 5,000 foot deep canyon in Arizona, or searching for gemstones in the Nevada-Utah desert. Imagine hunting for Pueblo cliff dwellings in a quiet deserted canyon on the Colorado-Utah border or in New Mexico. Imagine taking a trip in a time machine to the distant past, when dinosaurs roamed the planet, continental landmasses drifted and collided, and seas covered vast areas of the American west. Imagine a more recent past as we visit two of the oldest continuously occupied villages in the United States.

Obviously, this message is directed mostly to our friends in the central California, but even if you are not from the area, you may be able to travel with us if you can get to Modesto for the start and finish of the trip (and be willing to register for the course; yes, you have to take notes!). You need to be in moderately good health and be ready to put up with rugged and stressful conditions (although no long hikes will be required). It will be hot, cold, wet, dry, windy, sandy and dusty. There may be ghosts, bugs, or other critters. On the other hand, the trip has every possibility of being one of the most spectacular two weeks of your life. If you are interested, check out this informational page, and let us know who you are!

Monday Geo-picture: Bandelier National Monument

2011-12-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

Monday geo-pictures (for busy geo-bloggers; what a great idea, Georneys)...here is another scene from the southwest, this time at Bandelier National Monument. The monument preserves ancient pueblo cliff dwellings and villages which are fascinating in and of themselves, but the scene is made even more interesting because of the geological setting. Bandelier sits on the flank of the gigantic Jemez (Valles) caldera, which covered the region with red-hot ash around 1.15 million years ago. The pueblo people found the ash cliffs easier to excavate than sandstone, and numerous holes pockmark the cliffs representing the rear rooms of the dwellings.

The kiva in this photo required a 140 foot climb to reach (mostly on ladders). It takes some imagination to understand the effort undertaken to live in such an inaccessible place.

Geo-Picture-a-Day Week: Hoodoo you do?

2011-12-18T01:10:00.000-08:00

Wrapping up Geo-picture-a-day week with another familiar, yet always spectacular sight: Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The intricately carved spires are called hoodoos. They are composed of the limestone and shale of the early Cenozoic Claron formation.

Now that finals are done, I can get back to some regular blogging. Many thanks to Evelyn at Georneys for a great blogging idea. I've enjoyed seeing everyone's pictures!

Geo-Picture-a-Day Week: Moon, Sky and Rock

2011-12-17T00:07:00.000-08:00

It's day six of Geo-Picture-a-Day Week and today we go to basics: stone, sky and cosmos. It is an unusual framing of a familiar arch at Arches National Park in Utah: Landscape Arch, which is one of the widest spans in nature, the length of a football field. It's so thin in some sections that it is a wonder that it still stands (a big chunk fell out of it in the 1990's). So many geological processes are incredibly slow, but I will not be surprised if this arch collapses during our lifetimes.

Arches may seem like a deserted landscape, but what a contrast to a place like the moon, where essentially nothing happens aside from the occasional meteorite strike. A distant lonely place...but thinking back to the 1960's and my youthful dreams, I wish I had had a chance to walk upon it...

Full-Time Tenure Track Geology Teaching Position at Santa Barbara City College

2011-12-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

(Cross-posted from Teaching the Earth Sciences)
It's something to think about...two retirees with about 80 years of geology experience between them. That's the story at Santa Barbara City College this year. I noted a few weeks ago that a geology technician position was available at SBCC (application deadline is December 30). Now they have announced an opening for a full-time tenure-track position for a geology instructor. The department at SBCC has a strong tradition of field instruction, excellence in teaching, and community involvement. I deeply appreciated the four years I spent with the department in the 1980's. Deadline for the teaching position is February 3. Details of the position can be found at this link, and are listed below the fold...

Please apply at https://jobs.sbcc.edu

12/14/2011

Job# 12/11-A08 Application Deadline: Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 4:30 p.m. PST

Essential Functions of Position:
Commencing Fall, 2012, a full-time, tenure-track position will be available in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

The Department seeks a broadly trained geologist with a strong commitment to teaching. Responsibility would include teaching a combination of lectures and/or labs. Depending on background, courses could include lecture a laboratory courses in Physical Geology, Environmental Geology, Oceanography, Energy and Resources, or Dinosaurs. Depending on background, consideration will be given to other potential lecture and laboratory courses including National Parks, California Geology, Geoseminar, Historical Geology, Mineralogy, or Petrology.

Additionally, job requires preparing and leading multi-day field courses, including 5-day field courses to the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley, and leading single-day local field trips. Other field courses could include Western Sierra, Colorado Plateau, or Summer Field Techniques and Mapping.

Other responsibilities include full participation in both department and student activities and initiatives, involvement in curriculum development and revision to meet transfer and accreditation standards, evaluation of Student Learning Outcomes, the maintenance of office hours, and participation in the governance of the college via committee assignments.
Minimum Qualifications: The candidate must meet one of these criteria:
1. Master’s in geology, geophysics, earth sciences, meteorology, oceanography, or paleontology; OR

2. Bachelor’s in geology AND Master’s in geography, physics, or geochemistry; OR

3. Combination of education and other accomplishments that is equivalent to the above. (If claiming equivalency, attach a separate statement that presents the basis for this claim and submit supporting evidence, e.g., transcripts, publications, and other work products.); OR

4. Possession of a lifetime California Community College Instructor Credential in Earth Sciences, including Geography, Geology, and Geophysics
Desirable Qualifications:
 Demonstrated excellence in college or high school teaching in Geology/Earth Sciences (lecture and laboratory)

 Experience leading multi-day geologic field courses and/or single-day field trips.

 Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and collegially with peers as a team.

 Experience working with students on projects, extracurricular activities, or other initiatives to promote student involvement.

 Ability and interest in advising earth sciences majors in their academic and career tracks.

 Experience using a variety of instructional strategies that promote student learning and success.

 Familiarity with the use of multimedia technologies in instruction.

 Experience in working with students from diverse cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic, academic, language and disability backgrounds.

 Geologic experience working in industry.

Salary & Personnel Benefits: The current salary schedule range for a tenure-track faculty position is $53,668-$89,668, plus an earned doctoral bonus of $2,683. Starting salary is commensurate with academic preparation and full-time related, paid experience. In addition to salary each full-time employee participates in a "cafeteria style" Health & Welfare Benefits Program.
Application Deadline/Screening:Completed online applications must be submitted by
Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 4:30 p.m. PST.

Required Application Documents: (The following required documents must be submitted electronically via the online application system.)1. Online District Application form @ https://jobs.sbcc.edu

2. Cover letter addressing the applicant's experience and the desirable qualifications listed in this announcement.

3. Resume or CV.

4. If claiming equivalency, attach a separate statement which presents the basis for this claim and submit supporting evidence, e.g. transcripts, publications, other products.

5. Copy of college transcripts.**

6. Letters of reference are not required but may be optionally uploaded as part of the application process. A list of six professional references, with contact information, is required on application. These references will be contacted should you be selected as a finalist for the position. Provide a list of six references that can critically assess your work qualifications and job performance to include at least the following via your online application: the six minimum required references - current department chair, immediate past department chair, current Dean, immediate past Dean, one current faculty colleague and one current student (or appropriate equivalent references in research or industry). The application form will accept information for six references in the "Professional References" field. You may include additional names and contact information in your Cover Letter or Resume/CV. Although not required, if you have letters of reference to include, you must scan them as a single file and attach this file to the "Other Documents" field. We will not accept e-mailed, mailed, or faxed letters of reference from applicants or from third parties.

Note: If you are maintaining an application established in our online system prior to 4/19/10, there may not be a sufficient number of entry spaces for 6 references. In this case, attach a separate page with the additional references via your online application to the attachment bar entitled, "other document" or list them at the end of your resume.

HRLA for instructions. If you do not have a scanner, there are commercial facilities in your community available to assist you with this process. All required documents must be submitted via your electronic application by the application deadline or your application will be considered incomplete.

**Foreign Transcripts:

Transcripts issued outside the United States require a course-by-course analysis with an equivalency statement from an official USA certified transcript evaluation service verifying the degree equivalency to that of an accredited institution within the USA. This report must be attached to the online application. For a list of recognized organizations providing transcript evaluation services, visit http://www.naces.org/members.htm.
Application Procedure:To be considered for this position, a complete online application including all required application documents (listed above) must be submitted via https://jobs.sbcc.edu by the above application deadline (please see above instructions to applicants). It is important that the online District Application form (Item #1 above) be complete and specific to fully indicate education, experience and other qualifications of applicant. "See Resume" is not acceptable.

You may attach additional supporting material to the online application under the attachment option entitled, "Other Document." (If you apply for more than one position, copies of all the required documents must be attached separately for each position.) Application and all documents submitted become the property of SBCC and are retained electronically. Please Note: A confirmation number will be assigned if your application packet has been successfully submitted online.

Selection ProcedureOnline applications will be initially reviewed by the selection committee, which will recommend candidates for personal interviews at SBCC. Unless otherwise stipulated by the committee, out-of-town applicants who are selected for interviews may have the option to be interviewed via Skype. After the initial interviews have been conducted, the committee & Dean will recommend the top candidates to the Superintendent/President for a final interview. The successful candidate will then be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval. Please Note: Santa Barbara City College regrets that applicants cannot be reimbursed for expenses related to the application or interview process, including travel expenses.

Accommodation for the Disabled: If you are selected for an interview and need special services or facilities to participate in the interview, please contact Human Resources & Legal Affairs.
General Requirements to be submitted Upon Offer of Employment:
Satisfactory results from prescribed job-related medical examination, including recent evidence of freedom from active tuberculosis.

 Satisfactory fingerprint report.

 Documentation verifying identity and United States citizenship or authorization that you have the right to work in the United States permanently and do not now or in the future require sponsorship by Santa Barbara City College or other hiring institutions.

 Official transcripts conferring college degrees indicated on the employment application.

Working Conditions: Environment:Indoor and outdoor instructional laboratory and classroom work environment.

Driving a vehicle to conduct work.

Subject to variable work hours.

Constant interruptions.
Physical Demands:Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a variety of equipment.

Sitting, standing or walking for extended periods of time.

Occasional stooping and kneeling

Seeing to read a variety of materials and monitor student activities.

Hearing and speaking to exchange information and make presentations.

Bending at the waist, kneeling or crouching.

Reaching overhead, above the shoulders and horizontally.

Lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling moderately heavy objects (25-50 pounds).
HazardsSome incumbents may experience exposure to fumes and hazardous chemicals.

Working around machinery with moving parts

Working at heights.

Potential for exposure to bodily fluids and blood borne pathogens.
For all FT Faculty openings, deadlines, and link to online application, please visit our website at: https://jobs.sbcc.edu

Santa Barbara City College,

721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109-2394

(805) 965-0581 Ext. 2258

Interviews by Invitation Only
SBCC is an equal opportunity employer committed to nondiscrimination on the basis of ethnic group identification, National origin, religion, age, sex, race, color, ancestry, marital, parental or veteran status, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability, or on the basis of these perceived characteristics or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, consistent with applicable federal and state laws. Reasonable accommodation will be provided for applicants with disabilities who self disclose

Geo-Picture-a-Day Week: Houses Made of (Former) Stone, and a Dog

2011-12-16T00:46:00.000-08:00

It's day five of geo-picture-a-day week in the Geoblogosphere (thanks to Evelyn at Georneys for the idea), and we've moved on to houses of former stone. Adobe is made of iron-oxide stained clay derived from the erosion of feldspar-rich rocks. The sediments are briefly held together again as an artificial rock for a time while being used as a shelter by humans.

Taos Pueblo is one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in North America, at around 1,000 years. The Taos Mountains, a sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico, rise high above the village.

The village is justly famous, and the buildings are described by some as the most-photographed in the country. The Taos people are quite private, but tourists are allowed to explore some areas around the plaza. It's a fascinating glimpse into the history and prehistory of New Mexico.

Oh, and the dog. A lesson on how to stay cool on a hot summer day...

Geo-Picture a Day Week: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

2011-12-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Geo-picture-a-day week continues with Thursday's offering: little-known Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico's Rio Grande Rift. The odd spires are hoodoos, caused when some kind of boulder or capstone prevented the erosion of the much softer rock underneath. The softer rock in this case is ash and pumice fragments from an eruption of a vent in the Jemez Caldera area about 6-7 million years ago. It is a bizarre landscape that reminds some people of Cappadocia in Turkey, which isn't surprising because the geological history is similar.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is administered by federal Bureau of Land Management instead of the National Park Service. It is a fascinating place to walk around!

Geo-Picture-a Day-Week: Grand Canyon National Park

2011-12-14T00:55:00.000-08:00

It's finals week for me, and instead of avoiding blogging altogether, Evelyn at Georneys had a fine idea: A geo-picture a day. It's day three, Wednesday, and our subject of the day is one of America's crown jewels. It is immediately recognizable to most people: Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

There is no place like the Grand Canyon. It is such an intricate and precious piece of earth art that I never get tired of the view, and I cherish every chance to visit, every opportunity to hike in its depths. So much geology is laid bare in this place: the rocks exposed in the canyon walls, the existence of the canyon itself, the myriad caverns that grace some of the limestone layers. It's a virtual candy store for geologists.

Geo-Picture-a-Day Week: Yosemite National Park

2011-12-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

Continuing with Georney's Picture a day for a week meme, here is Tuesday's picture, a winter scene at Yosemite Valley. This picture is from last January; I don't think there is all that much snow up there just now, but just wait a few weeks! El Capitan is on the left, and the Cathedral Rocks on the right.

Geo-picture a Day Week - Zion National Park

2011-12-13T00:47:00.000-08:00

Evelyn at Georneys has a nice idea for a busy finals week for us geobloggers. Since so many of us are too busy to post extensively, she suggests a picture a day to fill the void of words. I'm game!

Since I spent a day in the midst of finals week making reservations for next summer's field studies trip, my mind was wandering through the canyonlands of Utah. Monday's slightly late picture is from one of the grandest hikes of my life, up to Observation Point in Zion National Park. The trail is not to be taken lightly; it climbs UP, and steeply so. But what a view from the top!

Earth Science Field and Laboratory Tech Position at Santa Barbara City College

2011-12-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

Cross-posted from Teaching the Earth Sciences, the NAGT-FWS Blog....

There have not been many openings posted for geology/earth science positions in the California Community College system in the last few months, but an interesting one just crossed my desk, for an Earth Science Laboratory and Field Technician post at Santa Barbara City College. SBCC is a nice place to work (I was there from 1984-88), and their earth science program is excellent. If you are a jack-of-all-trades in the geological sciences, and enjoy organizing and conducting field and lab studies, this position is worth your attention. Application deadline is December 30, so act fast. Official information can be found here, while a more detailed description can be found beneath the jump...

ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSITION
PLEASE APPLY AT: https://jobs.sbcc.edu
WE NO LONGER ACCEPT PAPER APPLICATIONS
PLEASE CIRCULATE AND POST THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LAB/FIELD TECHNICIAN
Earth/Planetary Sciences – FT/12 Mo
CLASSIFIED OPEN AND PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Nine step salary range, initial placement customarily at first step with annual advancement to the next higher step. 40 hours per week, 12 months per year, plus fringe benefits; 12 month probation period. All work schedules and work assignments are subject to change based on the needs of the College.

SALARY RANGE: $4,117/Mo. - $5,017/Mo.

WORKING HOURS: Monday – Friday: 8 hrs day. During field courses 12 hrs day,
multiple consecutive days (compensatory time off provided)

PLEASE APPLY AT: https://jobs.sbcc.edu

ONLINE APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY:
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011 - 4:30 p.m.
(Interviews by Invitation Only)

BASIC FUNCTION:
Under the direction of the Department Chair, plan, organize and coordinate a variety of field trips to various sites and facilities in support of Earth & Planetary Sciences; perform a variety of specialized, complex and independent activities involved in the preparation, construction, set-up and clean-up of instructional materials and equipment for field trips and laboratory demonstrations and activities in Earth & Planetary Sciences; assure adequate equipment and materials to meet Department needs.

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES:
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
Plan, organize and coordinate a variety of field trips to various sites and facilities; arrange transportation, supplies, equipment and reservations for field trips; maintain and oversee the operation of field equipment; direct field trip functions to assure smooth and efficient activities; issue and collect field trip materials and equipment to and from students.

Coordinate, direct and arrange support services for field trips; coordinate, oversee and participate in the purchasing, preparation and distribution of food and beverages for field trips; maintain and oversee the operation of needed equipment such as stoves, ovens, lanterns, refrigeration equipment, portable latrines and radios; plan related menus; drive a truck to support field trips as directed.
Coordinate activities, supplies and equipment to meet field, laboratory and related instructional needs in geology, geophysics, oceanography, astronomy and related subject areas; apply a variety of complex geological principles, theories and disciplines in the development, analysis and adjustment of field trips, laboratory demonstrations, exercises and instructional materials to meet student needs.
Prepare, set up, operate, calibrate, maintain and repair a variety of specialized equipment related to geology such as microscopes, stereoscopes, rock processing equipment, grinders, laps, meters, balances, shakers, splitters, generators, samplers, projectors, telescopes, graphs, tape players, cameras hand and power tools and machinery, and a variety of other geophysical, astronomical, geological, rock processing, soil testing and oceanographic equipment.

Assure adequate equipment and materials to meet Department needs; monitor inventory levels of laboratory and field trip supplies and equipment; select, order, receive, store and maintain adequate inventory of supplies and equipment; initiate, prepare and process purchase requisitions; estimate required inventory levels; estimate and account for related costs; conduct inventories.

Research, collect and maintain inventory of museum specimens used in instructional activities including mineral, petrology and paleontology reference samples; maintain map and library collection; prepare and stock student lab drawers with rocks, minerals and fossils as assigned; conduct field excursions to identify and collect specimens; take photographs as needed.

Supervise the performance of assigned student, hourly and volunteer workers; interview and select student assistants and recommend salary increases, promotions, reassignment, termination and disciplinary actions; participate in recruitment and screening activities; develop schedules, assign duties and review work for compliance with established standards and procedures.

Prepare and maintain collection of rock thin-sections and slabs, polished sections and oriented grain mounts; construct a variety of demonstration models such as geomorphologic models, stream tables, crystal structure models, turbidity tanks, fault models and wave tanks; perform related carpentry and welding tasks; maintain and prepare materials and equipment involving chemicals, soil mechanics, oceanographic cores and related apparatus.

Plan, organize and lay out lab supplies and equipment for use during field trips and laboratories; test demonstrations and exercises to assure proper functioning; provide technical assistance to faculty and students in the use of field trip and laboratory supplies and equipment; explain related instructional and laboratory principles, theories, practices, procedures and techniques as needed.

Research, compile, arrange and assemble field trip and laboratory materials and equipment; design, develop, analyze and implement field trip demonstration, exercise, preparation and set-up procedures; investigate and resolve issues related to field trips, demonstrations and other instructional activities.

Prepare and maintain various records and reports related to field trips, laboratory demonstrations, vehicles, preparation, experiments, student assistants, supplies, equipment, inventory, budgets, purchases and assigned duties; compose preparation lists as required.

Perform skilled work in the inspection, diagnosis, repair and maintenance of various vehicles; adjust, overhaul, service and rebuild automotive systems and equipment; troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve vehicle problems and malfunctions; install and replace vehicle parts and components as needed.

Develop, implement and conduct training activities to assure subordinate employee understanding of laboratory standards, requirements, supplies, equipment, principles, theories, practices and procedures.

Coordinate, monitor, develop and maintain budgets for laboratory activities in accordance with prescribed guidelines; review and evaluate financial and budgetary data; control and authorize expenditure in accordance with established limitations; assist in the development of budget requests.

Assure the health and safety of students, staff and faculty by researching, implementing and following health and safety practices and procedures; clean and disassemble supplies and equipment as needed.

Communicate with College personnel, faculty and various outside agencies to exchange information and resolve issues or concerns; request educational fee waivers as appropriate.

Operate a variety of standard office equipment including a computer and assigned software; set up and operate audio-visual equipment as assigned.

Provide and arrange for field trip medical and emergency services; respond to emergency situations and provide first aid and CPR as needed; transport student to medical facilities as needed.

Maintain current knowledge of laboratory, field trip and Earth & Planetary Sciences terminology, techniques, equipment, materials, principles, theories, practices and procedures.

OTHER DUTIES:
Perform related duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES:

KNOWLEDGE OF:
Planning, organization, coordination and support services required for a variety of Earth & Planetary Sciences field trips to various sites and facilities.
Technical practices, procedures and techniques involved in the preparation, construction set-up and clean-up of geological instructional materials and equipment used in field trips and other instructional activities.

Advanced geology and related field trip terminology, techniques, equipment, materials, principles, theories, practices and procedures.

Set up, operation, calibration, maintenance and repair of various field trip instruments, tools and equipment related to geology.

Inventory practices, procedures and techniques.

Appropriate safety precautions and procedures.

Operation of a computer and assigned software.

Principles and practices of supervision and training.
Oral and written communication skills.

Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.

Record-keeping and report preparation techniques.

Budget preparation and control.

ABILITY TO:
Plan, organize and coordinate a variety of field trips to various sites and facilities.

Coordinate, direct and arrange support services for field trips.

Perform a variety of specialized, complex and independent activities involved in the preparation, construction, set-up and clean-up of instructional materials and equipment for field trips and laboratory demonstrations and activities in Earth & Planetary Sciences.

Research, collect and maintain inventory of museum specimens used in instructional activities.

Prepare and maintain sample collections, demonstration models and a variety of other specialized instructional materials related to geology.

Calibrate, modify, maintain and repair complex equipment related to geology instruction as required.

Interpret, apply and explain laws, codes, regulations, policies and procedures.
Train and supervise the performance of assigned student workers as required.
Select, order, receive and maintain adequate inventory levels of supplies and equipment.

Research, compile, arrange and assemble instructional materials and equipment.
Assist faculty, staff and students in the use of field trip and instructional supplies and equipment.

Observe health and safety regulations and procedures.

Explain geological and field trip principles, theories, practices, procedures and techniques.

Assure smooth, efficient and educationally effective laboratory activities.

Meet schedules and time lines.

Work independently with little direction.

Maintain records and prepare reports.

Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Establish and maintain cooperative and effective relationships with students.

Operate a variety of standard office equipment including a computer and assigned software.

EDUCATION AND PAID EXPERIENCE:
Any combination equivalent to: bachelor’s degree in geology and two years increasingly responsible experience providing instructional support in subject areas related to geology including work with the development and implementation of field trips and preparation and set-up of instructional materials and equipment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Ability to work independently; flexible in terms of work hours; demonstrated leadership/people skills for recruitment, scheduling, training, and supervising student workers and professional volunteers; experience with budget management; competence in office software including spread sheet programs; mechanical skills in operating and maintaining a variety of equipment (specialized lab and field equipment, rock processing equipment, vehicles, carpentry, etc.); class B driver’s license with air brake certification; First Aid and/or CPR training/experience.

LICENSES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
Incumbents must obtain a ServSafe license within a designated period of time.
Incumbents must obtain a valid first aid and CPR license including defibrillator certification within a designated period of time.
Incumbents must obtain a California Class B driver’s license within a designated period of time.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
ENVIRONMENT:
Indoor and outdoor work environment.
Subject to variable work hours.
Constant interruptions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a variety of equipment.
Sitting or standing for extended periods of time.
Seeing to read a variety of materials and monitor student activities.
Hearing and speaking to exchange information.
Bending at the waist, kneeling or crouching.
Reaching overhead, above the shoulders and horizontally.
Lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling heavy objects as assigned by the position.
Walking during field trips.

HAZARDS:
Some incumbents may experience exposure to fumes and hazardous chemicals.
Working around machinery with moving parts
Working at heights.
Sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socio-economic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of Community College Students.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS (Upon Offer of Employment):

Satisfactory results from prescribed job related medical examination, including evidence of freedom from active tuberculosis; satisfactory fingerprint reports.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires that the District obtain documentation from every individual who is employed which verifies identity and authorizes his/her right to work in the United States.

Person selected for this position will be required to submit proof of any college coursework or degrees indicated on the employment application.

BENEFITS:
The District offers a cafeteria style plan in which employees are given a district allowance and may choose from a number of medical and dental plans. Life and income protection insurances are also available.

Vacation (based on assigned hours) is earned and accumulated on a monthly basis.

Sick leave is earned at the rate of one day (based on the number of assigned hours) per month, and is accumulative from year to year.

Holidays: 15 holidays per year.

Credit Union: The Santa Barbara Teachers Federal Credit Union offers a variety of services.

Retirement: Employees, who work 20 or more hours per week, are covered by the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), Social Security, and Medicare.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Apply online at https://jobs.sbcc.edu. We no longer accept paper applications. Assistance with the online application process is available on campus at the Human Resources office, 721 Cliff Drive, SS-230, Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00, Friday 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., or by phone (805) 965-0581 ext. 2258. Resumes are not accepted in lieu of SBCC online application. Online applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. on the closing date.

ACCOMMODATION FOR THE DISABLED: If you are in need of special services or facilities due to a disability in order to apply or interview for this opening, please call the Human Resources Office.

Santa Barbara Community College is an equal opportunity employer committed to nondiscrimination on the basis of ethnic group identification, national origin, religion, age, sex, race, color, ancestry, marital, parental or veteran status, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability , or on the basis of these perceived characteristics or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, consistent with applicable federal and state laws. Reasonable accommodation will be provided for applicants with disabilities who self disclose.

- EQUAL OPPORTUNITY - TITLE IX EMPLOYER -
JOB# 12/11 - C031

P:EARTHPLANETARYSCIENCELABFIELDTECH (12/01/2011

Beauty in my Backyard: Sunset on the California Prairie

2011-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Blogging at Geotripper has been a bit rare of late...finals week is starting and mountains of grading have a way of pushing out other activities. Two straight days glued to the couch midst a massive pile of laboratory reports essentially drives me nuts, and I needed to get out of the house, but where to go when it is already 3 o'clock and the sun is rapidly sinking towards the horizon? The mountains beckon, but they're too far away for the 90 remaining minutes of sunlight. We headed into the prairie in our backyard, the grasslands that mark the edge of the Central Valley and the lowest foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

It's the middle of December, and winter is coming. There aren't as many ground squirrels in evidence, but that doesn't mean the local Red-tail Hawks aren't looking for them. We passed a ruined windmill and spied a pair of raptors looking for an evening meal.

These grasslands couldn't really be mistaken for any kind of pristine wilderness, as they have been grazed by cattle for more than a century. But the land is empty of people, and if you are looking for peace and solitude, this is a good place to search. The rolling hills hide geological violence: metamorphic rocks recording the rise and destruction of ancient mountain ranges, and volcanic ash layers reveal explosive activity only a few million years ago. But tonight there is only the trickling of water from the nearby stock pond, and the chatter of a flock of Red-wing Blackbirds.

We come back to the stockpond on Willms Road from time to time over the course of the year. When we were last here, the temperature was close to 100 degrees, and grasshoppers were eating everything in sight. Today, it was cold and the bugs were nowhere to be seen.

The ground was dry and parched, but there was enough moisture in the storms of November to fill the small lake and send a gentle creek across the plains. The sun was low on the horizon. We prepared to go, but as we climbed into the car, a flock of several hundred Red-wing Blackbirds arrived at the pond and started flying in circles in perfect formation. Every moment or two, 15 or 20 birds peeled off from the flock and landed in a particular section of the tules surrounding the pond. Then another group of birds landed a little further down the shore. Eventually all the birds found a place to roost. I was reminded of commuters on a freeway looking for their offramp.

As the sun landed on the horizon, we headed back into town and got some dinner at our favorite Mexican cantina. And now I am back on the couch facing that pile of laboratory reports. But I'm a lot more serene about it now...

Revisiting the Other California:The Story of the Pine Creek Mine From Someone Who Was There

2011-12-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

I've been in a few abandoned mines, and I've taken the (recently discontinued) tourist tour at the Sutter Mine in the Sierra Mother Lode, but I've never really gotten to know the experience of working in a hardrock mine. In May of 2010, I wrote a post on Pine Creek Canyon in the eastern Sierra and the tungsten mine that operated up there for many years. A former employee at the mine, John Sullivan, saw the post and sent me a note relating his experiences working underground at Pine Creek. He has graciously allowed me to reproduce his narrative, which appears below. Thank you very much, John!

My original post follows John's note below...

"I recently discovered on your web site your fine description and photos of Pine Creek canyon and information on the mining operation once there. Amazingly, until reading your site, I did not know of the canyon’s remarkable depth statistic even though I lived in it (at the mining camp Scheelite on your map) while in grammar school in the 1950s and later climbed to the top of Mt. Tom (on the south side) and stood atop Wheeler Ridge (on the north side). Your site brought back a lot of memories.

When a house became vacant, my family moved from Scheelite down to Rovana (the major company housing) not far below the canyon mouth. My mining engineer father who leaned toward chemistry oversaw the project that developed a way to make purer tungsten concentrate at the mill.

In the summers after I turned 18 I worked at the mill (on the “bull gang” and helped run the warehouse). Later I spent summers and Christmas vacations at the mine as an engineer and geologist’s aide, helping measure the “cubes broke” each week by the two-man drilling teams (they were paid as “gypo miners” by the cubic foot of ore they brought down or the progress they made advancing a new drift). With the geologists I helped map the underground ore body –the “Pine Creek Pendant” – contact zone as it ran upward. Some days we’d be outside, 4-wheeling then hiking up to map the contact where it reached the surface of Wheeler Ridge. While surveying, you could look up from the transit east over the White Mountains into Nevada, north and south along the crest of the Sierras, at the imposing Bear Creek Spire to the west, and down at Round Valley where we’d gone to grammar school and further out to Bishop in the haze of the little sawmill’s smoke.

I’ll never forget being underground on mornings after blasting, first using a heavy “slag bar” to bar down dangerous loose rock* from the “back” (top) of the drifts and stopes, then washing off the muck and dust with a high-pressure water hose and being the first person on earth to see a new underground scene – quartz crystals, slippery molybdenite, rust brown tactite, patches of white scheelite that would fluoresce later under the geologist’s lamp. We’d go back out to the“engineers shack” and spend the next day drawing maps, merging our underground measurements with those from diamond drill cores so the geologists could keep the mining efficiently aimed upward

Home, down at camp, trucks crawled up the road day and night, hauling ore to the mill from little mines all over eastern California and Nevada. Buses went “up the hill” with men working at the mine and mill three shifts a day, seven days a week. Hardly any of our mothers worked outside the home. It was a prosperous time. It was hard rock mining. Sierra mining."

*My buddy Ron with a couple of beers after work liked to recite a slightly lyrical admonition from the company underground safety regulations:“…if you find loose rock, bar it down. If you can’t bar it down, stull it up. If you can’t stull it up, blast it down." He did become a mining engineer.

John H. Sullivan, Sacramento

What follows is the original post from May 6, 2010:

Welcome to the Other California, an exploration of the geologically fascinating places in our state that don't normally show up on the postcards.

Imagine a canyon one or two thousand feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, twice as deep as Yosemite Valley, a glacially carved trough surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks reaching almost 14,000 feet into the sky. A canyon filled with remarkable exposures of granitic and metamorphic rocks that serve as a microcosm of the geology of the entire Sierra Nevada. Such a canyon would be Pine Creek, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada a few miles northwest of the town of Bishop. It's a spectacular place to visit and appreciate geology.
A paved road provides easy access to many of the most outstanding features, but despite the incredible scenery, this canyon has no campgrounds, no roadside stops, no picnic areas, and no resorts. Nothing more than a small pack station at the head of the canyon. What's going on that such a place could be ignored?
I suppose it has something to do with the exposure seen below. What can be seen on this stunning cliff is the contact where the massive granite intrusions melted and forced their way into the previously existing sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The older rocks formed in Paleozoic time, around 300-400 million years ago, while the granitic rocks intruded around 100 million ago. Why would this cause tourists and explorers to ignore this place? Mineralization would be the answer. Silica-rich liquids from the magma forced their way into the metamorphic marble, reacting and forming ores of tungsten, molybdenum, and copper. This canyon was for many years a major mining center, and huge trucks were constantly driving the canyon road, which kind of interrupted the communion with nature that other visitors might have been seeking.

I walked through the area in 1975 on a trek from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney. It was kind of jarring to hike through a beautiful canyon and end up in the middle of a dusty mining complex. I'm not one to say that all mining is evil and environmentally terrible. I don't see a lot of use for gold, for instance, but tungsten was used to make the filaments in incandescent light bulbs, and I used those (it is used in wartime for armor plating on tanks, and armor-piercing bullets). If we use a resource, we have to make choices about how we will get it. We would hope as a society that the mining is done in such a way as to avoid the worst impacts (offshore oil drilling comes to mind...) on our environment.

The Pine Creek Tungsten Mine was an extraordinary operation. Begun in 1918, the mine operated until 2001, producing (along with the Climax mine in Colorado) 93% of the tungsten produced in the United States as of 1977. Low cost imports led to the mothballing of the mine in 2001 although the operation remains in place should prices rise, or strategic concerns cause an increase in demand for domestic sources of tungsten (China provides most of our tungsten at this time). The main ore is scheelite, a calcium tungstate mineral that is notable for its intense fluorescence in ultraviolet light.

The mine itself was a technological achievement. Most mines go down into the ground, but the ore here extended to 12,000 feet up into the adjacent peak. Miners could enter the mine at 8,000 feet and work some 4,000 feet higher up in the mountain.

There is lots more to see in the canyon, including the outstanding basaltic dikes that cross the granitic rocks. The granite cliffs soar thousands of feet above.

If you ever have a need to explain the term talus to someone, you can't get much of a better example than the one seen below at the entrance to the main gorge. The slopes are made of jointed granite, and whenever temperatures drop below freezing, ice can form in the spaces, pushing the rocks apart and down the steep slopes.
The U-shaped trough and hanging valleys of Pine Creek bespeak the passage of glaciers. Pine Creek Canyon is one of the classic localities for understanding the sequence and intensity of glaciations in the Sierra Nevada. It is one of the southernmost sites in the Sierra Nevada where the Tioga (14,000-28,000 years) and Tahoe (135,000-165,000 years) glaciers extended beyond their canyon and onto the adjacent valley floor. The picture below shows a ground view of the prominent lateral moraines, but the relationships are far clearer from above, as seen in the GoogleEarth image below.

One or more major earthquakes have struck within the last 14,000 years, because the young Tioga moraines are offset several tens of feet where the fault crosses the canyon entrance (marked below). Earthquakes are a serious threat in the Owens Valley; one of the biggest to ever hit the state in historic time was the Lone Pine Earthquake in 1872. It killed 28 people, and knocked rock pinnacles loose as far away as Yosemite Valley (as memorably noted by John Muir: "It is always interesting to see people in dead earnest, from whatever cause, and earthquakes make everybody earnest").

Don't be put off by the presence of a shuttered mine! Pine Creek is a great place to visit, for the scenery, and for the geology (it was a main stop during our recent NAGT-NESTA field conference). Several trails start at roads end, including Pine Creek Pass which provides access to the John Muir Trail and the western Sierra Nevada.

A geologic map of Pine Creek can be found here: http://geomaps.geosci.unc.edu/quads/fulls/Mount%20Tom.jpg

Spending a Day in the Earth's Mantle: Exploring Del Puerto Canyon in California's Coast Ranges

2011-12-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

There aren't many places where you can drive into the Earth's mantle. It is the 1,900 mile thick layer that constitutes something like 80% of the volume of the planet, but on the continents it lies hidden beneath many miles of crust. We've never drilled into it, so getting to it isn't easy. Unless you live near California's Coast Ranges or Klamath Mountains. In these places, fragments of the mantle have been brought to the Earth's surface. The rocks of the mantle are described as being ultramafic, and they are beautiful. They are literally composed of gemstones: lots of olivine (peridot), as well as bronzite pyroxene, diopside and other unusual minerals. They are valuable in other ways, as ultramafic rocks serve as ores for chrome, mercury, magnesium, platinum, nickel and other rare metals.

It was an interesting day. The geology club at our college decided on Del Puerto Canyon in the Coast Ranges near Patterson as the destination for their field trip this semester, so 19 intrepid explorers set out to explore the mantle. The journey starts as we drive down-section through 25,000 feet of ocean sediments of the Great Valley Sequence, the same sediments we live on back home. We can do this because they have been tilted to near vertical angles. That's that equivalent of driving to the top of the Himalayas, only going the opposite direction, into the Earth's interior.

About ten miles up the canyon we cross the Tesla-Ortigalita fault and enter the Coast Range Ophiolite, the volcanic and intrusive rocks that represent the oceanic crust on which the Great Valley Sequence sediments were laid down. We encounter dikes, pillow basalts and gabbro plutons as we drive farther up the canyon (and "into" the crust). Finally, just beyond Frank Raines OHV Park, we find the rocks of the mantle. Most of these rocks on the long journey to the surface are altered into serpentine, California's State Rock (there was a bit of a ruckus about our state rock last year in the media and legislature).

But not all of the rock is turned to serpentine. In the upper reaches of the canyon, a mass of rock several miles across was pushed to the surface without quite the degree of metamorphic change, and as such it preserves some of the original minerals and textures of the mantle rock. We found some very nice samples of the chromite ore (below), a heavy metallic mineral that occurs in small grains within the ultramafic rocks.

We could also see where alteration was starting to affect the rock, releasing magnesium into hot water solutions that later formed magnesite, which also was mined here during the World Wars. The "ma" in "mafic" refers to magnesium, and the "fi" refers to iron. Can you see any clues that there might be large amounts of iron in the rocks below? Or why the entire region is referred to as the Red Mountain Mining District?

The rocks also provide clues as to how these rocks traveled the many miles from the depths of the Earth to the surface. Marks on the rocks called slickensides are the scratches and striations where the rocks were ground into each other and sheared on the way up along fault zones.

I've been up Del Puerto Canyon a few dozen times over the years, but I rarely have time to explore. We usually come up with a laboratory class and our time in the canyon is severely constrained. On this day we took our time and wandered widely, and I discovered something new this trip. The peridotite we usually see at the chromite mine is very fine-grained and almost black. Except in a microscope, the beautiful olivine crystals are practically invisible. On this trip I wandered further up the canyon than normal, and rock hammer in hand I picked at the deeply weathered red rocks. One outcrop was unexpectedly tough. I pounded all the harder, and the rock split to reveal sparkling green crystals of olivine, larger and purer than any I've ever seen in Del Puerto. It was a beautiful rock, and all the more interesting when one considers the journey the rock has made from the depths of the planet.

As the day ended, we jumped back into our Miss Frizzle's Magic School buses (ok, white school vans) and headed back up to the surface of the Earth, and the Starbucks in Patterson.

Vagabonding Across the 39th Parallel: Whispers of the Past in Stone

2011-12-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

Two tales of serendipity...

Twenty-two years ago, I was leading students on a tour of the Colorado Plateau for the first time. I was following a number of new roads, and I was learning as much on the trip as my students were. We were discussing rock art, the petroglyphs and pictographs left behind by the ancestral Pueblo people. We were driving down a canyon, and I mentioned how the rock art was emphasized by desert varnish, the dark manganese oxide deposits that often coat sandstone surfaces in the desert. I pointed to the first cliff I saw and said "that's the kind of varnish that makes for nice petroglyphs". I hit the brakes, because as I said it, I could see the rock carvings. I would have missed them.

The first petroglyphs that I saw from the highway on the trip long ago were stylized bighorn sheep. We passed by the same place during our vagabonding journey across the 39th parallel in July. We stopped and got out to have a look.

A short distance away we found a strange beastie of some sort. I'm not sure what it was meant to be...perhaps a coyote?

During that trip in 1989, I was having a great time wandering along the cliff looking for other messages in stone. It is a truism that you will find what you are looking for, and miss what you are not looking for. I was watching for carvings in desert varnish and ignoring the lighter surfaces. I very nearly missed the delicate drawings in a high alcove. The pictographs were stunningly detailed and almost hallucinogenic in their symbolism; the central section, composed of three strange figures, is shown at the top of the post. Hummingbirds can be seen flying about the nightmarish beings. I have a hard time getting into the minds of the original artist.

The figures are faded and hard to see; I've had to heighten the contrast a bit to make them more visible in the photos. I have noticed degradation in the twenty years that I've known of their existence. I hope they can last, being located next to a fairly busy highway (you may notice I'm not being specific about their location; that's on purpose).

One of the things that I like about pictographs and petroglyphs is that they are the traces of a living moment. Archaeology and paleontology often deal with death: bones and shells are the remains of people and animals after life has ended. Rock art preserves an action of a living thinking being.

I feel the same way about paleoichnology (the study of trackways and burrows and other traces of living organisms). Living animals leave marks of their activities in the rocks, and finding these traces gives us a feel for action and movement, not death and decay. The second story of serendipity involved dinosaur trackways.

During our long-ago trip to the Colorado Plateau, I could count the total of my known dinosaur trackway sites on one finger...it was a spot near Tuba City, AZ that is marked on all AAA maps. I had come across a paper that suggested that perhaps hundreds of thousands of trackways were preserved along the top of sedimentary layer exposed in and around Arches National Park. We looked at a geologic map of the park, found an old mining road, and set out on a three mile hike in the broiling sun. Our toiling bore fruit...we found dozens of tracks in an isolated outcrop. They were eroded from a contact between a tidal mudflat deposit and a sand dune formation. The tracks were freshly exposed, and clearly would be eroded away within a few decades or centuries. It was a great moment for our students and me.

I was telling Mrs. Geotripper this story as we drove along Highway 191 north of Moab. I was saying something to the effect that any old ranch road branching off the highway probably would lead to a trackway site, and she said "like that one?" I braked and we pulled off onto the gravel access road, and immediately saw the sign in the picture below. The Bureau of Land Management was on the job!

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

I'm not saying the road was in perfect condition...it had been raining and there were a few serious puddles in our way. We gingerly worked our way past the obstructions and parked at the trailhead.

The Copper Ridge site is apparently fairly new. There is a parking area, a very modest open-to-sky toilet, and an interpretive sign.

The trackways are several hundred feet up the hill. The recent downpours had eroded the trail somewhat, but access was not overly difficult. The site is unique in that it preserves a series of tracks made by striding animals. The most obvious had three prominent toes and probably belonged to a theropod meat-eater like Allosaurus.

photo by Mrs. Geotripper

They would be easier to see in the morning or late afternoon when highlighted by shadows. We dripped a bit of our precious water supply to bring out the shape of the footprints.

The other unusual trackway is that of a sauropod that walked through the site. Although the specific species is not known, it may have been a Camarasaurus, Apatosaurus, or Diplodicus, the Jurassic giant longnecks.

photo by Mrs. Geotripper

I later found that the Copper Ridge Trackway site was described in the book Geology Underfoot in Southern Utah by Ornduff, Wieder, and Futey. Ironically, the book was sitting in our backseat while we were driving along, but I hadn't read through it yet.

There was one more oddity about our day. As we walked up the hill towards the tracksite, I realized we weren't alone. There were hundreds of crows swirling in the sky over our heads (in the high resolution photo I counted at least 200 of them). I've seen lots of raven pairs in the region, but I have never seen such a huge gathering of their smaller cousins. Do any of my birder readers have a comment on the flocking behavior of crows in the desert? We have huge murders, or flocks, of crows in the Central Valley where food is plentiful, but in the desert? I was reminded of the Crebain flocks in the Lord of the Rings!