tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52116702161400609462024-03-19T01:48:07.302-07:00GeotripperNews and views from the geologic realmGarry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.comBlogger2259125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-86975529594789819882024-03-11T23:10:00.000-07:002024-03-14T00:09:34.564-07:00The End of the Tuolumne River! (It's not as bad as it sounds...)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfPmaDhak9_VmQGjya4-jmhWY9DWSyVPISC8gI1UV29bLzHB3KXy83qB3lMEWlgPPkoHEyxF0G2MiptV09__PDcO9vfWyQbZCIlZjj3BSynU94NR0XV3dRuoBvI2GWLfofRSNJLYWRw9t0pd6dSF7v_O5GMSOnEJluvF5EMur_z2SrQMiVxJ2fo3J2t8V/s4896/P1120423%20Slough%20at%20park%20center.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfPmaDhak9_VmQGjya4-jmhWY9DWSyVPISC8gI1UV29bLzHB3KXy83qB3lMEWlgPPkoHEyxF0G2MiptV09__PDcO9vfWyQbZCIlZjj3BSynU94NR0XV3dRuoBvI2GWLfofRSNJLYWRw9t0pd6dSF7v_O5GMSOnEJluvF5EMur_z2SrQMiVxJ2fo3J2t8V/w640-h480/P1120423%20Slough%20at%20park%20center.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The slough at the headquarters area of Dos Rios State Park</td></tr></tbody></table>Back in the 1980s, Douglas Adams published his hilarious "trilogy" of the <i><b>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe</b></i>. The second book, <i><b>The Restaurant at the End of the Universe</b></i>, was not about a restaurant at the edge of the Universe, but rather it was a place where you dined and watched the actual destruction of the Universe (you had to use a time machine to get there). <p></p><p>Today's blog is about the end of the Tuolumne River. But it isn't as bad as it sounds: it's about the spot where the Tuolumne River ends by flowing into the San Joaquin River. The confluence was on privately-owned ranch lands for many years, but a profound change is coming that will touch lives across our county and Central California. It is becoming California's newest State Park!<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ktz4qDEmeR9unufjON_H5zNhqR5pqxH2B-5y4dDKEPXewEJMxGdF1rO5lCqYtUxdlPTTOLSg1ylxtmth2_l_dphLIAe689wpgLGCJHY11AsPkCVb4PQP01TcxxsaizJSpO-cdKOIdEzYCrYJjy9IAVZjGcGv6ExWKlEbDzUzDeQqTsDKFH525B6WPs8u/s4896/P1120364%20The%20confluence%20of%20the%20Tuolumne%20with%20the%20San%20Joaquin.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ktz4qDEmeR9unufjON_H5zNhqR5pqxH2B-5y4dDKEPXewEJMxGdF1rO5lCqYtUxdlPTTOLSg1ylxtmth2_l_dphLIAe689wpgLGCJHY11AsPkCVb4PQP01TcxxsaizJSpO-cdKOIdEzYCrYJjy9IAVZjGcGv6ExWKlEbDzUzDeQqTsDKFH525B6WPs8u/w640-h480/P1120364%20The%20confluence%20of%20the%20Tuolumne%20with%20the%20San%20Joaquin.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers</td></tr></tbody></table>Dos Rios State Park is the product of years of cooperation between the owners of the Dos Rios Ranch, <a href="https://riverpartners.org/project/dos-rios-ranch-preserve/">River Partners</a>, and the <a href="https://www.tuolumne.org/dos-rios">Tuolumne River Trust</a>. In the last decade or so, the partners worked to return the former croplands to a landscape that functions like the original primeval environment that existed before the invasion of industrial agriculture. In other words, a riot of canopy trees like oak and cottonwood with a tangled undergrowth of willows, elderberries and numerous other native plants. This floodplain woodland acts as a giant sponge, absorbing and slowing down floodwaters and helping to recharge the groundwater underneath.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMF3RlVtWOaMuUMO9GkKwiWFsXmGYWNbURufNb4EeRBdLaNy-Za9qzLRwHxTD6S7up8QmK7-FBjta3TmZ72eRjRIXra-5e4TPWmkjyW9ivTOJl1VGbOqIq4_6BxB2x5M37V5mk6DexCJg3wfv0swujkl8n_BUmAByrt7E3DNrzK_xCdB65m3pStORzUD6/s4896/P1120368%20Tuolumne%20River%20near%20the%20confluence.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMF3RlVtWOaMuUMO9GkKwiWFsXmGYWNbURufNb4EeRBdLaNy-Za9qzLRwHxTD6S7up8QmK7-FBjta3TmZ72eRjRIXra-5e4TPWmkjyW9ivTOJl1VGbOqIq4_6BxB2x5M37V5mk6DexCJg3wfv0swujkl8n_BUmAByrt7E3DNrzK_xCdB65m3pStORzUD6/w640-h480/P1120368%20Tuolumne%20River%20near%20the%20confluence.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lower Tuolumne River near the confluence. The state park is on the right-side shore</td></tr></tbody></table>The riparian environment provides a marvelous habitat for the wildlife that once thrived throughout the Great Valley of California (only about 5% of that original habitat remains). Dos Rios State Park will be a fantastic place to search for hundreds of bird species (more than 200 are known from just across the river at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge), and all manner of animal and plant species. The highly endangered Riparian Brush Rabbit is only found in an extremely small area within the San Joaquin Delta and the wildlife refuge across the river. I was told they intended to transplant a small group from the refuge to the park, but that the rabbits confounded the plan by crossing the river somehow and establishing a population all by themselves!<br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-V13AzIcdlcKFso5zXeCO5M2T2ZQGqNfPJ6CSb3CzLl_Qr4NSkysAdo0RqpaEyLBejttLhOs4zXu5Cfo7X4rAhdCAKhnl2FXWXDGBFUMbA4Zb-_xBIAgVHddmqNJUW7eAER-pwwuRQa-PBDYZ-KBiAKi2zSqMsXTzSuSlOVq-N5pSwFtWKPg5FMTBljcq/s4896/P1120380%20Oak%20grove%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-V13AzIcdlcKFso5zXeCO5M2T2ZQGqNfPJ6CSb3CzLl_Qr4NSkysAdo0RqpaEyLBejttLhOs4zXu5Cfo7X4rAhdCAKhnl2FXWXDGBFUMbA4Zb-_xBIAgVHddmqNJUW7eAER-pwwuRQa-PBDYZ-KBiAKi2zSqMsXTzSuSlOVq-N5pSwFtWKPg5FMTBljcq/w640-h480/P1120380%20Oak%20grove%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>There are a number of ancient remnant environments tucked away in corners of the park. The most striking was a growth of valley oaks growing on a slightly elevated hill adjacent to the San Joaquin near the south end of the new park. There was a cacophony of bird songs in the canopy above, including Yellow-rumped Warblers, Oak Titmouse, White-crowned Sparrows, Tree Swallows, and Bush-tits.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllOs8MvgjPR18WcrYuWjcD31U0z_B7oAZ8aJPoC1a7_6bP9NJF7DMMKGHllk5NM2mJi_lmwrQfNghYkV7-lQNBhaiEBjOw1BHONqKALW_UBM9nCUZqX8eFmR8KcGBZHEmeySZc9sjByylHa0pBY1Hx2zjszz5A_8LZWygvnPYysFnk2HtR54NAuZtIG5M/s4896/P1120383%20Oaks%20on%20the%20San%20Joaquin%20River.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllOs8MvgjPR18WcrYuWjcD31U0z_B7oAZ8aJPoC1a7_6bP9NJF7DMMKGHllk5NM2mJi_lmwrQfNghYkV7-lQNBhaiEBjOw1BHONqKALW_UBM9nCUZqX8eFmR8KcGBZHEmeySZc9sjByylHa0pBY1Hx2zjszz5A_8LZWygvnPYysFnk2HtR54NAuZtIG5M/w480-h640/P1120383%20Oaks%20on%20the%20San%20Joaquin%20River.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>The oak forest is a two mile walk from what will be the park headquarters area, and there are ideas of developing the site into an environmental walk-in campsite where local children can experience wilderness only a few miles outside their cities.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcPAdSDNm9M4pnnLXbc3O3MMBWSN4NZvbaxs1jijONDWASDAr-9EV-HOQGNqHuLVxTG7nyTx0glp7X1JEa4Xeg5NfXQDKje0jyrjcRjCngVMnAk8dqqBF1VTMaqYBwooZk7GLCXQ9Pru9xsvtlPkfJFcV7uDarltpJw4xE_NJ_bFhAdG3YxGLjsDPIWEX/s4896/P1120386%20Valley%20Oak%20grove%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcPAdSDNm9M4pnnLXbc3O3MMBWSN4NZvbaxs1jijONDWASDAr-9EV-HOQGNqHuLVxTG7nyTx0glp7X1JEa4Xeg5NfXQDKje0jyrjcRjCngVMnAk8dqqBF1VTMaqYBwooZk7GLCXQ9Pru9xsvtlPkfJFcV7uDarltpJw4xE_NJ_bFhAdG3YxGLjsDPIWEX/w640-h480/P1120386%20Valley%20Oak%20grove%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>Much of the park will be a trailless, roadless morass of trees and brush on the floodplain. This is the area meant to serve for flooding relief, where it might remain underwater for weeks at a time. Volunteers have spent a decade planting native vegetation, and many of the trees are already tens of feet tall. They were irrigated for three years, but they will be able to survive on their own in the years to follow, watered by the higher groundwater table and occasional floods.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0lTSOh77DnTkSHZvaOPkKPGEn103eWk0r2VWEwcZqYJp6QIcK2HNHeyRLH6P_mZPP7R4cE_n8gWyXEQ7N5lbKktnaLrTpBlkCCtY7aOv9UPiW74Bbf7eRCR9t7gK3SHwK_IO_CnFPp73WqmdAVKEPtuchh2-lc_CClpfCCor-uQy7zzwufwoK3xyjMFF/s4896/P1120337%20Bunny%20ridge%20on%20the%20Dos%20Rios%20floodplain.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0lTSOh77DnTkSHZvaOPkKPGEn103eWk0r2VWEwcZqYJp6QIcK2HNHeyRLH6P_mZPP7R4cE_n8gWyXEQ7N5lbKktnaLrTpBlkCCtY7aOv9UPiW74Bbf7eRCR9t7gK3SHwK_IO_CnFPp73WqmdAVKEPtuchh2-lc_CClpfCCor-uQy7zzwufwoK3xyjMFF/w640-h480/P1120337%20Bunny%20ridge%20on%20the%20Dos%20Rios%20floodplain.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "bunny hill" on the right side, a floodplain to the left.</td></tr></tbody></table>Several elevated areas across the park provide refuge for mammals during flooding events. I believe they called them "bunny hills". I've seen these in action during floods across the river at the wildlife refuge, where everywhere I turned, rabbits were waiting for the floodwaters to subside.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0jCKk-C5U5zrfoYXQrYN61uftMlK7vdL4RmUP0TIYB6RIiFluGfLq7kvaSbWSE15UkJLMd5tIdPjOoZU4KY1whAyUU51fFYTwZy4rYigaDyPTmuOMqVo85Hz3cvmhVFpF6FsoQJl2VPlrxJiP7TURAvlpnHZ4jsybf2B5G9N7BmEe6oNSh_FiQ_RAsBz/s4896/P1120359%20Restored%20floodplain%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0jCKk-C5U5zrfoYXQrYN61uftMlK7vdL4RmUP0TIYB6RIiFluGfLq7kvaSbWSE15UkJLMd5tIdPjOoZU4KY1whAyUU51fFYTwZy4rYigaDyPTmuOMqVo85Hz3cvmhVFpF6FsoQJl2VPlrxJiP7TURAvlpnHZ4jsybf2B5G9N7BmEe6oNSh_FiQ_RAsBz/w640-h480/P1120359%20Restored%20floodplain%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tangled thicket of native vegetation: the valley floodplain as it once was.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>One of the most valuable aspects of the park is that it will allow visitors to experience the valley habitat as it once was, and how many parts can once again be. On our tour, we mentioned the wonderful resource of the Great Valley Museum at Modesto Junior College where I teach. Visiting the museum, children can view dioramas of the natural environments of the valley and even see a few live animals. But what if...they could learn about these environments, and then drive a short distance and actually experience them? That's the incredible value of the Dos Rios State Park.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbrRvd8Mos-tzndwRhbwqm02Gb8VMsPgzZaqpXJtcY1ozLKgZqHe_r-Txz44IKGOmBS735tKLxLUa1XMdZ30zTWhb1QPGJ-E_dcYeQLXT5fU7vXvuMqmJoy6yf6TxaiuEl_MPyeTe0eam3HdA6k9G8eVbiJbxTYnPBhyphenhyphengKxN1aFsUNtjCqai0jrkS2lsr/s4896/P1120410%20Cormorant%20near%20park%20headquarters.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbrRvd8Mos-tzndwRhbwqm02Gb8VMsPgzZaqpXJtcY1ozLKgZqHe_r-Txz44IKGOmBS735tKLxLUa1XMdZ30zTWhb1QPGJ-E_dcYeQLXT5fU7vXvuMqmJoy6yf6TxaiuEl_MPyeTe0eam3HdA6k9G8eVbiJbxTYnPBhyphenhyphengKxN1aFsUNtjCqai0jrkS2lsr/w640-h480/P1120410%20Cormorant%20near%20park%20headquarters.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Double-crested Cormorant in the slough</td></tr></tbody></table>When our tour ended, I spent a few moments wandering the only developed part of the park. There is a picnic area that has been constructed adjacent to the farm buildings serving as the park headquarters for the moment. There is a slough below the picnic structures with a short walkway providing panoramic views. It didn't take long to find some interesting birds, like the Double-crested Cormorant drying its wings on a stump.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZhFfLX7Ssk5PG0he9lRC7BKCiUe65bTTUScUxqPBFFzfQ6fCPQK6Ay3C-0VA2ttlsw3gHLpY8nl6SNlGHC3hVjBVfYSVHZ9Itd2RCaggjBE-jtXQ97DvBVtXnuI9mgZvAqUP9dy9Q2KONzOrn6dHj5maYrrkk8DO3_qMtz4DfBmEvLTtN_xowdYLzta0/s3672/P1120420%20Downy%20Woodpecker%20at%20Park%20Headquarters.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="2754" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZhFfLX7Ssk5PG0he9lRC7BKCiUe65bTTUScUxqPBFFzfQ6fCPQK6Ay3C-0VA2ttlsw3gHLpY8nl6SNlGHC3hVjBVfYSVHZ9Itd2RCaggjBE-jtXQ97DvBVtXnuI9mgZvAqUP9dy9Q2KONzOrn6dHj5maYrrkk8DO3_qMtz4DfBmEvLTtN_xowdYLzta0/w480-h640/P1120420%20Downy%20Woodpecker%20at%20Park%20Headquarters.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>I only occasionally see Downy Woodpeckers along the Tuolumne upstream, but it was the first one I sighted today. I also saw Northern Flickers and Nuttall's Woodpeckers.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAKSpgWo4k80pldhyt5PUttUMEsftbshE2EDSezbqS5kHZzuXvLET_tU7Ijy6TJRbi4UgQko64GZIkujr9cd8b0u3MgavO07n84PqAsAZnhqpV3xUA8YoD1W8cCUTKTBsWCwXmSfG6rRrMQLQ-5UQYwxF-ooG9dvvheMBGqcxm86wVCFEgibZc6DdFFn1/s4896/P1120422%20Great%20Egret%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAKSpgWo4k80pldhyt5PUttUMEsftbshE2EDSezbqS5kHZzuXvLET_tU7Ijy6TJRbi4UgQko64GZIkujr9cd8b0u3MgavO07n84PqAsAZnhqpV3xUA8YoD1W8cCUTKTBsWCwXmSfG6rRrMQLQ-5UQYwxF-ooG9dvvheMBGqcxm86wVCFEgibZc6DdFFn1/w640-h480/P1120422%20Great%20Egret%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>A Great Egret was watching for fish on the far side of the slough. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0Q0RF_4HGPrUIUmwVghsl4mNsw42D7IQUoWR5Xqk5V5EUAoaVM3tIM_H4MVLarEa6pp7YB5DqJPsXuwhXhG9BAA2kMKe0g_E_kzCCT3ukJVTHj4yN21NFcG8DWpN6z4RX3pZeE4TQGyMwBrQ3eyOBLhoafKJ8wnllQ58uaItqC6g396nKI6i4VvuQwLT/s4896/P1120435.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0Q0RF_4HGPrUIUmwVghsl4mNsw42D7IQUoWR5Xqk5V5EUAoaVM3tIM_H4MVLarEa6pp7YB5DqJPsXuwhXhG9BAA2kMKe0g_E_kzCCT3ukJVTHj4yN21NFcG8DWpN6z4RX3pZeE4TQGyMwBrQ3eyOBLhoafKJ8wnllQ58uaItqC6g396nKI6i4VvuQwLT/w640-h480/P1120435.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Turtles were basking on logs down in the slough below.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSojfB1o5mm68kGsfnM8wb7ZZxRrtoD0_DoYWk1izbsannberzPIcuA__ZRCHRX716hGnJQ3PBmNFp2_768aLa7BiNcvRKYJ_mPYTQw8YOBcYO4nqL1JGRgdWD5353eHHxq9aTCnB-DHVPVVem1YcRyAhWVIf1YdpJfq-BuM-iUrDhv7gj7zpiXpUH1cSb/s4896/P1120412%20Picnic%20area%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSojfB1o5mm68kGsfnM8wb7ZZxRrtoD0_DoYWk1izbsannberzPIcuA__ZRCHRX716hGnJQ3PBmNFp2_768aLa7BiNcvRKYJ_mPYTQw8YOBcYO4nqL1JGRgdWD5353eHHxq9aTCnB-DHVPVVem1YcRyAhWVIf1YdpJfq-BuM-iUrDhv7gj7zpiXpUH1cSb/w640-h480/P1120412%20Picnic%20area%20at%20Dos%20Rios.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Dos Rios State Park will open this coming summer with the picnic area and slough area open for visitation. A master plan will be developed over the next few years, with proposals for a campground, trails, and all manner of interpretive programs. Even better, the park will function as an environmental buffer, providing habitat and flood protection. The park is starting with about 2,100 acres, but other adjacent tracts are being "de-developed" to resemble their original habitat. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEwgA5-zEozF9UrhjbudfpfBoMR5mLIPtY9IMp3X4D0mmbTzMv96jnXE0EXu2EX1bqW7QWDbB5-ROEDLS-uodVUiaE2ACt8ruLYKu9xpmaKbjI02LNNZ_h6r84nRUGf1E8MQRgHd2f_OX_w_ukHIwCBqU_SAqTQehc2TKD7B3WHcMQCjvm63lwWaJX2NK/s4896/P1120432.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEwgA5-zEozF9UrhjbudfpfBoMR5mLIPtY9IMp3X4D0mmbTzMv96jnXE0EXu2EX1bqW7QWDbB5-ROEDLS-uodVUiaE2ACt8ruLYKu9xpmaKbjI02LNNZ_h6r84nRUGf1E8MQRgHd2f_OX_w_ukHIwCBqU_SAqTQehc2TKD7B3WHcMQCjvm63lwWaJX2NK/w640-h480/P1120432.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>It was a real privilege having the opportunity to see this park and renewed floodplain in the making. I'm looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for this beautiful new park in coming years. It is a marvelous resource for our community.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKACNy1XCYM2LBd4exZ6NH7HSCKbaoi3NUMY9tqEBnkrzpjpCzBGTKbjsOlt59ANgbdSUwCCoD-AG6O2lfVu4afB-v9IZOuUtXd5xZmfwOY1ABLiBRIEEYI4WsaeJhECLYsvfAKVTw_O3SRWldsOxqnl-lv1OOfc3FfxcNEFoEDulQ878Hz6ihNPEx8yKq/s2500/DosRiosDetail.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1932" data-original-width="2500" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKACNy1XCYM2LBd4exZ6NH7HSCKbaoi3NUMY9tqEBnkrzpjpCzBGTKbjsOlt59ANgbdSUwCCoD-AG6O2lfVu4afB-v9IZOuUtXd5xZmfwOY1ABLiBRIEEYI4WsaeJhECLYsvfAKVTw_O3SRWldsOxqnl-lv1OOfc3FfxcNEFoEDulQ878Hz6ihNPEx8yKq/w640-h494/DosRiosDetail.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: River Partners and the Tuolumne River Trust</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-37028838610370157792024-03-07T22:15:00.000-08:002024-03-07T22:15:02.971-08:00What's the Most Awesome Thing You've Ever Seen? Musing on Solar Eclipses, Part 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yR6he-6vbybjnNuMi0Zgp07XMrBb16BNMDSnH_ndUzs11x_8hZ0-2mr_ToypVQ2kC_9S6CWKh4cJJInlOW-RW8PQXej2xV7N-iMraaf5qr6z2kJC3Z2N5_noxyYxObrizZ84DuLPPFPd/s1600/P1150525+Totality+of+the+Baja+eclipse+in+1991.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yR6he-6vbybjnNuMi0Zgp07XMrBb16BNMDSnH_ndUzs11x_8hZ0-2mr_ToypVQ2kC_9S6CWKh4cJJInlOW-RW8PQXej2xV7N-iMraaf5qr6z2kJC3Z2N5_noxyYxObrizZ84DuLPPFPd/s640/P1150525+Totality+of+the+Baja+eclipse+in+1991.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totality of the solar eclipse of 1991 from San Jose del Cabo. The corona, an aura of plasma and gases, is only visible during totality. Photo by Dr. William Luebke.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There is a major celestial event coming up next month, a<a href="https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/total-solar-eclipse-april8-24/?mc_cid=f01e4f5a9d&mc_eid=cebb068be5"> total solar eclipse that is going to sweep across a wide swath</a> of North America. I'm here to say that if you can, make the effort to see it. Why? It's a truly unique experience that has mystified (and terrified) humans during our entire existence. Seeing a partial eclipse is interesting. A glimpse of a total eclipse is truly awesome. I can't make it this time, but I have seen two of them in my life, and I want to relate if I can just what a stunning experience it can be. So here is the account of my first experience in 1991. This is <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2017/01/whats-most-incredible-thing-youve.html">from a post I wrote in 2017</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div>What's the most incredible thing you experienced? </div><div>
<br />There are lots of answers to such a question, and many different contexts and meanings. I had an abrupt reminder tonight of one of the most incredible things I ever took part in. We're putting in new carpeting (no, that's not the incredible experience), so I've spent the week organizing 26 years of accumulated papers and books to clear the floors throughout the house. It's as much trouble as moving, only there's no truck to stuff everything in. I was close to finishing when I got into a cabinet that had been blocked by other boxes for literally years. There was an old photo album. I opened it and was immediately transported back to 1991 when I experienced a total eclipse of the sun at the tip of Baja California in Mexico.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHJCKSkfECYseOlztW2eZPzMHcQJK2h-A99BfHgivJyVqooeWGGrIwAy-gAPhjhqqML0rx2t-y9wey6xKd09f1gY4YGeCK3xoEJmVbH2tFxJ_4FMlqLw_zEksshT8L1HYx012Le8Odb3M/s1600/P1150533+Totality+of+Baja+eclipse+1991.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHJCKSkfECYseOlztW2eZPzMHcQJK2h-A99BfHgivJyVqooeWGGrIwAy-gAPhjhqqML0rx2t-y9wey6xKd09f1gY4YGeCK3xoEJmVbH2tFxJ_4FMlqLw_zEksshT8L1HYx012Le8Odb3M/s640/P1150533+Totality+of+Baja+eclipse+1991.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "diamond ring" effect just before totality as the last of the sun's disk disappears behind the moon. Solar prominences are jets of gas shooting from the sun's surface. Photo by Dr. William Luebke</td></tr>
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The 1991 eclipse was going to be visible from mainland Mexico, the tip of Baja California, and Hawaii. I was in my third year of teaching at Modesto Junior College, the new guy (needless to say, I'm not the new guy in the department anymore; I'm actually the senior member). Our astronomy professor, William Luebke, had made plans to fly to Hawaii for the event, but I found out that a relative (the mother-in-law of my sister-in-law) kept a condominium in San Jose del Cabo that she was willing to let us use. We jumped at the chance. All we had to do was get there. There were five of us and flights were expensive, so we decided to borrow a school van and make the 900 mile drive to the tip of the peninsula.<br />
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The drive was quite the adventure, and if I can locate the slides and scan them, I will perhaps tell the story. But we made it, and settled in for a few days to prepare (and get sunburnt while snorkeling). We selected what appeared to be an abandoned condominium plot and set up shop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJlciOSBhjd3dvjMJb6NW958UA7h8hAbmtMZsnP36yZWbF0GXCNbnTBNDzukSulT0jpTaLqppA-JFUNlErRtwC-yYj7aq5XduIyOmhHne5m8MtsGW5nVgmHY0zznQ5c7V7HBbUKKsVN-u/s1600/P1150538+Garry+at+San+Jose+del+Cabo+during+eclipse.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJlciOSBhjd3dvjMJb6NW958UA7h8hAbmtMZsnP36yZWbF0GXCNbnTBNDzukSulT0jpTaLqppA-JFUNlErRtwC-yYj7aq5XduIyOmhHne5m8MtsGW5nVgmHY0zznQ5c7V7HBbUKKsVN-u/s640/P1150538+Garry+at+San+Jose+del+Cabo+during+eclipse.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who IS that young man?</td></tr>
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The hillside was perfect, commanding a twenty mile long view of the coast. Soon others gathered, including an entire busload of Japanese astronomy enthusiasts who said they had rented the entire plot for themselves. After a few minutes of delicate negotiations, they allowed us to stay. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfv5vAUgvdpaIUjo49hL0h5qF6FoWj4__4x6ziCiRP_eq9mjwa0hY8fIDwwSZPW2aCjz0vq99s5SqlZmsSQSGhT70smsDIUL_MiZ0d5QDdu1SDmteyIPqcIXrN0NIj5Tu_huv9jDjL1ur/s1600/P1150531+Baja+expedition+group+photo.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfv5vAUgvdpaIUjo49hL0h5qF6FoWj4__4x6ziCiRP_eq9mjwa0hY8fIDwwSZPW2aCjz0vq99s5SqlZmsSQSGhT70smsDIUL_MiZ0d5QDdu1SDmteyIPqcIXrN0NIj5Tu_huv9jDjL1ur/s640/P1150531+Baja+expedition+group+photo.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The length of totality was going to exceed four minutes, one of the longest eclipses of the century. We had three or four telescopes with us, so Dr. Luebke could concentrate on photographing the entire event, while I and Mrs. Geotripper could work with a telescope of our own that we shared with the many people on the hillside. During totality, thirty or forty people were able to take a quick look.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm7KimBF5Bb-GmRNQGVRau2jQAyj7E2i6Y2_RqnZVA2tDpQqALqmnciU5Nc6mEtF80Jr7Uk8w4MrNTlAttdaBS-jOsvb4vrz7aTaRkvha610O7qjwQTf0k-37KMvQ5cHPm8OAkQJXQdFE/s1600/P1150524+Sharing+the+telescope.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm7KimBF5Bb-GmRNQGVRau2jQAyj7E2i6Y2_RqnZVA2tDpQqALqmnciU5Nc6mEtF80Jr7Uk8w4MrNTlAttdaBS-jOsvb4vrz7aTaRkvha610O7qjwQTf0k-37KMvQ5cHPm8OAkQJXQdFE/s640/P1150524+Sharing+the+telescope.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The eclipse was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. In the hours before totality (which happened around noon), the air grew stiflingly hot, over a 100 degrees. The skies were almost free of clouds, and the sunshine was blindingly bright. The moon started to move across the disk of the sun, and we had quite a bit of time to watch the passage. Before totality, the sky remained bright. But then the last flash of the "diamond ring" effect took place and the sky suddenly darkened. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoznYCVSYqIrl2jcRqWhoDz3rQ393xY8zByg_eW5jh-sRiOK9MhIIVq5ckH9tXagK5b7dav2cJXV7r7xEFx2VUq6j-orBg4wiZMFaJYNTA_epp48pcO1mYp2KGaKrjXEhrpS07nYtQN2r9/s1600/P1150523+San+Jose+del+Cabo+prior+to+the+eclipse.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoznYCVSYqIrl2jcRqWhoDz3rQ393xY8zByg_eW5jh-sRiOK9MhIIVq5ckH9tXagK5b7dav2cJXV7r7xEFx2VUq6j-orBg4wiZMFaJYNTA_epp48pcO1mYp2KGaKrjXEhrpS07nYtQN2r9/s640/P1150523+San+Jose+del+Cabo+prior+to+the+eclipse.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Not just darker. Dark. Stars and planets suddenly became visible, and the temperature dropped 15-20 degrees. Looking at the sun without needing glasses, I
had little trouble appreciating the meaning that the ancients applied to
eclipses. It was otherworldly; I almost found myself chanting for the
dragon to release the sun from its prison.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JHatfbcL-eG4i3jKlWhl9XLWifq6NbmkxjutbHsC26f1c9a5DztxfloBB2L9d5oWDAFoANRCG4RJsVAKhK48xKFYpg9DTcR_Ak3mtV8hvhYk2_t3qAXK-hkI-f8RkGZ4N6lgiDq2ZjLe/s1600/P1150522+During+totality.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JHatfbcL-eG4i3jKlWhl9XLWifq6NbmkxjutbHsC26f1c9a5DztxfloBB2L9d5oWDAFoANRCG4RJsVAKhK48xKFYpg9DTcR_Ak3mtV8hvhYk2_t3qAXK-hkI-f8RkGZ4N6lgiDq2ZjLe/s640/P1150522+During+totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Yes, the picture below was taken with a flash. It was that dark. Then it began to end. Bailey's Beads, the first dots of sunshine, broke through canyons and mountain passes on the surface of the moon, and the sky turned bright again. In a few more minutes, it was over. We packed up and headed home the next day (a whole other adventure).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTaHotPrpNtCw8L5iUWOdU7mgNWZy9qgO9sgwDlrahpptnm7RfuUp6Vs9MNK7eIFaAGazxrTBweWQ5BFqT_kSfCe6zrX161xxTgsgHt820_kPM57pctMnG65tjNwSljjF3VkKlcj8GCQA/s1600/P1150520+During+totality.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTaHotPrpNtCw8L5iUWOdU7mgNWZy9qgO9sgwDlrahpptnm7RfuUp6Vs9MNK7eIFaAGazxrTBweWQ5BFqT_kSfCe6zrX161xxTgsgHt820_kPM57pctMnG65tjNwSljjF3VkKlcj8GCQA/s640/P1150520+During+totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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At the time, we knew that the next solar eclipse that would be accessible to us would not be until August of 2017. It seemed such a long time into the distant future. I had no idea the many changes that would take place in my life, but suddenly it is upon us, on August 21. The path of totality is shown on the map below. If you have any chance at all, make your way and have a look. It is one of the most astounding sights you will ever see.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXcr12JVPoBK2aMHq-rGTsHR8WpfsPbQQ0QTXxui7sw2nN6EuFRQkDEYozzmFZudAerLCo-ar95Zq8qLw3pKiDCFKalB6VdwjbVTqKpm5SYOVOEFWA-5DWsPjzB7jh8SzBF1lX3DhG0b0/s1600/Eclipse-path-NASAGSFC.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXcr12JVPoBK2aMHq-rGTsHR8WpfsPbQQ0QTXxui7sw2nN6EuFRQkDEYozzmFZudAerLCo-ar95Zq8qLw3pKiDCFKalB6VdwjbVTqKpm5SYOVOEFWA-5DWsPjzB7jh8SzBF1lX3DhG0b0/s640/Eclipse-path-NASAGSFC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
By the way, it turned out that Hawaii would not have been a good idea. Thousands of people flew there to see the eclipse, but low clouds obscured the skies and the only people who saw it were at the observatories beyond the end of the closed road on Mauna Kea. We were incredibly lucky to have had perfect weather in Baja.</div><div><br /></div><div>It turns out that I had a second great opportunity to see a total eclipse in 2017. Read about soon in Part 2</div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-59469393869605361872024-02-22T21:37:00.000-08:002024-02-22T21:37:39.903-08:00Echoes of a Watery Paradise in a Forsaken Hellscape - The Brief Return of Death Valley's Lake Manly<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMk5PVYOiHu5EYNS2rXSXn39FGuc7mKi8SauH9qG4xz7vooJjt4s1D9hwUJiHU8uC_VPU0txIRvHpMKd8_ZGqEli1dhk6EUQM1OZLiiamSXSx0t1vf5jZTAxw7QzEoX_IY_5uH7-uf0ABGMPosfPdkA8xzR1Ug-nA0n7VmEvggFYMVIn17ntf5T0Z7um8n/s1878/PXL_20240218_004156821%20Lake%20Manly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="1878" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMk5PVYOiHu5EYNS2rXSXn39FGuc7mKi8SauH9qG4xz7vooJjt4s1D9hwUJiHU8uC_VPU0txIRvHpMKd8_ZGqEli1dhk6EUQM1OZLiiamSXSx0t1vf5jZTAxw7QzEoX_IY_5uH7-uf0ABGMPosfPdkA8xzR1Ug-nA0n7VmEvggFYMVIn17ntf5T0Z7um8n/w640-h482/PXL_20240218_004156821%20Lake%20Manly.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Imagine a lake that's six miles across flanked by dramatic mountain peaks reaching heights greater than 10,000 feet. We're in California, so it's got to be Lake Tahoe, right? But it's not. It is the lowest and driest place in North America, and the hottest place in the world. It's Death Valley. And big lakes are not a normal part of the scenery here. Badwater Basin is normally a dry salt flat. What has happened here?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeMRlNiV5aC9v2PIYQXM-VdAN3naBdhcRKMx0YK9gcdzRhai41MnlIiHtHj8dxExBPtD93pM5_YA1XrKQYXZD1aN2B236PIV8717RZcUQwAwbhEhy9WA2OhLZSvAG002i7EzmtG9Xmh-VCIGs_JvfeqboyWnX8NkLfdE5at7_6sF6sXnxyIduZdff3jMG/s2573/PXL_20240218_182901457~2%20Lake%20Manly%20from%20Dante's%20View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="2573" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeMRlNiV5aC9v2PIYQXM-VdAN3naBdhcRKMx0YK9gcdzRhai41MnlIiHtHj8dxExBPtD93pM5_YA1XrKQYXZD1aN2B236PIV8717RZcUQwAwbhEhy9WA2OhLZSvAG002i7EzmtG9Xmh-VCIGs_JvfeqboyWnX8NkLfdE5at7_6sF6sXnxyIduZdff3jMG/w640-h276/PXL_20240218_182901457~2%20Lake%20Manly%20from%20Dante's%20View.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>In a word, it's rain. An extraordinary amount of rain has fallen in and around Death Valley this year, around 300% of what is normal. That sounds more dramatic than saying that 4.8 inches has occurred so far. A "normal" year to this point would see about 1.5 inches. And the rain did not fall in Death Valley alone. Death Valley is the lowest basin in a very large drainage system, and the surrounding landscape received even more. It was primarily the result of two events: the remnants of Hurricane Hilary in late August 2023 provided the floodwaters that resulted in the first iteration of the lake. In the hot months that followed, much of the accumulated water evaporated, but then the first week of February brought an atmospheric river storm to California that rejuvenated the shrinking lake. We were lucky to arrive a week later.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUddEUBmC846m7V4tsNgNTBdjELuYciuf0wfMXmX2Wra5nepMUPrKEyM4JaroWZ-nUpgRAuG9oLI4oCTDyQtQdASn7OAKViYqHRXmi3IDfKLSvzRYXjFGL9mQDZV6IRXWalVwJvA6thEcxDJof8pHiBQetmdB2hJlgS9PnRuPd25ybfDr17bXU5PmFgNdq/s2333/PXL_20240218_182934697%20Lake%20Manly%20from%20Dante's%20View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1757" data-original-width="2333" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUddEUBmC846m7V4tsNgNTBdjELuYciuf0wfMXmX2Wra5nepMUPrKEyM4JaroWZ-nUpgRAuG9oLI4oCTDyQtQdASn7OAKViYqHRXmi3IDfKLSvzRYXjFGL9mQDZV6IRXWalVwJvA6thEcxDJof8pHiBQetmdB2hJlgS9PnRuPd25ybfDr17bXU5PmFgNdq/w640-h482/PXL_20240218_182934697%20Lake%20Manly%20from%20Dante's%20View.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This kind of thing doesn't happen often. Some water was present on the valley floor in 2010, and earlier in 2005. But both of those years, floods had damaged the road to Dante's View so I haven't had a birds-eye view of the lake in at least three decades. It was fantastic.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_qH-3A96-prWA-HIgtHZ6ZDOkBYjT9mbZBqJHQfd4JIGKCf_p4LSjLOChY6OC5niQ33CCGXiQJNjC4jSW_Be19ZNPKS7nFRU-8VrCObl_YKY76RpWt-wNgnEYJM9cvn7EtQc8Lx1Lta_N8fKNj-uhyphenhyphenuCNzEXrBZWsErF2jR09Xfo9kIJN8ii2BjVNLbx/s4096/GG1UBFcakAA6i6C%20Laura%20on%20Lake%20Manly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_qH-3A96-prWA-HIgtHZ6ZDOkBYjT9mbZBqJHQfd4JIGKCf_p4LSjLOChY6OC5niQ33CCGXiQJNjC4jSW_Be19ZNPKS7nFRU-8VrCObl_YKY76RpWt-wNgnEYJM9cvn7EtQc8Lx1Lta_N8fKNj-uhyphenhyphenuCNzEXrBZWsErF2jR09Xfo9kIJN8ii2BjVNLbx/w640-h426/GG1UBFcakAA6i6C%20Laura%20on%20Lake%20Manly.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>When I and my students travel to Death Valley they get a packing list, but I tend not to put 'kayak' or 'raft' on that list. But we knew the lake would be there, so our long-term friend and trip volunteer Ryan actually packed one, so we had the spectacle of the Hollister family rafting Death Valley. <p></p><p>The lake has been in the news, so we weren't surprised to see a multitude of tourists gathered in the parking lot at Badwater. I didn't think they'd all opt to go walking in the slimy muddy salty water, but you can see that they did. I was much happier to have stopped along the lake a mile to the south where there was no one but ourselves.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYpxoPCUL9lbv3A8VWsmnhp8VjS2mRZrWpUVEMWWd84frMSniNehQ7-teE7FGLx34SmSSM4jq0WI1q6OX8Vp6mGCwNjlFfxb2_xuhX14zYd_wiD22-9pcDw4gsfjwFzCOFkNQJTbVmbTd1Az1rfW-MdhEY4hr7r6K40i2OLOt5MgC2Ztpo0omI74jchAF/s4627/P1110623%20Crowd%20at%20Badwater.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3471" data-original-width="4627" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYpxoPCUL9lbv3A8VWsmnhp8VjS2mRZrWpUVEMWWd84frMSniNehQ7-teE7FGLx34SmSSM4jq0WI1q6OX8Vp6mGCwNjlFfxb2_xuhX14zYd_wiD22-9pcDw4gsfjwFzCOFkNQJTbVmbTd1Az1rfW-MdhEY4hr7r6K40i2OLOt5MgC2Ztpo0omI74jchAF/w640-h480/P1110623%20Crowd%20at%20Badwater.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>It was along that quiet shoreline that I was able to hear the echoes of a distant past when Death Valley was a watery paradise rather than the hellscape it is today (albeit a very beautiful and dramatic hellscape). That is what is revealed by the geological evidence scattered along the normally parched lake margins. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgvLJ2gC_dhV_Bxnmjoa0CgCbcfgEx5hqKyYPeuTvKx0vCu8NkoIgq9I6qJrxJkTsVS-oUs_oZEux40Gu2CphenEjk_KvO0qPnqoxBDKVzO1IA_4VOVpe45RqZKxra2s4JRg2k19yZLU_79HykFWdQ4JMWmJM2NhuPHBK1YAV5yXU9ZOB6MgJU2PsCX4PQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgvLJ2gC_dhV_Bxnmjoa0CgCbcfgEx5hqKyYPeuTvKx0vCu8NkoIgq9I6qJrxJkTsVS-oUs_oZEux40Gu2CphenEjk_KvO0qPnqoxBDKVzO1IA_4VOVpe45RqZKxra2s4JRg2k19yZLU_79HykFWdQ4JMWmJM2NhuPHBK1YAV5yXU9ZOB6MgJU2PsCX4PQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />At the south end of Death Valley there is an old basalt cinder cone with a strange name: Shoreline Butte. In the picture above, the shoreline terraces are highlighted by the "Superbloom" of 2016 (with all the rain this year, there is at least a possibility of another superbloom in a few weeks). Each of those horizontal terraces was carved by wave action. This and other clues scattered around the margins of the basin are evidence of a lake that existed here for thousands of years. It was as much as 600 feet deep, and more than 100 miles long. <p></p><p>Where did all that water come from?</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6hfR_0z-Woru2suXE_cqw00T1jXoN71y0Zbej9Cad3PS83xSU2ADtirJZ4zjBKigabTL18Gmg3U44k435T8oyYGN8C1_Fn23ukDdhC01pGViiiUxXYIUY1GRLEfJhox75YkqDDP2VO0Bmqvw-b8V5M9ZjcYGmsgUEGz3LP6T57kriaVN62rUd98kqUXnI" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6hfR_0z-Woru2suXE_cqw00T1jXoN71y0Zbej9Cad3PS83xSU2ADtirJZ4zjBKigabTL18Gmg3U44k435T8oyYGN8C1_Fn23ukDdhC01pGViiiUxXYIUY1GRLEfJhox75YkqDDP2VO0Bmqvw-b8V5M9ZjcYGmsgUEGz3LP6T57kriaVN62rUd98kqUXnI=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Along Beatty Cutoff Road, there is a beach berm covered by rounded flattened pebbles. This was along the northern shoreline of Lake Manly when it was 450 feet deep.</td></tr></tbody></table>Evidence suggests that Lake Manly existed during a period from 186,000–120,000 years before present, dried up, and then returned again between about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago. It can't be a coincidence that these dates are identical to the dates established for the Tahoe and Tioga stage glaciations that took place in the Sierra Nevada. No glacier ever reached Death Valley, but the Sierra glaciers contributed vast amounts of meltwater to the dry basins east of the mountains. These waters filled present-day Mono Lake to overflowing. It spilled over and flowed in the Owens River to Owens Lake, which actually persisted into the modern era when LA water diversions caused it to dry up in the 1920s.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi26e1rehFuTcotGmtcAl6I5kNwR0irIXZc2mUMjrGhYaOTHgt-FkoLpaFte_zyQvletoX0s5H0wSwbhmZaM63IpNOlQ2Sp-vcsWrgmvNppaOzlwwNcV4pzbcaq8R4jr4T-jCQ44_1KWyiifKqV444h0qHcn8O5Au-KaByQiUVxrTRz9ujvGcIDzjxHBlyW" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="545" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi26e1rehFuTcotGmtcAl6I5kNwR0irIXZc2mUMjrGhYaOTHgt-FkoLpaFte_zyQvletoX0s5H0wSwbhmZaM63IpNOlQ2Sp-vcsWrgmvNppaOzlwwNcV4pzbcaq8R4jr4T-jCQ44_1KWyiifKqV444h0qHcn8O5Au-KaByQiUVxrTRz9ujvGcIDzjxHBlyW=w552-h640" width="552" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pluvial lakes of Eastern California. Source: Philip Stoffer of the U.S. Geological Survey</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Ice-age Owens Lake reached a depth of 300 feet and spilled over into China Lake, then Searles Lake, Panamint Lake, and finally Lake Manly in Death Valley. These ice-age bodies of water are called <i>pluvial lakes</i>. The cooler wetter conditions allowed two other river systems to contribute water, the Amargosa River out of Nevada, and the Mojave River out of the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. There may have even been a temporary connection with the Colorado River, which resulted in one of the most surprising aspects of Death Valley biology: fish!</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSeLse1tYYpKaAD-qmeLNECT7zf1FvNXQcKfO5y-WfYG3GPgaW82nPZDYWy_TWXrY1-YJawseTdYWMOaq0xUhcEM1Yebz-WPnYFHQxxyd2I3f3iB7abvPwj0hIasvSCCEJ56G47Gfl_ahe9YMuESS6vBLssgsnek3ktVe5k4zmfhw4FigRHfPdq833yfZq" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1152" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSeLse1tYYpKaAD-qmeLNECT7zf1FvNXQcKfO5y-WfYG3GPgaW82nPZDYWy_TWXrY1-YJawseTdYWMOaq0xUhcEM1Yebz-WPnYFHQxxyd2I3f3iB7abvPwj0hIasvSCCEJ56G47Gfl_ahe9YMuESS6vBLssgsnek3ktVe5k4zmfhw4FigRHfPdq833yfZq=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt Creek Pupfish from the middle of Death Valley</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yes, there are fish in Death Valley! In fact, there are several species. They survive in widely scattered springs and short stretches of perennial streams that exist in the desert. The pupfish (<i>cyprinodon</i>) are of particular interest because they probably once were a single widespread species, but when isolated in springs that were either hot or cold, or salty or fresh, they were forced to evolve or perish. Today there are four species in the confines of the park and several others in outlying areas, especially the Owens Valley and Ash Meadows in Nevada. I've found their story to be intriguing and<a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/02/you-think-some-fish-you-caught-was.html"> I've written about them a number of times</a>. These diminutive fish survive in the saltiest and hottest water of any known fish species.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqL1ZK-sdtNDRjAySYClgkw6hcjVxZ68Qs6LvkIgLGyZNj_0AVuv4XyXv5O4L5tnPbAEgIpaiF3H1F2FwbNQlBU-HX8aIyJwhzCkIKob1jFdU0eHx2UUi0UeeCmp4XwWdBWhEveDxqZb-Buj8LAThwJCV4vLxJs6AvONiblrbc1chtQTOHJs68yE_YnFhl" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqL1ZK-sdtNDRjAySYClgkw6hcjVxZ68Qs6LvkIgLGyZNj_0AVuv4XyXv5O4L5tnPbAEgIpaiF3H1F2FwbNQlBU-HX8aIyJwhzCkIKob1jFdU0eHx2UUi0UeeCmp4XwWdBWhEveDxqZb-Buj8LAThwJCV4vLxJs6AvONiblrbc1chtQTOHJs68yE_YnFhl=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mammoth bones on display at the Shoshone Museum, east of Death Valley</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Imagining this vast ice-age lake meant led to another vision of past worlds. In the early 1980s, some students on a geology field trip were hanging out near their camp in the Shoshone area when they discovered bones sticking out of a gully wall. These bones proved to be specimens of Columbian Mammoths and other ice age mammal species (the specimens are currently on display in the Shoshone Museum east of the park). The Death Valley region was a much cooler and more verdant environment during the ice ages, and the shoreline of Lake Manly was populated by grazing animals including the aforementioned mammoths, camels, horses, bison, and the carnivores that would have preyed upon them, including the large cats and perhaps relatives to today's wolves and coyotes.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_8GYDZsm4ejmrZ3c_7W9Y98Q8yVUJaWPpQtOPv2b4Ys06kUVDmxqo9iLCLgmVRjoVZOf2i1-r4gY8THOL7w47sXkidXH5OLhEiP5Mh2G3jj7X97fF5_zXDdV1viVAQjian1iwCOQQ3K8am7eSoE5zpkTzwgOTgNTGhhUNfDU5i_CKaucs0qJPcwxWn5Vd" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_8GYDZsm4ejmrZ3c_7W9Y98Q8yVUJaWPpQtOPv2b4Ys06kUVDmxqo9iLCLgmVRjoVZOf2i1-r4gY8THOL7w47sXkidXH5OLhEiP5Mh2G3jj7X97fF5_zXDdV1viVAQjian1iwCOQQ3K8am7eSoE5zpkTzwgOTgNTGhhUNfDU5i_CKaucs0qJPcwxWn5Vd=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at the shore of Lake Manly at Badwater from a vertical mile above from Dante's View</td></tr></tbody></table>To see a lake that only comes into existence every decade or so is a spectacle (in the best sense). But to understand the deeper implications suggested by these lakes that speak of past worlds is the magic of geology. See it if you can. It won't last much longer!<br /><br /></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-2829626359505609392024-02-14T10:28:00.000-08:002024-02-14T10:28:34.283-08:00Discover the Wonders of the Hawaiian Islands with Geotripper and Modesto Junior College -May 30-June 11, 2024!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIZHu_ujo7KYuOVrz22mXegZ_xp34KI17dXcaOS1Txju3TnZFQq9aX7A_8zyh2zpHz_pt0LdndQh6-ozM7_GtOV0Z0FEi3D53tcIA6hbuT_J71L3K9HZ9jvGGcI46e_qx_KzaH8vr4KkYmQ-F8Jl_yI3FwyZR40bUhGBp3a4-wuk4WxKf7BbILxUD8-jj/s1280/Dsc00107%20Garry%20and%20lava%20flow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIZHu_ujo7KYuOVrz22mXegZ_xp34KI17dXcaOS1Txju3TnZFQq9aX7A_8zyh2zpHz_pt0LdndQh6-ozM7_GtOV0Z0FEi3D53tcIA6hbuT_J71L3K9HZ9jvGGcI46e_qx_KzaH8vr4KkYmQ-F8Jl_yI3FwyZR40bUhGBp3a4-wuk4WxKf7BbILxUD8-jj/w640-h480/Dsc00107%20Garry%20and%20lava%20flow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Are you looking for a bit of adventure? </p><p>I invite you to join our Modesto Junior College Anthropology 190/Geology 190: Field Studies in the Hawaiian Islands from May 30 to June 11, 2024. This once-in-a-lifetime journey spans nine days on the Big Island of Hawai'i and four days on Kaua'i. </p><p>There is still time to join us for 13 days exploring volcanoes, coral reefs, tropical rainforests, tropical deserts, ancient foot trails, petroglyphs, and archaeological sites! Our itinerary includes Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea, Hilo, the archaeological parks of the Kona Coast, and on Kauai we'll visit Waimea Canyon (the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific") and the Na Pali Cliffs, and much, much more.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKdU0_uSFBM-GUqRWNCIpolKtNqHgcFxdBrRsjkk1CiesiV3xqjGm48U7nBXWf2mF-cNOAjENprOoG-QsLGxOG4C4Ahf-ohYYoDFCgaQshpJnQ4cppSITffr3Sg1KgLGGcug3LMIWX0RWJsmIpqu_Uwlm07BKBGRXBKw1Xupcm9rdcmitaHma7WkG26t6/s1152/P1070783%20Late%20afternoon,%20Waimea%20Cyn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1152" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKdU0_uSFBM-GUqRWNCIpolKtNqHgcFxdBrRsjkk1CiesiV3xqjGm48U7nBXWf2mF-cNOAjENprOoG-QsLGxOG4C4Ahf-ohYYoDFCgaQshpJnQ4cppSITffr3Sg1KgLGGcug3LMIWX0RWJsmIpqu_Uwlm07BKBGRXBKw1Xupcm9rdcmitaHma7WkG26t6/w640-h480/P1070783%20Late%20afternoon,%20Waimea%20Cyn.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The total cost for lodging, transportation, and inter-island flight is $2,850. Students are required to make their way to Hawaii and arrange their own meals. </p><p>Contact instructor Garry Hayes (that's me) (<a href="mailto:hayesg@yosemite.edu">hayesg@yosemite.edu</a>) for more information.</p><p>This is a Zero-Textbook-Cost Class. We are writing our own!</p><p>Links for the <b>Informational Brochure, Registration form,</b> and the <b>Tentative Itinerary</b> can be found at the bottom of my <a href="https://people.mjc.edu/hayesg">MJC Faculty Page</a> at <a href="https://people.mjc.edu/hayesg">MJC People Finder: Garry Hayes</a>. Although some deadlines mentioned in the brochures have passed, we still have room for several more travelers, and would love to have you join us!</p><p><br /></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-52843750048340619352024-01-07T17:06:00.000-08:002024-01-07T17:06:51.679-08:00A Rare Day for the Great Valley: The Sierra Crest, and a bit of Half Dome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGQasffyowP0vUXSQePRHJILZp54gBALRx-lvBTyjnFD-Xv33Acrtj53kJZ1IguNHYxz4qbYTjhaDRiaV1ArppKxs5xjMP3zikDqXde2h_GgK8Y7ab1jftrYS7v-DIPqqrtPt4B-vOaKzIHzOCGg-Ebbz-OyqHay9G7g-k1uliAj9JqLHh9O5ook-KoGE/s4896/P1100845%20Sierra%20Crest%20and%20Hickman%20Bridge.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGQasffyowP0vUXSQePRHJILZp54gBALRx-lvBTyjnFD-Xv33Acrtj53kJZ1IguNHYxz4qbYTjhaDRiaV1ArppKxs5xjMP3zikDqXde2h_GgK8Y7ab1jftrYS7v-DIPqqrtPt4B-vOaKzIHzOCGg-Ebbz-OyqHay9G7g-k1uliAj9JqLHh9O5ook-KoGE/w640-h480/P1100845%20Sierra%20Crest%20and%20Hickman%20Bridge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>California's Great Valley is many things: one of the most important agricultural regions in the world, America's Serengeti Plains where millions of migratory birds spend the winter, and one of the most polluted air basins in the country. The pollution is a shame, causing all manner of health problems for those who live here, and obscuring the incredible mountains that ring the valley. Except on a few select days out of the year. Today was one of those days.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5C3_DBSgFg6Ga-HnHGkxRWL-zJNhKTGesknHAwANIYgvxsajcZ6bMKJX3oGtR8bfOWyYlcJvdjyCSnv0dLXWTizzn874j6p6sf2UFm-GrIX2j-1V8RiXBdCVWp7yxSAMEZ3mkX7iTWslsYbkojAoKRiyHTujBmx0BzmSO5PhgAYmS_lo4ADXvyraKWWe-/s4896/P1100842%20Gray,%20Red%20and%20Merced%20Peaks.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5C3_DBSgFg6Ga-HnHGkxRWL-zJNhKTGesknHAwANIYgvxsajcZ6bMKJX3oGtR8bfOWyYlcJvdjyCSnv0dLXWTizzn874j6p6sf2UFm-GrIX2j-1V8RiXBdCVWp7yxSAMEZ3mkX7iTWslsYbkojAoKRiyHTujBmx0BzmSO5PhgAYmS_lo4ADXvyraKWWe-/w640-h480/P1100842%20Gray,%20Red%20and%20Merced%20Peaks.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gray, Red and Merced Peaks in Yosemite National Park</td></tr></tbody></table>We had a fairly intense storm last night, and it was followed up by windy cold conditions that cleared the air. I took my customary walk along the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail. A section of the trail follows the bluff and on days like this, I get a wonderful panorama of the Sierra Nevada covering Yosemite National Park. A zoomed-in look provides a view of Gray, Red and Merced Peaks in the southern part of Yosemite (above).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTAa0sALM2g053RliORCuc-MEZ_tMF6IEQL4H10c8KnYBASPANzQo_t165nM37AbpOoJfLpQFz1NFvbUV-FScGbcuLJyqsbvhzaxNMjrdDWno0pktm0LBEyWz-Zm5QuJIfklV5_MideWKQd5-NvzCXr6pUmiflcRMs13_mSuko5XJCZ_UYEG8RVubagHx/s4896/P1100844%20Sierra%20Crest%20with%20Half%20Dome.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTAa0sALM2g053RliORCuc-MEZ_tMF6IEQL4H10c8KnYBASPANzQo_t165nM37AbpOoJfLpQFz1NFvbUV-FScGbcuLJyqsbvhzaxNMjrdDWno0pktm0LBEyWz-Zm5QuJIfklV5_MideWKQd5-NvzCXr6pUmiflcRMs13_mSuko5XJCZ_UYEG8RVubagHx/w640-h480/P1100844%20Sierra%20Crest%20with%20Half%20Dome.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>A shift to the north reveals the high peaks of the Sierra Crest, including Mt. Maclure, Rodgers Peak, and Mt. Lyell, three of the higher peaks in Yosemite National Park (Mt. Dana, the 2nd highest, isn't visible). Some of the foreground peaks are rather famous as well. Mt. Starr King and Sentinel Dome are visible, and at the very left edge of the photo is the top portion of Half Dome! It's hard to pick out, but the CalTopo provides some identification of the different peaks. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf0v3bHQM_ewUEdL8d62uQ5zrLDNuCebqne3xOsgT-l4qy660ePLGq0a9YTAsQZ1bKDlPNI6WULBMks41JewIoRrV-8Au_I6Cv5Z_Izdo9AC8UTNnVSmG6mRsExQFHU3zFQgOiXM5xL_oepoSubro576C-mZ4bFgNJeZobVdCP8-qUbFjOMaa_y3sOf7e/s2193/Screenshot%202024-01-07%20160546.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1209" data-original-width="2193" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf0v3bHQM_ewUEdL8d62uQ5zrLDNuCebqne3xOsgT-l4qy660ePLGq0a9YTAsQZ1bKDlPNI6WULBMks41JewIoRrV-8Au_I6Cv5Z_Izdo9AC8UTNnVSmG6mRsExQFHU3zFQgOiXM5xL_oepoSubro576C-mZ4bFgNJeZobVdCP8-qUbFjOMaa_y3sOf7e/w640-h352/Screenshot%202024-01-07%20160546.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: https://caltopo.com/view#ll=37.6344,-120.7662&e=15&t=n&z=9&c=0.31,85.35</td></tr></tbody></table>There are better views of Half Dome from the valley floor (the intersection of Oakdale-Waterford Highway and Keyes Road is much clearer on days like this). I couldn't get any pictures today, but here's one from a different day (see some more at <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2019/02/it-was-that-kind-of-day-half-dome-from.html">https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2019/02/it-was-that-kind-of-day-half-dome-from.html</a>). <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESXKoHdKf5bNaLpkTUZCMnFoyc6bWtIcVKJ-ot-Rjx30_HhjwhnI1ZC19PPrHuuNF3D_b9CLVgh72s_WlvrFjsNkddoSXJvttI1-92tcDw6D5OPS8LRe28RnptZFgDSXstliIGg_hZgbomBNYNeE0TkVZr9EvBc2Fgh4Hof5FDVA6JVnBc-TIzInvBWEU/s640/P1010467%20(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESXKoHdKf5bNaLpkTUZCMnFoyc6bWtIcVKJ-ot-Rjx30_HhjwhnI1ZC19PPrHuuNF3D_b9CLVgh72s_WlvrFjsNkddoSXJvttI1-92tcDw6D5OPS8LRe28RnptZFgDSXstliIGg_hZgbomBNYNeE0TkVZr9EvBc2Fgh4Hof5FDVA6JVnBc-TIzInvBWEU/w640-h480/P1010467%20(2).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>A wonderful day.<br /><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-195543088821093312023-12-12T12:51:00.000-08:002023-12-30T22:46:10.604-08:00Geotripper Goes to the Movies: Review of Unconformity (2022)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-Zk8RPrGOmWw64KXqbBdclHKYFe1gmbdGopkL5u9F7285pjrSpjw5vZMs84bKkTSnLxveViQx0HlV7xRRbU8WW0P6HrUKSrNb2UaRPIUmV2mVEIH4_YWZSpQT8LjwfGWO613yTCap7fhAsaaQF5dWzSZsPKmhSoPfZdImyYav8aw6WvjBgHFt0Kp_gPp/s601/unconformity-855620.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-Zk8RPrGOmWw64KXqbBdclHKYFe1gmbdGopkL5u9F7285pjrSpjw5vZMs84bKkTSnLxveViQx0HlV7xRRbU8WW0P6HrUKSrNb2UaRPIUmV2mVEIH4_YWZSpQT8LjwfGWO613yTCap7fhAsaaQF5dWzSZsPKmhSoPfZdImyYav8aw6WvjBgHFt0Kp_gPp/w426-h640/unconformity-855620.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Jonathan DiMaio</td></tr></tbody></table>One of my earliest blog posts, back in 2008, was a <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2008/03/accretionary-wedge-carnival-7-hollywood.html">top-ten list of the depiction of geologists in movies</a>. I've revisited it a few times, <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-look-back-at-ten-years-of-geotripping_2.html">most recently in 2018</a> when I added in the movie "San Andreas" (the real hero in the movie was Paul Giamatti's role as a geologist, not the Rock). It seems I need to update that list once again. An independent movie was released last year called "Unconformity", and it has perhaps the most honest depiction of a geologist that I've seen in film. Directed and produced by Jonathan DiMaio, it is the story of Alex (portrayed by Alex Oliver), a young woman graduate student who is dealing with betrayal and misogyny in her academic pursuits. A series of events leads her to doing research alone in some of the most deserted parts of the Basin and Range in eastern Nevada. Along the way she develops a friendship with a young man Nick (Jack Mulhern), who works a nearby ranch with his father. It's a quiet reflective movie, and it's a credit to the director and writer that the developing friendship is not the usual stereotypical romance, but more a growing understanding between two people who are hurting.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><div><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4P0kvDb7sqjVNE6em1c3VYMIdkWIubBh0e0VI6J5Jwqr6bRpUr6uFxLUNI0NXO1uKU7NB3JO2uGWwgI4gWZevhaGzUPbBIqPo_Az6S9HiZHhxnx4JDqC3U7tP4xmM7suHnWEafIBWDacX6jMgHTI-HuGsYrvY02UMsUh6MAttU08pNsEe2GwVxcHfr4Y9" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="1000" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4P0kvDb7sqjVNE6em1c3VYMIdkWIubBh0e0VI6J5Jwqr6bRpUr6uFxLUNI0NXO1uKU7NB3JO2uGWwgI4gWZevhaGzUPbBIqPo_Az6S9HiZHhxnx4JDqC3U7tP4xmM7suHnWEafIBWDacX6jMgHTI-HuGsYrvY02UMsUh6MAttU08pNsEe2GwVxcHfr4Y9=w640-h344" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Jonathan DiMaio</td></tr></tbody></table>The cinematography is simply astounding, with broad sweeping vistas of some of the wildest parts of North America. I caught glimpses of the House Range with the sheer cliff of Notch Peak (where I actually did some field work in my graduate school days), and the Snake Range with Wheeler Peak, the centerpiece of the very remote Great Basin National Park. The movie's unobtrusive soundtrack nicely compliments the wilderness landscape.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKCTMkGsYkxxzQ6h5BuvxGddAlSMAkDH9kqmLvGMVUaAWjP15fo0EN5mBSeC92pAanlSUwPL6svd4BjPAR-uoE52xNkYE-cZJCSJXXFM3jay3mGgQum4TDEBrnbBULsmAqYsDR6FJFZ3OPcHXDeKdt73Awv7L0wTd6arW7d6grhixFN3wJ0OSoszegW-iz" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKCTMkGsYkxxzQ6h5BuvxGddAlSMAkDH9kqmLvGMVUaAWjP15fo0EN5mBSeC92pAanlSUwPL6svd4BjPAR-uoE52xNkYE-cZJCSJXXFM3jay3mGgQum4TDEBrnbBULsmAqYsDR6FJFZ3OPcHXDeKdt73Awv7L0wTd6arW7d6grhixFN3wJ0OSoszegW-iz=w640-h318" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Jonathan DiMaio</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now, about the geology. Most movies simply assume that the viewer is ignorant and won't care about the particulars of the science detailed in the movie. The Tom Hanks-produced miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" had an episode ("Galileo Was Right") that was one of the best depictions of a geologist I've ever seen. It involved the efforts of Professor Lee Silver to train the Apollo astronauts to explore the moon with the eyes of a geologist, and it captured the essence that drives geologists to want to understand geologic processes and history. But it was so jarring in that episode to see a geologist refer to what was clearly a chunk of olivine basalt as simply "granite". That doesn't happen in DiMaio's movie.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiGbks_9aTFd3OiMb2d845uHslyhZdPSiAjXXCyHhtIGX0l4JDZ5C94MbFre3AtU4BSiSXNunHNVzg8wNWQ2ahtb68UqRKqgy7zEWfAxrcGnyL1DmNtfiRdz4lAlDzC772moJfMC_ugaQfrGr-PBxIDKtacxlJo0DntjcXBDVUCYSnzXQ0SBDIfyYmyM8a" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiGbks_9aTFd3OiMb2d845uHslyhZdPSiAjXXCyHhtIGX0l4JDZ5C94MbFre3AtU4BSiSXNunHNVzg8wNWQ2ahtb68UqRKqgy7zEWfAxrcGnyL1DmNtfiRdz4lAlDzC772moJfMC_ugaQfrGr-PBxIDKtacxlJo0DntjcXBDVUCYSnzXQ0SBDIfyYmyM8a=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Jonathan DiMaio</td></tr></tbody></table>Alex is shown doing field work, using a Brunton compass more or less properly, using topographic maps to plot geology, and measuring stratigraphic sections. She uses the proper end of the rock hammer when getting and preparing rock samples. She is shown making thin sections of rock samples (the thin section images of minerals used in the opening credits are beautiful). Her profound discovery is plausible (finding fossils of the Ediacaran fauna) given the regional geology of where she was working, and the implications of her discovery are clearly explained in the movie. This leads to a better understanding of why her thesis advisor would have been inclined to take advantage of her work by taking credit for it. The fossils themselves are accurate as to species, and genuine-looking in the movie (although just a bit 'too' perfect?).<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGQhzyKKeYwDbFTCbVJBgoK0M8ZVUGC4Bbw9MiSLevaWLK8LfLUpj82IlrxC-NFiy50LimHCu1dwCAEBf67oKjcsM1LzohQgCNFRj1g6E9XnHqbovjd76t2F4IUW0hX54zKLBoC51f4yeHDp0B0VZYDutzNFt3ON6iFyrX2r4XJmsMkmsHWSnL2rY6XVOy" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1500" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGQhzyKKeYwDbFTCbVJBgoK0M8ZVUGC4Bbw9MiSLevaWLK8LfLUpj82IlrxC-NFiy50LimHCu1dwCAEBf67oKjcsM1LzohQgCNFRj1g6E9XnHqbovjd76t2F4IUW0hX54zKLBoC51f4yeHDp0B0VZYDutzNFt3ON6iFyrX2r4XJmsMkmsHWSnL2rY6XVOy=w640-h214" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notch Peak in the House Range of western Utah has a sheer cliff more than half a mile high.Copyright: Jonathan DiMaio </td></tr></tbody></table>In total, the movie is a nice diversion for anyone who enjoys character-driven dramas, but it's extra special for the geologists out there who pine away for an accurate portrayal of a geologist in the cinema. It is streaming now on Prime Video, and can also be watched on YouTube with the link below.<br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.unconformityfilm.com/">Unconformity Film</a> (film website)</p><p><a data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="1" href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonathandimaio.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Chayesg%40yosemite.edu%7C4f6fdd5df5454bc32d8908dc00c4884e%7C3d35afe626ac437eb4b375b50d459e45%7C0%7C0%7C638386091333944994%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=w%2FmsEYx0nHfV1pUKXZX7aRh7Ys257FogpS192wpOdWA%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://www.jonathandimaio.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" shash="C4hR0fG7pLFzejdx4oWlDVmJYNsbNqvl53+Q/uZMP2u6it2gKAjyp9qEncGU2Am9I1Ura5xxF9bsvSdjIQl6w7psQSjw+pCpO0EtprRR2RyChHVC3KRKtRLwEfH7cGnWcW7JtYaiCuRaq8PnbGnMpApBIEz+RoMubq9V/cigaak=" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Original URL: http://www.jonathandimaio.com/. Click or tap if you trust this link.">www.jonathandimaio.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> (director's website)</span></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0aTV3RujiM&t=31s">Unconformity (2022) | Full Movie - YouTube</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unconformity-Alex-Oliver/dp/B0B3CPSH6H/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2E7PIXK7GO1ZC&keywords=unconformity+movie&qid=1702392446&sprefix=Unconformity%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1">Watch Unconformity | Prime Video (amazon.com)</a></p><p>In closing, a quick apology to Mr. DiMaio. He wrote me about the movie over a year ago, offering to let me see an advance copy, but the email ended up lost for most of last year. I regret not seeing the movie earlier. Check it out!<br /></p></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-24604771632923167252023-10-28T21:53:00.000-07:002023-10-28T21:53:39.956-07:00Why did the Road Cross the San Andreas Fault? 21 Years of Geologic Change (a new Update)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A7yGpiopf6diw-DXWRtIKWCpPNHn6jyPv8KVCJvZ7TeIG7pmuMgqXyNj9tZpZ_Ug6L7ChmV1vFZcGKtgjxgxVlWEGJaUVaTS3kOIkSrJV2Vd7T1rvT6fHq1Q0NcaryyshjCVIPGr860/s1600/DSC00023+Offset+highway+San+Andreas.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A7yGpiopf6diw-DXWRtIKWCpPNHn6jyPv8KVCJvZ7TeIG7pmuMgqXyNj9tZpZ_Ug6L7ChmV1vFZcGKtgjxgxVlWEGJaUVaTS3kOIkSrJV2Vd7T1rvT6fHq1Q0NcaryyshjCVIPGr860/s1600/DSC00023+Offset+highway+San+Andreas.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2002</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been leading geology field studies trips to lots of places in the American West for 30 years and started to take digital pictures in 2001. I sometimes struggle to find new things to photograph when I visit a place for the 30th time, but in some cases it is not a problem. There are geologic changes that happen on a yearly basis, and with twenty-one years of photos (minus two due to Covid), the changes become obvious. <a href="http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-did-san-andreas-fault-cross-road.html" target="_blank">This is a continuing update from a post in 2013</a>, and I'll probably continue updating for the foreseeable future.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4-DwVIy5mtXoOdsv0L7Q2eQzblRYj6ylz3iCtYKKYVZ6O8B4P0i25ZLYD3WszHgGaUbsqNjwrOnFAnVz8wOL6ZNbsr1fLtIbzqoz2zYSc3QxPfb_UuyWF30YTM5sl8mybFDEoCo_cw4/s1600/DSC07105+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4-DwVIy5mtXoOdsv0L7Q2eQzblRYj6ylz3iCtYKKYVZ6O8B4P0i25ZLYD3WszHgGaUbsqNjwrOnFAnVz8wOL6ZNbsr1fLtIbzqoz2zYSc3QxPfb_UuyWF30YTM5sl8mybFDEoCo_cw4/s1600/DSC07105+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2004</td></tr>
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Highway 25 in the California Coast Ranges connects the town of Hollister with the access road to Pinnacles National Park (formerly Pinnacles National Monument). Along the way the highway crosses the San Andreas fault in a section where the fault creeps an inch or so each year (36°35'54.27"N, 121°11'40.19"W). Most years we've stopped to have a look at the effect the movement has on the pavement. In 2002 and 2004, the damage was obvious.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICwnpqaRFgAZztrS2xKD5j_IAgddFkYNFW8gyfHe7dnHSbeInGOk8nkCpoZThQHDjCSR8qHJr3SNZWkpEOvFtYpo0X_dCJ8v5x_we9SGdA0B3SDKD1c2MmufkLRsr0fclljvWIlskNOY/s1600/DSC06804+San+Andreas+road+repairs+2008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICwnpqaRFgAZztrS2xKD5j_IAgddFkYNFW8gyfHe7dnHSbeInGOk8nkCpoZThQHDjCSR8qHJr3SNZWkpEOvFtYpo0X_dCJ8v5x_we9SGdA0B3SDKD1c2MmufkLRsr0fclljvWIlskNOY/s1600/DSC06804+San+Andreas+road+repairs+2008.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2008</td></tr>
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By 2008 someone had patched the road, and no fault motion was evident.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xc2A3caYAILd3oq-I-JrG2oQGvMUb0t0y_OusXyegXTEyagUPD6dC7s2yqNqeko_forEtj_zld4-MQZQ-_H0WpgaQxRspoTMFOVqN_q42RyvEr_dDW6Hm6oXvi3UPCXCRbZiDWtqvRs/s1600/DSC04035+San+Andreas+crosses+highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xc2A3caYAILd3oq-I-JrG2oQGvMUb0t0y_OusXyegXTEyagUPD6dC7s2yqNqeko_forEtj_zld4-MQZQ-_H0WpgaQxRspoTMFOVqN_q42RyvEr_dDW6Hm6oXvi3UPCXCRbZiDWtqvRs/s1600/DSC04035+San+Andreas+crosses+highway.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2009</td></tr>
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Little damage was evident in 2009 either. But by 2010 cracks had begun to appear as the fault stressed the pavement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBClNnM8sx-jAbpWV_lDY68bhiexAZWFRLCvix5MgUiAcr17sF4kB-9JMT9fvr1V7v5eqOoR_0XvK96D0hKCEaD0G1aAGl3ZLT5AimvKIiD_Ah9dXCmZ6ltaSNhRcsWphwzGnKq82VOc/s1600/DSC00023+2010+en+echelon+cracks+in+highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBClNnM8sx-jAbpWV_lDY68bhiexAZWFRLCvix5MgUiAcr17sF4kB-9JMT9fvr1V7v5eqOoR_0XvK96D0hKCEaD0G1aAGl3ZLT5AimvKIiD_Ah9dXCmZ6ltaSNhRcsWphwzGnKq82VOc/s1600/DSC00023+2010+en+echelon+cracks+in+highway.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The fact that the fault creeps in this region is a good thing. It means that stress is not building along the fault surface, but instead is being released gradually. The sections of the fault to the north and south of the creeping section are locked by friction, and are building up the ominous stress that will eventually produce quakes with magnitudes in the range of 7.5 to 8.0. The quakes are coming and we need to be as prepared as possible.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvWz34XgetP9IGu8v9ALuKy4gUXhiuet6vXjjhEhN0pijgU_9vZLPmQ2kUvlqbFq5laJzfqe9fuYPEj1wLL24rQN50zBeRryIm35Ss5wUc2DqLXtshdMrIwSmQeFephdQpEXMdk8PRys/s1600/DSC08438+San+Andreas+crosses+newly+repaired+road.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvWz34XgetP9IGu8v9ALuKy4gUXhiuet6vXjjhEhN0pijgU_9vZLPmQ2kUvlqbFq5laJzfqe9fuYPEj1wLL24rQN50zBeRryIm35Ss5wUc2DqLXtshdMrIwSmQeFephdQpEXMdk8PRys/s1600/DSC08438+San+Andreas+crosses+newly+repaired+road.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012</td></tr>
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By 2012, the road had been completely repaved, and yet the shearing was already evident.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O0mzGimCFAhzSqd5iAt5HTcIrj09ValZSuqVGDf0pkSOFaemB3HlaAyLaj1lb2yAAqlimmj-IsHv_7_tkdkYdVuXgDrnXX6KKdAodfVg9U-27-BkbJQfE7ihHRUDgVaivyr_2saiHyI/s1600/DSC08197+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway+25.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O0mzGimCFAhzSqd5iAt5HTcIrj09ValZSuqVGDf0pkSOFaemB3HlaAyLaj1lb2yAAqlimmj-IsHv_7_tkdkYdVuXgDrnXX6KKdAodfVg9U-27-BkbJQfE7ihHRUDgVaivyr_2saiHyI/s1600/DSC08197+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway+25.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It became even more pronounced by 2013 and in 2014. Just by chance, the person working as a scale was the same individual as in 2004. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaEXbYy-1O_wCgzB_9MCDpOZXKDLuIcZ1cLzsKo2wy7HK2ZzgfH54aLfUjg_Gi30F8AfAABwsJDdIULEW1I13TsZd8iLi7-LZu5QhySoB-PuWO4fdhPkIxBBp4k1FHDYiAFiVoxA2Wdg/s1600/P1190002+Highway+25+San+Andreas+fault+crosses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaEXbYy-1O_wCgzB_9MCDpOZXKDLuIcZ1cLzsKo2wy7HK2ZzgfH54aLfUjg_Gi30F8AfAABwsJDdIULEW1I13TsZd8iLi7-LZu5QhySoB-PuWO4fdhPkIxBBp4k1FHDYiAFiVoxA2Wdg/s1600/P1190002+Highway+25+San+Andreas+fault+crosses.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In 2015 the fractures were moderately larger. They'll need to start thinking of road repairs before long. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqw5wSmP5OfxMmiq3UyzZubNIcwjjdlnIH1Om1pLYnZiazuDXweVD1j7l7dJ1FLgqQK0qp9INubYeV-2JQEp0NNl92k30UOEWI5CbYmNtpvgq3pedcIcVpOozv4cXVU61M1WNP5pYpTgJ/s1600/P1360555+San+Andreas+fault+near+Pinnacles.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqw5wSmP5OfxMmiq3UyzZubNIcwjjdlnIH1Om1pLYnZiazuDXweVD1j7l7dJ1FLgqQK0qp9INubYeV-2JQEp0NNl92k30UOEWI5CbYmNtpvgq3pedcIcVpOozv4cXVU61M1WNP5pYpTgJ/s640/P1360555+San+Andreas+fault+near+Pinnacles.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In 2016 Laura once again provided scale, as she did in 2014 and 2004.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWb5Di3XUSUv0rBcaolDjfvtMsxDTtv1qW3dnD5gewo4J2Gpe4xQZu7Qr7GfV3sdiD_m80RO3lF3mpNIlooU03IC1DwmWziG3k0YF4EtEYqEAzVAeBG6RviYiZgnvlBE04rn0Rg073miF/s1600/P1130269.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWb5Di3XUSUv0rBcaolDjfvtMsxDTtv1qW3dnD5gewo4J2Gpe4xQZu7Qr7GfV3sdiD_m80RO3lF3mpNIlooU03IC1DwmWziG3k0YF4EtEYqEAzVAeBG6RviYiZgnvlBE04rn0Rg073miF/s640/P1130269.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2016</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here in 2017, long-time trip volunteer Mary provides scale. The cracks in the road are just a bit larger, but they didn't look appreciably different than the previous year except for a twist (pun intended).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_MlPbXX2rFxrjZWyB_Sl2o9WeLgpC7ftlXmn1dwuFo5_05c1JXwa_4-YpCB52ZrJKTcMFDMP3HD1GSeBK2aNCuEdpA3d1j1Aze8oDaXFcON9FWa4WotxKUTeAdOnweI48oc5VB-oeTVz/s1600/P1270307+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1213" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_MlPbXX2rFxrjZWyB_Sl2o9WeLgpC7ftlXmn1dwuFo5_05c1JXwa_4-YpCB52ZrJKTcMFDMP3HD1GSeBK2aNCuEdpA3d1j1Aze8oDaXFcON9FWa4WotxKUTeAdOnweI48oc5VB-oeTVz/s640/P1270307+%25282%2529.JPG" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On Dec. 2, 2018, the break to my eye seems more continuous. It's now been six years since the road was completely repaved.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHTPIApJcVuw5njLraU3lrjjOsegsc_aNfC7GoGd00cJnlCx5j3AfovTONRZM2RWLHawuQGK7DB0PZa82rNDwcph4MY7J_6tcpiDkR1WonFUiCvZOKbYQb2eiNHEIk1AC4jZHCTBOmiel/s1600/P1150612+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHTPIApJcVuw5njLraU3lrjjOsegsc_aNfC7GoGd00cJnlCx5j3AfovTONRZM2RWLHawuQGK7DB0PZa82rNDwcph4MY7J_6tcpiDkR1WonFUiCvZOKbYQb2eiNHEIk1AC4jZHCTBOmiel/s640/P1150612+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Last year the paint was deformed (twisted), but not split (below).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbhzzXJikeKB4nini2UEeqrpP2A4z-TA5IW3kA5n7ev-TO03Mm9P-xgsSrueHGhXeEFakBNPllYnJ4dT1GF3RGanfRVughdb6xbQkXrYY_38ilTezqAi3v-yyt0tEDYg05e5TFPExLk4r/s1600/P1270313.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbhzzXJikeKB4nini2UEeqrpP2A4z-TA5IW3kA5n7ev-TO03Mm9P-xgsSrueHGhXeEFakBNPllYnJ4dT1GF3RGanfRVughdb6xbQkXrYY_38ilTezqAi3v-yyt0tEDYg05e5TFPExLk4r/s640/P1270313.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
2017</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The offset paint strip reminds me of illustrations of elastic rebound theory, the idea that stress builds up on a fault line over time. In that model, the land on either side of the fault is distorted over time until the frictional resistance is overcome and the rock snaps back to its original shape. That won't be happening with the paint. Last year in 2017 I said "<i>if they don't repair the road (as they often do; see above), it will probably show a clear break by next year</i>." Here's what transpired:<br />
<br />
First, a close-up on 2017's center stripe...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1p3tVvkv6vG3garQUQqBWwmuPhkaj1FZ4V7OwhqGetPehmSDC30ZkqWHPqP0c-7-IpVeNPPiSQQYOXgNYl4pjLzNkp6_gjSzxR9my_7GzvVI3w5qSbeFKaFyxnmf3rvIRIhwafLgfClo/s1600/P1270314.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1p3tVvkv6vG3garQUQqBWwmuPhkaj1FZ4V7OwhqGetPehmSDC30ZkqWHPqP0c-7-IpVeNPPiSQQYOXgNYl4pjLzNkp6_gjSzxR9my_7GzvVI3w5qSbeFKaFyxnmf3rvIRIhwafLgfClo/s640/P1270314.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And here's how it looked on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnMkOlI2NTLFyrNxxXSvuXlxChC3NMG_CiMqLbNFsJGqOLtmlJiKKnWhjUG1fY9tTp9-77EgPcVFeWXxpRNfHpYvEvznHMQZX4fQaVGSsJXnmyDkJVmCm27TBn00XphmeyxEo-WgRXk2O/s1600/20181202_130325+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="1093" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnMkOlI2NTLFyrNxxXSvuXlxChC3NMG_CiMqLbNFsJGqOLtmlJiKKnWhjUG1fY9tTp9-77EgPcVFeWXxpRNfHpYvEvznHMQZX4fQaVGSsJXnmyDkJVmCm27TBn00XphmeyxEo-WgRXk2O/s640/20181202_130325+%25283%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As predicted, the break in the paint is complete...<br />
<br />
In 2019 (those last few halcyon days before Covid) long-time volunteer Paul provided scale (he has been assisting MJC with field trips for 25 years!). The crack continues to grow, and I wouldn't have been surprised if it was patched by next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib56_rxptgEGoMbWvNqnT7EyS7q9fc9cZZLsbJjA8gj1XEjqqVwr4lFWhXo1PK2dSwYAameT_OVFrYwEpDz9qbrNX_iB9SDGGI9DrRyQKHdSxfsGukoO6jVxGX1tkWDpzTGs-I-hLhdAgo/s1600/P1070347+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib56_rxptgEGoMbWvNqnT7EyS7q9fc9cZZLsbJjA8gj1XEjqqVwr4lFWhXo1PK2dSwYAameT_OVFrYwEpDz9qbrNX_iB9SDGGI9DrRyQKHdSxfsGukoO6jVxGX1tkWDpzTGs-I-hLhdAgo/s640/P1070347+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
The paint on the center strip is split even more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe1cbvr-8087y_mygS1VBUwLwlWvb6YvR8354V9qKVbrvqVKLVgd4R-l14DH7M3Z1S67KJCOKlHJjyVn7_AQk8-lV78H-IcKzYQsTqEbL2MIVlFLA_C_fF9tkoRaQVc3Wo6VdHKAaNvra/s1600/P1070350+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe1cbvr-8087y_mygS1VBUwLwlWvb6YvR8354V9qKVbrvqVKLVgd4R-l14DH7M3Z1S67KJCOKlHJjyVn7_AQk8-lV78H-IcKzYQsTqEbL2MIVlFLA_C_fF9tkoRaQVc3Wo6VdHKAaNvra/s640/P1070350+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And then Covid happened and for a few years we were not able to conduct our field studies classes. In 2022 we made a return visit with our students and here is the then-current condition of the highway. It didn't appear that any repairs have been conducted yet. Our host is once again Laura, who was with us back in 2004 and subsequent years!<br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzAP_ZVL8iNSda9Vhk55btj56bk7ULPk-bBRDTSgPfD50MojwwlWJS9jpIOsPBVHGh5CwseUCApsYF_wkMLhdrRDFs2uZgjooPawUiYlfggfOkauEW7Pvf0GXBzYW00unDu0lHXdp3xc11Ru-XG84irA_Q3wAW2BYnOZetJg8hMQKkSvXr76hVZF6qwg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzAP_ZVL8iNSda9Vhk55btj56bk7ULPk-bBRDTSgPfD50MojwwlWJS9jpIOsPBVHGh5CwseUCApsYF_wkMLhdrRDFs2uZgjooPawUiYlfggfOkauEW7Pvf0GXBzYW00unDu0lHXdp3xc11Ru-XG84irA_Q3wAW2BYnOZetJg8hMQKkSvXr76hVZF6qwg=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2022</td></tr></tbody></table>Fault creep is not a constant. I didn't see a whole lot of change over the last three years, although I didn't get as many close-up shots. Here's a closer look with Paul, our other long-time volunteer. What do you see that is different?</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8oglvULd8rMWQ5M6Zy0NMf0gY6q1tuh6t0dsxwnfNRsp72flxfIhmdfNwO2CvFvaIREiElO2ME59iMm1b09s4rpogEncy9geFNB58YWBz_Vc0Yg_lpe_RHGrHJ4HU5KBCoD-_DOqkMbPVUwnxiFNFfIQBGqEmU5qmCNLs-OuZlNJklfwFJg91cOCPQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8oglvULd8rMWQ5M6Zy0NMf0gY6q1tuh6t0dsxwnfNRsp72flxfIhmdfNwO2CvFvaIREiElO2ME59iMm1b09s4rpogEncy9geFNB58YWBz_Vc0Yg_lpe_RHGrHJ4HU5KBCoD-_DOqkMbPVUwnxiFNFfIQBGqEmU5qmCNLs-OuZlNJklfwFJg91cOCPQ=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2022</td></tr></tbody></table>Which brings us to the current year, 2023. The road has continued to become more deformed, and the passing traffic produced an audible thump as it passed over the fault. Our host since 2004, Laura, was not able to join us, so her husband Ryan stood in her place.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgmb_MSFTO9U0_vYqLLv5WGvHj_tLPj5ziUL4ohUXc0DtyRAHID5yShErHZTBBaq2gzt6GVURuLoordbNhLSQbEzgQnrtwOHm7cwCXiwcq1vWGm-M61L2LMmj4zgg1zXpflnjvw962tvvNBhDs7bbliKXRVOxyr-7WyaEfaUF4e5WRnfqXIOVmc6jgAs0/s4896/P1080661%20Ryan%20on%20San%20Andreas%20Fault.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgmb_MSFTO9U0_vYqLLv5WGvHj_tLPj5ziUL4ohUXc0DtyRAHID5yShErHZTBBaq2gzt6GVURuLoordbNhLSQbEzgQnrtwOHm7cwCXiwcq1vWGm-M61L2LMmj4zgg1zXpflnjvw962tvvNBhDs7bbliKXRVOxyr-7WyaEfaUF4e5WRnfqXIOVmc6jgAs0/w480-h640/P1080661%20Ryan%20on%20San%20Andreas%20Fault.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oct. 28, 2023</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>
These little changes that happen at a rate visible in human lifetimes add up to huge changes when multiplied by thousands or millions of years. The nearby eroded volcano of Pinnacles National Park has been displaced 195 miles (315 kilometers) in the last 20 million years or so by movement along the San Andreas.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmuEfLeL_lb85kApsEPV3SZxWg1OUExTWfSsxHvBst50UHuvIx_-zfepf2cFpmmA74vTDS3JFzVqH3Mk_5pehBLh7nPWBf6ot6Nc4aBYvcdsn_BK1CBYdmIsw5wc4907guG7sH8E_13lx-4hT9OfWCEwDUvef0mE9I-VoHbzFwNPS_nmz8RhTKleKDdIy/s568/index-noeqs%20with%20San%20Andreas%20town.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="568" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmuEfLeL_lb85kApsEPV3SZxWg1OUExTWfSsxHvBst50UHuvIx_-zfepf2cFpmmA74vTDS3JFzVqH3Mk_5pehBLh7nPWBf6ot6Nc4aBYvcdsn_BK1CBYdmIsw5wc4907guG7sH8E_13lx-4hT9OfWCEwDUvef0mE9I-VoHbzFwNPS_nmz8RhTKleKDdIy/w640-h520/index-noeqs%20with%20San%20Andreas%20town.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-26931576436210581722023-10-22T00:43:00.000-07:002023-10-22T00:43:01.526-07:00How Much Do You Think You Know About Earthquakes and California?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHYel7kZeL81ZcM8jFkDQ9WC1QamuLslQhAtnZ1Fjg-Ko4JJU2YoaPqgXWBXKmRG5Qp1nHJ4r08IOubqKYULLlzEKOrxmbimgKEDV8FbiNnywVFsglH0tYL7buCYnUWWi4TvORKrh4iY/s1600/4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHYel7kZeL81ZcM8jFkDQ9WC1QamuLslQhAtnZ1Fjg-Ko4JJU2YoaPqgXWBXKmRG5Qp1nHJ4r08IOubqKYULLlzEKOrxmbimgKEDV8FbiNnywVFsglH0tYL7buCYnUWWi4TvORKrh4iY/w640-h448/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
This week was the <a href="http://www.shakeout.org/">Great Shake-Out</a> in California: At 10:19 AM last Thursday millions of people, especially kids, participated in a statewide earthquake drill. Just to put an exclamation point on the whole idea, there was an actual earthquake alert for many people in Central California on Wednesday. The quake wasn't much in this case, a magnitude 4.1, but what timing. This was also a few days after the 34th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake that caused so much damage in the San Francisco Bay-Santa Cruz region. Given that many people in northern California weren't even born by then, and others have moved in, it helps to be reminded that earthquakes are a fact of life in our fair state (and our state is quite fair because of the long-term activity of earthquakes: it's how our mountains formed).<div><br /></div><div>It occurs to me that people sometimes make assumptions about California and earthquakes, and it seemed to be a good time to <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2012/10/myths-and-misconceptions-about.html">dust off a decade-old post</a> about what everyone knows about CA seismicity...<br />
<br />
It starts with a modest little quiz....<br />
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True or False?<br />
<ul>
<li>California is going to fall into the Pacific Ocean</li>
<li>The San Andreas fault causes all California earthquakes</li>
<li>California has more earthquakes and bigger earthquakes than anywhere else</li>
<li>The ground opens up and swallows people during earthquakes</li>
<li>Psychics and animals predict earthquakes</li>
<li>We in California are waiting for the "BIG ONE"</li>
</ul>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh86daqAAfI-PesCn5BbEqid76KJAjZpZ_DhJ3_1v8wtBTspr7Usu96fg38-qy8L_UTFBKvZb-mu0_b9ptyjhLtszzUnYMBOtr8mmOu3nZcFkTH1B2NEAp3GKP9MvNrKVueJMKYKvoYI/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh86daqAAfI-PesCn5BbEqid76KJAjZpZ_DhJ3_1v8wtBTspr7Usu96fg38-qy8L_UTFBKvZb-mu0_b9ptyjhLtszzUnYMBOtr8mmOu3nZcFkTH1B2NEAp3GKP9MvNrKVueJMKYKvoYI/w640-h448/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic art courtesy of Zeo</td></tr>
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<b><i>California is going to fall into the sea: true or false?</i></b><br />
<br />
This is one of those persistent statements about California earthquakes that everyone "knows", even if they live in New Jersey. Many people would say: <b>false</b>.<br />
<br />
Here's the correct answer:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgWvCpMKy1c8QvXrDvcEzxcdQ7mwN-4KsDguyNxfYugCKaaTKrGQ7VQjNsPhftSOjZ9vzGvYZ8qXLLUdvaZStOPYOdPb16OWLT56Gs_bGlyYBlObNcNT9l7O9bqG7-cFLYXTm4J3IN-8/s1600/apollo16_earth_northamerica.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgWvCpMKy1c8QvXrDvcEzxcdQ7mwN-4KsDguyNxfYugCKaaTKrGQ7VQjNsPhftSOjZ9vzGvYZ8qXLLUdvaZStOPYOdPb16OWLT56Gs_bGlyYBlObNcNT9l7O9bqG7-cFLYXTm4J3IN-8/w640-h444/apollo16_earth_northamerica.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><i>True!</i></b><br />
<br />
In fact, not only is it <b><i>going to happen</i></b>, it <b><i>already has</i></b>.<br />
<br />
Check out the NASA photo above. When we speak of California, we often forget that most people are only thinking of one part of California: <b>Alta California (upper California</b>). The image above reminds us that Baja ("Lower") California is also part of our geography. And Baja has already "fallen" into the Pacific Ocean, in a reasonable interpretation of the statement. Baja was once connected to the Mexican mainland, and has been a peninsula for only the last four million years or so. It is the beginning of a massive rift that will ultimately tear Alta California apart, and send it traveling northwest at all of two inches a year. The two inches per year will actually be taken up by large earthquakes shifting the landscape 10-15 feet every century or so.<br />
<br />
In 20 million years, the Dodgers and Giants will again be crosstown rivals (yes, I stole this joke from the DVD "Planet Earth"). In 70 million years, California may slam into the south margin of Alaska, pushing up another high mountain range.<br />
<br />
Want to see how this happened? Tanya Atwater of UCSB, the plate tectonics pioneer who figured out the origin of the San Andreas fault, has a series of <a href="http://emvc.geol.ucsb.edu/1_DownloadPage/Download_Page.html">excellent animations available for download at this site</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqZs6SO3LF8EGmnLH_XaDssES01C3vxjK5uGHc34Eih3bmC9p65SlMdB4tzA0JUhP5rOPYAnxUpqgkMPUhpFDt8IXuaELk_q5-P736bjlfvONyFiMVJWK719k_KpgPE85RGg9JT2xQ8M/s1600/bNEPacWNoAmer.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqZs6SO3LF8EGmnLH_XaDssES01C3vxjK5uGHc34Eih3bmC9p65SlMdB4tzA0JUhP5rOPYAnxUpqgkMPUhpFDt8IXuaELk_q5-P736bjlfvONyFiMVJWK719k_KpgPE85RGg9JT2xQ8M/s320/bNEPacWNoAmer.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of Tanya Atwater. <a href="https://animations.geol.ucsb.edu/2_infopgs/IP4WNATect/dCalifornia.html">animations.geol.ucsb.edu/2_infopgs/IP4WNATect/dCalifornia.html</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div><div>The animations show the complex interactions of the continental margin, with some parts being rotated, and others moving northwest along the San Andreas. And Baja California opening up to form a new seaway, the Gulf of California.<br />
<br />
So indeed, it could be a good idea to buy up some property in the western Mojave Desert to be ready for your oceanfront views...in ten million years...if you want to wait that long.<br />
<br />
What? You thought the question was about California falling into the sea during one earthquake? Really? Like the movie 2012? Not gonna happen. That's tabloid stuff. Aliens kidnapped me last week too.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGazGyuMcSD-JPwkymmdnOXNA95kH_rPDzlm4zMlJrK8bZlMFshiB8dremogxLmFV2U8yClTm2Qx_ObAJ4n6EqTDAG30Snzq1CzwZ67Hm58tIBxaBvq03_91tWc7-zxI3d4YuuGQcIRU/s1600/5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGazGyuMcSD-JPwkymmdnOXNA95kH_rPDzlm4zMlJrK8bZlMFshiB8dremogxLmFV2U8yClTm2Qx_ObAJ4n6EqTDAG30Snzq1CzwZ67Hm58tIBxaBvq03_91tWc7-zxI3d4YuuGQcIRU/w640-h448/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by Zeo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By the way, please don't think that the comic art above is belittling the loss of life and property in horrible events like that which struck Japan in 2011. It is actually a critique of the way that news is reported in American media, especially cable news (I'm talking about you, CNN and FOX), and local news outlets.<br />
<br />
Question #2 on our short quiz is:<br />
<br />
<b><i>All California earthquakes happen on the San Andreas fault - True or False?</i></b><br />
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A crowd at a recent lecture I gave, California residents all, were up to date
on this one. Not a single audience member said "true", and they were
right. On the other hand, lots of people don't live in California, and
they might not be quite as knowledgeable about all of California's
faults (double entendre intended). So a few illustrations may be
helpful. First of all, where do the earthquakes in California happen?
See the map below...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_Z-lE0nMcI59_huH36CaF84N7bcnhLoi3Y28A5yeURfpL3yAIdO3ZW-kEUYAAYQ0tSdlrwPKVsNMS5NYx4UgGgWOEv56klixZnhCVqZsoUfZY23wUCRl7NV19aaCAYB9wnEzgiVzXbA/s1600/seism_ca_nv+all+earthquakes+in+CA-NV.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_Z-lE0nMcI59_huH36CaF84N7bcnhLoi3Y28A5yeURfpL3yAIdO3ZW-kEUYAAYQ0tSdlrwPKVsNMS5NYx4UgGgWOEv56klixZnhCVqZsoUfZY23wUCRl7NV19aaCAYB9wnEzgiVzXbA/w640-h622/seism_ca_nv+all+earthquakes+in+CA-NV.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A
quick look at the seismicity between 1970 and 2003 shows that
earthquakes occur over much of California, and that the San Andreas
fault is not even one of the most active. Long sections show little or
no activity, meaning that stress is building up, leading to powerful
quakes in the future.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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But
what about the biggest quakes? A map that concentrates only on larger
quakes, magnitude 5 and above, shows that large damaging quakes also
happen on faults other than the San Andreas (see the map below). Of
California's three biggest historical quakes, only two were on the San
Andreas. The 1872 Lone Pine quake resulted from movement on the Owens
Valley fault east of the Sierra Nevada.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0vaa7acVbiZgrjW2RnZyVXUNYt5FhcVXeUPAsoGcyYS7m5P119VVzqivHtDMeiutZFpt1LOYxwqh1ArDTzf7hXcGJ3yM9Qzzif346eYDW6cYSABniANeO67JOQKfmMkIqfJkPPqGaIM/s1600/hist_ca_nv+1700-2009.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0vaa7acVbiZgrjW2RnZyVXUNYt5FhcVXeUPAsoGcyYS7m5P119VVzqivHtDMeiutZFpt1LOYxwqh1ArDTzf7hXcGJ3yM9Qzzif346eYDW6cYSABniANeO67JOQKfmMkIqfJkPPqGaIM/w640-h624/hist_ca_nv+1700-2009.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The good news for those of us who live in the flat,
dusty, boring Central Valley is to note how few earthquakes, big or
little, ever happen near us. I have felt very few earthquakes here
since the early 1990s. We did have some excitement a few weeks ago when a swarm of quakes of up to magnitude 4 struck in our county, centered in Del Puerto Canyon.<br />
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Question three<i>: </i><b><i>California has the biggest and the mostest earthquakes in the world. True or False?</i></b><br />
<br />
I know that "mostest" is not really a word, but it somehow seems to fit well in the question of the day (a little like Stephen Colbert's 'truthiness'). So, what is the answer? My California audience is usually a little divided on this one, but mostly fall into the "false" camp.<br />
<br />
So let's check on some data. If you look at the maps above, you can see that California certainly has a great many earthquakes, perhaps 10,000-15,000 year, and some of them are rather considerable. <br />
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There have been three earthquakes in the last 150 years that are thought to have approached magnitude 8 in size: 1857 at Fort Tejon, 1872 at Lone Pine, and 1906 in San Francisco.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLmr6YK9FhP2IIbT2_9RZycAznRBUGfG3gHWYNXPhkwrfkuq-IG7fh2J5ZdT2MvRMySn2G_APlNoBWwltlkieIT6XyrTfyyGrWzhht7MfpTQL1q2PePzgT0sM-Jd9h_UqYRhXa9lho82o/s1600/SF+1906+Burning+city+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLmr6YK9FhP2IIbT2_9RZycAznRBUGfG3gHWYNXPhkwrfkuq-IG7fh2J5ZdT2MvRMySn2G_APlNoBWwltlkieIT6XyrTfyyGrWzhht7MfpTQL1q2PePzgT0sM-Jd9h_UqYRhXa9lho82o/w640-h428/SF+1906+Burning+city+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Francisco earthquake of 1906</td></tr>
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There have been about two dozen magnitude 7 quakes in the same time period, including the Ridgecrest quake of 2019 (7.1), the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah quake in Baja (7.2), the 1999 Hector quake (7.1), and the 1992 Landers quake (7.3).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vACx4XRGdYWhRDwj6xu-IkxtA4_RIx54UBbPm80Q0E7dEEzevh3KhC7DfXzZ8y3RR3SkTfezlpG3U5mz_E0fwYZUH7ev9ecRqiTkGZi2m1GfKgwHWi6iCMRAsTRAsV64yHeCEC4gUrQ/s1600/Dsc00165+Highest+vertical+offset+b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vACx4XRGdYWhRDwj6xu-IkxtA4_RIx54UBbPm80Q0E7dEEzevh3KhC7DfXzZ8y3RR3SkTfezlpG3U5mz_E0fwYZUH7ev9ecRqiTkGZi2m1GfKgwHWi6iCMRAsTRAsV64yHeCEC4gUrQ/w640-h480/Dsc00165+Highest+vertical+offset+b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fault scarp from 1992 Landers earthquake. Photo by Garry Hayes</td></tr>
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There have been at least 50 quakes greater than magnitude 6.5, meaning that a potentially damaging quake occurs somewhere in California roughly every two or three years. The 1989 Loma Prieta quake and 1994 Northridge quakes caused damage measured in the tens of billions of dollars, and killed dozens of people.<br />
<br />
Those are a lot of earthquakes. So let's take the "biggest" issue first. The 2011 quake in Japan that destroyed the nuclear power plant and produced the Pacific-wide tsunami was magnitude 9.0. The quake in Sumatra in 2004 that produced the horrific tsunami in the Indian Ocean was magnitude 9.1. So, California doesn't have the biggest earthquakes. Not even close (but check for the wild card issue below). <br />
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There is a great deal of confusion about the nature of the magnitude scale for measuring earthquakes. It is not a 1-10 scale, for instance, even though literally all recorded earthquakes fall within that range. It is open-ended, and quakes of greater than magnitude 10 are technically possible, but not likely from terrestrial origin. It would take the impact of an asteroid miles across to cause a quake larger than about 9.5 on the magnitude scale.<br />
<br />
The biggest confusion concerns the relative size of quakes. Magnitude is a measure of the <i>energy released</i> when an earthquake strikes. A magnitude 9 quake is not just a little bit bigger than a magnitude 8. It is exponentially larger, by a factor of 32. To put it a different way, <i>a magnitude 9 quake releases an amount of energy that is equivalent to 32 magnitude 8 earthquakes</i>!<br />
<br />
It gets worse: Since a 9 is 32 times more than an 8, and an 8 is 32 times bigger than a 7, a magnitude 9 quake is more than <i>1000 times</i> larger than a 7 (32x32).<br />
<br />
A magnitude 9 quake is the energy equivalent of more than 1,000 magnitude 7 earthquakes...<br />
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Put another way: <b><i>the Japan 9.0 quake released more energy than all of California's historical earthquakes combined.</i></b><br />
<br />
The story is pretty much the same with the total number of earthquakes. California has a great many smaller quakes, but just about any subduction zone around the world has more. Even in the United States, Alaska has more earthquakes than California (as well as the second-largest earthquake ever recorded in the world, the 9.3 magnitude Good Friday quake of 1964).<br />
<br />
So why does California get this reputation of having an inordinate number of earthquakes? I feel compelled to blame the way news is reported in this country. Cable and local news coverage of earthquakes is atrocious for the most part, with badly misinformed reporters and news-readers (I don't consider them to be news anchors or journalists anymore). There is a tendency to display blood and gore over actual conditions on the ground. The media will spend weeks talking about an earthquake in Los Angeles or San Francisco that kills a few people and practically ignore monumental tragedies in Pakistan or Iran where tens of thousands of people have died.<br />
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As mentioned above, there is one wild card in the possibility of large earthquakes hitting California. The state does in fact have a subduction zone that is active north of Fortuna and Eureka. It is part of the Cascadia subduction zone that threatens Oregon and Washington. There is good evidence that a magnitude 9 earthquake took place along the system in 1700, and there is no reason to think that the fault system is any less dangerous now.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx1WjjADfWfE_zgz3uLj4OeTfMQ0S-IA2EnC8tkcozT1P0ZGSEg0_-SxerOyVJ5CUANk-r0AumWvNXJ27eb_S8Ed-kEpMiU396zouyQJEF8aNqATtpZpb1GkfZFCBv1KQUpskhCiSscw/s1600/Dsc00022+Closeup+offset+curb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx1WjjADfWfE_zgz3uLj4OeTfMQ0S-IA2EnC8tkcozT1P0ZGSEg0_-SxerOyVJ5CUANk-r0AumWvNXJ27eb_S8Ed-kEpMiU396zouyQJEF8aNqATtpZpb1GkfZFCBv1KQUpskhCiSscw/w640-h480/Dsc00022+Closeup+offset+curb.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An offset curb on the Calaveras fault in Hollister, CA. It isn't the San Andreas...</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhch0Lg2C-ufi6P37m-UKVFyk8jyo8YoMV6sz8duEHY5iOfbsxWtkt8LwzCjMsqHFY8fa4sJVIZdSEdN1lCq_fFcF7Afb0tpOry09KTESgM8I6Uy4Pitw1mVKlUSEHm-hScjIiul_vf3G8/s1600/4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhch0Lg2C-ufi6P37m-UKVFyk8jyo8YoMV6sz8duEHY5iOfbsxWtkt8LwzCjMsqHFY8fa4sJVIZdSEdN1lCq_fFcF7Afb0tpOry09KTESgM8I6Uy4Pitw1mVKlUSEHm-hScjIiul_vf3G8/w640-h448/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Question #4<b><i>: In an earthquake, the ground opens up and swallows people: true or false?</i></b><br />
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<b><i>True, but only in Hollywood....</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IT7xFESpeH76IE4Iqa4qvol9Trzp_3eHSYHZLATglGfIVjoaBklMSt2HCTJPrJ7f2zbp1aWdteslD3wy9piGe7KYasXot5bQyqa8mljljyk386-kLK5P_lfTNJ4zOmDVxQyu55nIelQ/s1600/Indiana-Jones-3-Last-Crusade-1603.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IT7xFESpeH76IE4Iqa4qvol9Trzp_3eHSYHZLATglGfIVjoaBklMSt2HCTJPrJ7f2zbp1aWdteslD3wy9piGe7KYasXot5bQyqa8mljljyk386-kLK5P_lfTNJ4zOmDVxQyu55nIelQ/w640-h480/Indiana-Jones-3-Last-Crusade-1603.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Indeed, it is a staple that if an earthquake happens in a movie, somebody is going to be hanging by their fingernails on the edge of a vast deep chasm that has opened up beneath their feet. In the third Indiana Jones movie, for instance, and in <b>2012</b>, again, and again, and again. And again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaa1EfpAS5Ef44qMMA1OA1hVTcD8D0G3mzcM1qzDwsEX7wQQYII0gKvWi-0Oq8LJ6XmS2NvIzDOTjrL1wSXitSDC6cMhvw8uRG_kP47kvfC5ajxs_puJhnEkXDDkhz_A-j8NhsT-arJXc/s1600/2012+movie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaa1EfpAS5Ef44qMMA1OA1hVTcD8D0G3mzcM1qzDwsEX7wQQYII0gKvWi-0Oq8LJ6XmS2NvIzDOTjrL1wSXitSDC6cMhvw8uRG_kP47kvfC5ajxs_puJhnEkXDDkhz_A-j8NhsT-arJXc/w640-h400/2012+movie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
For the reality-based world, the possibility of being swallowed up in the earth during an earthquake is far more unlikely. The problem is that earthquakes are generated by the stress built up along fault lines where vast blocks of rocky crust are in contact. The shaking begins when the rocks rupture and begin slipping. They don't separate. In some faults (thrusts) the stress is compressional and in others (strike-slip) the stress is lateral. Not much chance of openings occurring in either situation. The third type of fault, termed normal faulting, the stress is extensional, which could conceivably result in the stretching of the crust and formation of fissures, but more often, one side slips downward, as can be seen in the picture below, from the 1954 Fairview Peak earthquake in Nevada.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6lzGjZ6z7euhB474kB-2h8nRUv2acmXAd1_HK2cIzX1f2bVoWO-F6t5IxG8NHFvW2eSUc3Nw8XCROM_BAqWjwok3td4tzhOJdLAkzFM1bSbeBpy-FCjZA_PGwm2Wq-6l_Swlyl0SuV0/s1600/DSC00136+Fairview+scarps+b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6lzGjZ6z7euhB474kB-2h8nRUv2acmXAd1_HK2cIzX1f2bVoWO-F6t5IxG8NHFvW2eSUc3Nw8XCROM_BAqWjwok3td4tzhOJdLAkzFM1bSbeBpy-FCjZA_PGwm2Wq-6l_Swlyl0SuV0/w640-h480/DSC00136+Fairview+scarps+b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
It is true that small fissures will open along fault ruptures in some situations. I saw many of these when I visited the Landers area a week after the 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1992. The fissures were only a few inches across and no more than a foot or so in depth. I've read where someone was killed in a fissure that opened up in a 1948 quake in Japan, but that hardly represents a pattern.<br />
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One other effect of large earthquakes is the production of slope failures and landslides, during which large fissures might open up. The Turnagain Heights liquefaction event during the Alaska earthquake of 1964 is a stunning example. Weak saturated sediments underneath the housing project were severely shaken, causing the whole landscape to break up and flow towards the adjacent bay, destroying the dwellings at the surface (I've included two pictures derived from my old slide collection, but I'm afraid I don't know who to attribute them to; I will add credit if someone can clue me in. They may be from a USGS collection).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNANuvDKActHCHeNLJEJnOLxIqSs0LWYWiZWBOWavwiqfHmsV3HXdY-c5VDWfWvkoR2p4tLGnE2Kd3u8umPulJ6bbPm2ptyc1kBGfjypbTAFOzOsNzdibrSdEwM98NV5s38mNzTpw74jw/s1600/Turnigan+Heights+4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNANuvDKActHCHeNLJEJnOLxIqSs0LWYWiZWBOWavwiqfHmsV3HXdY-c5VDWfWvkoR2p4tLGnE2Kd3u8umPulJ6bbPm2ptyc1kBGfjypbTAFOzOsNzdibrSdEwM98NV5s38mNzTpw74jw/w640-h426/Turnigan+Heights+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2foDarlyrt0vmfu0KAowuLiDxDgODDAc4J_sx9u2sEb0XFwnYnH1MO94OMAtXZFRcfUm7piT_Qe-Cm3gPC7_38J9r4mr1MDzspV8PSCm7JdIBMlqc8_GWrvi3iyp0tCbCnOvn1T1oVc/s1600/Turnigan+Heights+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2foDarlyrt0vmfu0KAowuLiDxDgODDAc4J_sx9u2sEb0XFwnYnH1MO94OMAtXZFRcfUm7piT_Qe-Cm3gPC7_38J9r4mr1MDzspV8PSCm7JdIBMlqc8_GWrvi3iyp0tCbCnOvn1T1oVc/w640-h426/Turnigan+Heights+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
In the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, there were not any claims of swallowed people that I know of, but there is the famous tail/tale of Shafter's cow, which was swallowed up by the San Andreas fault. In the aftermath, only the poor bovine's tail could be seen at the surface. The story apparently became widespread, but in a letter from 1966, some locals recalled that the poor cow had actually died the night before. The earthquake produced a convenient fissure, the farmer tossed in the carcass, and when reporters showed up asking questions about the poor animal, farmer Shafter decided not to kill a "good story".<br />
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Question 5: <span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><b><i>Psychics predict earthquakes: true or false?</i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhkOjoESizr-wVDqx6oCwHMzp6M5nDuIeg3IEfviT3p7Vsvwt6o4rnb0uBhyWmrPhEMwUyAw5ull8u7ylqQyt_a3bb-h93tI_qcCb2WRGbP5847-crCrv9j4NQI5l_IbposzcDQdPvT0/s1600/Psychic+predicts+frame+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhkOjoESizr-wVDqx6oCwHMzp6M5nDuIeg3IEfviT3p7Vsvwt6o4rnb0uBhyWmrPhEMwUyAw5ull8u7ylqQyt_a3bb-h93tI_qcCb2WRGbP5847-crCrv9j4NQI5l_IbposzcDQdPvT0/w640-h448/Psychic+predicts+frame+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyVcqw0ElBrvr_862ImhD3prup7FhTxM1hwqjOUE38IvxeJEd7q-5b6NOj-W7pcYLZcVsFMfNldwUu1Tgq8dHaW4QT-7jtv70hf2h48b3XmgFWmSE8N9MPHhGJ-k9f7KRzjbnbH45Nn4/s1600/Psychic+predicts+frame+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyVcqw0ElBrvr_862ImhD3prup7FhTxM1hwqjOUE38IvxeJEd7q-5b6NOj-W7pcYLZcVsFMfNldwUu1Tgq8dHaW4QT-7jtv70hf2h48b3XmgFWmSE8N9MPHhGJ-k9f7KRzjbnbH45Nn4/w640-h448/Psychic+predicts+frame+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic art by Zeo (with slight modifications by Geotripper)</td></tr>
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<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Well, let's see if I can't make a few (seismic) waves here. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">My audiences and readers are skeptics and non-believers, to be frank, and usually come down firmly in favor of "false" for an answer. So they are a little surprised when I tell them the actual answer:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><b><i>TRUE!</i></b></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Times;">Think about it a moment, and you will realize that the statement is in fact true. Psychics predict earthquakes all the time. All the time, and then some more. Earthquakes are one of their most common predictions, more popular I think than predictions about aliens. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">That leads to a revised question: <b><i>Do psychic predictions about earthquakes come true?</i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">My readers are usually onto me by now, and they will say that psychic predictions are invariably wrong. I set them straight. I say <b><i>"Psychics predict earthquakes all the time, and are almost invariably correct".</i></b> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">I support my contention with a collection of predictions that I googled in about five minutes. I refuse to link to each of them because I have no interest in promoting their websites. If you want to find them, google the statement and it shouldn't take long to dig them up.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Both earthquake and out of control fires will effect California causing devastation and loss [of] life. </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></i></span></span></span></span></li>
<span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="font-size: small;"><i>There will be a violent earthquake, one of the strongest on record.[no location noted]</i></span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="font-size: small;"><i>My California earthquake prediction: yes, there WILL be an earthquake in California. I am not saying it will be along the San Andreas Fault or that it will be major. …I am also not saying when.</i></span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="font-size: small;"><i>I keep seeing the year 2011 like a pulsating animation within visions of major earth shifts in my home state of California. Dates perceived in months or years could be argued to have limited value in forecasting a time because we psychics move our consciousness in large spans of time and cover broad areas of locations and events.</i></span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></ul>
<span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Note how every one of these predictions came true. Oh, and my favorite, the shotgun prediction....</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Wild Weather Predictions</i></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<ol class="text" sb_id="ms__id12755"><span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
<li sb_id="ms__id12756"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Category five hurricane wipes out Miami. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12757"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>The worst mudslides in California’s history will occur. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12758"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Mount St. Helens erupting. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12759"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Seattle, Washington. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12760"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Chicago, Illinois. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12761"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Part of the polar ice cap melts. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12762"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Wildfires spread to Beverley Hills and Los Angeles, Brentwood. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12763"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>More tsunamis Sumatra Indonesia, Alaska, Hawaii and Japan. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12764"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>A great earthquake in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12765"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Lake Tahoe. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12766"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Toronto and Quebec. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12767"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Oregon. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12768"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Grand Canyon. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12769"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake New York, Alaska, Japan, Greece. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12770"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake British Columbia, China and Iran. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12771"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Tornado in California. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12772"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Floods Amsterdam, Holland, Rhine River, Germany, Bangladesh, Great Britain. Venice, Italy, Gulf Coast of Florida and France. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12773"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Tsunami Malibu, California. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12774"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Wildfires Greece, Australia, Texas, Hawaii. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12775"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Mudslides in India, California. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12776"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Typhoon in Taiwan. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12777"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Tornadoes Oklahoma, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12778"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Great earthquake Rome and Naples, Italy. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12779"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Huge snowstorm and blizzards up the eastern seaboard affecting the great lakes – Toronto, Chicago, New York, Boston, etc. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<li sb_id="ms__id12780"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Earthquake Yosemite and Yellowstone Park. </i></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></ol>
<span sb_id="ms__id3857" style="font-size: 100%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3858" style="font-size: 85%;"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Note how many of these predictions haven't happened yet. Still, many will absolutely take place, allowing the psychic responsible for this list to claim broad success in his or her psychic powers.</span></span><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Soooo...psychics accurately predict earthquakes. Well, guess what? I can predict earthquakes too! And I can be more specific than the average psychic. Here goes..</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I predict that within the next week:</span></span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>At least 200 earthquakes will occur in California,</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>Of these, there will be a magnitude 4 quake in southern California, most likely in the Colorado Desert near Salton Sea.</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>There will be a magnitude 3 earthquake in northern California, most likely north of the Bay Area, somewhere around Clear Lake.</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>There will be a larger quake at the Vanuatu Islands in the Pacific Ocean, quite possibly in the magnitude 6 range.</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>There will be a magnitude 5 earthquake offshore of Japan.</i></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I think I am going to be right. You are welcome to keep count and when the quakes happen you can hail me as a psychic earthquake predictor.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">You can do that, but please note that my predictions have something in common with psychic predictions: <b><i>the predictions are totally and absolutely useless to anybody</i></b>. They are about as useful as predicting that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Why? Because like the sun rising, earthquakes happen all the time, and they tend to happen in the same general places, mainly along tectonic plate boundaries (along with a few near hot spots like Hawaii or Yellowstone). It sounds impressive that 200 earthquakes will happen over the next week in California, but that happens pretty much every week. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Earthquake prediction is a serious business. On the one hand, a timely prediction can save lives. But a prediction made by a credible source that doesn't come to pass is a real problem. Like the boy who called "wolf" once too often, later predictions will be ignored. Charlatans who make spurious predictions can cause panic and unnecessary stress in an uninformed population (<a href="http://faroutliers.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/media-disastermongering-in-1990/">such a prediction in 1990</a> caused the population of St. Louis and surrounding region to close down businesses and leave town, and also caused a media circus). </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">An earthquake prediction, in order to save lives, must have three elements:</span></span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>the time (within a few days at most)</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>the location (specific)</i></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><i>the magnitude and depth</i></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">No psychic ever provides such information, which proves the useless nature of their "predictions". No one is in a position to predict earthquakes with such precision, including seismologists. Anyone who claims some special power of prediction is lying or deluded. No one has ever once saved lives with such predictions (the <b>one</b> successful prediction ever, of a quake that saved lives, in China in 1975, was based on tangible evidence, and no psychic powers were claimed or invoked).</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span sb_id="ms__id3857"><span sb_id="ms__id3858"><span sb_id="ms__id3859" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Psychics: give up the earthquakes. Stick to the lives of the Hollywood stars. They're more predictable anyway.</span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqGYeEY36yruRkWMon0ZnFB8quLhQMNp-bsOp9iKDfc0JxM0AJjrYFfcdvEQpwFDEwuAyp_4sjKPOLsKUt29wbAYAhIj3Cx_o1rWR-TLBHchiGtRdVkdP72akZHlrZNw7nQZF9PkG7vs/s1600/7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqGYeEY36yruRkWMon0ZnFB8quLhQMNp-bsOp9iKDfc0JxM0AJjrYFfcdvEQpwFDEwuAyp_4sjKPOLsKUt29wbAYAhIj3Cx_o1rWR-TLBHchiGtRdVkdP72akZHlrZNw7nQZF9PkG7vs/w640-h448/7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Question 5 B:<i> </i><b><i>Animals predict earthquakes...true or false?</i></b><br />
<br />
My answer to this one?<br />
<br />
<b><i>??? Who knows???</i></b><br />
<br />
The problem is perceived cause and effect. Many people who experience strong earthquakes recall strange behavior by their animals, and link that behavior to the quake. The problem is that animals may behave strangely in many circumstances that are not followed by a strong earthquake, but the behavior is not noticed or remarked.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSIGUKcprXOf2ufaNzLZa6FKEyypuH2qvJK_At9yEOdNziT9sH8I_Ut-xjB-kcjibtmI4uqKjp6rxnndfs0FZHoFYgMohRNCWHTqkboIR6o0V5fJo-6WR-E11OfxN18PkvG0-bQcV5eM/s1600/Dsc00072+Zoe+peekaboo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSIGUKcprXOf2ufaNzLZa6FKEyypuH2qvJK_At9yEOdNziT9sH8I_Ut-xjB-kcjibtmI4uqKjp6rxnndfs0FZHoFYgMohRNCWHTqkboIR6o0V5fJo-6WR-E11OfxN18PkvG0-bQcV5eM/w640-h480/Dsc00072+Zoe+peekaboo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This animal is clearly predicting an earthquake. Or is about to attack.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div><div>
The other problem is how to quantify strange acts by animals. What specific animal behavior constitutes a prediction of an earthquake? At what point do authorities declare that animals have predicted a quake? <br />
<br />
There are many anecdotal stories about unusual activity by animals going back hundreds of years, so I for one cannot completely dismiss the idea out of hand. Animals sense the world differently than humans, and there could in fact be some sort of electromagnetic or vibrational effect that researchers have not yet detected. <br />
<br />
A reasonable response on earthquakes and animal behavior by the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/animals-earthquake-prediction">U.S. Geological Survey can be read here</a>. Geologists around the world <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/science/04quake.html?_r=2&hpw">followed a story coming out of Italy</a> regarding the failure of seismologists for failing to predict or warn the local populace before a deadly earthquake in Italy that killed several hundred people in 2009. It's one thing to say geologists can't predict earthquakes, and quite another to say they didn't predict it enough in the aftermath. Seismologists walk a fine line.<br />
<br />
Speaking of kitties and strange behavior, if you see these eyes, run for your life. Aliens have taken over your cat's soul....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM27OjmeEtIHadhoXnJw4xNMLjLVGuVQLvDR-3i6Gi23bMnoAQOKbJ_B6eaxVT5CHn7vNicwxCyOtXBKsEktRezkPTVDZUeAeX7dkmEYMtASSB5oXl24-MVPL0D1lViTOhdNqh9cjhTRk/s1600/Dsc00068+I+want+in+NOW%2521+b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM27OjmeEtIHadhoXnJw4xNMLjLVGuVQLvDR-3i6Gi23bMnoAQOKbJ_B6eaxVT5CHn7vNicwxCyOtXBKsEktRezkPTVDZUeAeX7dkmEYMtASSB5oXl24-MVPL0D1lViTOhdNqh9cjhTRk/w640-h484/Dsc00068+I+want+in+NOW%2521+b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSC2yD2MZaqh4ll2o6XZ_trD8of3dL7kUZlqPK8zeTv1wO0CpqZ6FZGQG6BkK6hBa0Q_gIxRS_uWa9gksOJAr9D7I_PdElW_LJW-8t5YM0xLwMKBj-Uc96EdW2nDJbHU0HENjwDHa3AI/s1600/8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSC2yD2MZaqh4ll2o6XZ_trD8of3dL7kUZlqPK8zeTv1wO0CpqZ6FZGQG6BkK6hBa0Q_gIxRS_uWa9gksOJAr9D7I_PdElW_LJW-8t5YM0xLwMKBj-Uc96EdW2nDJbHU0HENjwDHa3AI/w640-h448/8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic art by Zeo</td></tr>
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<br />
Question 6:<i> </i><b><i>In California, we are waiting for the BIG ONE! True or False??</i></b><br />
<br />
When I talk to groups about this question, I make sure to say "the BIG ONE" in capital letters. How do you say something in capital letters? You do it in a deep baritone voice with your hand cupping the microphone; it's very dramatic.<br />
<br />
So what is the answer? Well, actually the question is wrong and requires a bit of modification. Let's try it again, and in that deep baritone voice:<br />
<br />
<b><i>In California, we are waiting for the BIG ONES!</i></b><br />
<br />
There, that's better. If we can't predict earthquakes, then how can this statement be possible? Doesn't it require the ability to predict earthquakes? Yes, it does. So the statement must be false. But it is not. The answer is <b><i>TRUE!</i></b><br />
<br />
Predicting earthquakes is not possible in the short term, as in hours or days, but a great deal can be said about the probability of earthquakes in a particular area over a period of decades. We can do this on the basis of the historical and prehistorical record of earthquakes along a particular fault zone, and by analysis of building stresses and tilting over a large region, as revealed by GPS stations and other related technology Check out the methodology of the 2007 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3027/fs2008-3027.pdf">in this USGS PDF file</a> (newer updates may be available).<br />
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As can be found on the map above, numerous fault zones represent a threat to the state of California. The fault zones are of different lengths, and therefore some will produce smaller quakes, but several are capable of producing large shocks approaching magnitude 7, and maybe even larger. These include the San Jacinto fault, the Owens Valley fault, the Hayward and Calaveras faults, and others. Even more important is the fact that the San Andreas itself is not a single monolithic fault zone. It has segments that behave independently. This was shown in 1857 and 1906, when completely different sections of the fault gave way, producing shocks that approached magnitude 8.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.scec.org/ucerf/">most recently published studies</a> show that earthquakes of 6.7 magnitude or greater are a virtual certainty over the next 30 years. The chance for an even greater quake is ominous, exceeding 70% for a magnitude 7.0, and a lesser, but still significant chance of even larger events. In a way, two of these quakes have already occurred: the El Mayor-Cucapah quake in northern Baja California in 2010 was a magnitude 7.2 event. The 7.1 magnitude Ridgecrest quake took place in 2019.<br />
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Another wild card is the possibility of a large quake along the Cascadia subduction zone in the northernmost part of the state. It was not included in the probabilities, but numerous magnitude 7 quakes have taken place in that region in recent decades.<br />
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The lesson to be drawn from these predictions is that damaging earthquakes have happened all over California, and they will continue to do so in the future. Some of these quakes will be major events, causing many deaths and massive damage over large areas. The probability forecasts have great value in the sense that they are a warning to residents across the the state to be prepared at all times for earthquakes. We cannot know the precise moment that a large earthquake will strike, but we do know where they will happen, and how big they can be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What else does everyone "know" about earthquakes in California?</div>
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</div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-42986283827425810192023-10-14T20:02:00.003-07:002023-10-14T20:02:46.223-07:00A Great Valley View of the Eclipse<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfliPb_VxTXD9uC-4wdiFI0LfRVZ0OqKqdA1ixGB3uJEvKvClnSy0j1ZVikE3HJeOeH13tt58OeimgCNPCdZy1pmXF7jagEJqGoHZjF6vj7F_6r2JPIwt3y_ZjOECvSX4_5l4YoC3oUWHrV_A92hD9MyJdlieYaizDfoTDyJ24fdyzIdn583knIXhH58E/s4896/P1080240%20Time%20of%20most%20cover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfliPb_VxTXD9uC-4wdiFI0LfRVZ0OqKqdA1ixGB3uJEvKvClnSy0j1ZVikE3HJeOeH13tt58OeimgCNPCdZy1pmXF7jagEJqGoHZjF6vj7F_6r2JPIwt3y_ZjOECvSX4_5l4YoC3oUWHrV_A92hD9MyJdlieYaizDfoTDyJ24fdyzIdn583knIXhH58E/w640-h480/P1080240%20Time%20of%20most%20cover.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today's eclipse at the greatest coverage of the Sun, about 80%</td></tr></tbody></table><br />There was an eclipse today! This is perhaps not entirely news to my North American readers, as the eclipse was visible to some extent across the entire United States. The eclipse was not a total eclipse, as the Moon was farther from the Earth, and could not completely cover the disk of the Sun. This is called an <b><i>annular eclipse</i></b>. Those on the main path of the eclipse were treated with the "ring of fire" effect, as the edge of the Sun formed a perfect ring around the Moon. I didn't have the opportunity to be in that area, so I've settled for the "near miss" of about 80% coverage of the Sun.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj4j8Zb9wEyThVcc8X3fbxG8v4_Mv2cYWouzurMCD8GM1DaRVYZzkMcnyQD0qCE6Ibt1zV_tawoNKCAoHPk36xg4E04AmwDgbFw07Eaolu0rOMMVlIrOdoYFEM8grUSIXdf7g-zC4iuCS0hyc-LlcAsmYzMOxfI60rXjDaaoQseo1r6umXcIfVZOJ5EBd/s4896/P1080207%20Start%20of%20eclipse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj4j8Zb9wEyThVcc8X3fbxG8v4_Mv2cYWouzurMCD8GM1DaRVYZzkMcnyQD0qCE6Ibt1zV_tawoNKCAoHPk36xg4E04AmwDgbFw07Eaolu0rOMMVlIrOdoYFEM8grUSIXdf7g-zC4iuCS0hyc-LlcAsmYzMOxfI60rXjDaaoQseo1r6umXcIfVZOJ5EBd/w640-h480/P1080207%20Start%20of%20eclipse.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>To see the eclipse, one needed merely to go outside and hope it wasn't cloudy, but Mrs. Geotripper and I wanted to make the day a bit more special, so we headed out to the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge where we could see things in a setting resembling the primeval environment of California's Great Valley. We got to observe some of the early-arriving migrant birds like the Sandhill Cranes, Greater White-fronted Geese, and Snow Geese.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-Lm4L0QqmAMeEYf3QXi_3XhkC2cx0LWqxR4ViRymYIvQOQBVX5klVeJjKjLXSmxdgk7XbV2bgXqVIjm-gUKcMaB4Bu4aKbxFXqyaqV8o9PdJc6npVouUHGMq8uDGBFJwB9MBoc9YTkFcGPOflRnWX9SrDHRfLEebb2w43uN73FSzf6qVKXqRiUFB6ZBS/s4896/P1080291%20Sandhill%20Cranes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-Lm4L0QqmAMeEYf3QXi_3XhkC2cx0LWqxR4ViRymYIvQOQBVX5klVeJjKjLXSmxdgk7XbV2bgXqVIjm-gUKcMaB4Bu4aKbxFXqyaqV8o9PdJc6npVouUHGMq8uDGBFJwB9MBoc9YTkFcGPOflRnWX9SrDHRfLEebb2w43uN73FSzf6qVKXqRiUFB6ZBS/w640-h480/P1080291%20Sandhill%20Cranes.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandhill Cranes at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We were a bit curious if the bird behavior would be affected by the darkening skies, as sometimes happens with total eclipses, but we didn't notice anything unusual.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiianPPr6gJxYnxwH8qmhZmk8Ti3za6OGUvRuYKvi9AqMMN3xRPd26fdZD7MHbgUR8uV6JnTyIq0D2fk7DcGuma9Po8uSMCEVzknsV7kmKXlAg79QDgKd8u5dNDU39fKK7fyGSEiXg0NfOAg6n01H0moN-yJhm-fzX2tPMuentmXIMQTMFk-0lTbYU3OAYq/s4896/P1080214%20Eclipse%20continues.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiianPPr6gJxYnxwH8qmhZmk8Ti3za6OGUvRuYKvi9AqMMN3xRPd26fdZD7MHbgUR8uV6JnTyIq0D2fk7DcGuma9Po8uSMCEVzknsV7kmKXlAg79QDgKd8u5dNDU39fKK7fyGSEiXg0NfOAg6n01H0moN-yJhm-fzX2tPMuentmXIMQTMFk-0lTbYU3OAYq/w640-h480/P1080214%20Eclipse%20continues.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The entire affair unfolded over about two hours, so we drove the auto-tour route at the refuge, stopping to take pictures of the progress every fifteen minutes or so. This was far less stressful than my two experiences with total eclipses when totality lasted only a few short minutes, and much had to happen to get pictures. <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2017/08/just-barely-through-fog-banks-eclipse.html">Our experience with the total eclipse in 2017 </a>was stressful (and crowded), yet spectacular. Today was peaceful and we had the refuge to ourselves.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IFn3CL3vx8vk4OtQRIZ-nXXdtqW_aEQQuCC8joaNZyPG5L5WCwXOdr-koOKYc7oRrIdELvNkT6YvLlXnawlhCQS73NoCR0B-FUitIY9rjCKTqIKfL3P91wjHObfitU36JFAIXrY0Ajj_Sp4As3h5EjDU7FzcmjJr81PpB5foK4iIZvK6FjCtruRBtG7e/s4655/P1080237%20Sky%20at%20darkest%20moment.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3491" data-original-width="4655" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IFn3CL3vx8vk4OtQRIZ-nXXdtqW_aEQQuCC8joaNZyPG5L5WCwXOdr-koOKYc7oRrIdELvNkT6YvLlXnawlhCQS73NoCR0B-FUitIY9rjCKTqIKfL3P91wjHObfitU36JFAIXrY0Ajj_Sp4As3h5EjDU7FzcmjJr81PpB5foK4iIZvK6FjCtruRBtG7e/w640-h480/P1080237%20Sky%20at%20darkest%20moment.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The sky must have darkened when 80% of the solar disk was covered by the Moon today, but it wasn't really noticeable. It happened so gradually. When we experienced a total eclipse in Baja in 1991 (<a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2017/01/whats-most-incredible-thing-youve.html">see the pictures and story here</a>), at totality the sky turned dark as night, stars became visible, and the temperature dropped around 20 degrees in mere moments. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq5Brb_I0VblJT4L3uyryvM1w5krK2gQTCGElTvvL5zMG-4b8CsO2rFzirW3R7cxT0SCzxsPsk1oTlTCfuuVVNE4ei56Bm6I0ZX1jERGTpzOfV6Eaq-On17FjG1rBbfu9c0ku4bDkctUCZjVcYYVrRrvmevBg_piyxhi2wpmgxygToqmDbAGcTFvROyog/s4896/P1080249%20After%20totality.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq5Brb_I0VblJT4L3uyryvM1w5krK2gQTCGElTvvL5zMG-4b8CsO2rFzirW3R7cxT0SCzxsPsk1oTlTCfuuVVNE4ei56Bm6I0ZX1jERGTpzOfV6Eaq-On17FjG1rBbfu9c0ku4bDkctUCZjVcYYVrRrvmevBg_piyxhi2wpmgxygToqmDbAGcTFvROyog/w640-h480/P1080249%20After%20totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>As the last hour progressed, more and more of the Sun became visible, and soon it seemed like a relatively normal day. The dragon had not consumed the life-giving Sun, and life could go on!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGunFvhlvBWgGhq-YQv8uJ8tCezodca9GKkJTQDe0oSHw3bS3N2b9I-0hLbckX-_XxZ_HS-7YnVfqjBN94R2dyojTgmYM2dbFLyXiETJyAuNJEcAQDErpCSkTtx6cAtLnzFqY91bv_n9DUA3RYUf7X9R4qesmWkPV2ZPkVKANTv2Q1ijtQAYVDJvRhVNH/s4896/P1080262%20Wrapping%20up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGunFvhlvBWgGhq-YQv8uJ8tCezodca9GKkJTQDe0oSHw3bS3N2b9I-0hLbckX-_XxZ_HS-7YnVfqjBN94R2dyojTgmYM2dbFLyXiETJyAuNJEcAQDErpCSkTtx6cAtLnzFqY91bv_n9DUA3RYUf7X9R4qesmWkPV2ZPkVKANTv2Q1ijtQAYVDJvRhVNH/w640-h480/P1080262%20Wrapping%20up.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-27697096708903889952023-09-23T19:09:00.001-07:002023-09-24T20:35:01.842-07:00An Aerial Tour of the Stanislaus Table Mountain<p><i>This is a short blog series of informational articles from my college faculty website that is soon to be extinct (arcane unsafe software, they say). Way back in 2002, the parent of one of my students offered me a flight of my choosing, and I knew it had to be Stanislaus Table Mountain. It is one of the more famous geological features of our region, and it is best appreciated from above. Please buckle your seatbelts, and comply with the no smoking signs...</i></p><p>Our flight takes us from Oakdale, a small town at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, to the Sonora-Columbia area in the Sierra Mother Lode. Our objective was to get a bird's-eye view of the Stanislaus Table Mountain, regarded by many as one of the finest examples of an inverted stream in the world. The "mountain" formed around 9 million years ago, when a latite lava flow streamed westward from vents in the vicinity of the Dardanelles, near Sonora Pass at the crest of the Sierra Nevada. </p><p>The latite is dark-colored with phenocrysts (crystals) of plagioclase feldspar scattered throughout. It superficially resembles basalt, but is more closely related to more silica-rich lavas like andesite and dacite. The lava flowed down a river channel carved out of the tuffs and mudflow deposits of the Valley Springs and Relief Peak formations, ending somewhere just west of Knights Ferry, having traveled some 60 miles. The lava resisted erosion better than the softer surrounding rock, and the flow eventually was exhumed, forming a winding, sinuous ridge, especially in the vicinity of Jamestown and Columbia.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTEEcQCsAPo9E75z6b2987G0U7Ka5eUbtI8ahsTN6gTJKqlLAQNnO1VHpQK7gdC-9zacS41hPzPa3DSi0X4v98dJQkkmb1r7Amb9krGYJB_WE1XIj7NPkxtUw-pyDm_EL_faOveetagsF_QhOezI8bwJlSv0z60gvAjSCvGUFIy0MU7DbITkWrVtjMItD/s1214/Dsc00005%20Knights%20Ferry%20and%20Lovers%20Leap%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1214" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTEEcQCsAPo9E75z6b2987G0U7Ka5eUbtI8ahsTN6gTJKqlLAQNnO1VHpQK7gdC-9zacS41hPzPa3DSi0X4v98dJQkkmb1r7Amb9krGYJB_WE1XIj7NPkxtUw-pyDm_EL_faOveetagsF_QhOezI8bwJlSv0z60gvAjSCvGUFIy0MU7DbITkWrVtjMItD/w640-h480/Dsc00005%20Knights%20Ferry%20and%20Lovers%20Leap%20a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Soon after takeoff, we approach Knights Ferry. The modern Stanislaus River makes a prominent loop, with orchards and agricultural fields on the left-side flood plain. The higher terraces are drier, and are used primarily for grazing. The exposed rocks in the barren areas are mostly Mehrten formation, which consists of volcanic mudflow deposits around 4 to 9 million years old.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZyXA0dWbakK5ojL9BnQFWnAT_QwnX6MHY1Kf7katkg_Ub4hDPdWP4IreIkBduLxvuy0-GN0Tin_qz93KauHvXOH_imOx34MWfXw7dmSwiOs1194smTj4LQvVVA5G3cQslMtYEy31aO1hcZMDbwbMzGeycbycYt8FahxLgxt073h1zcSxMGvtP_Q6PWSQ/s1280/Dsc00009%20Gopher%20Ridge%20Volcanics%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZyXA0dWbakK5ojL9BnQFWnAT_QwnX6MHY1Kf7katkg_Ub4hDPdWP4IreIkBduLxvuy0-GN0Tin_qz93KauHvXOH_imOx34MWfXw7dmSwiOs1194smTj4LQvVVA5G3cQslMtYEy31aO1hcZMDbwbMzGeycbycYt8FahxLgxt073h1zcSxMGvtP_Q6PWSQ/w640-h400/Dsc00009%20Gopher%20Ridge%20Volcanics%20a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>North of Knights Ferry, exposures of the Gopher Ridge volcanics are visible. These are metamorphic rocks dating from the Jurassic period. These rocks formed as island arcs (volcanic islands like Alaska's Aleutian Islands) on the oceanic crust of the Pacific Ocean, but were scraped off against the edge of the North American continent as the rocks were subducted. The rocks have been metamorphosed, and turned almost vertical by intense east-west pressure. They are more resistant than the surrounding slates, and so stand out as a prominent ridge. The town of Copperopolis is barely visible in the upper right corner of the photo.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRVObNz5ALsewnSBdHRvSfgfWuM57nucymJCNzh9SNi8yDqw-B-5mbgRDnNkwRpipMB83uYk_ml2O-3ZpZ5pL7_zR4UJt1IWGMOpuKZ34nQ4j1yMwGOa0ZGKz9lzmZMuP4BrNw0WK6r2FSzH33WIXx1tYVgMLfNmNb7q_4oIziJwyX1Ybm3m4HLHbFSK-V/s1280/Dsc00021%20Harvard%20Mine%20(good)%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1280" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRVObNz5ALsewnSBdHRvSfgfWuM57nucymJCNzh9SNi8yDqw-B-5mbgRDnNkwRpipMB83uYk_ml2O-3ZpZ5pL7_zR4UJt1IWGMOpuKZ34nQ4j1yMwGOa0ZGKz9lzmZMuP4BrNw0WK6r2FSzH33WIXx1tYVgMLfNmNb7q_4oIziJwyX1Ybm3m4HLHbFSK-V/w640-h422/Dsc00021%20Harvard%20Mine%20(good)%20a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Farther along, we pass the site of the Harvard Mine. The open-pit mine was active from 1986 to 1994, producing about 660,000 ounces of gold from about 17 million short tons of rock. The lake in the pit is about 300 feet deep. Just prior to closing down, the miners recovered a huge mass of crystallized gold, weighing more than 40 pounds. The gold is on display at the Ironstone Winery in Murphys. The body of water in the background is New Melones Lake.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuRtOZZVnFZcW66sfQrckSxoAEpdD8CAysW0suNDA-fKqsK1poB6LYKU7joddxTc_cvRz-8NrtSGFXyfkc1m5aIppxQSp2CViC7RgdrDmol_4TW--7bB_9EwuDYp4sKxEzFi5o9INWouCPUARvJnQ7WNsANwUJDtZZP7-KWt7mn64HFB5jx0YXj5D5ntB/s1280/Dsc00028%20Sonora%20looking%20west%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1280" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuRtOZZVnFZcW66sfQrckSxoAEpdD8CAysW0suNDA-fKqsK1poB6LYKU7joddxTc_cvRz-8NrtSGFXyfkc1m5aIppxQSp2CViC7RgdrDmol_4TW--7bB_9EwuDYp4sKxEzFi5o9INWouCPUARvJnQ7WNsANwUJDtZZP7-KWt7mn64HFB5jx0YXj5D5ntB/w640-h416/Dsc00028%20Sonora%20looking%20west%20a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Our turnaround point was just east of the town of Sonora. The town had its beginnings in 1848 when gold was discovered by Mexican nationals who had lost their citizenship as California was signed over to the United States. The Mexicans were soon displaced ("invited to leave") by American miners. The original town is visible in the center-right part of the photo, while the newer urban development is visible in the center and left-hand part. Scars from the on-going construction (completed long ago) of a bypass can also be seen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bPGd3_rkMte68NU1bPoKOzomunp8TPoF0HeSOk1o4uSGYS6fX2Z1gfNaEPlcgiejAW-0ILg8fLpNV-ru3aLG4pEJIK_yifujg4pFfXsv0d3LQzkQn16LE1CvR5xl0thSojJwPnVrAN_tecbVGdoLjdBx6Gkj4CL-6KEHIpnC5nZzLGjHQ1j0GUeELkVT/s1280/Dsc00035%20Table%20Mtn%20looking%20west%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bPGd3_rkMte68NU1bPoKOzomunp8TPoF0HeSOk1o4uSGYS6fX2Z1gfNaEPlcgiejAW-0ILg8fLpNV-ru3aLG4pEJIK_yifujg4pFfXsv0d3LQzkQn16LE1CvR5xl0thSojJwPnVrAN_tecbVGdoLjdBx6Gkj4CL-6KEHIpnC5nZzLGjHQ1j0GUeELkVT/w640-h480/Dsc00035%20Table%20Mtn%20looking%20west%20a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Turning west, we start to see the inverted stream of Table Mountain. Highway 108 passes along the lower left hand part of the photo. Very little soil has developed on the top of the old lava flow (note the lack of trees, and widely scattered grassy areas). The sinuous nature of the flow is becoming evident.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9pCzCBIUu5W1WaPJ-s5oo6MaigG8HKgrRMewlq3BzLMjDzg_oCMZXp5td3TTqZ8l2KKNFd0BMKb4kKq30-BEEV47-9tajL5V25Egzpevgb25p1QNWgN6q-ZJUSSWzCDt6GgFIKvCAwlUOLlQx1ylNUnKbrGdxnPxI10kB1BX6iPzW2RXy4xmtAlyZEhL/s1280/Dsc00044%20Curving%20Table%20Mtn%20(best)%20b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9pCzCBIUu5W1WaPJ-s5oo6MaigG8HKgrRMewlq3BzLMjDzg_oCMZXp5td3TTqZ8l2KKNFd0BMKb4kKq30-BEEV47-9tajL5V25Egzpevgb25p1QNWgN6q-ZJUSSWzCDt6GgFIKvCAwlUOLlQx1ylNUnKbrGdxnPxI10kB1BX6iPzW2RXy4xmtAlyZEhL/w480-h640/Dsc00044%20Curving%20Table%20Mtn%20(best)%20b.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>A look out the back of the plane offers the best view of the flow. The barren-looking surface of the flow is actually a unique ecosystem of native wildflowers that are largely free of the invasive European grasses that have overwhelmed the original grasses over much of the region. It is a fascinating hike, especially in the spring after a few good rainstorms. A relatively recent hike to the top of the lava flow can be seen here: <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/04/where-rivers-are-upside-down-hike-to.html">https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/04/where-rivers-are-upside-down-hike-to.html</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwY4BTQvzY4kxSwyFTNZG3G2W7oVpzO5SiR8_9oNq3dGDYEm41dTctFFtJij_4ralJ7tUs7WK5dg4gBSaK8yVkIpnFzCOCNcB3FcZ5BeH9Cvk87mkYTexO8Nm2H2olkVTD4bgtJvZq6tklYcDLC_dE4GhIuLkGJiV7H9x7ZsKhkB7taeGAVamYqIV8xg8h/s1280/Dsc00050%20Wide%20part%20of%20Table%20Mtn%20(best)%20b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwY4BTQvzY4kxSwyFTNZG3G2W7oVpzO5SiR8_9oNq3dGDYEm41dTctFFtJij_4ralJ7tUs7WK5dg4gBSaK8yVkIpnFzCOCNcB3FcZ5BeH9Cvk87mkYTexO8Nm2H2olkVTD4bgtJvZq6tklYcDLC_dE4GhIuLkGJiV7H9x7ZsKhkB7taeGAVamYqIV8xg8h/w640-h480/Dsc00050%20Wide%20part%20of%20Table%20Mtn%20(best)%20b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Looking west, with Knights Ferry in the far distance. The flow is wider, especially where some of the lava backed up into some ancient tributary streams. Tulloch Lake on the Stanislaus River is visible to the right.</p><p>The rest of the flight was a bit more mundane, as we buzzed my house and returned to Oakdale.</p><p>My thanks to Ken Iwahashi, the pilot on our journey. </p><p>Addendum: If you are wondering what the latite rock looks like, I went out today and got a few shots of it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuvttDmwgnpfI35V7xiZB9_YRi88ynDENbf333e6dgbCiSTqDPIjl3nPJGhy6Hvyye9JA9giEOwIaf5E-9Y6FPgvLA3-n9pijULnxXsnPQbx1uE9cAceQEt-exo835Q4HKid5EJlaA4epP4qBZufMmYlP-3Oe4hW0Bh0Q49D7EsyudBybwOvJZAjyRaFE/s4896/P1070835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuvttDmwgnpfI35V7xiZB9_YRi88ynDENbf333e6dgbCiSTqDPIjl3nPJGhy6Hvyye9JA9giEOwIaf5E-9Y6FPgvLA3-n9pijULnxXsnPQbx1uE9cAceQEt-exo835Q4HKid5EJlaA4epP4qBZufMmYlP-3Oe4hW0Bh0Q49D7EsyudBybwOvJZAjyRaFE/w640-h480/P1070835.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-34626196662881501652023-09-15T20:07:00.002-07:002023-09-15T20:41:54.700-07:00A California Love Letter: It's the Best Geology to be Found Anywhere!<p><i>This is the second of some resource materials I have on our college website that are being removed, so I wanted to preserve them. The following is some info I give to my students of my "Geology of California" course. For the majority of these students, it is their first introduction to geology, and their first introduction to the extraordinary state that is their home. For a more complete explanation of each superlative, click on the orange links (down the rabbit hole!). Enjoy!</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNV3GRf7y3xIxTc5HHPSonsckVjot3jcEW6JOCNFvBtlsLIqToJgf7GunmOqH1DWvB8wBPtomTvs68aOYeT__wBEvXIBXZad1JfDmLtX0rAiKCHhIcwKkvfTq_rW_SUl0NjK8KVnN7wB-O2IhiNgooVPU0Oik0FT04XpUCSXXUJeQffXvGewUC4ZoTqfIZ/s2816/DSC07143.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2112" data-original-width="2816" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNV3GRf7y3xIxTc5HHPSonsckVjot3jcEW6JOCNFvBtlsLIqToJgf7GunmOqH1DWvB8wBPtomTvs68aOYeT__wBEvXIBXZad1JfDmLtX0rAiKCHhIcwKkvfTq_rW_SUl0NjK8KVnN7wB-O2IhiNgooVPU0Oik0FT04XpUCSXXUJeQffXvGewUC4ZoTqfIZ/w640-h480/DSC07143.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>Highest point in the lower 48 states: <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2009/02/high-point-of-my-life-meme-and-what-im.html">Mt. Whitney, 14,505 feet</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wEOUDr4dDuYMBjwizdZbmIw3R9tSyz7VoWuPY2OnCyoJ1GgYWHlvI2s0Oj-QytcKDUQyjAsPW9zVCW1W18-IosApQCc_at_459gGUgHwaAS3lLM-9FuxnObQl8BvDiKcMzeqy1PqO8TVq4pPvP0PqGD-q8TrD1crti37KN_5ovJNP4cPVQZfIJ1-Cjcs/s4032/PXL_20230219_220910557%20Dantes%20View.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wEOUDr4dDuYMBjwizdZbmIw3R9tSyz7VoWuPY2OnCyoJ1GgYWHlvI2s0Oj-QytcKDUQyjAsPW9zVCW1W18-IosApQCc_at_459gGUgHwaAS3lLM-9FuxnObQl8BvDiKcMzeqy1PqO8TVq4pPvP0PqGD-q8TrD1crti37KN_5ovJNP4cPVQZfIJ1-Cjcs/w640-h360/PXL_20230219_220910557%20Dantes%20View.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Lowest point in the western hemisphere: near <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2012/04/strangers-in-strange-land-salt-and-end.html">Badwater, Death Valley, -282 feet</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmH96zr91X-3rtRFt68nxY1AglSDrUtea2w59Cno_2D8gWe4j5XwyuLlGTpgfGyvvZmR7GnzHaP0TnSlhEPit4b3g6cjlJ6v83F7l063ic3T8IMu0lU4kcpo1z--n1wKxN3xuETeZnIK97nGWVQdnLvOAC3hrb6JreFTyNbrbzh4N52VE3sh2C_Z8g11TZ/s2560/DSC06878%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmH96zr91X-3rtRFt68nxY1AglSDrUtea2w59Cno_2D8gWe4j5XwyuLlGTpgfGyvvZmR7GnzHaP0TnSlhEPit4b3g6cjlJ6v83F7l063ic3T8IMu0lU4kcpo1z--n1wKxN3xuETeZnIK97nGWVQdnLvOAC3hrb6JreFTyNbrbzh4N52VE3sh2C_Z8g11TZ/w480-h640/DSC06878%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-makes-canyon-grand-and-how-deep-is.html">The deepest canyon in North America (maybe)</a>: Kings Canyon, Giant Sequoia National Monument. Hells Canyon on the Oregon/Idaho border may be 19 feet deeper. Maybe...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDLrQ65TkgCVZw_gcn5xVeV6OHZN6CiAX_dI3hamGSLs7qjqXgRVuIZNMGDLJ3Jarq72TgBOOMVTE_58q0rVznUw6no_MSidczBH_1KYki6aIqbpVlI5bXo8Xn8nzROPkTgRWfWAPat0rz38nN1tNhZTeIM20Ti_Vd_oeZApukwANMghXL345Xih9NUDi/s4896/P1060661.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDLrQ65TkgCVZw_gcn5xVeV6OHZN6CiAX_dI3hamGSLs7qjqXgRVuIZNMGDLJ3Jarq72TgBOOMVTE_58q0rVznUw6no_MSidczBH_1KYki6aIqbpVlI5bXo8Xn8nzROPkTgRWfWAPat0rz38nN1tNhZTeIM20Ti_Vd_oeZApukwANMghXL345Xih9NUDi/w480-h640/P1060661.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-other-california-biggest-living.html">Largest living things in the world:</a> Sequoia Trees</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOqqRqIQJOGNfW5GSj-Hl7BCrD4N4WzWEBx4ySf7OL2qyCRtRq7pQCyQrN3Jsvul6kgfOde0ysyUsMzpDO04pZkR24N9N8uZWdiJ8DKCzC1ixViqsfhc2P1AjdjEEyOUngNJSI0LZ6VIW7NXe3Ws08y2SwKLgxqWXSDheVDG9LNcfhXeE7fY6qPvAjocq/s4896/P1060147.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOqqRqIQJOGNfW5GSj-Hl7BCrD4N4WzWEBx4ySf7OL2qyCRtRq7pQCyQrN3Jsvul6kgfOde0ysyUsMzpDO04pZkR24N9N8uZWdiJ8DKCzC1ixViqsfhc2P1AjdjEEyOUngNJSI0LZ6VIW7NXe3Ws08y2SwKLgxqWXSDheVDG9LNcfhXeE7fY6qPvAjocq/w480-h640/P1060147.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2011/06/gratuitous-tree-picturesbut-oh-what.html">Tallest living things in the world: </a>Coast Redwoods</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QCHO25WnFlMR98PEiDIfbR1xQpbA-bKl1BuyRefPBEJIJzbRRq9W3oMzIEk37j5WwyhRm2pfQJM8UVVo5TtD_jgYp088xhkuYuqXWXsUfdJLwDti69ew7Xnq9_tqBnC4kfqySnjR_e4yRoTPm_ykkeU7ipEL7qRYBCZvcO_9TZYoPcBnKDqDXlQ0Hlek/s2560/DSC06623.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QCHO25WnFlMR98PEiDIfbR1xQpbA-bKl1BuyRefPBEJIJzbRRq9W3oMzIEk37j5WwyhRm2pfQJM8UVVo5TtD_jgYp088xhkuYuqXWXsUfdJLwDti69ew7Xnq9_tqBnC4kfqySnjR_e4yRoTPm_ykkeU7ipEL7qRYBCZvcO_9TZYoPcBnKDqDXlQ0Hlek/w480-h640/DSC06623.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2011/08/vagabonding-across-39th-parallel-park.html">Oldest living things in the world:</a> Bristlecone Pines (5,000 years), White Mtns, or Creosote Bushes in Colorado Desert (11,000 years)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqhlA0HWRv69OKKixlvg5pUC6PmpNVSlDfB7WrfiDqN2bnxLuKJRPEI6SZexaxJGqyKNFMhpf5WktQf-1EQnBvHppC06U9auWV6zMY8vGoRaQXaNi3U-vA5bx_BLmrCPqb7EEtO3Y4sycT-iipdYVhUp1E32O7z3AHNq1CjFwRfNtg1apTQYq23MlNeEq/s1224/DSCN0586%20Lost%20on%20the%20salt%20flats%20in%20Death%20Valley.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1224" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqhlA0HWRv69OKKixlvg5pUC6PmpNVSlDfB7WrfiDqN2bnxLuKJRPEI6SZexaxJGqyKNFMhpf5WktQf-1EQnBvHppC06U9auWV6zMY8vGoRaQXaNi3U-vA5bx_BLmrCPqb7EEtO3Y4sycT-iipdYVhUp1E32O7z3AHNq1CjFwRfNtg1apTQYq23MlNeEq/w640-h480/DSCN0586%20Lost%20on%20the%20salt%20flats%20in%20Death%20Valley.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Scottish BBC Interview at a relatively balmy 110 degrees</td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2014/03/out-of-valley-of-death-hitting-lowest.html">Hottest Place on the Planet and Driest Place in North America:</a> Death Valley: 134 degrees, precipitation 1.4"/year</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KTnplSO5CWx-1pGpgG6NN3iKVR9zkXOFjIgFk1ySzo3GmLaV_DPGvI1w0e-Q4te66q-PxbSfQ7P8Nv91ne4nsf16TvcwUSIy5HX8kkPDTYOluOKyLUPse8ptVZyslZgGl4ursa2CWXA5NZGu0y5mpfjiEWNaCNADWwH6HqKyYmmikPp8aVg9eZU2la5a/s1037/DSC06254%20Caples%20Lake%20snowpack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KTnplSO5CWx-1pGpgG6NN3iKVR9zkXOFjIgFk1ySzo3GmLaV_DPGvI1w0e-Q4te66q-PxbSfQ7P8Nv91ne4nsf16TvcwUSIy5HX8kkPDTYOluOKyLUPse8ptVZyslZgGl4ursa2CWXA5NZGu0y5mpfjiEWNaCNADWwH6HqKyYmmikPp8aVg9eZU2la5a/w640-h480/DSC06254%20Caples%20Lake%20snowpack.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>One of the Snowiest Places in the U.S.: Tamarack, Sierra Nevada, 76 feet in one year, 32 feet in one month, 37 feet on ground at one time</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAH07a1DqGL7T5GK_fbSHRFyT2iOfSiBQUxXI4kRaujQcVkn1TSnjaCjfv2OL3g7fUMRveyYEGmeoliVMj_MZ_3TL4IwHrBaH1WiupBtNlIoBWvueUe_gQlBgk687qwQPpAnun7XnY2fdLVHnJz3l8Aznog4eTl9QbVo-nek9gkxIIK3McLqmeVPEY8f6/s1037/DSC07207%20Yosemite%20Falls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="778" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAH07a1DqGL7T5GK_fbSHRFyT2iOfSiBQUxXI4kRaujQcVkn1TSnjaCjfv2OL3g7fUMRveyYEGmeoliVMj_MZ_3TL4IwHrBaH1WiupBtNlIoBWvueUe_gQlBgk687qwQPpAnun7XnY2fdLVHnJz3l8Aznog4eTl9QbVo-nek9gkxIIK3McLqmeVPEY8f6/w480-h640/DSC07207%20Yosemite%20Falls.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2010/06/few-snapshots-for-sunday-high-water-in.html">Highest Waterfall in the North America</a> (no. 7 in world): Yosemite Falls, 2,425 feet</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICyl5SiAHt-rGBgGG-QK-DnoKNZfAyLjPcTSkoGeds2dpiKOLh_q3LoccZiG3qQ-E17Jm_uVmvWloL1L1seX2krztIqjcIlB-drHOyMMchlw824hCD4bYy-rsmLi7XHRDdBTpxLFHxDNgdchlaPHCI9mXJHIsnIrBOkAqj0KiYNSZ1ZvgInzgysv8U697/s1152/P1330741%20Shasta%20and%20Shastina.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1152" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICyl5SiAHt-rGBgGG-QK-DnoKNZfAyLjPcTSkoGeds2dpiKOLh_q3LoccZiG3qQ-E17Jm_uVmvWloL1L1seX2krztIqjcIlB-drHOyMMchlw824hCD4bYy-rsmLi7XHRDdBTpxLFHxDNgdchlaPHCI9mXJHIsnIrBOkAqj0KiYNSZ1ZvgInzgysv8U697/w640-h480/P1330741%20Shasta%20and%20Shastina.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2010/01/other-california-five-for-price-of-one.html">Second tallest active volcano in the U.S.</a>: Mt. Shasta, 14,162 feet</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MI3GjM_PghlqENNUXPLcHONxayHWTLVKw4t--ylBSY7angXwQzeqwaE45a8TAP0EB4ul6D5pNqfNUXcN3WYoS2Cg7a1UmqGihvdgN_fUZavrX9vuunm5vS8kFor1B3_yQz_T--0zoXJXJkseom4ITZ-Hm8de_iMPWIceQY8P1Qcj20RWWQJYOpcM_sRR/s1037/DSC07395%20Lassen%20Peak%20and%20Lake%20Helen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MI3GjM_PghlqENNUXPLcHONxayHWTLVKw4t--ylBSY7angXwQzeqwaE45a8TAP0EB4ul6D5pNqfNUXcN3WYoS2Cg7a1UmqGihvdgN_fUZavrX9vuunm5vS8kFor1B3_yQz_T--0zoXJXJkseom4ITZ-Hm8de_iMPWIceQY8P1Qcj20RWWQJYOpcM_sRR/w640-h480/DSC07395%20Lassen%20Peak%20and%20Lake%20Helen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-volcano-that-doesnt-exactly-look.html">Second most recently active volcano in lower 48 states</a>: Mt. Lassen (1914-21)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CEh7vOobczLnI9c8KmtQqzTVord7pEbp2CFnrtWSkV69Z9gC5RGppDza-Depfntlew0A2I5kKE2AyrV-CP7cSYLayhbW5AVms594-fWYanCwqS84AltvpEapkRf7nHPvrEsrAjQ2QA3hLCVEr9iwFzkfA5LJOCE7jMHfdxRaThgHXH1iHaNgl9ADDPFY/s699/DSC01955%20MLH%20from%20Petroglyph%20Point%20d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="699" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CEh7vOobczLnI9c8KmtQqzTVord7pEbp2CFnrtWSkV69Z9gC5RGppDza-Depfntlew0A2I5kKE2AyrV-CP7cSYLayhbW5AVms594-fWYanCwqS84AltvpEapkRf7nHPvrEsrAjQ2QA3hLCVEr9iwFzkfA5LJOCE7jMHfdxRaThgHXH1iHaNgl9ADDPFY/w640-h188/DSC01955%20MLH%20from%20Petroglyph%20Point%20d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2010/01/other-california-californias-biggest.html">Most voluminous volcano in the lower 48 states:</a> Medicine Lake Highland (around 130 cubic miles) in northeastern California</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwY36nMkBikapjepuKuRkbOPLfcbQgJlxoVbUL9J8vvsouwq86ebRPh9xooSRWhJTDi0Sczi8c1hR3Q1C7D8CTi2szOGDcyUaAa0_X4CIJF4MMKaQ-XyEjuNplRhWAYqYGJcYNg6XEyl3FWZpVzywq81K6jAIQw6Yr6IaYjTQOLWw7G33PO-CgcOdXK1gI/s3456/DSC08855.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwY36nMkBikapjepuKuRkbOPLfcbQgJlxoVbUL9J8vvsouwq86ebRPh9xooSRWhJTDi0Sczi8c1hR3Q1C7D8CTi2szOGDcyUaAa0_X4CIJF4MMKaQ-XyEjuNplRhWAYqYGJcYNg6XEyl3FWZpVzywq81K6jAIQw6Yr6IaYjTQOLWw7G33PO-CgcOdXK1gI/s320/DSC08855.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarp from the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake</td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2021/10/so-you-think-you-know-about-california.html">Some of the largest earthquakes in the lower 48 states:</a> 1906 (San Francisco 7.8), 1872 Lone Pine (7.8), 1857 (Ft. Tejon 7.8)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwGEtHu3d0hiYmEYADyaovxgSZPZa7H4tx4HyTrQ9brJW0Yjd0TT796j1mPHTuwhO6UbA-AEUBgBRfTsJRRCiU_pzKP-rhVbGRC-ly20Tsj2YAgkvHBpPuE0eLNlHHEb8G6kw9BD3lKTigkTNbz4DyJCWGTkwKDryvMl4gdkUo4tmCgUkapkusan5LI0V/s1037/DSC07320%20Old%20Oil%20Derrick%20in%20Pico%20Canyon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="778" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwGEtHu3d0hiYmEYADyaovxgSZPZa7H4tx4HyTrQ9brJW0Yjd0TT796j1mPHTuwhO6UbA-AEUBgBRfTsJRRCiU_pzKP-rhVbGRC-ly20Tsj2YAgkvHBpPuE0eLNlHHEb8G6kw9BD3lKTigkTNbz4DyJCWGTkwKDryvMl4gdkUo4tmCgUkapkusan5LI0V/w480-h640/DSC07320%20Old%20Oil%20Derrick%20in%20Pico%20Canyon.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old oil derrick near the Santa Clarita Valley</td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2012/01/other-california-for-time-it-was-black.html">One of the more prolific oil and natural gas producing regions in the world</a>: Los Angeles Basin, Bakersfield, and Santa Barbara-Ventura Channel</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYadgCaMOTYxM1rVkaJnpcxe4p4Ll7i-Dgw22k185CK_UfMlQqejjPnlzWzfUsNcjNRz8SFn0nZK5SrU8ri7etyb4F0BKv342k5diMaIMpWn2CH2pwqv9pPqqglb4UinbUFi-5HxZ7IrcHt1iRf7k7UXOzcVCRuePDrQ8O4ktgUWpMpgRWwoT8mBoiz_pW/s1037/DSC09181%20Owens%20Gorge%20and%20Bishop%20Tuff%20Volcanic%20Tableland%20annotated.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYadgCaMOTYxM1rVkaJnpcxe4p4Ll7i-Dgw22k185CK_UfMlQqejjPnlzWzfUsNcjNRz8SFn0nZK5SrU8ri7etyb4F0BKv342k5diMaIMpWn2CH2pwqv9pPqqglb4UinbUFi-5HxZ7IrcHt1iRf7k7UXOzcVCRuePDrQ8O4ktgUWpMpgRWwoT8mBoiz_pW/w640-h480/DSC09181%20Owens%20Gorge%20and%20Bishop%20Tuff%20Volcanic%20Tableland%20annotated.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-sierra-beyond-yosemite-politics-and.html">One of the biggest explosions ever:</a> Long Valley Caldera, 750,000 years ago, 125 cubic miles of ash spread all over the western states as far east as Nebraska and Kansas</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeWEumw-kFQorx79qeAm9HuUmQwpfY4DBjilMEumMW8pNpp5hzeQ6Czp4TO0S0IISOyiSSFY7SWvbSiOW-rhWX4pPhbrUHZYOzFql-hl5WFxacE6k8qpYNqDaEgas6ZLGsWrjsqbCS28zCjUlNGyHbzGJMVvLjDH3pEUt_BTJTueNWzcaiZZQGfeXu0jq/s1037/DSC07487%20McWay%20Cove%20and%20Falls.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeWEumw-kFQorx79qeAm9HuUmQwpfY4DBjilMEumMW8pNpp5hzeQ6Czp4TO0S0IISOyiSSFY7SWvbSiOW-rhWX4pPhbrUHZYOzFql-hl5WFxacE6k8qpYNqDaEgas6ZLGsWrjsqbCS28zCjUlNGyHbzGJMVvLjDH3pEUt_BTJTueNWzcaiZZQGfeXu0jq/w640-h480/DSC07487%20McWay%20Cove%20and%20Falls.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer-Burns State Park on the Big Sur Coast</td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2009/12/other-california-what-to-see-when-youve.html">No other state has the combination of landscapes:</a> Coastlines, deserts, mountains, river valleys and plateaus, due in no small part to the fact that California is influenced by all three different kinds of plate margins: Divergent, convergent and transform. Few places in the world have this kind of diversity.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RNJRrLr2bIh7Y42eZ5HYBHvnHkEv2syWTyGcmMRCNPEnwoeCYh1UCqXDeGMiIIQY0j6E4sCPUUVEamX-CeG6QuXlDPevYHPdeD_8p2xjAi2XfM9uPBHOOYyWdF3TYEhjn5fpHfgHz00A-varn7CqZpqvHOGhFBnIwVOF3n3N6Fm44RmiH0x3P43HtP4d/s4608/P1190455%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RNJRrLr2bIh7Y42eZ5HYBHvnHkEv2syWTyGcmMRCNPEnwoeCYh1UCqXDeGMiIIQY0j6E4sCPUUVEamX-CeG6QuXlDPevYHPdeD_8p2xjAi2XfM9uPBHOOYyWdF3TYEhjn5fpHfgHz00A-varn7CqZpqvHOGhFBnIwVOF3n3N6Fm44RmiH0x3P43HtP4d/w480-h640/P1190455%20(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The San Andreas fault on the San Francisco Peninsula. San Andreas reservoir, from which the fault took its name, is in the foreground.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>What would you add to this list???</p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-55877666011454749972023-09-12T23:01:00.000-07:002023-09-12T23:01:07.261-07:00A Short Mining History and Geology of the California Gold Rush<p><i><b>Note:</b> I've maintained a website at MJC for quite a few years for the use of my students, and the website is being erased this year for online security reasons. I wanted to keep some of the information, so I am presenting it here, hoping some of you might find it interesting. This particular blog is a review of one of California's seminal events (for better or worse), the Gold Rush of 1848. I borrowed from a number of sources, listed in the references at the end.</i></p><p>Let's start at the beginning and have a look at the basics of gold:</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXDbAtc-6oOJs0v3QLjuTpoU10ywed5GLr9MIbHYJVcuE6o8ayMQKV43pZahWzCtVGfdlgzZe0mx2F-wBx-HxK-lrmzuP7frTz9lmkHy7nXmeDbedSmMKBUWTQZwMyhoKkQBXgAj8ea2EtoCOBvIF7Qvfv57le5E3DOkB-zq8RhCBHCV5IhoQDBcbdWlC/s1108/DSC01425%20Gold%20in%20crystalline%20form.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1108" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXDbAtc-6oOJs0v3QLjuTpoU10ywed5GLr9MIbHYJVcuE6o8ayMQKV43pZahWzCtVGfdlgzZe0mx2F-wBx-HxK-lrmzuP7frTz9lmkHy7nXmeDbedSmMKBUWTQZwMyhoKkQBXgAj8ea2EtoCOBvIF7Qvfv57le5E3DOkB-zq8RhCBHCV5IhoQDBcbdWlC/w640-h456/DSC01425%20Gold%20in%20crystalline%20form.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Gold Nugget at the California State Mineral Exhibit in Mariposa. This incredible sample stolen and melted down for a few drug dollars several years ago, a horrible loss.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p>Chemical Symbol: Au<p></p><p>Atomic Number: 79</p><p>Atomic weight: 196.967</p><p>Specific Gravity: 19.3 (19.3 times as heavy as an equivalent volume of water; twice as heavy as pure lead; 1 cubic foot weighs over 1/2 ton)</p><p>Hardness: 2.5-3 on the Moh's hardness scale (teeth are harder, miners are sometimes pictured biting nuggets to test the authenticity - fool's gold is harder)</p><p>Melting point:1,945 degrees F</p><p>Boiling point: 5,378 degrees F</p><p>Crystal System: Cubic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTUFhwNLoPo0dIgPFJmEPQq5yeTJg6PpveAUSjMBg7pSmJU1o2mRKOU1BC9wNyjrKENdbrZfJp-53-vjH1FYmpb1ffsmoumVoHrBaV9qQp-S__eFsQipZgl5Sic2euLmAiLt6Fv_7WxcopdCMLZgY3lguMiNm_Jn5tz9QGqjYR-7rrYAcKnCxQOrzCqKn/s1244/DSC01429%20Gold%20crystals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1244" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTUFhwNLoPo0dIgPFJmEPQq5yeTJg6PpveAUSjMBg7pSmJU1o2mRKOU1BC9wNyjrKENdbrZfJp-53-vjH1FYmpb1ffsmoumVoHrBaV9qQp-S__eFsQipZgl5Sic2euLmAiLt6Fv_7WxcopdCMLZgY3lguMiNm_Jn5tz9QGqjYR-7rrYAcKnCxQOrzCqKn/s320/DSC01429%20Gold%20crystals.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold crystal at the California State Mineral Exhibit in Mariposa. Such crystals are quite rare. </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals.</p><p>One ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire more than 40 miles long.</p><p>Gold can be worked into a layer 1 millionth of an inch thick (it has been used on the face masks of astronaut's space suits as a shield).</p><p>Gold is Inert, therefore it does not corrode.</p><p>Gold is an excellent conductor of electricity</p><p>All of the gold ever mined in all of human history would fill a cube only 60 feet on a side!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdfVIYYKrUy9T_vF4RBxuaoZSVKU-QFzDSLWpI2e5PEOAiDvwTu5AKGPYwdsBEBNe-4uhpKsT8ZMy_hdakXXBdbDr055TT9Ezvx2jmfGpPvQu8vqezeqh3bX2OqhubewKzm2Mooxm95PF2TwGVMp2gKPU9FUQnZYo2bg3EVba99b8vAcXy-nqowcGZYlV/s1037/DSC01437%20The%20Fricot%20Nugget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdfVIYYKrUy9T_vF4RBxuaoZSVKU-QFzDSLWpI2e5PEOAiDvwTu5AKGPYwdsBEBNe-4uhpKsT8ZMy_hdakXXBdbDr055TT9Ezvx2jmfGpPvQu8vqezeqh3bX2OqhubewKzm2Mooxm95PF2TwGVMp2gKPU9FUQnZYo2bg3EVba99b8vAcXy-nqowcGZYlV/w640-h480/DSC01437%20The%20Fricot%20Nugget.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Fricot Nugget at California State Mineral Exhibit in Mariposa is an extraordinary mass of crystalline gold. At about 13 pounds (201 troy ounces), it is thought to be the largest remaining nugget from the Gold Rush days in California. Other larger specimens were simply melted down.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>How Did the Gold Get There?</b></p><p>Gold is present in very small amounts in literally all rocks and even in ocean water; but to be mined economically, it must be concentrated. Even so, the richest gold deposits may contain only a fraction of an ounce per ton.</p><p>Around 400 million years ago, California was a different place. It didn't even exist as land, and instead, lay at the bottom of the sea. The Pacific shoreline lay to the east, in present day Utah and Arizona. To the west, large volcanic islands erupted ash and lavas onto the sea floor. Hot springs on the ocean floor built up huge deposits of sulfide mineral deposits.</p><p>At various times between 400 and 200 million years ago, titanic crustal forces caused the offshore islands to collide with the American continent, crushing and folding the rocks derived from the sea floor and volcanoes (Keep in mind that this was still a slow process, with movements of only a few inches per year). The rocks, scraped off the sea floor and collected from innumerable volcanic eruptions, became the metamorphic rocks that make up the bedrock of the Mother Lode region.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUTouhAnTvMJBvt5KFO7e6MOTYumbDcUtHR_YzNcCTyfro9_2qa_8ZQIRgbbtSMl-buoXDaCg-DPf2lAq3LFxF_YPeomK1TTVxz0t-trrVA_RDCrMQEIn1A8K3I793C_t_dyi786B_pqdLPBmTHEV7RMtGiEutZy-muGfSSMNygz8ofhiohzi48IWAihj/s3456/DSC01495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUTouhAnTvMJBvt5KFO7e6MOTYumbDcUtHR_YzNcCTyfro9_2qa_8ZQIRgbbtSMl-buoXDaCg-DPf2lAq3LFxF_YPeomK1TTVxz0t-trrVA_RDCrMQEIn1A8K3I793C_t_dyi786B_pqdLPBmTHEV7RMtGiEutZy-muGfSSMNygz8ofhiohzi48IWAihj/w640-h480/DSC01495.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Mother Lode scenery in the vicinity of Bagby Grade north of Mariposa. Lake McClure on the Merced River in the middle of the picture.</td></tr></tbody></table></p>Beginning about 200 million years ago, massive shifts of the tectonic plates that encircle the earth caused the sea floor crust to be pushed beneath the American continent, where it heated up and melted into huge molten masses of magma. These so-called subduction zones are in modern times responsible for the volcanoes and sometimes violent earthquakes of the Cascade- and Andes mountain ranges. The molten rock forced its way upward through the crust and slowly cooled to become the granitic rock that makes up most of the Sierra Nevada today.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxfvlI_2oE3dfNwUT47H94Voew9LDl1NCupRDwhDIaYewBRo5yQ7jYM5vXk7paQMagNwGT_BG2tplbkyKG3EoHJAg6pmyJVLOulpbhWNAyN8LizMXF86QOnsmnzf1ytIVguCkv133_9BHJ0AlfVC-z2j74H-avn60zKCIu1KspxjhBaSmCupe8HzGUwdC/s3456/DSC01494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxfvlI_2oE3dfNwUT47H94Voew9LDl1NCupRDwhDIaYewBRo5yQ7jYM5vXk7paQMagNwGT_BG2tplbkyKG3EoHJAg6pmyJVLOulpbhWNAyN8LizMXF86QOnsmnzf1ytIVguCkv133_9BHJ0AlfVC-z2j74H-avn60zKCIu1KspxjhBaSmCupe8HzGUwdC/w640-h480/DSC01494.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half Dome and Clouds Rest in Yosemite Valley, as seen from Highway 49 near Bagby Grade. The High Sierra has vast outcrops of granitic rock.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Water, derived from rain and snow, percolated into the ground in the Mother Lode region. Following fractures and cracks left by millions of years of geologic mayhem, the water came closer and closer to the hot molten magmas. At these elevated temperatures, water dissolved otherwise stable materials including quartz, gold, silver, copper and zinc.</p><p>The metal and sulfide laden stew of hot water then rose along fractures adjacent to the Melones Fault Zone in the Mother Lode. As it cooled, it began to precipitate the mineral riches that it carried as large quartz veins with varying proportions of gold and silver, along with iron, copper and zinc sulfides. Some may have even emerged at the surface as hot springs, like those that exist today near Reno and Carson City. This process is called <b>hydrothermal mineralization</b>.</p><p>At least twice in the last hundred million years, the Sierra Nevada rose into a mighty mountain range only to be attacked by the forces of erosion: water, ice and wind. Many thousands of feet of rock were stripped away, and the gold veins were exposed to the elements. Rivers carried fragments of gold downstream and on into the Great Valley. During the most recent mountain-building episode, which may have begun within the last 10 million years or so, many ancient streambeds (which had their headwaters in Nevada) were abandoned, and the thick gravels they contained were left as isolated patches on high mountainsides, and on the plateau-like topography between deep canyons. In some cases, lava flows covered and protected the gold-bearing gravels. All that remained was for the gold to be discovered by human beings who valued the strange metal.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74Q-XRqGZv75Pq4_lP9Cma8I-5gT7RZm1CZIAhxWNseZsFeq3QjNM9KOPX_op1Xa1-rHf1UY58ZU-mgf8wf9a37fl30-LA_rua2lH0kklNMaHNz_JHyhSerra5pYoRhnbrVjAi7VmmV9KhIfd9H2-EMg0Om6eAsC006rDZdyOA_RMbfOwsrT7NdrQqCI9/s1280/DSC00035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74Q-XRqGZv75Pq4_lP9Cma8I-5gT7RZm1CZIAhxWNseZsFeq3QjNM9KOPX_op1Xa1-rHf1UY58ZU-mgf8wf9a37fl30-LA_rua2lH0kklNMaHNz_JHyhSerra5pYoRhnbrVjAi7VmmV9KhIfd9H2-EMg0Om6eAsC006rDZdyOA_RMbfOwsrT7NdrQqCI9/w480-h640/DSC00035.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Ancient stream gravels near North Bloomfield in the Mother Lode</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>How Did They Get The Gold Out?</b></p><p>Numerous methods of mining the gold of the Mother Lode were utilized. Some of these methods were pioneered here.</p><p><b>Placering:</b></p><p>When the Gold Rush began, few of the people in California knew anything of the methods used to procure gold from the quartz veins and river gravels. Because of the richness of the river gravels in the earliest days, panning was an early method of choice, but it was inefficient, back-breaking labor. Panning soon gave way to cradles, rockers, and long-toms. Hardworking miners could process several cubic yards a day.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn-5lJ2mwgg-zuy15Uc7w4aRp5EJkzUCNMQpC1vJFXcuJHaoXEiNxpT2uGqOPMD5Bb3k5NWjCpT5twK7Q66uE7jlZFzvcvujQG4wmrlFyJ-LTqoYQnAVR1Edy0B48SbVCFNpbRwPFpNBZFnzSDUMVkgG_WzWP1nBvnQJqMXhrmROozjsO05wsFjTyb4xF/s1280/DSC00037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn-5lJ2mwgg-zuy15Uc7w4aRp5EJkzUCNMQpC1vJFXcuJHaoXEiNxpT2uGqOPMD5Bb3k5NWjCpT5twK7Q66uE7jlZFzvcvujQG4wmrlFyJ-LTqoYQnAVR1Edy0B48SbVCFNpbRwPFpNBZFnzSDUMVkgG_WzWP1nBvnQJqMXhrmROozjsO05wsFjTyb4xF/w640-h480/DSC00037.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern-day 49ers at North Bloomfield</td></tr></tbody></table><p>It is difficult to assess the total production of these placering methods, but in the period of the Gold Rush itself (roughly 1848-1853), perhaps 10-12 million ounces of gold were produced (worth many billions of dollars at today's prices). This was the era when the individual could hope to strike it rich, and quite a few lucky miners did. Most barely made a living at the placers, and as the boom waned, many drifted away, or found work with some of the industrial mines that were starting to develop. Other miners began looking at the canyon walls and terraces, and some of them noticed the terrace gravels. Gold must be there, but how could they get it out? . . .</p><p><b>Hydraulic Mining:</b></p><p>In 1853, the first successful hydraulic nozzle was brought to bear on the terrace gravels. In this method, a high pressure hose was used to direct a violent stream of water at the slopes and cliffs containing the terrace gravels and their load of gold. The loosened sediment would be washed over a set of riffles constructed out of bedrock. At intervals, the hoses were turned off, and the gold collected from the bottom of the huge sluices. By 1884, some 11 million ounces of gold had been produced by this method. Hydraulic mining was particularly successful due to the relatively low labor costs coupled with the fact that many hundreds of cubic yards of gravel could be processed in a matter of hours.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIf04caEM0f9ntiJukV24s6NXo5-ja-JLY9pMhzDegxthgNs0LNZhwsvjZ8qlQhF_ROIst0PJ5ObNGSBBsaCkm_ADRydQhqa7DMXxlMuPux6GA_eU95A2Cf7-Z4wYioLmIv0EluqbRt0hBSg-mEqBJX3SbPtL2LCD-GKT8bHljOlwVS6NkD_tC4Xb9Z40Z/s1280/DSC00012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIf04caEM0f9ntiJukV24s6NXo5-ja-JLY9pMhzDegxthgNs0LNZhwsvjZ8qlQhF_ROIst0PJ5ObNGSBBsaCkm_ADRydQhqa7DMXxlMuPux6GA_eU95A2Cf7-Z4wYioLmIv0EluqbRt0hBSg-mEqBJX3SbPtL2LCD-GKT8bHljOlwVS6NkD_tC4Xb9Z40Z/w480-h640/DSC00012.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the hydraulic nozzles utilized at North Bloomfield</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Water was brought onto the mine property by a series of flumes and ditches that connected to reservoirs that had been constructed in the high country in and around the Tahoe Crest (today's Emigrant Wilderness). By 1865, some 5,000 miles of waterways had been constructed across the west slope of the Sierra. When hydraulic mining was abandoned, many of these canals and reservoirs became the infrastructure for the generation of hydroelectric power.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW_agK76WVYMzSry3z05owVGiK2Fu47tdf5SC8MRwdOl8iQIXAH-_PMhJpeElM7USAQuZKOB5GmdzGJ5ATtwUM3BvAW4TCoQAAKHWFmHq-u2A0wwdMG7LYlj5GXuFJ351SJapm8YYXdD9AzjagqId7cLe340T-eTvQCAP02hx2DYmr05JkgcaauVhpr07/s896/DSC00025%20Buried%20trees%20in%20mine%20tailings%20b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW_agK76WVYMzSry3z05owVGiK2Fu47tdf5SC8MRwdOl8iQIXAH-_PMhJpeElM7USAQuZKOB5GmdzGJ5ATtwUM3BvAW4TCoQAAKHWFmHq-u2A0wwdMG7LYlj5GXuFJ351SJapm8YYXdD9AzjagqId7cLe340T-eTvQCAP02hx2DYmr05JkgcaauVhpr07/w640-h480/DSC00025%20Buried%20trees%20in%20mine%20tailings%20b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debris-filled channel in the northern Mother Lode caused by hydraulic mining. The tree "trunk" is actually the 60-foot level of the original tree.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unfortunately, hydraulic mining had a devastating effect on the local environment. Entire hillsides and ridge tops were removed by the hoses. Vast amounts of sediment filled Sierra river channels, and spread into the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay. In response to legal challenges by farmers in the Central Valley (who were suffering serious flooding as a direct result of the hydraulic mining), the method was severely restricted as of 1884, and largely abandoned after that time. Meanwhile, attention shifted to the sediments of the Central Valley. Gold had been carried for millennia into the fine grained sediments of the valley floor, but so far, no efficient method had been found to profitably mine the resource . . .</p><p><b>Dredging:</b></p><p>The gold contained in the flood plains of the rivers that flowed out of the Mother Lode was very fine, widely disseminated throughout the sediment, and very hard to concentrate with the methods available during the early part of the Gold Rush. The first attempt at using a dredge to mine gold in 1853 was a failure (it immediately sank). It was not until 1898 that a dredge was used profitably to mine gold on the Feather River. The method was a great success, and dredges were active through the 1960's. More than 20 million ounces were mined this way.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9uTvpPm3zgpRpHQ-TAUWyj1Gw08s3RKn5aL4K79YvdP2WYhSZDJfdx9N-4wckm7Edkewx6poEsYiMSMccfmXAsHlYSLbUlp0ghTzejgRCcWxMwxDlyidE_N_x2yGWSA9qKbKDNENvYbpYHxIgZRfWkTe2q8-8dglwgSuuJdGXgM5nYb_XjLMWCHnrwdn/s300/51ce432671d29ab7c6abbeb30f536fc5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="300" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9uTvpPm3zgpRpHQ-TAUWyj1Gw08s3RKn5aL4K79YvdP2WYhSZDJfdx9N-4wckm7Edkewx6poEsYiMSMccfmXAsHlYSLbUlp0ghTzejgRCcWxMwxDlyidE_N_x2yGWSA9qKbKDNENvYbpYHxIgZRfWkTe2q8-8dglwgSuuJdGXgM5nYb_XjLMWCHnrwdn/w640-h510/51ce432671d29ab7c6abbeb30f536fc5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dredges were profitable because they could move and process thousands of cubic yards per day with minimal labor costs. Many dredges could operate at a profit when the sediment they processed contained only 10-15 cents of gold per cubic yard.</p><p>In essence, dredges were floating factories with a huge set of buckets at one end, sediment sorters, sieves and screens in the center for processing sediment, and a crane at the other end for distributing the waste material (tailings). The buckets dug sediment out of one end of the pond, sometimes to a depth of 100 feet or more, and the tailings were dumped at the other end. Working this way a dredge could navigate across the landscape, carrying its pond along with it!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqZssdS71Jo8Z8NKwi_8CXwB4gr_WqymU8jD_Gxe4GEA6Rp6sx6vkM-M_Mig6no3vJxYoxswgOWaXqtsBZ1dAnnmBiWV120okDZvxDxoFjG2rdo5rPmfFriWtW03iapdVTbus5a9RukYXvH6wgWsXYdSxsfO7qaiH62uhewAxVIf_-XdOK9helXT9-1OI/s3456/DSC09313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqZssdS71Jo8Z8NKwi_8CXwB4gr_WqymU8jD_Gxe4GEA6Rp6sx6vkM-M_Mig6no3vJxYoxswgOWaXqtsBZ1dAnnmBiWV120okDZvxDxoFjG2rdo5rPmfFriWtW03iapdVTbus5a9RukYXvH6wgWsXYdSxsfO7qaiH62uhewAxVIf_-XdOK9helXT9-1OI/w480-h640/DSC09313.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Widowmaker" drill in the Sutter Creek Mine</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>The Hardrock Mines and the "Mother Lode"</b></p><p>Most of the methods described thus far collected gold that had been concentrated by the work of rivers and erosion. The forty-niners were keenly aware that the gold had to be coming from somewhere in the bedrock, and they found quickly that the gold was associated with quartz veins that ran the length of the Mother Lode District. The first attempts at hardrock mining began in 1849 at Mariposa, and eventually the mines would become the biggest producers of gold in the Mother Lode. They also introduced a certain degree of economic security that was lacking in the boom camps that could be ghosted almost overnight. Hardrock mines in the Mother Lode region operated for almost 100 years, until a presidential order during the height of World War II shut most of them down, in 1942. At least eight of the mines boasted total production in excess of 1,000,000 ounces. Overall, hardrock mining accounted for about 60% of the gold produced in the Mother Lode and Sierra Foothills.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdc2zH18Er3vpzsVIl1zxfjCHfDrKKch7S0QFycwnAVdPeQ5C4kxMCfiufxu06gKPRUki5SXNZjpFQagqMmI6stFsV5LSce9rEs-Wj-sP9ytmq9CTV619kXZQR029qPCj8E5GrH4P6SUc_H-SVRWEH6aNOS7vKAxLbyC5V6qBg0rCoynYGN0WTBNiUrCY/s3456/DSC09327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdc2zH18Er3vpzsVIl1zxfjCHfDrKKch7S0QFycwnAVdPeQ5C4kxMCfiufxu06gKPRUki5SXNZjpFQagqMmI6stFsV5LSce9rEs-Wj-sP9ytmq9CTV619kXZQR029qPCj8E5GrH4P6SUc_H-SVRWEH6aNOS7vKAxLbyC5V6qBg0rCoynYGN0WTBNiUrCY/w640-h480/DSC09327.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking for traces of gold in narrow veins of quartz and pyrite in the Sutter Creek Mine</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The most serious problem of mining the gold veins themselves was that quartz, the host ore, was an extremely hard mineral. It was difficult to tunnel through it, and the quartz ore had to crushed to a powder before the gold could be separated out. The mining, done with hand-powered tools, and using relatively weak black powder for explosives, was time-consuming and labor intensive. By the 1860's most of the mines were barely hanging on, but two inventions changed the fortunes of the mining companies: the steam-powered drill, and dynamite. With these two new technologies, the mines were able to process ores quickly and economically, and they expanded quickly. The Kennedy Mine, in Jackson, by 1870 had only reached a depth of 600 feet, but by the 1920's, it had reached nearly ten times that depth (5,912 feet at the time it closed). Mines that had formerly measured tunnel and shaft lengths in the hundreds of feet could now boast of miles of tunnels (the Kennedy Mine had 150 miles; the nearby Argonaut Mine had 62).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0GZIrhju_G-4XW9wbI661gJeyGeW5924HszPAvcv4xnIRYHcxdVtVm24wz0OHM2DfiPwSs9kiSRaeLo67rYz2hr9CktfLv7kEIsswq_M2X8BIxF91GRX8JKXToUOQo8haz18gnhyRrfoFpcWCHK0o2UUoywoQLv807rQ2RTh8iy6OnyOahdV80WV2bdy/s1037/DSC08343%20Headframe%20and%20Jackson%20Butte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1037" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0GZIrhju_G-4XW9wbI661gJeyGeW5924HszPAvcv4xnIRYHcxdVtVm24wz0OHM2DfiPwSs9kiSRaeLo67rYz2hr9CktfLv7kEIsswq_M2X8BIxF91GRX8JKXToUOQo8haz18gnhyRrfoFpcWCHK0o2UUoywoQLv807rQ2RTh8iy6OnyOahdV80WV2bdy/w640-h480/DSC08343%20Headframe%20and%20Jackson%20Butte.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headframe of the Kennedy Mine in Jackson</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Once the ore was brought to the surface, it was processed through a stamp mill. It was here that huge 1,000 pound hammers set on crankshafts were set to crush the ores. The stamp mills ran 24 hours a day, and many of the largest mines would have dozens of these noisemakers. The Mother Lode was not a quiet work environment!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkwCc6aX2pnfJzGgWVNLU1zMiw2C5Pf1Y1-3h4FysbzA_31uvNSVz2RZKuAV1w5GGjDRy9jqW06bcmlN8XROL2e9tQaIvBV5tlNfg7L04Fy9AAiqEni4knBRc8T3W7yx3RKhotk4X7VSf-FIetrFygUMxvvE8msAUC-SduIEwHr-LmASFYZmr44jz-DnR/s3456/DSC00065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkwCc6aX2pnfJzGgWVNLU1zMiw2C5Pf1Y1-3h4FysbzA_31uvNSVz2RZKuAV1w5GGjDRy9jqW06bcmlN8XROL2e9tQaIvBV5tlNfg7L04Fy9AAiqEni4knBRc8T3W7yx3RKhotk4X7VSf-FIetrFygUMxvvE8msAUC-SduIEwHr-LmASFYZmr44jz-DnR/w480-h640/DSC00065.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renovated stamp mill at the California State Mineral Exhibit in Mariposa</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After crushing, the ore was chemically treated to tease the gold out; mercury was most commonly used for this purpose. One of the most enduring problems of the gold rush mines is the contamination of the soil and water by the mercury, as well as by the acids and arsenic released during the milling process. Some of the worst toxic waste sites in the United States are those surrounding the old mines. Despite their historic nature, the sites will need to be cleaned up to prevent further damage to soil and water resources.</p><p><b>Open Pit Mining and Cyanide Heap Leaching:</b></p><p>Following the shutdown of most mining operations due to World War II, gold production reached a historic low in California. When the war ended, attempts were made to reopen several of the mines, but higher prices and flooding in the mines themselves doomed the efforts to failure. The price of gold, which was set by the U.S. government at $35 per ounce, was not high enough to justify most efforts at mining. The last hardrock mine shut down in 1965, and the last dredges ceased operation in 1968.</p><p>In the early 1970's, the United State removed controls on the price of gold, and its value rose sharply. By 1980, the price per ounce reached more than $600 per ounce, and the attention of the mining industry once again turned to the Mother Lode. Surveys were undertaken during the 1970's and by the middle 1980's, several mines were once again in operation. Efforts were now directed towards low-grade deposits that had been largely ignored in the past. New technology allowed mines to operate profitably when ore grades amounted to as little as 0.025 ounces per ton of ore.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53Lh2wrlolDHqh3vfvDCkgrpeA7XRU4B4312zyJDhzfGXy4zLNFopob2RuW2CCMMaL2gQs99OPf4QuC3N3n0BuSTwKhBzCirIY18CIWsPh5xC_cY_FuJLGD4GZtdCDPgI1sWX7d3LsCG4hDDT8FTdPWvmJRpxMJoojZFi1H-wb_avNp4KrR4DQkR1fd13/s4608/P1320004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53Lh2wrlolDHqh3vfvDCkgrpeA7XRU4B4312zyJDhzfGXy4zLNFopob2RuW2CCMMaL2gQs99OPf4QuC3N3n0BuSTwKhBzCirIY18CIWsPh5xC_cY_FuJLGD4GZtdCDPgI1sWX7d3LsCG4hDDT8FTdPWvmJRpxMJoojZFi1H-wb_avNp4KrR4DQkR1fd13/w640-h480/P1320004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flooded pit at the Harvard Mine near Jamestown in the Mother Lode</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Instead of following tunnels and adits as had been done in the past, the new mines were designed as huge open pits in which all the ore (not just the highest grades) could be mined and processed. The ore would be crushed to a powder, and placed in huge dumps where it would be sprinkled with a solution containing cyanide. The cyanide solution would dissolve any gold or copper present, and percolate to the base of the heap, where the "pregnant" solution would be collected and processed to remove the gold. The process requires state of the art technology, and is hugely expensive, and yet can be profitable as long as the price of gold remains stable at high levels.</p><p>Unfortunately for the newly opened mines in the Mother Lode, the price of gold did not remain high enough to justify continued operation of the mines. The Carson Hill Mine closed in 1989, and the Harvard Mine near Sonora closed in 1994. The former produced about 100,000 ounces of gold in three years of operation, while the latter was produced about 660,000 ounces during its operation from 1986 to 1995.</p><p>Through the 1990s the price of gold continued to stagnate and even drop further. In November of 1997, the price of gold dropped below $300/oz for the first time in 10 years. The profitable operation of major mines in California, Nevada, and elsewhere were threatened by this continued stagnation. The greatest value of gold had been as a hedge against inflation, but inflation was low throughout the 1990's. The steep rise in the value of gold since 2002 has probably raised interest in renewed mining, but regulatory obstacles and societal opposition will probably limit production for the time being.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>What were the effects of the Gold Rush on California?</b></p><p><b>Environmental Effects:</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJmJ6cVUF1eRFCq7V8hoRoeLmTuphGX4GA0D-4qvEHYiVwtfK4fMNA-0npv0ivuzgGTtUvneNx0o4ktKSwY0HRaOP7FT82xhYjLxGwyKrxDGxMPJ9KL4UWoRFhVMkzzwRRIsDOhZ4iq0dRt6sc0H2MBMZfBT_qXdezj5lBUMUjwF0tSs6KSpQXfWyMHWP/s1276/Screenshot%202023-09-12%20224032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1155" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJmJ6cVUF1eRFCq7V8hoRoeLmTuphGX4GA0D-4qvEHYiVwtfK4fMNA-0npv0ivuzgGTtUvneNx0o4ktKSwY0HRaOP7FT82xhYjLxGwyKrxDGxMPJ9KL4UWoRFhVMkzzwRRIsDOhZ4iq0dRt6sc0H2MBMZfBT_qXdezj5lBUMUjwF0tSs6KSpQXfWyMHWP/w580-h640/Screenshot%202023-09-12%20224032.jpg" width="580" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dredge tailings along the Yuba River (from Google Earth)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Wide expanses of prime farmland destroyed by dredging.</p><p>Worsened flooding in the Great Valley.</p><p>Destruction of extensive old-growth forest by hydraulic mining and logging.</p><p>Destabilization of slopes and hillsides from hydraulic mining activities.</p><p>Contamination of soil, groundwater, rivers and lakes by arsenic, mercury, cyanide and acid mine drainage.</p><p><b>Sociological Effects:</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrloSyAMKtZ0kyrrNSPtJpKpY2ToLQ64d6LvFb97ym2pV7tiePCJzKPcuizn8styFLYH8dLHTaKElKJAE4q9FF7qbA3ydStDIFy6pbUY9kynF0X6JfrTIGHxh4hD-Nf8HBtIX9K4JSmfbV5PAZijIIi6wj-kZlWytBZOR1HambAix7RJeTqPmdDrHr9l8Q/s428/1849_California_Indian_genocide.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="420" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrloSyAMKtZ0kyrrNSPtJpKpY2ToLQ64d6LvFb97ym2pV7tiePCJzKPcuizn8styFLYH8dLHTaKElKJAE4q9FF7qbA3ydStDIFy6pbUY9kynF0X6JfrTIGHxh4hD-Nf8HBtIX9K4JSmfbV5PAZijIIi6wj-kZlWytBZOR1HambAix7RJeTqPmdDrHr9l8Q/w628-h640/1849_California_Indian_genocide.gif" width="628" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Genocide committed against Native American people. Source: https://nativephilanthropy.candid.org/events/california-indian-genocide-campaign-during-gold-rush/</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The destruction and elimination of native cultures in the California Region. Tens of thousands of people dead from starvation, disease and murder.</p><p>Hastening of the exploration and colonization of the American west.</p><p>Diverse and cosmopolitan nature of California’s population began with the Gold Rush.</p><p><b>Economic Effects:</b></p><p>Support for the Union war effort in the 1860's.</p><p>Increase in the national money supply.</p><p>Some people became fabulously rich.</p><p>Historic mining districts are now important tourist destinations and resorts.</p><p><b>Technology:</b></p><p>Expansion of the agricultural frontier by the need for a food supply in the mining areas.</p><p>Numerous improvements and innovations in mining technology.</p><p>Construction of the infra-structure for hydroelectric power development in the Sierra Nevada.</p><p><b>Resources:</b></p><p>U.S. Geologic Survey circular on gold</p><p>Barabas, A. H. ed., 1991, Geology, gold deposits, and mining history of the southern Mother Lode: National Association of Geology Teachers - Far West Section, Fall Meeting Guidebook, October 11-13, 1991, 123 pages.</p><p>Bowen O.E., and Crippen, R.A., Jr., 1948, Geologic Maps and Notes along Highway 49, in Jenkins, O.P., ed., The Mother Lode Country, Geologic Guidebook along Highway 49 - Sierran Gold Belt, California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 141, pages 35-86.</p><p>Clark, W.B., 1970, Gold Districts of California, California Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193, 186 pages.</p><p>Landefeld, L.A., and Snow, G.G., eds., 1990, Guidebook to Yosemite and the Mother Lode gold belt: Geology, tectonics, and the evolution of hydrothermal fluids in the Sierra Nevada of California, with articles on operating mines in the Mother Lode, land use and permitting, history and natural history of the Sierra Nevada: Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Guidebook 68, 200 pages.</p><p> Thanks to Forrest Hopson for helpful comments!</p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-21011604621146278882023-07-22T12:39:00.002-07:002023-07-22T12:39:44.013-07:00Barbie in the Real World? What Happened When My Students Encountered Paleontologist Barbie...(<b>Note:</b> There seems to be a lot of talk about "Barbie" in the internets right now. Here is a note from four years ago on Geotripper)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPoIeJSwSxOLuPilJBCG2zTGl9TWTPXPqxnxSFNC8hV8LdOdjdZsislGuKaHYjEII1IaLTeha3EEgHor0MkV9mnVE7b5VZFuA9yeK_aaa7mP9zXVl6W3jcVrYeZASyV-WYqjSlB5YDsat/s1600/P1110020.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPoIeJSwSxOLuPilJBCG2zTGl9TWTPXPqxnxSFNC8hV8LdOdjdZsislGuKaHYjEII1IaLTeha3EEgHor0MkV9mnVE7b5VZFuA9yeK_aaa7mP9zXVl6W3jcVrYeZASyV-WYqjSlB5YDsat/s640/P1110020.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">21st Century Paleontologist Barbie</td></tr>
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Be honest. If I suddenly shouted "paleontologist", what picture would occur in your mind before you give it any thought? How would this person look? What would this person be wearing? What gender or ethnicity would you see in your mind? What stereotypes lurk in your mind?<br />
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There's a story from the history annals of the geology department where I teach. In 1996, Mattel came out with a Paleontologist Barbie. Someone brought one by the lab one day, and a fascinating discussion followed. The women were just <i>a bit</i> brutal and offered a long list of "improvements" that would add to the authenticity of the doll. These included bruises, scrapes, and bandages for the legs, and suggestions of either deeply tangled and ratted hair from the desert wind, or hair cut very short. There should be the geologist's tan, the one caused by knee socks and short pants. The blouse most certainly did not garner kind reviews. I sort of wish that I had picked one up for the lab back then. Boxed versions of the doll are bringing in offers of $80-90 these days from resellers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicf3LBqJTmVtR1x8F_s0I79_6jS_HzLno8L-smJ7BsxIyAou4gBUEmAUwQOZl12SwupEuu8gW7YShKNt1TXYUnj8_YRUmzvH8IZmWOiVCvPdvAwrqo9j0cLefzop_FRiE-1Wd6jvsY315I/s1600/P1110019+Paleontologist+Barbie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1148" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicf3LBqJTmVtR1x8F_s0I79_6jS_HzLno8L-smJ7BsxIyAou4gBUEmAUwQOZl12SwupEuu8gW7YShKNt1TXYUnj8_YRUmzvH8IZmWOiVCvPdvAwrqo9j0cLefzop_FRiE-1Wd6jvsY315I/s640/P1110019+Paleontologist+Barbie.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paleontologist Barbie, 1996</td></tr>
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One outcome of the discussions was the design of our very first Geology Club t-shirt. It was more egalitarian with both genders being described in fine detail. Somehow I managed to save one of them after all these years, which you can see below...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7koOcYxzL1Nnb1Bgdl3PIql9qQ560Uf81OixNtJ7i41f4cW5kGDqYno6_xthMZpc4AoIMGtew18PUlFA1CT3HolXuerEKkZbrRxgq6uh0Zz3zkPrVVLizUcU0VdzhZSWtfOQeVSugwpE/s1600/P1110025+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1201" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7koOcYxzL1Nnb1Bgdl3PIql9qQ560Uf81OixNtJ7i41f4cW5kGDqYno6_xthMZpc4AoIMGtew18PUlFA1CT3HolXuerEKkZbrRxgq6uh0Zz3zkPrVVLizUcU0VdzhZSWtfOQeVSugwpE/s640/P1110025+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
So we fast-forward to the present day...much about the world is changed, but Barbie lives on. I had not been following the line of Barbie dolls for at least two decades, and I was surprised to find that there is an entire line of careers for Barbie dolls and that ethnicities beyond blonde white woman are part of the line-up. It's a welcome change, but because of a Facebook discussion, I was looking for images of the ancient Barbie Doll online...and found that Paleontologist Barbie has been resurrected!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFB0zRXO2Kh2WXAm2767SJOEfsOw8wxf7coTcX7tsOlViP68KtClHTavREc-zoPmF7xC7nGiPGNfg3S8fl5SU1bVLlEGWDT07I2fUUahVXvchYcE5XCOJxUSDRKds9uLXI9b5yv6EmhnN/s1600/P1110021.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFB0zRXO2Kh2WXAm2767SJOEfsOw8wxf7coTcX7tsOlViP68KtClHTavREc-zoPmF7xC7nGiPGNfg3S8fl5SU1bVLlEGWDT07I2fUUahVXvchYcE5XCOJxUSDRKds9uLXI9b5yv6EmhnN/s640/P1110021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I wasn't going to make a mistake again and ordered one right away ($12.95 plus tax). It arrived this week, and I welcome your observations and suggestions about how future Paleontologist Barbie in 2050 can be improved.<br />
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My first impression about 2019 Barbie is that she is rolling her eyes in exasperation (see the first photo). This no doubt is because some supervisor is mansplaining something to her on a subject in which she is an expert. The utility vest over a blue shirt is a good change, much more efficient than a dinosaur blouse. I'm not so sure about the hardhat. I guess some fossil excavations take place in quarries, but most of my personal experiences have been in desert or prairie in the hot sun where a broad-rimmed hat makes a lot more sense. The original 1996 Barbie had a hat and a canteen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvQOi4TsH3KrQ0a6TZKke4RIM5z9gKg5fuzQ2q4ndo9it_gwwKS7x76UASy760fmvcj_XNYeRIELOUw5B9jeV9bYmwIDv4CssqaHztT9nSl-atK_krprsXbM84K0BU_NRVbEmhgbUTa1e/s1600/P1110022.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvQOi4TsH3KrQ0a6TZKke4RIM5z9gKg5fuzQ2q4ndo9it_gwwKS7x76UASy760fmvcj_XNYeRIELOUw5B9jeV9bYmwIDv4CssqaHztT9nSl-atK_krprsXbM84K0BU_NRVbEmhgbUTa1e/s640/P1110022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The fossil sample was a revelation. I wasn't sure at first what to make of the fossil assemblage. As best I could tell, it's an ammonite fossil (a marine creature), along with a fern (terrestrial), and the tracks of...something. It makes no sense...except for this fact: recent news of the <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/stunning-fossil-discovery-captures-the-moment-dinosaurs-were-wiped-out">discovery of a dinosaur extinction/tsunami assemblage</a> in North Dakota that included ammonite fragments along with terrestrial vegetation fossils and fragments of terrestrial animals! This specimen is <i>amazingly</i> prescient!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwrHjA7KYZuxCv1IfN00XstAHZruqG_-HCobo2F5y84cxDT-n88ODevLWsSZHqol7QDZ9uGAOAyhhVQJB17d5WVRg8ozHx0CcL7Vw-lBERoYggv8dMqfENWOVVKQPS7Gs8uleejyeWn-2/s1600/P1110022+%25282%2529.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwrHjA7KYZuxCv1IfN00XstAHZruqG_-HCobo2F5y84cxDT-n88ODevLWsSZHqol7QDZ9uGAOAyhhVQJB17d5WVRg8ozHx0CcL7Vw-lBERoYggv8dMqfENWOVVKQPS7Gs8uleejyeWn-2/s640/P1110022+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The boots seem serviceable enough, but there ought to be some thick socks. Blisters are a real problem out there in the field. I couldn't find any images of the footwear of 1996 Paleontologist Barbie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ld-YUQaDvc8wYlEpn_XIxEQtEc81yTo7_fbiAFiupheEoLsrMixdRaa0RUpn-9E3MP4YK57lsEVmRXCXr9zCHyDuy44Z_SflqiP8JQESAOJ-BOUCeYJ2IVf6juTEyIDVVM78C9QodfXb/s1600/P1110023.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ld-YUQaDvc8wYlEpn_XIxEQtEc81yTo7_fbiAFiupheEoLsrMixdRaa0RUpn-9E3MP4YK57lsEVmRXCXr9zCHyDuy44Z_SflqiP8JQESAOJ-BOUCeYJ2IVf6juTEyIDVVM78C9QodfXb/s640/P1110023.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
I'm old enough and far-enough removed from the days of having a young daughter in the house that I still think of Barbie as a helpless princess, so I'm glad to find that the toy line has displayed some sensitivity to the career opportunities available for young girls of all ethnicities to dream about. I am actually going to put the doll in the lab along with Gumby and Pokey, and a host of toy dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. I do in fact have children visiting in the lab on occasion, and I would like for them to be able to see themselves as geologists and paleontologists.<div><br /></div><div>Sooo....what is your advice for the next iteration of Paleontologist/Geologist Barbie?<br />
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<br /></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-21605462180497169972023-02-25T11:57:00.000-08:002023-02-25T11:57:25.290-08:00What are the Real Laws of Geological Field Work and Research Publication?<p> A bunch of years ago (1998) I took on the first really substantial written work I was ever involved with, a field guide to Yosemite National Park, the central Mother Lode, and the Coast Ranges at Del Puerto Canyon and around the Calaveras fault in the vicinity of Hollister. This was for a field conference of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers-Far Western Section. I was pretty happy with the result in the end, but it took a lot of work, and I came to realize a few underlying laws of the Universe that apply to doing field work and writing of any kind. I know I plagiarized some of these (Murphy's Law is of course universal in and of itself), for which I apologize, but today I am more interested in what other universal laws that exist out there. <i><b>What would you add to this list?</b></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjy81drY5O_yqtUSqIPEEVY5LNVwk2dyoWYPkVQtuA489kaCUPwJGhyJ1UKebB6iihwhd9W4paDTDBvkM1NiuuZs5znNaHy4_F5SwjII1xIw7B8a5XIvReisURxCohpk71hWplpGeOk1h5-E0M1Sf2PGGJ-UJYT0b3G1_eEyD3LJ37NWk8Srs_HBNrW0g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjy81drY5O_yqtUSqIPEEVY5LNVwk2dyoWYPkVQtuA489kaCUPwJGhyJ1UKebB6iihwhd9W4paDTDBvkM1NiuuZs5znNaHy4_F5SwjII1xIw7B8a5XIvReisURxCohpk71hWplpGeOk1h5-E0M1Sf2PGGJ-UJYT0b3G1_eEyD3LJ37NWk8Srs_HBNrW0g=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Ultimate Law
(also known as Murphy’s Law)</b>: In an infinite Universe, anything that can go
wrong, must eventually go wrong.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The First Corollary</b>:
In an infinite Universe, the number of ways something can go wrong is also
infinite.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In the field:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Snowflake Uncertainty Principle</b>: No two individual snowflakes
in the Universe are identical. Neither are car odometers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Corollary</b>: no outcrop will ever be found by following mileages in a
guidebook.<span style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;">The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Abandon all Hope Principle</b>: The outcrop you are looking for has
been destroyed by landscaping anyway.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: 22.5pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicAKM67iWsDACGK84Wg5sxtS92Bks0oCBeEXtDs9UpL8OmisxPm_hAO8pn9SoZjBGpcathqcPz0jZg6CPe5u1kSLXnC6O-ct2r_zdjw59goyJp6hy8eRAMGFq-hamU8Q2_uleribzHmMB05txNEWK4xAtQ8iNffhWNdX7EQHmyarAiRh2cm6zZoNH-yQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicAKM67iWsDACGK84Wg5sxtS92Bks0oCBeEXtDs9UpL8OmisxPm_hAO8pn9SoZjBGpcathqcPz0jZg6CPe5u1kSLXnC6O-ct2r_zdjw59goyJp6hy8eRAMGFq-hamU8Q2_uleribzHmMB05txNEWK4xAtQ8iNffhWNdX7EQHmyarAiRh2cm6zZoNH-yQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the most significant geology exposures in the eastern Sierra Nevada, the Big Pumice Cut, was recently slated for "landscaping". It once and for all established the age of Sherwin glacial tills in relation to the Bishop Tuff</td></tr></tbody></table><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Law of Complexity</b>: The geology is always more complicated than you
think it will be.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjThN93-POyxM-zAHY6CuUI753SExQaJ4a3Em4Pc5W2sejmqmL8kmXxbd9BmIIfVSYQPvFDXUdkGS8XmAYNmZ5nAeJaAqf3j28-Qtu3Y3r2_hJlwRXgguT5e4VXbq79xlHsSWZ1xFGOFGR_x9U9RgwLmBJK_gxBCysr2rl3er9Lkc3_hfwemgWF4Tya1g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjThN93-POyxM-zAHY6CuUI753SExQaJ4a3Em4Pc5W2sejmqmL8kmXxbd9BmIIfVSYQPvFDXUdkGS8XmAYNmZ5nAeJaAqf3j28-Qtu3Y3r2_hJlwRXgguT5e4VXbq79xlHsSWZ1xFGOFGR_x9U9RgwLmBJK_gxBCysr2rl3er9Lkc3_hfwemgWF4Tya1g=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Corollary</b>: The complexity of the geology is directly proportional
to the percentage of the area that is exposed as an outcrop. The least amount of exposure
contains the most complex geology.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"><o:p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwpVthKbBXAGNvhFPA7BES3rohmYsGLFT4uefysDprAXU974d_I-9qVM3Rk98fnlAaZSEmIt0kRaalf6NfyM9KWSp_K7X-Bk-wwhw1QiNj7H0jFfG9XfqHlx_LaCngYnFgcJPRujEUCFz9pqBukV1wVKCJogci_vM4piFbDXK-KLXujXxYve-jLgU-fA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwpVthKbBXAGNvhFPA7BES3rohmYsGLFT4uefysDprAXU974d_I-9qVM3Rk98fnlAaZSEmIt0kRaalf6NfyM9KWSp_K7X-Bk-wwhw1QiNj7H0jFfG9XfqHlx_LaCngYnFgcJPRujEUCFz9pqBukV1wVKCJogci_vM4piFbDXK-KLXujXxYve-jLgU-fA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grass covers the hills of the California Coast Ranges, hiding the extraordinarily deformed rocks of the Franciscan Complex, an accretionary wedge deposit</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Laws Regarding Organized
Skepticism in Science:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pharaoh’s Principle:</b> Be skeptical about extraordinary claims, but do
not forget that the guy may really have been talking to God after all.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3nkv6Sp9gQoLKGMPu6NLK5Ge7X4zmffmOQzVKdu7u4KZBvKIQMwY9k6dhzvgp3FYzPGPHEbkgCOIHsGeLyY7bNDr1ChOKA65L-VpNCOJ6v6x4aRESkPjvFOvt2aKVIu1duQnJqo_53gZOH6ig8R329_rGMlM5SU418mCSStxrznUHHG8Onx8jrUuV2g" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1024" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3nkv6Sp9gQoLKGMPu6NLK5Ge7X4zmffmOQzVKdu7u4KZBvKIQMwY9k6dhzvgp3FYzPGPHEbkgCOIHsGeLyY7bNDr1ChOKA65L-VpNCOJ6v6x4aRESkPjvFOvt2aKVIu1duQnJqo_53gZOH6ig8R329_rGMlM5SU418mCSStxrznUHHG8Onx8jrUuV2g=w640-h483" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pharaoh always struck me as the best scientist in antiquity: question all claims; require evidence (screen capture from "The Ten Commandments", 1956, Paramount Pictures)</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The X-Files Principle:</b> If you truly believe in a hypothesis, all
evidence will eventually prove it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 22.5pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0Q_9dlZh3no1oK7U062GTAnUs5swOG77WBlSUsH0p0L2_kr3E9e_tH-ik1BPVKBTBEhiFqa-Fok-cIVXowPdh8HOaf7sTpsJc5SAcrZn4SxVSSUjOoUUUQoXu61-neTYVvM7cr5xMYIJPU_l9qFEv0ZbcRiSstnOGBKn6MSiBKwz98yp5JHZ47-qoqg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="353" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0Q_9dlZh3no1oK7U062GTAnUs5swOG77WBlSUsH0p0L2_kr3E9e_tH-ik1BPVKBTBEhiFqa-Fok-cIVXowPdh8HOaf7sTpsJc5SAcrZn4SxVSSUjOoUUUQoXu61-neTYVvM7cr5xMYIJPU_l9qFEv0ZbcRiSstnOGBKn6MSiBKwz98yp5JHZ47-qoqg=w400-h321" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Laws Regarding the Teaching
of Science:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The “California will fall into the sea” Syndrome:</b> The one
principle, fact, or model that students will remember 20 years after taking a
science class will be factually wrong.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3I8qABcY-S_ymv0xpiWHteCmro2xD6Oxv7PAxglRdOzX7NQRreE_M5HvH-FJWlPzQ37Rl_wRl_WRbrgx9VL0W6PZrWxyT7emXAl5Ljw-TeukQocnzzOpLXSLtA7vjZ_GoaDAjylV-pamDdWIsAUuwsFIi_ym2ab_qH8UmLI26MGGAYyEHSFIdyogeoQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1104" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3I8qABcY-S_ymv0xpiWHteCmro2xD6Oxv7PAxglRdOzX7NQRreE_M5HvH-FJWlPzQ37Rl_wRl_WRbrgx9VL0W6PZrWxyT7emXAl5Ljw-TeukQocnzzOpLXSLtA7vjZ_GoaDAjylV-pamDdWIsAUuwsFIi_ym2ab_qH8UmLI26MGGAYyEHSFIdyogeoQ=w640-h448" width="640" /></a></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Researching and Publishing</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> (and in my case, field
guides):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The</b> “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grammatical Problems:
the Colon” Principle</b>: Despite the best efforts of editors and publishers to
abolish the practice, the colon will always be used in geology titles. No
geologist can resist its dramatic impact. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Law of Expanding Returns</b>: The time remaining before the deadline
for submittal of papers is inversely proportional to number of pages remaining
to be written (i.e., as the deadline approaches, the number of new facts, ideas
and conclusions approaches infinity).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The second corollary</b>: the best ideas and insights must necessarily
occur after a paper has been submitted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Log in One’s Own Eye Axiom</b>: Authors can never proofread their
own documents.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Aggressive Editor Fallacy</b>: An editor who makes too many changes
to a document becomes subject to the previous axiom.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Elephant in the Living Room Principle</b>: An editor can spend so
much time correcting minor grammar problems that he/she will miss the fact that
the entire premise of the paper is erroneous.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><b>ADD MORE LAWS IN THE COMMENTS!</b></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-41268305708907997992023-01-21T23:51:00.001-08:002023-01-21T23:51:16.106-08:00A Short Primer on Mass Wasting, Courtesy of California's Atmospheric River Storms<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfwhXnbWffdXyhcYG9hWznl7pjbrxiXPccJnHZb7f3XcYGVDRf29HXtk4OsvEO-LK8BXWCHYf8sg89OtfOK5hjdjHADOUgkyr0Kjibov9Lwosa4ovbPoz4nTFpbhAPAhXIm6KgcHoTqOcPaaigrlUW3IM_2Ipfn9luN_jZw1nljPMD6ep1C86hMV_YQ/s2038/PXL_20230119_011106034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="2038" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfwhXnbWffdXyhcYG9hWznl7pjbrxiXPccJnHZb7f3XcYGVDRf29HXtk4OsvEO-LK8BXWCHYf8sg89OtfOK5hjdjHADOUgkyr0Kjibov9Lwosa4ovbPoz4nTFpbhAPAhXIm6KgcHoTqOcPaaigrlUW3IM_2Ipfn9luN_jZw1nljPMD6ep1C86hMV_YQ/w640-h360/PXL_20230119_011106034.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>I live in California's Great Valley, known to some as the plain old "Central Valley", and most know it as a very flat place. A VERY flat place. Over the four-hundred-mile length of the valley elevations barely rise above 300 feet above sea level, and much of the valley is floodplain. As we emerge from the unrelenting series of atmospheric river storms that dropped near-record (and some record) amounts of precipitation all over the state, one might assume the greatest problem here is flooding. Some areas have indeed been hit very hard, and lives were lost.<p></p><p>One might be surprised to hear that even though the rivers rose, some areas were less affected by the flooding. In the case of my home county, Stanislaus, there were (and continue to be) problems along the lower reaches of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers, but on the east side of the valley there were few ill effects. Along my usual walkway, the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail in Waterford, the damage was of a type not often associated with a flat valley floor: <b>mass wasting</b>, or <b>mass movement</b>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTpw0NJxVyAKSC7jptUiUcy1iSLVU6NzyY0f52d6H4wajUmRlcDIt7ZqQhLuzx8CirpYU_PZ-q60caczRX9u53i8bt7xvJr1TkW9VY1ZL1LjWyEQ_7ZXfZywMrGR44WoJh6ty2X8NMqu5SyyDk7P_4HWycJfFjcayFpibbaXQFur7Z0Q5nsSTac8zDQ/s1831/PXL_20230116_210344948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1831" data-original-width="1030" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTpw0NJxVyAKSC7jptUiUcy1iSLVU6NzyY0f52d6H4wajUmRlcDIt7ZqQhLuzx8CirpYU_PZ-q60caczRX9u53i8bt7xvJr1TkW9VY1ZL1LjWyEQ_7ZXfZywMrGR44WoJh6ty2X8NMqu5SyyDk7P_4HWycJfFjcayFpibbaXQFur7Z0Q5nsSTac8zDQ/w360-h640/PXL_20230116_210344948.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>The reason has to do with a quirk of the geological history of our region. During the Pleistocene ice ages over the last two million years, glaciers covered perhaps 30% of the Sierra Nevada on repeated occasions. The ice never reached the Great Valley, but the streams of ice ground up vast amounts of rock to sand and mud, and the rivers were swollen with muddy meltwater. Rivers like the Tuolumne and Merced built up vast alluvial fans that resulted in higher elevations near the mountain's edge, on the order of a few tens of feet. That doesn't sound like much, but when the glaciers ebbed, the muddy rivers turned clear, and the rivers began to erode into those old alluvial fans, forming terraces and bluffs.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfMJqFW0pkY2DF_aW--HRCQq5_EgZBNPDq1n0WrKK7fekf_nzrDHgkVaDKwRFL4rZfOhBj6NQgWCldIOKZEybxZZXTcf2gdo_VJGBDquE96bikS6MyQBGn_Pys1dnyJru-lJdgvbJdwb2lx4tUc4-MvbLdqhttrNln9TMqM5ytf-yr9uimFUtoOa06Q/s1373/PXL_20230116_210444716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1373" data-original-width="772" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfMJqFW0pkY2DF_aW--HRCQq5_EgZBNPDq1n0WrKK7fekf_nzrDHgkVaDKwRFL4rZfOhBj6NQgWCldIOKZEybxZZXTcf2gdo_VJGBDquE96bikS6MyQBGn_Pys1dnyJru-lJdgvbJdwb2lx4tUc4-MvbLdqhttrNln9TMqM5ytf-yr9uimFUtoOa06Q/w360-h640/PXL_20230116_210444716.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>On the one hand, these bluffs and terraces have protected towns like Modesto and Turlock from river flooding because even the worst of floods cannot overtop the bluffs where most of the region's cities are located. On the other hand, the bluffs are steep and are composed of loosely consolidated sediments. That's the ideal recipe for mass wasting, the <b>downhill movement of loose debris and rock under the influence of gravity</b>. I got an excellent introduction to a variety of mass wasting events after the final storm last week. It was a mess along the trail.<p></p><p>Mass wasting happens because of gravity, but an overaccumulation of water can substantially add to the intensity and degree of movement. The movement takes three forms: <b>falls, flows, </b>and <b>slides</b>. I saw examples of all three this week.</p><p>In the picture above, there was so much water built up in the soil that the slope failed rapidly and the fluid mix of silt and water flowed and covered part of the trail below. This is called a <b>mudflow</b>. In different circumstances, especially involving glaciers and erupting volcanoes or desert cloudbursts, mudflows are one of the most dangerous forms of mass wasting. A single volcanic mudflow in Colombia in 1985 killed some 25,000 people. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlQIb21iPIRPanWnKb4CmpGxRpamRhKcXxPE8PdXf1F3k_0wIP02L9iqp7_Hm-YiaPYBABMBnut0IDwH9NRML4Bs8A3feGFe5D3MBB9tWkX_lWXpquaMinC-XZqqpUJFRtPmtafqnFSKjkTVopYbbwuz3z89deVY45MzSF2Ddb_aQf7PGElHnqTNsvA/s1508/PXL_20230116_210513510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1508" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlQIb21iPIRPanWnKb4CmpGxRpamRhKcXxPE8PdXf1F3k_0wIP02L9iqp7_Hm-YiaPYBABMBnut0IDwH9NRML4Bs8A3feGFe5D3MBB9tWkX_lWXpquaMinC-XZqqpUJFRtPmtafqnFSKjkTVopYbbwuz3z89deVY45MzSF2Ddb_aQf7PGElHnqTNsvA/w640-h360/PXL_20230116_210513510.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>A short distance away, the slope was more coherent, but water had added a great deal of weight to an already steepened slope (from the carving of the trail itself), and the slope failed as a single mass that slid downhill as a <b>slump</b> (above). Slumps are usually much slower-moving than a mudflow and thus rarely kill anyone. But they can do considerable damage to homes, roads and other developments. The slump shown above is inconsequential, but I saw a much more serious problem a short ways down the trail... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31aadABU9dUPJ7ludU9iqqx6X6LK-x8rfIaoXec4dRVs9nrcTAusMxjQhnETUVUQyLR7mEGAg8xDJOYyHH8TAeBluVwRjEuxo2Yss8-timMx_J68kAlONC3sT5hdXXOfWT7LL7z2b5sySzPqPD807XDKN0beBlXfkBiTsou8ZgereS4PdOq-J3ypKPw/s1412/PXL_20230118_205158410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="794" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31aadABU9dUPJ7ludU9iqqx6X6LK-x8rfIaoXec4dRVs9nrcTAusMxjQhnETUVUQyLR7mEGAg8xDJOYyHH8TAeBluVwRjEuxo2Yss8-timMx_J68kAlONC3sT5hdXXOfWT7LL7z2b5sySzPqPD807XDKN0beBlXfkBiTsou8ZgereS4PdOq-J3ypKPw/w360-h640/PXL_20230118_205158410.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>The town's water treatment plant has been built on a lower terrace next to the Tuolumne River at the base of the steep bluff. A paved access road was necessary, and they carved it into the slope, oversteepening the upper slopes, and putting additional weight on the slope below the road. A slump has begun forming right next to the road, and is ominously slipping an inch or two a day so far. I don't know if it will stabilize now that we've had some dry weather, but they are going to have to do some mitigation work in coming weeks.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7RoHW4E7fRCfhp1yOE3IIdaD7sX_Yxz-q_ucPuTvI58m0FNEMRZEe-kY4xAPPv5RMSeTrrz9v85y4auzwPVpMWYjOz3plhaWF-STa-JGskX7I35Rtuh92G6ytD_lfw8VAe8PBca3zezQgR78LlL7IMpt-FNSDG0ppgXGJAvl2vOXGCa4mwfljLFKNA/s1557/PXL_20230116_213114966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="1557" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7RoHW4E7fRCfhp1yOE3IIdaD7sX_Yxz-q_ucPuTvI58m0FNEMRZEe-kY4xAPPv5RMSeTrrz9v85y4auzwPVpMWYjOz3plhaWF-STa-JGskX7I35Rtuh92G6ytD_lfw8VAe8PBca3zezQgR78LlL7IMpt-FNSDG0ppgXGJAvl2vOXGCa4mwfljLFKNA/w640-h360/PXL_20230116_213114966.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The over-steepened slope above the access road has always been a problem, as <b>rockfalls</b> have been a constant, if minor, problem even in dry weather. The rains made the problem far, far worse, and after the final storm, the road was a real mess. There had been some wild tobacco shrubs whose roots helped hold back the rock, but they could do little to stabilize things in the face of intense rain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mass wasting consists of flows, falls, and slides, but one of the most pervasive and efficient forms of mass-wasting is almost mundane in the face of all the drama seen above. Over time all exposed surface weather and develop into a loose ground cover called <b>regolith</b>. If the regolith can support plant life, it is referred to as <b>soil</b>. If any slope exists at all, the soil and regolith will move move downhill imperceptibly over many months or years. <b>Soil creep</b> is not dramatic, but in the big picture it probably moves more material than any other form of mass wasting. It never kills anyone, but it will deform and bulldoze structures built into the slope over time. It's why old barbwire fences on hilly country roads always seem to be tilting over. It can even tilt telephone poles.</div><div><br /></div><div>Soil creep was not much in evidence as a result of the storms, but it is clear that the trail builders knew it would be a problem over time. That's why many sections of the trail have walls built on the uphill side of the trail, to hold back the process for awhile (see below).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXQFzBlJlYgq1XMU2VWq_iWg40E30Te4cmjSUueLYLUQmPKysYqfKr7xO9c5oBY93nBcDlKtCI-Kk2MaJGYM7D5YkZPff5-OLVM3ZIvumECPt9wyQbHeHGogWPL8_bVVrK9oz9z7skGj41MLy_6puEAFqvZuHghYeWWn8ens-gDdGJGAUq9bulgqLkg/s1409/PXL_20230118_213120785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="793" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXQFzBlJlYgq1XMU2VWq_iWg40E30Te4cmjSUueLYLUQmPKysYqfKr7xO9c5oBY93nBcDlKtCI-Kk2MaJGYM7D5YkZPff5-OLVM3ZIvumECPt9wyQbHeHGogWPL8_bVVrK9oz9z7skGj41MLy_6puEAFqvZuHghYeWWn8ens-gDdGJGAUq9bulgqLkg/w360-h640/PXL_20230118_213120785.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>In one week, my modest hiking trail showed off nearly all the major forms of mass wasting, with the only exception (thankfully) of a debris avalanche that is capable of wreaking serious havoc, and solifluction, a form of creep known from artic environments. How did things play out where you live? I've heard a lot of stories of serious damage coming from around the state. I hope you've avoided the worst of it.<p></p></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-2612893051827912592023-01-01T21:41:00.000-08:002023-01-01T21:41:46.189-08:00Dry Creek: Anatomy of a Flood (One of Many Across California Today)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3vJLDY6PBcibV7aRCLokquddgMtqRxJpRXE9FSviNXhB_wr0QniKbiaWeOUpDqQgLoQiNpEQUqdENbi6Sonhe6VM8OJocYIDa4olRHuo_FNcbZWPtVTsl5DQDRtNw1rpZcJQklpx-lSe9-il3G21_zgEFb693VBFufZlgmCH2w9jhqNPgDhpiPs2khw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3vJLDY6PBcibV7aRCLokquddgMtqRxJpRXE9FSviNXhB_wr0QniKbiaWeOUpDqQgLoQiNpEQUqdENbi6Sonhe6VM8OJocYIDa4olRHuo_FNcbZWPtVTsl5DQDRtNw1rpZcJQklpx-lSe9-il3G21_zgEFb693VBFufZlgmCH2w9jhqNPgDhpiPs2khw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>After days of gloomy and wet weather, New Year's Day dawned bright and sunny, and we couldn't resist driving out into the California prairie to have a look at the beautiful landscape. The streams across the prairies east of Modesto were full and flowing in a way we haven't seen for a number of years. And that's the problem of course. <p></p><p>This creek, normally dry, was just one of many dozens of tributaries to Dry Creek, which is itself an unregulated, undammed tributary to the Tuolumne River. This entire area received upwards of five inches of precipitation in the last day or two, and all the water had to go somewhere.</p><p>I included a picture of Dry Creek in <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2022/12/year-end-look-at-california-water.html">my post yesterday</a>, when it was flowing at about 600 cubic feet per second (cfs). I am including another picture below, taken at the same time, but from an angle that shows the pasture to the left. I knew that more water would be coming downstream, maybe as much as 1,500 cfs, an amount that would actually be more, by a wide margin, than the main drainage in the area, the Tuolumne River.</p><p>That's not quite what happened...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaL921g__cBZWBgIvg4RBPT6ZHqODhD6nKZJjitlxHDdgZcJr73kfoHfPsLrwPDLfpV4XZDJ7VGBe8Tn-QVmRdYCXi-ycMW3L5IGkqUdOJY16g8jguFYl-jfAMcZGcW8JfKot7a2L-gJmlu1MHhyoje7x-x8ii3V-6vT7b_CJ8WhInBC98npseGqRTqw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaL921g__cBZWBgIvg4RBPT6ZHqODhD6nKZJjitlxHDdgZcJr73kfoHfPsLrwPDLfpV4XZDJ7VGBe8Tn-QVmRdYCXi-ycMW3L5IGkqUdOJY16g8jguFYl-jfAMcZGcW8JfKot7a2L-gJmlu1MHhyoje7x-x8ii3V-6vT7b_CJ8WhInBC98npseGqRTqw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>When we crossed the Dry Creek Bridge north of Waterford today, the creek was running at <i style="font-weight: bold;">6,000 cubic feet per second, </i>more than ten times the flow of the previous day. Take a look below at what happened to the pasture (not to mention all the shrubs and brambles at the base of the oak trees).<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4MPiOXcDNBH693Vt4ikUSwitDpP1ZOBvVop_-mTpWd1gOzp4BWH_sjrSY5a4td1_e2tV_lI95JCIt_kvTBCIV6bRHWyFf5rjxun069Ywee1xKzl2lPg9FHQfsB6KK1jsSM8oWvqrFX5aY8ZBsINOaFHziovRgIjUXzdfmaBx2K3GJabGfP3YaWu-uHg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4MPiOXcDNBH693Vt4ikUSwitDpP1ZOBvVop_-mTpWd1gOzp4BWH_sjrSY5a4td1_e2tV_lI95JCIt_kvTBCIV6bRHWyFf5rjxun069Ywee1xKzl2lPg9FHQfsB6KK1jsSM8oWvqrFX5aY8ZBsINOaFHziovRgIjUXzdfmaBx2K3GJabGfP3YaWu-uHg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>By the time we arrived in the prairies in the afternoon today, most of the floodwaters had subsided in the upper watershed, but we could see evidence everywhere that a significant flood event had taken place. Rocks were strewn across the roadways, and every watercourse showed evidence of having been feet deeper the previous day. One bridge we crossed would have been four feet underwater during the height of the storm. <p></p><p>The flood hydrograph below tells the story. The data is taken from a stream gage downstream in Modesto. The bar graph at the top shows the pattern of the rainfall in the storm up in the watershed, and the subsequent rise of Dry Creek. Notice how the rise of the creek lagged behind the precipitation. This so-called <b><i>lagtime</i></b> makes sense because it takes time for the water to gather into the tributaries and then to flow the twenty miles or so downstream. <i><b>Lagtime</b></i> represents the critical hours that residents downstream can prepare for the oncoming flood.</p><p>Wouldn't it be nice if there were a government entity that could monitor all rivers and all flood events so that when such events unfold, there could be timely warnings? Perhaps even keeping records of storms over the course of a century or more, so that specific warnings could be made about the timing and the expected intensity of the oncoming flood? Unlike earthquakes, floods <i><b>can</b></i> be predicted, and there are in fact government institutions that are tasked with this job, mainly the United States Geological Survey (across the entire US), and the Department of Water Resources specifically in California.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbZz-Gl8Um46IF4E6AI6t7WSuYAw_KksUJOMoYSlfB1uLcZFs1tgqT-_r4_7ZBuFRfUg4gW6G79tpTsO3_azX-QQ68PrlXIayvY1LqCZnA8nLUC4_y5EKyNse3Rg9MDuC8zeGdD9IrKVjVtXqTn02upJuUBXGHcfLO09D8ZRLoJC_PIb_pGQKSkrvbIg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="950" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbZz-Gl8Um46IF4E6AI6t7WSuYAw_KksUJOMoYSlfB1uLcZFs1tgqT-_r4_7ZBuFRfUg4gW6G79tpTsO3_azX-QQ68PrlXIayvY1LqCZnA8nLUC4_y5EKyNse3Rg9MDuC8zeGdD9IrKVjVtXqTn02upJuUBXGHcfLO09D8ZRLoJC_PIb_pGQKSkrvbIg=w640-h600" width="640" /></a></div><br />Which brings us to the handy-dandy bottom portion of the hydrograph. The blue line on the graph is what happened already. The pink line is <i>the prediction</i>. We have another intense storm coming on Wednesday, and after dropping to around 300 cfs, Dry Creek is going to rise again to at least 6,000 cfs and maybe more. Isn't it nice that we have several days warning? That's just one huge example of the value of science in our society.<p></p><p>Of course, no one is perfect, and all models and predictions can be affected by unknown and unexpected factors. The storm this week offers one tragic example. Although most streams and rivers behaved more or less as predicted, the <a href="https://www.capradio.org/articles/2023/01/01/sacramento-wakes-up-to-downed-trees-flash-flood-warnings-after-unexpectedly-strong-new-years-eve-storm/">Cosumnes River defied the predictions</a> and produced record flooding, well beyond the predicted levels. </p><p>What went wrong? Those who do science fully understand that errors happen, and it their goal is to understand the reason for such errors. The factors in the Cosumnes River flooding are being analyzed and may include an unexpected slowing of the storm front causing increased precipitation, two or three broken levees, and the Caldor Fire of 2021 that ravaged much of the watershed upstream. If you want to follow the analysis, check out the <a href="https://weatherwest.com/">Weather West blog </a>by Daniel Swain (<span style="color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; white-space: inherit;">@Weather_West on Twitter).</span></p><p>So, there is my science homily for the day. But we were out to explore some nature, and in any case, we need to appreciate the gifts we have been given. The day, a respite from a long series of expected storms, was beautiful. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvqRsFy6MTJiq9TwfnxbJBTRhLbjG3DpMXRwNpx8ghTN_z84ZcuvxfPdMzX9fOeMP5HdTyUOJ1KTNMZ1WrCuocgYSqj7dHAKOF0-Pk3RfJfAcaDFFKd92Cw2gi_miGixUcsPVNQbYWP6IuxjTsPaOynDS1YHfUxuszqaEOx-Xc1zYTDzG56-TX2JFOBw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvqRsFy6MTJiq9TwfnxbJBTRhLbjG3DpMXRwNpx8ghTN_z84ZcuvxfPdMzX9fOeMP5HdTyUOJ1KTNMZ1WrCuocgYSqj7dHAKOF0-Pk3RfJfAcaDFFKd92Cw2gi_miGixUcsPVNQbYWP6IuxjTsPaOynDS1YHfUxuszqaEOx-Xc1zYTDzG56-TX2JFOBw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Mountain Bluebirds are not common on the valley floor, but we saw a small flock along the road.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVeLKUXqb4-v8zWAfdln0mstbRlWPI4leYDHVHmHqBIvwst26o7IqGYrFVqvrxrBbB24FbtxueHRF4nNDX-Ov-XxvgvXr6f8epCBMdWYQrReDazOdDN4EdJYsItYhIxOIrMyCvG0aJ7RflCF5bawD01Hthzb2bRFf3E0YGik3a0Bvo-ELhGG_XwO0jg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJVeLKUXqb4-v8zWAfdln0mstbRlWPI4leYDHVHmHqBIvwst26o7IqGYrFVqvrxrBbB24FbtxueHRF4nNDX-Ov-XxvgvXr6f8epCBMdWYQrReDazOdDN4EdJYsItYhIxOIrMyCvG0aJ7RflCF5bawD01Hthzb2bRFf3E0YGik3a0Bvo-ELhGG_XwO0jg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />An American Kestrel is a sharp-looking small member of the falcon family. This one remained perched near our car for a few moments.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYlDephzkkX5Q5LlKMEKmjGhJXYRJq48B6XcMbXU6nc8wIjzqf_ANqup4QCjmN9fqmBa_vFyDGy_Ox6GyetGzlSNhcHvPLYrNWNkXsTeT_kFNFuAN_IHian7csp2TdUow2MXb-LvT2nF64m26KnYNlMRcFI6QrykEWuVlhS8KcHS246nS08tQX1PZjqQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYlDephzkkX5Q5LlKMEKmjGhJXYRJq48B6XcMbXU6nc8wIjzqf_ANqup4QCjmN9fqmBa_vFyDGy_Ox6GyetGzlSNhcHvPLYrNWNkXsTeT_kFNFuAN_IHian7csp2TdUow2MXb-LvT2nF64m26KnYNlMRcFI6QrykEWuVlhS8KcHS246nS08tQX1PZjqQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Bald Eagles are not especially abundant in the region, but we found one. So had an 'unkindness' of Common Ravens, and they were making their displeasure known to the eagle.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJR1AIEbw7XJq4MWRabDhOj2EnIwc0grreXrpNWqzrBTGscy8dLXyQZMaTt6GnbB5H4pqXbCVHLOx5rdMaTXb8JKCcGUeWlKYFNeYXztOhrjyPcVFPHzUO11OaaXelGdAp3xsiH03t1xeeV6f55fAWWO4vQzCeFIvdv-H_Q95PXWwePdxz_mv707ju5w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJR1AIEbw7XJq4MWRabDhOj2EnIwc0grreXrpNWqzrBTGscy8dLXyQZMaTt6GnbB5H4pqXbCVHLOx5rdMaTXb8JKCcGUeWlKYFNeYXztOhrjyPcVFPHzUO11OaaXelGdAp3xsiH03t1xeeV6f55fAWWO4vQzCeFIvdv-H_Q95PXWwePdxz_mv707ju5w" width="640" /></a></div>And finally, an old horse seemed to appreciate the sunshine. The horses were brought to the continent by the Spaniards in the 1500s, but they actually have a long heritage here. They evolved in North America tens of millions of years ago! They migrated across the Bering Land Strait and spread throughout the world, but for some reason went extinct along with many other large mammal species in North America about 12,000 years ago.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-46366476160354837872022-12-31T14:15:00.004-08:002022-12-31T23:50:52.252-08:00Year-end Look at the California Water Situation<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibDGoHbuOhrUVgFJadd3c4kyXKp0-Qb63DgxLmR8dXFh9GmHGl97NiE-m8ewRjroNv5Ugvu9Ya9TgVWX08lDVjnkr5dmRQwxslAd6GqJlzR2NLqEeumgYPnE3gwvdzESm0yjthXOhllVLqnPCfTok7G61-qJR8mBE91ZNRO6r1QpN5jhW5QjErpsZJlw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1342" data-original-width="1153" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibDGoHbuOhrUVgFJadd3c4kyXKp0-Qb63DgxLmR8dXFh9GmHGl97NiE-m8ewRjroNv5Ugvu9Ya9TgVWX08lDVjnkr5dmRQwxslAd6GqJlzR2NLqEeumgYPnE3gwvdzESm0yjthXOhllVLqnPCfTok7G61-qJR8mBE91ZNRO6r1QpN5jhW5QjErpsZJlw=w549-h640" width="549" /></a></div>It's the last day of 2022, and the third year of a stunning drought in California. It's been raining pretty much across the state during December, and there are hopes of alleviating the drought a bit. Let's hope so. The map above from the <a href="https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reservoir.html">California Data Exchange Center</a> gives a pretty clear idea of the situation. Reservoirs across the state are for the most part well below normal, and in the case of the biggest (Shasta, Oroville, etc.), still ominously low. I hope to revisit this diagram in a few weeks and see some changes, but we will see.<p></p><p>The long-term predictions earlier this year were for a continuation of dry conditions, so the current onslaught of atmospheric river storms is somewhat of a surprise, albeit a welcome one. But of course, one has to be wary of what one wishes for. There are flood watches up all around the state as one more storm will blow through to end the year.</p><p>There is also the cautionary tale of the previous rain year. We had some record storms in October and December last year, and things were looking great, but then January and February were about as dry as can be. I recorded a mere 0.08 inches in those two months.</p><p>Still, this year has some promise. From the weather station in the Geotripper backyard 13 miles east of Modesto, we've had 7.14 inches of precipitation in December, the highest total in the 32 years that I've been keeping statistics (I've recorded more than 5 inches in six different years, but never more than 6). Even with the earlier dry months, we should round out 2022 with about 8.6 inches as we move into the critical months of January and February when most of the precipitation <i><b>should</b></i> happen.</p><p>Despite the rain, I felt a need to check out our local barometer of runoff conditions. The Tuolumne River cannot serve in this capacity because of the numerous reservoirs upstream that very carefully control the daily flow levels. I checked instead at Dry Creek, of which there are many in California. This particular Dry Creek has its headwaters in the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mother Lode, and flows for about 40 miles before joining the Tuolumne River in Modesto. Ironically, there is almost always some water in Dry Creek, obviously from rain runoff during the winter season, but also from irrigation overflow during the dry summer months. Without any substantial flood control structures, it is a good measure of runoff conditions during storms.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQBt_XssOdpxqNWUtTDHXydaL1_QZyRlzjgECCMtdTa3le_cZ1N1LrkVPn2yTwDFlH-UW82f4rkn-ZptJf0f8A3FZEzVM0OnHlp5rRLIXYbSM6maF9RrKbGOtxY7lsZK8kF415fN2F69JTcjUw31U4QZHo-EVdrrzZkR1jIpGBMHi7sSX0CCJhKpOXwQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQBt_XssOdpxqNWUtTDHXydaL1_QZyRlzjgECCMtdTa3le_cZ1N1LrkVPn2yTwDFlH-UW82f4rkn-ZptJf0f8A3FZEzVM0OnHlp5rRLIXYbSM6maF9RrKbGOtxY7lsZK8kF415fN2F69JTcjUw31U4QZHo-EVdrrzZkR1jIpGBMHi7sSX0CCJhKpOXwQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />The creek was running about 600 cubic feet per second when I got this picture, which is about twice the current flow of the reservoir-controlled Tuolumne River. As can be seen from the discharge graph from the <a href="https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=11289850&legacy=1">USGS Water Resources site</a>, it has already been well over 1,500 cfs a couple of times in the last week. I haven't seen this much water in the creek in a couple of years.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicCSO8YKXxAxGdMKbWjcfLWlbtpUzgxVrjulaoecrFUe_lk23PrroL-d6arJWKeLyz7hxJ8_OpY-aeS34qAI6EEzQdrAoZ8BOqw-_nIX7_qc_d4xHtpMokSQDkO99e4XCGnIZ7d0Me2Up715ZSDkEsGYMR--rSLkm7iSC40mf-BTt3Ee1-C42EeMYBKA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="576" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicCSO8YKXxAxGdMKbWjcfLWlbtpUzgxVrjulaoecrFUe_lk23PrroL-d6arJWKeLyz7hxJ8_OpY-aeS34qAI6EEzQdrAoZ8BOqw-_nIX7_qc_d4xHtpMokSQDkO99e4XCGnIZ7d0Me2Up715ZSDkEsGYMR--rSLkm7iSC40mf-BTt3Ee1-C42EeMYBKA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br />Of course, the local picture is not the most important statistic. Everything in California's water infrastructure depends on the snow conditions, especially in the Sierra Nevada. Although these atmospheric river storms we are experiencing derive from tropical sources and are warmer than we might want, the <a href="https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/current/snow/index.html">current snow conditions</a> are promising. Check out the report:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivK3zdUvlx1YpxZxRawCcdt5BkaypKULYyPYwCULWrL7-cyNUtWts1ZEzHeb1gm3yMgLljkO29p-TOvkK8VBMydAenLNBnd6bNZM4kVOJ3lpjK3OzZ8pu9bDmXE85ygqB1o9JhPZofcyceGLZBw6y21QvA2gNERp1WbfEXfkGHVXMIN-8wT9xodZG_BQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="1155" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivK3zdUvlx1YpxZxRawCcdt5BkaypKULYyPYwCULWrL7-cyNUtWts1ZEzHeb1gm3yMgLljkO29p-TOvkK8VBMydAenLNBnd6bNZM4kVOJ3lpjK3OzZ8pu9bDmXE85ygqB1o9JhPZofcyceGLZBw6y21QvA2gNERp1WbfEXfkGHVXMIN-8wT9xodZG_BQ=w544-h640" width="544" /></a></div>Let's hope this keeps up. A lot of forests, rivers, animals and people are depending on it.<p></p><p>What are conditions like in your region?</p><p><br /></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-39023262056935504942022-12-07T19:04:00.003-08:002022-12-07T19:04:58.677-08:00Believing in the Occult: The Occultation of Mars, anyway.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydqeTmuBuBg9kQhwyA7NfjJa-XadtuM7DCcaC0D0dL_WkZgQYGpRUXhDmP7Mgj8cnUM1AiAdAma-2WGwzJiouYk_UGrg78WzGMrKG6GE25lNAicSlaf6Vq-GfFF2Bf-sWwq9OE5rJf2IzlcplfhY4YnLAe5wF8F1ZHr9pkL3O1ERndA9DqU3LOn0mvQ/s2498/P1010440%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1873" data-original-width="2498" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydqeTmuBuBg9kQhwyA7NfjJa-XadtuM7DCcaC0D0dL_WkZgQYGpRUXhDmP7Mgj8cnUM1AiAdAma-2WGwzJiouYk_UGrg78WzGMrKG6GE25lNAicSlaf6Vq-GfFF2Bf-sWwq9OE5rJf2IzlcplfhY4YnLAe5wF8F1ZHr9pkL3O1ERndA9DqU3LOn0mvQ/w640-h480/P1010440%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How often do you get to see something new, something you have never before seen? I got to have that experience this evening.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nYrJV0KedKjvQFPpl1R98a4K5CeJBX-Oo8kNJmnSfQrbs2D8f-FS6tbp7tMZJTV97VMy7zai7krB9Mp-So-tmsSen5r-aI-TJ60HQJ0GjcatgaJtW0jfv5C6JVRwT8z0-w0uNBFTeSClP0FcnlhkhdQa5AwYeIDg40qxEssLeMnDwApmxVoCugE0nw/s4896/P1010405%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nYrJV0KedKjvQFPpl1R98a4K5CeJBX-Oo8kNJmnSfQrbs2D8f-FS6tbp7tMZJTV97VMy7zai7krB9Mp-So-tmsSen5r-aI-TJ60HQJ0GjcatgaJtW0jfv5C6JVRwT8z0-w0uNBFTeSClP0FcnlhkhdQa5AwYeIDg40qxEssLeMnDwApmxVoCugE0nw/w640-h480/P1010405%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Some folks believe in the occult. I believe in a kind of occultation, but it involves our Moon and the planet Mars. This evening the full Moon, the Cold Moon, passed in front of the planet Mars. At that moment, the Earth, the Moon, and Mars were almost perfectly aligned.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjLcVYhznFdy96ol0ouuW1ghfbA6n1dMdfI8v2WAF6214dx8NdpVwz1loFwWxzwLZ3vHtkxAK5Xny3OmzjyLkFbwe5hsJv5pcErwk3yVnyDHeVDZsxGoS8WFzDUBOzOMotmUZCAibRJanel1HJXOu8jURB-ebE843XO2tkVY2X-3INtMuW5Jp1rKzCQ/s4896/P1010408%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjLcVYhznFdy96ol0ouuW1ghfbA6n1dMdfI8v2WAF6214dx8NdpVwz1loFwWxzwLZ3vHtkxAK5Xny3OmzjyLkFbwe5hsJv5pcErwk3yVnyDHeVDZsxGoS8WFzDUBOzOMotmUZCAibRJanel1HJXOu8jURB-ebE843XO2tkVY2X-3INtMuW5Jp1rKzCQ/w640-h480/P1010408%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The event unfolded over about twenty minutes from the time I got the camera out. At first Mars was easily seen, but as it got closer, the light of the full moon faded Mars out, but the camera had no problem.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nhN3e93zpHnBFWllT-8ctifg0d0Z_VKVsnSi87x6SGPJkJOKxbsvACNvMoH5fRGS3vqKY9RKjY8i0ZkCEgwh-iTqW33cFvBdrfeBu5wBJ4fag404lDjK9_J1pYYt3utGmjHbFUkI2OXW7ojS_b7HgV978fY57WNSQAX007jjLGSbz9nr8IMMY9smYQ/s4896/P1010415%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nhN3e93zpHnBFWllT-8ctifg0d0Z_VKVsnSi87x6SGPJkJOKxbsvACNvMoH5fRGS3vqKY9RKjY8i0ZkCEgwh-iTqW33cFvBdrfeBu5wBJ4fag404lDjK9_J1pYYt3utGmjHbFUkI2OXW7ojS_b7HgV978fY57WNSQAX007jjLGSbz9nr8IMMY9smYQ/w640-h480/P1010415%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>I was photographing this with my handheld Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 with a 60x zoom. So the finer details weren't visible, but I bet some of the telescope rigs set up around the planet got some good features on Mars. I was happy to see the disk shape of the small planet!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPx2bamNo0eA99Zih4WqGv1FStL8qQ6E7oX1Z3Dzh0bjEqT5Dyn5DjoZjDcuzzNeW0iFNbNbO4d7c6frMBfNpeph-RaPO7LG2sOqrkasGP05jnwuujPq-OeNHxMSmlxnjr9SN5yEBU8MpJHFr8hqcWA03ggsgr9gutwbf70oHRaPpTHR1spQD9Jusagg/s4896/P1010434%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPx2bamNo0eA99Zih4WqGv1FStL8qQ6E7oX1Z3Dzh0bjEqT5Dyn5DjoZjDcuzzNeW0iFNbNbO4d7c6frMBfNpeph-RaPO7LG2sOqrkasGP05jnwuujPq-OeNHxMSmlxnjr9SN5yEBU8MpJHFr8hqcWA03ggsgr9gutwbf70oHRaPpTHR1spQD9Jusagg/w640-h480/P1010434%20Occultation%20of%20Mars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />I'd love to have captured the re-emergence of Mars on the other side, but I had to teach my night course. Such is life, but it sure is fun to see something for the very first time!<p></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-87769845612793465402022-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:002022-11-19T22:20:44.405-08:00Why did the Road Cross the San Andreas Fault? 20 Years of Geologic Change (a new Update)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A7yGpiopf6diw-DXWRtIKWCpPNHn6jyPv8KVCJvZ7TeIG7pmuMgqXyNj9tZpZ_Ug6L7ChmV1vFZcGKtgjxgxVlWEGJaUVaTS3kOIkSrJV2Vd7T1rvT6fHq1Q0NcaryyshjCVIPGr860/s1600/DSC00023+Offset+highway+San+Andreas.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A7yGpiopf6diw-DXWRtIKWCpPNHn6jyPv8KVCJvZ7TeIG7pmuMgqXyNj9tZpZ_Ug6L7ChmV1vFZcGKtgjxgxVlWEGJaUVaTS3kOIkSrJV2Vd7T1rvT6fHq1Q0NcaryyshjCVIPGr860/s1600/DSC00023+Offset+highway+San+Andreas.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2002</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been leading geology field studies trips to lots of places in the American West for 30 years and started to take digital pictures in 2001. I sometimes struggle to find new things to photograph when I visit a place for the 30th time, but in some cases it is not a problem. There are geologic changes that happen on a yearly basis, and with twenty years of photos (minus two due to Covid), the changes become obvious. <a href="http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-did-san-andreas-fault-cross-road.html" target="_blank">This is a continuing update from a post in 2013</a>, and I'll probably continue updating for the foreseeable future.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4-DwVIy5mtXoOdsv0L7Q2eQzblRYj6ylz3iCtYKKYVZ6O8B4P0i25ZLYD3WszHgGaUbsqNjwrOnFAnVz8wOL6ZNbsr1fLtIbzqoz2zYSc3QxPfb_UuyWF30YTM5sl8mybFDEoCo_cw4/s1600/DSC07105+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4-DwVIy5mtXoOdsv0L7Q2eQzblRYj6ylz3iCtYKKYVZ6O8B4P0i25ZLYD3WszHgGaUbsqNjwrOnFAnVz8wOL6ZNbsr1fLtIbzqoz2zYSc3QxPfb_UuyWF30YTM5sl8mybFDEoCo_cw4/s1600/DSC07105+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2004</td></tr>
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Highway 25 in the California Coast Ranges connects the town of Hollister with the access road to Pinnacles National Park (formerly Pinnacles National Monument). Along the way the highway crosses the San Andreas fault in a section where the fault creeps an inch or so each year (36°35'54.27"N, 121°11'40.19"W). Most years we've stopped to have a look at the effect the movement has on the pavement. In 2002 and 2004, the damage was obvious.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICwnpqaRFgAZztrS2xKD5j_IAgddFkYNFW8gyfHe7dnHSbeInGOk8nkCpoZThQHDjCSR8qHJr3SNZWkpEOvFtYpo0X_dCJ8v5x_we9SGdA0B3SDKD1c2MmufkLRsr0fclljvWIlskNOY/s1600/DSC06804+San+Andreas+road+repairs+2008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICwnpqaRFgAZztrS2xKD5j_IAgddFkYNFW8gyfHe7dnHSbeInGOk8nkCpoZThQHDjCSR8qHJr3SNZWkpEOvFtYpo0X_dCJ8v5x_we9SGdA0B3SDKD1c2MmufkLRsr0fclljvWIlskNOY/s1600/DSC06804+San+Andreas+road+repairs+2008.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2008</td></tr>
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By 2008 someone had patched the road, and no fault motion was evident.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xc2A3caYAILd3oq-I-JrG2oQGvMUb0t0y_OusXyegXTEyagUPD6dC7s2yqNqeko_forEtj_zld4-MQZQ-_H0WpgaQxRspoTMFOVqN_q42RyvEr_dDW6Hm6oXvi3UPCXCRbZiDWtqvRs/s1600/DSC04035+San+Andreas+crosses+highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xc2A3caYAILd3oq-I-JrG2oQGvMUb0t0y_OusXyegXTEyagUPD6dC7s2yqNqeko_forEtj_zld4-MQZQ-_H0WpgaQxRspoTMFOVqN_q42RyvEr_dDW6Hm6oXvi3UPCXCRbZiDWtqvRs/s1600/DSC04035+San+Andreas+crosses+highway.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2009</td></tr>
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Little damage was evident in 2009 either. But by 2010 cracks had begun to appear as the fault stressed the pavement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBClNnM8sx-jAbpWV_lDY68bhiexAZWFRLCvix5MgUiAcr17sF4kB-9JMT9fvr1V7v5eqOoR_0XvK96D0hKCEaD0G1aAGl3ZLT5AimvKIiD_Ah9dXCmZ6ltaSNhRcsWphwzGnKq82VOc/s1600/DSC00023+2010+en+echelon+cracks+in+highway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBClNnM8sx-jAbpWV_lDY68bhiexAZWFRLCvix5MgUiAcr17sF4kB-9JMT9fvr1V7v5eqOoR_0XvK96D0hKCEaD0G1aAGl3ZLT5AimvKIiD_Ah9dXCmZ6ltaSNhRcsWphwzGnKq82VOc/s1600/DSC00023+2010+en+echelon+cracks+in+highway.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2010</td></tr>
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The fact that the fault creeps in this region is a good thing. It means that stress is not building along the fault surface, but instead is being released gradually. The sections of the fault to the north and south of the creeping section are locked by friction, and are building up the ominous stress that will eventually produce quakes with magnitudes in the range of 7.5 to 8.0. The quakes are coming and we need to be as prepared as possible.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvWz34XgetP9IGu8v9ALuKy4gUXhiuet6vXjjhEhN0pijgU_9vZLPmQ2kUvlqbFq5laJzfqe9fuYPEj1wLL24rQN50zBeRryIm35Ss5wUc2DqLXtshdMrIwSmQeFephdQpEXMdk8PRys/s1600/DSC08438+San+Andreas+crosses+newly+repaired+road.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvWz34XgetP9IGu8v9ALuKy4gUXhiuet6vXjjhEhN0pijgU_9vZLPmQ2kUvlqbFq5laJzfqe9fuYPEj1wLL24rQN50zBeRryIm35Ss5wUc2DqLXtshdMrIwSmQeFephdQpEXMdk8PRys/s1600/DSC08438+San+Andreas+crosses+newly+repaired+road.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012</td></tr>
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By 2012, the road had been completely repaved, and yet the shearing was already evident.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O0mzGimCFAhzSqd5iAt5HTcIrj09ValZSuqVGDf0pkSOFaemB3HlaAyLaj1lb2yAAqlimmj-IsHv_7_tkdkYdVuXgDrnXX6KKdAodfVg9U-27-BkbJQfE7ihHRUDgVaivyr_2saiHyI/s1600/DSC08197+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway+25.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O0mzGimCFAhzSqd5iAt5HTcIrj09ValZSuqVGDf0pkSOFaemB3HlaAyLaj1lb2yAAqlimmj-IsHv_7_tkdkYdVuXgDrnXX6KKdAodfVg9U-27-BkbJQfE7ihHRUDgVaivyr_2saiHyI/s1600/DSC08197+San+Andreas+fault+crosses+Highway+25.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013</td></tr>
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It became even more pronounced by 2013 and in 2014. Just by chance, the person working as a scale was the same individual as in 2004. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaEXbYy-1O_wCgzB_9MCDpOZXKDLuIcZ1cLzsKo2wy7HK2ZzgfH54aLfUjg_Gi30F8AfAABwsJDdIULEW1I13TsZd8iLi7-LZu5QhySoB-PuWO4fdhPkIxBBp4k1FHDYiAFiVoxA2Wdg/s1600/P1190002+Highway+25+San+Andreas+fault+crosses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaEXbYy-1O_wCgzB_9MCDpOZXKDLuIcZ1cLzsKo2wy7HK2ZzgfH54aLfUjg_Gi30F8AfAABwsJDdIULEW1I13TsZd8iLi7-LZu5QhySoB-PuWO4fdhPkIxBBp4k1FHDYiAFiVoxA2Wdg/s1600/P1190002+Highway+25+San+Andreas+fault+crosses.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014</td></tr>
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<br />
In 2015 the fractures were moderately larger. They'll need to start thinking of road repairs before long. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqw5wSmP5OfxMmiq3UyzZubNIcwjjdlnIH1Om1pLYnZiazuDXweVD1j7l7dJ1FLgqQK0qp9INubYeV-2JQEp0NNl92k30UOEWI5CbYmNtpvgq3pedcIcVpOozv4cXVU61M1WNP5pYpTgJ/s1600/P1360555+San+Andreas+fault+near+Pinnacles.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqw5wSmP5OfxMmiq3UyzZubNIcwjjdlnIH1Om1pLYnZiazuDXweVD1j7l7dJ1FLgqQK0qp9INubYeV-2JQEp0NNl92k30UOEWI5CbYmNtpvgq3pedcIcVpOozv4cXVU61M1WNP5pYpTgJ/s640/P1360555+San+Andreas+fault+near+Pinnacles.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015</td></tr>
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In 2016 Laura once again provided scale, as she did in 2014 and 2004.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWb5Di3XUSUv0rBcaolDjfvtMsxDTtv1qW3dnD5gewo4J2Gpe4xQZu7Qr7GfV3sdiD_m80RO3lF3mpNIlooU03IC1DwmWziG3k0YF4EtEYqEAzVAeBG6RviYiZgnvlBE04rn0Rg073miF/s1600/P1130269.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWb5Di3XUSUv0rBcaolDjfvtMsxDTtv1qW3dnD5gewo4J2Gpe4xQZu7Qr7GfV3sdiD_m80RO3lF3mpNIlooU03IC1DwmWziG3k0YF4EtEYqEAzVAeBG6RviYiZgnvlBE04rn0Rg073miF/s640/P1130269.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2016</td></tr>
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Here in 2017, long-time trip volunteer Mary provides scale. The cracks in the road are just a bit larger, but they didn't look appreciably different than the previous year except for a twist (pun intended).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_MlPbXX2rFxrjZWyB_Sl2o9WeLgpC7ftlXmn1dwuFo5_05c1JXwa_4-YpCB52ZrJKTcMFDMP3HD1GSeBK2aNCuEdpA3d1j1Aze8oDaXFcON9FWa4WotxKUTeAdOnweI48oc5VB-oeTVz/s1600/P1270307+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1213" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_MlPbXX2rFxrjZWyB_Sl2o9WeLgpC7ftlXmn1dwuFo5_05c1JXwa_4-YpCB52ZrJKTcMFDMP3HD1GSeBK2aNCuEdpA3d1j1Aze8oDaXFcON9FWa4WotxKUTeAdOnweI48oc5VB-oeTVz/s640/P1270307+%25282%2529.JPG" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
2017</td></tr>
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On Dec. 2, 2018, the break to my eye seems more continuous. It's now been six years since the road was completely repaved.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHTPIApJcVuw5njLraU3lrjjOsegsc_aNfC7GoGd00cJnlCx5j3AfovTONRZM2RWLHawuQGK7DB0PZa82rNDwcph4MY7J_6tcpiDkR1WonFUiCvZOKbYQb2eiNHEIk1AC4jZHCTBOmiel/s1600/P1150612+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHTPIApJcVuw5njLraU3lrjjOsegsc_aNfC7GoGd00cJnlCx5j3AfovTONRZM2RWLHawuQGK7DB0PZa82rNDwcph4MY7J_6tcpiDkR1WonFUiCvZOKbYQb2eiNHEIk1AC4jZHCTBOmiel/s640/P1150612+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2018</td></tr>
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<br />
Last year the paint was deformed (twisted), but not split (below).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbhzzXJikeKB4nini2UEeqrpP2A4z-TA5IW3kA5n7ev-TO03Mm9P-xgsSrueHGhXeEFakBNPllYnJ4dT1GF3RGanfRVughdb6xbQkXrYY_38ilTezqAi3v-yyt0tEDYg05e5TFPExLk4r/s1600/P1270313.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbhzzXJikeKB4nini2UEeqrpP2A4z-TA5IW3kA5n7ev-TO03Mm9P-xgsSrueHGhXeEFakBNPllYnJ4dT1GF3RGanfRVughdb6xbQkXrYY_38ilTezqAi3v-yyt0tEDYg05e5TFPExLk4r/s640/P1270313.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
2017</div>
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The offset paint strip reminds me of illustrations of elastic rebound theory, the idea that stress builds up on a fault line over time. In that model, the land on either side of the fault is distorted over time until the frictional resistance is overcome and the rock snaps back to its original shape. That won't be happening with the paint. Last year in 2017 I said "<i>if they don't repair the road (as they often do; see above), it will probably show a clear break by next year</i>." Here's what transpired:<br />
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First, a close-up on 2017's center stripe...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1p3tVvkv6vG3garQUQqBWwmuPhkaj1FZ4V7OwhqGetPehmSDC30ZkqWHPqP0c-7-IpVeNPPiSQQYOXgNYl4pjLzNkp6_gjSzxR9my_7GzvVI3w5qSbeFKaFyxnmf3rvIRIhwafLgfClo/s1600/P1270314.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1p3tVvkv6vG3garQUQqBWwmuPhkaj1FZ4V7OwhqGetPehmSDC30ZkqWHPqP0c-7-IpVeNPPiSQQYOXgNYl4pjLzNkp6_gjSzxR9my_7GzvVI3w5qSbeFKaFyxnmf3rvIRIhwafLgfClo/s640/P1270314.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2017</td></tr>
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And here's how it looked on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnMkOlI2NTLFyrNxxXSvuXlxChC3NMG_CiMqLbNFsJGqOLtmlJiKKnWhjUG1fY9tTp9-77EgPcVFeWXxpRNfHpYvEvznHMQZX4fQaVGSsJXnmyDkJVmCm27TBn00XphmeyxEo-WgRXk2O/s1600/20181202_130325+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="1093" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnMkOlI2NTLFyrNxxXSvuXlxChC3NMG_CiMqLbNFsJGqOLtmlJiKKnWhjUG1fY9tTp9-77EgPcVFeWXxpRNfHpYvEvznHMQZX4fQaVGSsJXnmyDkJVmCm27TBn00XphmeyxEo-WgRXk2O/s640/20181202_130325+%25283%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2018</td></tr>
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As predicted, the break in the paint is complete...<br />
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In 2019 (those last few halcyon days before Covid) long-time volunteer Paul provided scale (he has been assisting MJC with field trips for 25 years!). The crack continues to grow, and I wouldn't have been surprised if it was patched by next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib56_rxptgEGoMbWvNqnT7EyS7q9fc9cZZLsbJjA8gj1XEjqqVwr4lFWhXo1PK2dSwYAameT_OVFrYwEpDz9qbrNX_iB9SDGGI9DrRyQKHdSxfsGukoO6jVxGX1tkWDpzTGs-I-hLhdAgo/s1600/P1070347+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib56_rxptgEGoMbWvNqnT7EyS7q9fc9cZZLsbJjA8gj1XEjqqVwr4lFWhXo1PK2dSwYAameT_OVFrYwEpDz9qbrNX_iB9SDGGI9DrRyQKHdSxfsGukoO6jVxGX1tkWDpzTGs-I-hLhdAgo/s640/P1070347+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
The paint on the center strip is split even more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe1cbvr-8087y_mygS1VBUwLwlWvb6YvR8354V9qKVbrvqVKLVgd4R-l14DH7M3Z1S67KJCOKlHJjyVn7_AQk8-lV78H-IcKzYQsTqEbL2MIVlFLA_C_fF9tkoRaQVc3Wo6VdHKAaNvra/s1600/P1070350+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe1cbvr-8087y_mygS1VBUwLwlWvb6YvR8354V9qKVbrvqVKLVgd4R-l14DH7M3Z1S67KJCOKlHJjyVn7_AQk8-lV78H-IcKzYQsTqEbL2MIVlFLA_C_fF9tkoRaQVc3Wo6VdHKAaNvra/s640/P1070350+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And then Covid happened and for a few years we were not able to conduct our field studies classes. Today we made a return visit with our students and here is the current condition of the highway. It doesn't appear that any repairs have been conducted yet. Our host is once again Laura, who was with us back in 2004 and subsequent years!<br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzAP_ZVL8iNSda9Vhk55btj56bk7ULPk-bBRDTSgPfD50MojwwlWJS9jpIOsPBVHGh5CwseUCApsYF_wkMLhdrRDFs2uZgjooPawUiYlfggfOkauEW7Pvf0GXBzYW00unDu0lHXdp3xc11Ru-XG84irA_Q3wAW2BYnOZetJg8hMQKkSvXr76hVZF6qwg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzAP_ZVL8iNSda9Vhk55btj56bk7ULPk-bBRDTSgPfD50MojwwlWJS9jpIOsPBVHGh5CwseUCApsYF_wkMLhdrRDFs2uZgjooPawUiYlfggfOkauEW7Pvf0GXBzYW00unDu0lHXdp3xc11Ru-XG84irA_Q3wAW2BYnOZetJg8hMQKkSvXr76hVZF6qwg=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2022</td></tr></tbody></table>Fault creep is not a constant. I didn't see a whole lot of change over the last three years, although I didn't get as many close-up shots. Here's a closer look with Paul, our other long-time volunteer. What do you see that is different?</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8oglvULd8rMWQ5M6Zy0NMf0gY6q1tuh6t0dsxwnfNRsp72flxfIhmdfNwO2CvFvaIREiElO2ME59iMm1b09s4rpogEncy9geFNB58YWBz_Vc0Yg_lpe_RHGrHJ4HU5KBCoD-_DOqkMbPVUwnxiFNFfIQBGqEmU5qmCNLs-OuZlNJklfwFJg91cOCPQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8oglvULd8rMWQ5M6Zy0NMf0gY6q1tuh6t0dsxwnfNRsp72flxfIhmdfNwO2CvFvaIREiElO2ME59iMm1b09s4rpogEncy9geFNB58YWBz_Vc0Yg_lpe_RHGrHJ4HU5KBCoD-_DOqkMbPVUwnxiFNFfIQBGqEmU5qmCNLs-OuZlNJklfwFJg91cOCPQ=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 2022</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>
These little changes that happen at a rate visible in human lifetimes add up to huge changes when multiplied by thousands or millions of years. The nearby eroded volcano of Pinnacles National Park has been displaced 195 miles (315 kilometers) in the last 20 million years or so by movement along the San Andreas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrUWnOc0a3Nu1zGqjc50sSchVlZdc-1UT_BQtSP1g8D4yB3dEVopxMEroYmdRmj48zVgshnhmMAKHB5J2wp9cx5xJrW_FWuDQfDjejzoZ0CN36Y9mwswX3CAgodmDs_2kwI13l4Ck8JM/s1600/index-noeqs+with+San+Andreas+town.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrUWnOc0a3Nu1zGqjc50sSchVlZdc-1UT_BQtSP1g8D4yB3dEVopxMEroYmdRmj48zVgshnhmMAKHB5J2wp9cx5xJrW_FWuDQfDjejzoZ0CN36Y9mwswX3CAgodmDs_2kwI13l4Ck8JM/s1600/index-noeqs+with+San+Andreas+town.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-84517422160064146842022-10-30T23:16:00.000-07:002022-10-30T23:16:32.857-07:00How It Was Today: Fall in Yosemite ValleyHow it ended...
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoNRNFeAoFeim3s-no_z5WGBEfx4zAYZkMEK7iV9wEWc2CLSdVnJv1CcJ8u3El92BUVMvWXfLHaMETy1hQiVEd1xT-OWvXF24pIrzLfi2zw-8YtVXXGGYTP0Pl8VqO16tmPbC1ZHDFnFQ_h0M8fTblw7KlGXgAwlKVTlrH9ghFEBmVP0JyHl7Haxctg/s4896/P1000299%20Valley%20View.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoNRNFeAoFeim3s-no_z5WGBEfx4zAYZkMEK7iV9wEWc2CLSdVnJv1CcJ8u3El92BUVMvWXfLHaMETy1hQiVEd1xT-OWvXF24pIrzLfi2zw-8YtVXXGGYTP0Pl8VqO16tmPbC1ZHDFnFQ_h0M8fTblw7KlGXgAwlKVTlrH9ghFEBmVP0JyHl7Haxctg/w640-h480/P1000299%20Valley%20View.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>How it began...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLyG11c-PocOxCgy14o0BrBR5Pm3j6KSoFqwi_HXkh9NI6Ntvo0IK2Pjx9YBPBVKioZ7cN0bWSCyMhqBnPwpLFuQ4CDZQD1iwwSX1GU-JP7tiybeP28Op9HhRa0Vpob3s8MIrMzMaFA-cY6-zyKWSiv7Kmrk5L1eLiEKwMygXX_77MZV8cCq29lMkJw/s4896/P1000191%20Autumn%20Leaves%20and%20Incense%20Cedar.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLyG11c-PocOxCgy14o0BrBR5Pm3j6KSoFqwi_HXkh9NI6Ntvo0IK2Pjx9YBPBVKioZ7cN0bWSCyMhqBnPwpLFuQ4CDZQD1iwwSX1GU-JP7tiybeP28Op9HhRa0Vpob3s8MIrMzMaFA-cY6-zyKWSiv7Kmrk5L1eLiEKwMygXX_77MZV8cCq29lMkJw/w480-h640/P1000191%20Autumn%20Leaves%20and%20Incense%20Cedar.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>I woke up late this morning. Mrs. Geotripper was finishing breakfast and asked if I'd like "to go up the river a little ways and find some fall colors". I had lots of grading to get through, so obviously I said yes, and around 11 or so we jumped in the car and headed up the Tuolumne River to see what we would find. There wasn't much, at least not in terms of fall color. So we went a little farther...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sPLxnLNkfeFlfOWce5gC9bh1Mosr1tPY1z2yGKDIhhZqSxZEwV2rxinfR_EbUY52dl6cDRely_BzjGoeCLU1PusE9dBJPU6BZ1V7a-tUgoCoUQI20xyi_vfKmzjFqQUBX-J9r6saaU3pnZ2SusiKU2490krJ0hoS3pfgUrMTTqHddIYXifCF3ujXeg/s4896/P1000211%20Autumn%20Color.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sPLxnLNkfeFlfOWce5gC9bh1Mosr1tPY1z2yGKDIhhZqSxZEwV2rxinfR_EbUY52dl6cDRely_BzjGoeCLU1PusE9dBJPU6BZ1V7a-tUgoCoUQI20xyi_vfKmzjFqQUBX-J9r6saaU3pnZ2SusiKU2490krJ0hoS3pfgUrMTTqHddIYXifCF3ujXeg/w640-h480/P1000211%20Autumn%20Color.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>We followed Highway 132 up past Coulterville and on to Greeley Hill at a bit above 3,000 feet. Still not much in the way of fall color. So we went a bit farther up the hill and found ourselves at the Yosemite National Park entrance station at Big Oak Flat at 4,000 feet. We finally found a bit of color, although not at the intensity that a few more days of cold weather might bring. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8420S0rjzsE6HKWZJc3ZTZG54khv4xr_KMs89-r1HnP0bxfhi-r_eFg9__g9ciwfHvkatbJ2its8JXmR3frwwJ--TTXIMszkqDaFUoz-2dVb-1YCctYFl6yLzkQz6H4Dznan0SonQERr5vpFLA4dR76GPzoqREobjWk-758khX8mcuLsEBljeV3cAQw/s4896/P1000213%20Autumn%20Color.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8420S0rjzsE6HKWZJc3ZTZG54khv4xr_KMs89-r1HnP0bxfhi-r_eFg9__g9ciwfHvkatbJ2its8JXmR3frwwJ--TTXIMszkqDaFUoz-2dVb-1YCctYFl6yLzkQz6H4Dznan0SonQERr5vpFLA4dR76GPzoqREobjWk-758khX8mcuLsEBljeV3cAQw/w640-h480/P1000213%20Autumn%20Color.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>And we had made it this far, and Yosemite Valley was only 15 miles away. How could we pass it up? <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1L5ZjUsQS4LfnkxLPelspjmXGdzZjVAJT0Ek0SWjSn1-4NWzqPmlMkzGThip4zgp8vKYLiSSV0zoL78FXOOI1odWznYKZHDSvSsnPT-b5poX5IrD9SszdOQNsvq4lBKu30EM6aIWNeEqkbZcuu8l5vka8nbrMieXlMNuc2p_GuZiIO1-_b_bRuACpBQ/s4896/P1000221%20Autumn%20Leaves.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1L5ZjUsQS4LfnkxLPelspjmXGdzZjVAJT0Ek0SWjSn1-4NWzqPmlMkzGThip4zgp8vKYLiSSV0zoL78FXOOI1odWznYKZHDSvSsnPT-b5poX5IrD9SszdOQNsvq4lBKu30EM6aIWNeEqkbZcuu8l5vka8nbrMieXlMNuc2p_GuZiIO1-_b_bRuACpBQ/w640-h480/P1000221%20Autumn%20Leaves.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>So on we went into the awesome gorge of the Merced River and into the valley itself. There was the first look at the distant cliffs of El Capitan (left), Half Dome (center), and Sentinel Rock and Dome (right).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFv6L_kHSiglW1kGLLasbpALWlYE-IfPFDh2-IjdBuGh9kcFmHVP11SntslGgB9hnUupi8zwiaiHsRtklRPPKurqb3I-F5W7JuP3ln9r9cXgjvgiaEcOIi8JZsgJ13xzihlu0Nc5Bl_A1KZENRtsWdpoMI0c3B2b4bqFr0XkwBdrh2vo9vGI-c8O4_g/s4896/P1000226%20Half%20Dome%20and%20El%20Capitan.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2940" data-original-width="4896" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFv6L_kHSiglW1kGLLasbpALWlYE-IfPFDh2-IjdBuGh9kcFmHVP11SntslGgB9hnUupi8zwiaiHsRtklRPPKurqb3I-F5W7JuP3ln9r9cXgjvgiaEcOIi8JZsgJ13xzihlu0Nc5Bl_A1KZENRtsWdpoMI0c3B2b4bqFr0XkwBdrh2vo9vGI-c8O4_g/w640-h384/P1000226%20Half%20Dome%20and%20El%20Capitan.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Closer at hand were a lot of ripening acorns. The bears and woodpeckers will be happy.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnUusUSnc_5h7sDYz-TW_IG62q2RQmp1tsvGzvVWaIvYb4qEeK2j_tRTJyEerhKaM2cZdwpZHbeGCn1x95enc1e_tDUJ2p7DTB1EG5HsrnONvvl7yvzQ5qpMEHxLHHBr3z1S3REaeJ6HYLZ36NQsG1z5ehk7WeV5j5tyOVaLPGqqQKpJaOGySPiQVcw/s4896/P1000230%20Acorn.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnUusUSnc_5h7sDYz-TW_IG62q2RQmp1tsvGzvVWaIvYb4qEeK2j_tRTJyEerhKaM2cZdwpZHbeGCn1x95enc1e_tDUJ2p7DTB1EG5HsrnONvvl7yvzQ5qpMEHxLHHBr3z1S3REaeJ6HYLZ36NQsG1z5ehk7WeV5j5tyOVaLPGqqQKpJaOGySPiQVcw/w640-h480/P1000230%20Acorn.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>We reached the valley floor and started our tour of Yosemite's greatest hits. We were surprised to find some wispy curtains of water flowing over Bridalveil Falls. The 620 foot-high waterfall is a classic example of a glacial hanging valley. The main trunk glacier flowing through Yosemite Valley was able to erode a much deeper trough than the small glacier in Bridalveil Creek, so the floor of the creek was left hanging high above the main valley floor.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpKwRuBAG1ZBiQd4uQmbu73ek1L4q2kRtTKEw6Nn39ohghRz-Ch_sdB4PgbE9jCGY248idI_NDk7Ub18EuLoNQuirj4RVxjeC30lFmUJMo4T749N8iykJ9nnTpKbjTucuam5Lrt8H1p5iogoPR3kXUibH77V269I-xFQZk4bl4qZD2daaqvSoKDYgmg/s4896/P1000235%20Bridalveil%20Fall.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpKwRuBAG1ZBiQd4uQmbu73ek1L4q2kRtTKEw6Nn39ohghRz-Ch_sdB4PgbE9jCGY248idI_NDk7Ub18EuLoNQuirj4RVxjeC30lFmUJMo4T749N8iykJ9nnTpKbjTucuam5Lrt8H1p5iogoPR3kXUibH77V269I-xFQZk4bl4qZD2daaqvSoKDYgmg/w480-h640/P1000235%20Bridalveil%20Fall.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>It was not a cold day, mostly in the sixties, but the sun was intense. It brought out what colors there were in the oaks and dogwood trees.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J1NPi1VvwBKvhz2gaBuVRq1u4ThpbGU_yt6ud7vgpiy1_m0nJuSRvoFX9ESO5H0Xw-yPgG3inDOe6gc9JeFejDgYoIO5SSZrDLwpRIBrDBNLIVYApAVy_JAT1SNEjCCD5ik2p68An3S8zFtt6-TIzg1HUvjcU-zCPtmT5PbQncuBGQxUCOQlISAaHQ/s4896/P1000244%20At%20Bridalveil%20Fall.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J1NPi1VvwBKvhz2gaBuVRq1u4ThpbGU_yt6ud7vgpiy1_m0nJuSRvoFX9ESO5H0Xw-yPgG3inDOe6gc9JeFejDgYoIO5SSZrDLwpRIBrDBNLIVYApAVy_JAT1SNEjCCD5ik2p68An3S8zFtt6-TIzg1HUvjcU-zCPtmT5PbQncuBGQxUCOQlISAaHQ/w640-h480/P1000244%20At%20Bridalveil%20Fall.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>We didn't see a great many varieties of birds, but there were some Acorn Woodpeckers busy collecting acorns and hiding them in tree "granaries". Such trees can have tens of thousands of drilled holes that can hold a single acorn each. The birds live in loose family groups who search for and guard their food supplies.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bcBenwkjoP4qZC0f_elASBZpu2-5IpMQWJWPq26_sqYAqRzAApiSIsKCT8yDj4u0UtE46Cm4HFR7n9y-levMZVflR-FTftTRD9QY7GbNPmCi98ahyJwQyZsweC2XOLGC6oFdklYpThuRFf4GZ00G70QANpFHzxvkaxgMfJrnrjJxzg_45ap6vpbFPw/s4896/P1000248%20Acorn%20Woodpecker%20and%20cliffs.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bcBenwkjoP4qZC0f_elASBZpu2-5IpMQWJWPq26_sqYAqRzAApiSIsKCT8yDj4u0UtE46Cm4HFR7n9y-levMZVflR-FTftTRD9QY7GbNPmCi98ahyJwQyZsweC2XOLGC6oFdklYpThuRFf4GZ00G70QANpFHzxvkaxgMfJrnrjJxzg_45ap6vpbFPw/w640-h480/P1000248%20Acorn%20Woodpecker%20and%20cliffs.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Yosemite Valley is not a 'typical' glacially-carved valley. Most such valleys have a U-shaped profile, and are relatively straight. Yosemite Valley is characterized instead by bold cliffs that extend out into the valley with dark recesses in-between. This is the result of having eight distinct intrusions of granitic rock, ranging in composition from 'true' granite to granodiorite, tonalite, and diorite. They differ from each other in the proportions of the minerals quartz, potassium feldspar, and plagioclase. They also vary in the amount of dark minerals they contain including biotite mica, hornblende, and a little augite. They also vary in their pattern of fracturing (jointing), and this is expressed in differing vulnerability to erosion by ice, water, and mass wasting (landsliding and rock falls).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHTuXXEIQqLmOMVUA2tATB8qXdAk4giRf8BYOzT2MkOBmcLmgjh054jaNOFivDE6X-3ihX00l591S8yH796QIxsMvnrjqtW_ziIBJC7EJDsYMl2ilAMDKkrm-vSHt5k0WPbJeyrzGkJl1f3Mu2e2NkF1f0qYeZD9m-uVtG2FBOrCWki_Uz6DSaezoyQ/s4896/P1000271%20Sentinel%20Rock%20A.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHTuXXEIQqLmOMVUA2tATB8qXdAk4giRf8BYOzT2MkOBmcLmgjh054jaNOFivDE6X-3ihX00l591S8yH796QIxsMvnrjqtW_ziIBJC7EJDsYMl2ilAMDKkrm-vSHt5k0WPbJeyrzGkJl1f3Mu2e2NkF1f0qYeZD9m-uVtG2FBOrCWki_Uz6DSaezoyQ/w480-h640/P1000271%20Sentinel%20Rock%20A.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>Sentinel Dome (above) is a good example. It is composed of fairly resistant Sentinel granodiorite, but it is jointed and thus forms a somewhat narrow high cliff that looms over the valley.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcJzeyqHtyDaeWHhM563cAS6qcRQgC_zD2uWRr5vjLLWUeh_SDRrdyKzTEBJy_BzJU9QokyBEL4-nH1UhzOFf4Ur5IKIw42mGV6yp1GeXuY_HazkzDMl-GkNzb3nzGt3QxLwzJ0cGcoBbPjEZTReojgnwKy0_f6fEIEYcmOHxq9MNaYN5fyOJklGBHg/s4896/P1000274%20Tree%20at%20Swinging%20Bridge.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3672" data-original-width="4896" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcJzeyqHtyDaeWHhM563cAS6qcRQgC_zD2uWRr5vjLLWUeh_SDRrdyKzTEBJy_BzJU9QokyBEL4-nH1UhzOFf4Ur5IKIw42mGV6yp1GeXuY_HazkzDMl-GkNzb3nzGt3QxLwzJ0cGcoBbPjEZTReojgnwKy0_f6fEIEYcmOHxq9MNaYN5fyOJklGBHg/w640-h480/P1000274%20Tree%20at%20Swinging%20Bridge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Yosemite Point on the other hand is composed mostly of unjointed El Capitan granite and forms a wide bold cliff. Sometimes people sort of 'miss' this incredible cliff because much of the time there is a stunning waterfall pouring off the west flank of the precipice (the dark mark on the left side in the picture below). That waterfall is only fifth or seventh highest waterfall in the world, and is known by the moniker of Yosemite Falls, measuring in at 2,425 feet. It wasn't actually dry today, but one needed binoculars to see the small trickle at the top of the cliff.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxSQF34_ZbXn8Y-Q0inn0UjriY3AxCzGNF3iRvszrBhelZ-hdSw9Hb-tRUPKGRhY3-jORw4L8D-3sZC0bvMzkEVQEXfDZnCx-1YVFbDYDdy8r_Q6U5tzetsWrQO9hZlDdxINj-A9TTkmdklPT9RTYjhJvEd-uhgwu8KPkOuPIEn5xWc-FGKIg3P8gxA/s4896/P1000282%20Yosemite%20Point%20A.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxSQF34_ZbXn8Y-Q0inn0UjriY3AxCzGNF3iRvszrBhelZ-hdSw9Hb-tRUPKGRhY3-jORw4L8D-3sZC0bvMzkEVQEXfDZnCx-1YVFbDYDdy8r_Q6U5tzetsWrQO9hZlDdxINj-A9TTkmdklPT9RTYjhJvEd-uhgwu8KPkOuPIEn5xWc-FGKIg3P8gxA/w480-h640/P1000282%20Yosemite%20Point%20A.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>The autumn season is one of the best times to view Half Dome from the middle of Sentinel Bridge. The Merced River is flowing at a low ebb and the still waters make for memorable reflections. Half Dome is another example of an unjointed monolith of granitic rock called the Half Dome granodiorite. It is the youngest of the igneous intrusions exposed in the valley, with an age of about 84 million years. The Sentinel granodiorite is about 88 million years, and the El Capitan granite around 103 million years. These dates fall within the Cretaceous period, which means that when these molten masses were intruding the crust, there were dinosaurs wandering the surface four or five miles above. The dinosaurs would have experienced occasional volcanic eruptions when some of the intruding magma escaped to the surface.<div><br /></div><div>In the years since, erosion has removed the miles of overlying rock and dumped it into the Central Valley or the waters off the coast of ancient California. The region seems to have been eroded to a low elevation landscape that was later uplifted to form the modern Sierra Nevada.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjx9np1Z-jKzCD8TIDkjzYWLb-6FMRNbYWsOnDTO1Oh8n_FPhVgbgDsYp335B9LogjrfqOeVfBZSPoQPwarL81BmvA7wN-nB3soLsiQP9zXi5yUKMNsPqJDCQpxbNPhYEm9pDFEJWdzyRyVAKvB6urfHx57McUjZoVfFEmbSPzxdRYianjcX5wXjOdQ/s4896/P1000287%20Sentinel%20Bridge.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjx9np1Z-jKzCD8TIDkjzYWLb-6FMRNbYWsOnDTO1Oh8n_FPhVgbgDsYp335B9LogjrfqOeVfBZSPoQPwarL81BmvA7wN-nB3soLsiQP9zXi5yUKMNsPqJDCQpxbNPhYEm9pDFEJWdzyRyVAKvB6urfHx57McUjZoVfFEmbSPzxdRYianjcX5wXjOdQ/w480-h640/P1000287%20Sentinel%20Bridge.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>We wandered around Cook's Meadow and stopped into the store at Curry Village to replenish my t-shirt collection. The sun was starting to get low, so we made our way west to our favorite evening viewpoint, Valley View.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42MhADqZ4ZoRjSnoMWpNWlZ1MYa1VW1aZux2O55320sbdoNslcO0eNKrs1SJQnmDxNZmjILDQHYcQJO8M71H3cRHwDyc9qEG06MFSdOmUFwu1snpf7glJhwCb8TH1rWz5XSMZ4YxLCknB84KYFoBhYmWrnA3k6LJoHSPMC-9RiS0smLOMyNar4wa7rg/s4896/P1000290%20Valley%20View.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42MhADqZ4ZoRjSnoMWpNWlZ1MYa1VW1aZux2O55320sbdoNslcO0eNKrs1SJQnmDxNZmjILDQHYcQJO8M71H3cRHwDyc9qEG06MFSdOmUFwu1snpf7glJhwCb8TH1rWz5XSMZ4YxLCknB84KYFoBhYmWrnA3k6LJoHSPMC-9RiS0smLOMyNar4wa7rg/w480-h640/P1000290%20Valley%20View.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>Valley View is almost a secret to Yosemite visitors because it has a small parking lot (maybe room for ten cars) at a blind curve so that if you are in the right-hand lane you might miss it. Since the road is one-way at that point, you would have to repeat a five mile loop to get back. The small parking lot is a blessing because it limits the size of the crowd. It's a quiet spot to enjoy the fading light on the cliffs of El Capitan and the Cathedral Rocks. The river usually flows slowly here making for memorable reflections of the cliffs above. We enjoyed the few moments of peace, and then headed home.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqpBrJFRr9eKnn5Pprs8MaemGsBegSSDYVN0scBzK4bOxUu40Zu6Kju9nyBjORDNYXYxqNmY4FC2jSWiTYA4WLnbw8j1hPhYBMEQip3MCFQ9G7ibyioKqvScHPUbwkxfhlPhyrzS9OzgC9P4zOkFTpdmEJHSWe8-mFn_2uEbOsyZ5xN3Kiu_TOIz8Kw/s4896/P1000297%20Valley%20View.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4896" data-original-width="3672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqpBrJFRr9eKnn5Pprs8MaemGsBegSSDYVN0scBzK4bOxUu40Zu6Kju9nyBjORDNYXYxqNmY4FC2jSWiTYA4WLnbw8j1hPhYBMEQip3MCFQ9G7ibyioKqvScHPUbwkxfhlPhyrzS9OzgC9P4zOkFTpdmEJHSWe8-mFn_2uEbOsyZ5xN3Kiu_TOIz8Kw/w480-h640/P1000297%20Valley%20View.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>And that's the way it was today...<br /> <p></p></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-4057397482183357092022-09-19T23:32:00.001-07:002022-09-19T23:32:39.691-07:00The Other Yosemites: The Treasured Valleys of the Sierra Nevada<blockquote><i>"Yosemite is so wonderful that we are apt to regard it as an exceptional creation, the only valley of its kind in the world; but Nature is not so poor as to have only one of anything. Several other yosemites have been discovered in the Sierra that occupy the same relative positions on the Range and were formed by the same forces in the same kind of granite."</i> John Muir, <b>The Yosemite</b>, 1912 </blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh7TSPR_QVpQWezH1lEZa5MEgeOQhrpfvHAnEayLJum7TCxnn_F5hBRHR241nm8EEphuw6oc12H95DnW8IDBz3DRH_V1ZHJKbrgh_jQuTmJEVngC8y83QDx8BwDzO0TVhhN9E7ia4qL3GtFNWRBcS9S9LvMLTdDTh7VoU2Rxs0VYLbVnRw8nbe_ZmDgw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh7TSPR_QVpQWezH1lEZa5MEgeOQhrpfvHAnEayLJum7TCxnn_F5hBRHR241nm8EEphuw6oc12H95DnW8IDBz3DRH_V1ZHJKbrgh_jQuTmJEVngC8y83QDx8BwDzO0TVhhN9E7ia4qL3GtFNWRBcS9S9LvMLTdDTh7VoU2Rxs0VYLbVnRw8nbe_ZmDgw=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left;"></blockquote></div><div>It may very well be that there is no place on Earth quite like Yosemite Valley. Few places can combine such dramatic cliffs and peaks with impossibly high waterfalls and deep forest glens. It remains one of my favorite places to visit, and it is one of life's great pieces of luck that I live only a 90 minute drive away. I go whenever I can. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqsEO3NWgNftvdRtLTWTqFcMp8C6T9I2Plel5dYII0B7oo9Kn2tIbXRJLib1PHr-wunfNEsqiZSo44WsdOz2tmnPD1-eL-Pizp_G_iJ26vwdOlJvFou_0Do2nbP4iQWLUhccx9fw9_PbJ0Yb47wIJk_iRmCSHZur4AwKdZ3_1oWGRXfCn5ihNppd3wag" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="844" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqsEO3NWgNftvdRtLTWTqFcMp8C6T9I2Plel5dYII0B7oo9Kn2tIbXRJLib1PHr-wunfNEsqiZSo44WsdOz2tmnPD1-eL-Pizp_G_iJ26vwdOlJvFou_0Do2nbP4iQWLUhccx9fw9_PbJ0Yb47wIJk_iRmCSHZur4AwKdZ3_1oWGRXfCn5ihNppd3wag=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br />There is, however, an unfortunate truth of Yosemite Valley: here, like at Arches, Zion, Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Canyon, we are loving our national parks to death. The crowding in Yosemite Valley can be abysmal, only relieved to some small extent by the rationing of entrance reservations. I remember the nightmare of visiting the park on a Labor Day weekend (the family members who were seeing it for the first time could only get away at that time). We spent nearly the whole time in a traffic jam, finally scoring a parking spot at Curry Village for a while. And then a long traffic jam getting back out of the valley. The family with us treasured the experience of at least seeing the soaring cliffs, but really, this is no way to enjoy our national treasures. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxPqigbRAYp9I206diiNXsb-_wqupXOI6lu1Nm_2V73cfbna7sb9EOCOWX5zoKcsqh0kCMqyOG-37htcgbVT4Vj_ClEDiJ8WU5USZ9mvFI5XWuHT-wYKEOQizRr1b1pviAMSQJ6xnq1_Lqo9Gy6RX--fjO_eYSuxbil4d2Pad8ryYWLDM1_S4j_h4v1g" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2594" data-original-width="4610" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxPqigbRAYp9I206diiNXsb-_wqupXOI6lu1Nm_2V73cfbna7sb9EOCOWX5zoKcsqh0kCMqyOG-37htcgbVT4Vj_ClEDiJ8WU5USZ9mvFI5XWuHT-wYKEOQizRr1b1pviAMSQJ6xnq1_Lqo9Gy6RX--fjO_eYSuxbil4d2Pad8ryYWLDM1_S4j_h4v1g=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br />When it comes down to it, we have a choice. We can continue to ration these precious places more and more, or we can expand the idea of what is spectacular and convince people that there are places of awe that can also be places of serenity and wonder. Without the crowds. John Muir, one of Yosemite's greatest fans, understood this well. In his writings, he was constantly reminding us that the Sierra Nevada is full of spectacular canyons, which he called the "other yosemites".<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFL0B_uS97CEJF88lrQKR2qIfittWDfPna6V2J7-OgWMYk7rgSXQKNVu-k2OlIh9Yfjp0PzDO07LtoSgI4RiY2zlG4zQfJmpEAknWHFqPbtWK0xWJJJhKgG-nTz7wSJIQml-MAU6IQpDgWG2LNqqZ5Uet8GEEWVcuvF2HF2sIC4RflG7-NSM9aWNxMzw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFL0B_uS97CEJF88lrQKR2qIfittWDfPna6V2J7-OgWMYk7rgSXQKNVu-k2OlIh9Yfjp0PzDO07LtoSgI4RiY2zlG4zQfJmpEAknWHFqPbtWK0xWJJJhKgG-nTz7wSJIQml-MAU6IQpDgWG2LNqqZ5Uet8GEEWVcuvF2HF2sIC4RflG7-NSM9aWNxMzw=w437-h640" width="437" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehipite_Valley#/media/File:The_book_of_the_national_parks_(1920)_(14742630316).jpg">Herbert Gleason (1920s), in Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table>One of those places is so remote that I expect that I will never have the chance to see it personally. I'm a bit too old I think to make the long trek of 10-plus miles followed by a precipitous plunge down thousands of feet of switchbacks into Tehipite Valley on the Middle Fork of the Kings River. And it doesn't have just a half a dome; it has a whole one, Tehipite Dome, which towers 3,500 feet above the forested valley floor.<p></p><p>Amazingly, the valley was proposed as a site for a reservoir despite its remote location. When Kings Canyon was made a national park in 1940, Tehipite Valley was purposely left out of the park boundaries on the expectation that the dam would be built. It wasn't until 1965 that the valley was incorporated into the park.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhruV4SDQvQh-gio-s8ggMOo7gHWKcwiUU2A9iNaj33vBYh2CnTdQ4XNYDk0ZWaECwtgoHinDRU8vYwfLshEwQic1IIfj2lHCtS1gI9pSktpAEle5OpbasN8vI7FIo-6bJpapvlUul9XrsrxCkA5GOBraTGcnBkzfNQhe50dk8H_ylXdPHGcD8kuPZkzA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1702" data-original-width="2560" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhruV4SDQvQh-gio-s8ggMOo7gHWKcwiUU2A9iNaj33vBYh2CnTdQ4XNYDk0ZWaECwtgoHinDRU8vYwfLshEwQic1IIfj2lHCtS1gI9pSktpAEle5OpbasN8vI7FIo-6bJpapvlUul9XrsrxCkA5GOBraTGcnBkzfNQhe50dk8H_ylXdPHGcD8kuPZkzA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_of_the_Tuolumne#/media/File:Grand_Canyon_of_the_Tuolumne_River_(6120571907).jpg">Matt Hoffman through Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I have stood at the portal of one of the other yosemites, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. When I was a teenager, my family backpacked to Glen Aulin Camp at the upstream end of the gorge, but we didn't go any further downstream. I still have hopes of hiking out to the rim of the canyon from White Wolf in Yosemite.<p></p><p>The canyon is as deep as the Arizona version of the Grand, but could hardly look more different. The canyon has been shaped by the longest most extensive glacier that ever existed in the Sierra Nevada. While Yosemite is famous for high waterfalls that leap from the canyon rim, the Tuolumne is noted for the large waterfalls on the Tuolumne River itself, especially Waterwheel Falls, where the river leaps upward into the air during periods of high flow.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjII_IFdeq4Ioi7imNY6bdOZMBnTlXKKn9M4Ropzel7AoeQ0dFcF_N1hjJG6NyCRyhMAgSg6y-lLxGYNBE6vFQ56GvJeP7UD90CIZHMTcahI7Nx_2jUg-A-jZY9Azk6PTF-RqgLiiWYJivBQ908rnTE404S0aMeMKtFHq-UH7QVWcnbNJQJNGvS2JVrxw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="1920" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjII_IFdeq4Ioi7imNY6bdOZMBnTlXKKn9M4Ropzel7AoeQ0dFcF_N1hjJG6NyCRyhMAgSg6y-lLxGYNBE6vFQ56GvJeP7UD90CIZHMTcahI7Nx_2jUg-A-jZY9Azk6PTF-RqgLiiWYJivBQ908rnTE404S0aMeMKtFHq-UH7QVWcnbNJQJNGvS2JVrxw=w640-h456" width="640" /></a></div><br />One of the most famous "other yosemites" was Muir's most treasured valley, Hetch Hetchy, which is downstream of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. Parts of Hetch Hetchy bear a startling resemblance to Yosemite, with a rectangular cliff that resembles El Capitan, and a pair of stunning waterfalls, Wapama Falls, at 1,080 ft (330 m), and Tueeulala Falls, at 840 ft (260 m).</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZPJCI-_qTKO1IP2pvegn8fTG4hUQRw3o_GYTRxx7W19_dDMI3qk5l3xaU4W15R2sNEfB1Z6LZLLXmNA7u9g-7SyjgQw0rbTAHxczaZ-MRJaRUiNXOxFlzfzz8bMgKQL8usRYApAIrq3Edu1VAuuE-QVKp-8ex6s_-3Uc3Zcw9yGSaneqqL4I8I5K6Aw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZPJCI-_qTKO1IP2pvegn8fTG4hUQRw3o_GYTRxx7W19_dDMI3qk5l3xaU4W15R2sNEfB1Z6LZLLXmNA7u9g-7SyjgQw0rbTAHxczaZ-MRJaRUiNXOxFlzfzz8bMgKQL8usRYApAIrq3Edu1VAuuE-QVKp-8ex6s_-3Uc3Zcw9yGSaneqqL4I8I5K6Aw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>Unfortunately, Hetch Hetchy was deemed an ideal spot for water storage, and after a protracted political battle in 1914, O'Shaughnessy Dam was built and flooded the entire valley floor under 300 feet of water. It was at the time within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. Muir's heartache over the loss was said to have contributed to his death. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_U6BJ2f0r0qUiEjVo2awAcVzYJjQjDM6rfC7gDuqWpD6NQihoIT6q8K3tbhX3vUjWwXuOAql1TrklSo9IpKDTpVLZCDytowU2LprzEsswS5IR4p4uoQFIsrktkOPHqHVZMAy0XdtXl1dKmQxs8pd7Y36vw_Dlw8QYOrBwk0E66-1TMak5p8bSrD_5dQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_U6BJ2f0r0qUiEjVo2awAcVzYJjQjDM6rfC7gDuqWpD6NQihoIT6q8K3tbhX3vUjWwXuOAql1TrklSo9IpKDTpVLZCDytowU2LprzEsswS5IR4p4uoQFIsrktkOPHqHVZMAy0XdtXl1dKmQxs8pd7Y36vw_Dlw8QYOrBwk0E66-1TMak5p8bSrD_5dQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>Access is much easier at Hetch Hetchy, as a paved road reaches the valley and dam from the Big Oak Flat Entrance to Yosemite National Park. There are trails that reach the base of the waterfalls and on into the backcountry, but Hetch Hetchy receives a very small fraction of the visitation that Yosemite gets. It should have been different. There are constant calls for the dismantling of the dam, but it would be decades before the valley could become what it should be. When I photograph the valley, I tend to crop out the lake...</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKRSTepGz2EphPzddkS5X9Siqik6vZNUAVy8bqJQxOUZ4849koGFMQPy69h7F0VlAW3gPdC59L1ROwwmZfGnaSMDXJ_VcVCy_3plWE848ha9nsGIpENrdngVhFDiTCOjbZHlOhdLBJBYKwW4H_qnVMc3A3Rt2izHSZJElXMmiNP-bSpyayHCoUZBslYA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKRSTepGz2EphPzddkS5X9Siqik6vZNUAVy8bqJQxOUZ4849koGFMQPy69h7F0VlAW3gPdC59L1ROwwmZfGnaSMDXJ_VcVCy_3plWE848ha9nsGIpENrdngVhFDiTCOjbZHlOhdLBJBYKwW4H_qnVMc3A3Rt2izHSZJElXMmiNP-bSpyayHCoUZBslYA=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div>John Muir wrote of another yosemite in a<a href="https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/a_rival_of_the_yosemite/"> magazine article in 1891</a>:</div><div><blockquote><i>In the vast Sierra wilderness far to the southward of the famous Yosemite Valley, there is a yet grander valley of the same kind. It is situated on the south fork of King's River, above the most extensive groves and forests of the giant sequoia, and beneath the shadows the highest mountains in the range, where the cañons are deepest and the snow-laden peaks are crowded most closely together. It is called the Big King's River Cañon.</i></blockquote>Today we call it the South Fork of the Kings River, and the valley floor Cedar Grove. It is more accessible than all the others, with a paved highway, four or five campgrounds, and a small resort and store. But most importantly, it offers a quiet experience in a spectacular setting. I've rarely seen crowds here, although I'm sure it happens. But never on the scale of what goes on in Yosemite Valley.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVvfKU4p-fBP34wOn3mSjOrluPX-GULbwnC4_RHtoocNvyK4m7vzLg8IbvJlj138cQX7W00ab1DGg3gL1Ijdd_k8VklqGZBpJ2IGQBmwtO7KUIHoCD9tuSwms1Fx-HF4MCRbLsyLkRtG8_De6MB3wgGwLc-hthpdBoNhTBKskUVNmcYrPxPsSvGQ_iHw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVvfKU4p-fBP34wOn3mSjOrluPX-GULbwnC4_RHtoocNvyK4m7vzLg8IbvJlj138cQX7W00ab1DGg3gL1Ijdd_k8VklqGZBpJ2IGQBmwtO7KUIHoCD9tuSwms1Fx-HF4MCRbLsyLkRtG8_De6MB3wgGwLc-hthpdBoNhTBKskUVNmcYrPxPsSvGQ_iHw=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div>There is a network of trails throughout the valley, and trailheads lead into the alpine country above (some of them insanely steep). But most of all, it offers high granite cliffs that tower over the valley floor. They aren't the same as Yosemite's cliffs, nor should they be. But they are just as high and are truly awesome in their own right.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6IB_lP5DWpbgvvAg8Me87N2ojgL0WBtaDpKXEtQ1BeS3Yw2vdAxf2zMp09lnZo9L-BKGTGKGEdwYHog68T3WizuDk20F1W6WuZjARrC4ml9wqlESP9AW-uBlP9ooLZIND8WlkrGBEp6XXflZT2QI575Z2oR1H4PKqk7DPFFIFTf6wMTin13Aj9tBAnw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6IB_lP5DWpbgvvAg8Me87N2ojgL0WBtaDpKXEtQ1BeS3Yw2vdAxf2zMp09lnZo9L-BKGTGKGEdwYHog68T3WizuDk20F1W6WuZjARrC4ml9wqlESP9AW-uBlP9ooLZIND8WlkrGBEp6XXflZT2QI575Z2oR1H4PKqk7DPFFIFTf6wMTin13Aj9tBAnw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>It's a sad commentary on human values that this incredible valley was also slated to become another reservoir, and like Tehipite Valley it was left out of the boundaries of the new Kings Canyon National Park in 1940, and was not added to the park until 1965. Because of this wise decision, we have a beautiful alternative to the crowded madness of a summer day in Yosemite Valley.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGNWqhXjd8AqHN6mQ3TZhRpETODsyxgnuxYYy-M0rPK1k7zqzZiAl8Ne0SnZ8S6rjeKDa9czdx2izFFGyn2lmF1d2uWyEF0K2nyDoludO_9fTPM7r6dQN6nuG7luI59GOdeJ1m4kUKxTKu_ysay_0LELOhjLTTI2ydvoebuCi7ezFswxbqU0onW1nzEw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGNWqhXjd8AqHN6mQ3TZhRpETODsyxgnuxYYy-M0rPK1k7zqzZiAl8Ne0SnZ8S6rjeKDa9czdx2izFFGyn2lmF1d2uWyEF0K2nyDoludO_9fTPM7r6dQN6nuG7luI59GOdeJ1m4kUKxTKu_ysay_0LELOhjLTTI2ydvoebuCi7ezFswxbqU0onW1nzEw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>Come and see Yosemite Valley, of course. It is the experience of a lifetime. But give yourself some time to see the other less famous yosemites. If you can, walk to the remote valleys. Take lots of pictures for the benefit of those who can't (I would love to post an entire blog entry of anyone's journey into Tehipite Valley). You won't be disappointed, and all you'll miss is the traffic and the unruly masses of humanity.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ805OhmDq_AnjdfE-tTxHo9ubaakjE0AOeNxw1Pf0RlbbxaDwA8zF9L53g1pnKvO8s1C1EC31bOjL7t7ubMEE3kFxwrhFUfLdcaFW_4pgqfPVlr9DhGI-Wmdw7nt1PAYOguHpPi__ps2-udpwYb77mOTqfx-cQXkbFbX4_vCx90ya_WwUsEBM6Lqxog" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ805OhmDq_AnjdfE-tTxHo9ubaakjE0AOeNxw1Pf0RlbbxaDwA8zF9L53g1pnKvO8s1C1EC31bOjL7t7ubMEE3kFxwrhFUfLdcaFW_4pgqfPVlr9DhGI-Wmdw7nt1PAYOguHpPi__ps2-udpwYb77mOTqfx-cQXkbFbX4_vCx90ya_WwUsEBM6Lqxog=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><p></p></div>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-20744927550720279832022-08-21T16:49:00.000-07:002022-08-21T16:49:24.675-07:00The National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Far West Section holds first post-pandemic field conference in Southern California, Oct. 14-16, 2022<p>The Far West Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers is offering the first field conference since the beginning of the pandemic! It is open to non-members and friends of geology. It looks like a great line-up of field trips in Southern California!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6i5BA4owDrPEAove49JpFu7BLK3ZjvjBxVSBJEhz5O3hHwoAiBlNmOi2AxZItg8l6kSCdftOKhihJsQCkhrG1_1WyU7TBWzU4EZqQPl1slwv4S1_bQESiT2y9tKJIwHpvf6CZ4dXnR0ZctkzWUZo90oFXMdlF9s-M1tFPNXwwbFAU-JJKxUp6IX0hBw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="747" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6i5BA4owDrPEAove49JpFu7BLK3ZjvjBxVSBJEhz5O3hHwoAiBlNmOi2AxZItg8l6kSCdftOKhihJsQCkhrG1_1WyU7TBWzU4EZqQPl1slwv4S1_bQESiT2y9tKJIwHpvf6CZ4dXnR0ZctkzWUZo90oFXMdlF9s-M1tFPNXwwbFAU-JJKxUp6IX0hBw=w531-h640" width="531" /></a></div>The NAGT and the Far Western Section exist to help teachers of the earth-related sciences. Part of our mission is to increase the expertise of our members (and friends) in the geology of their home regions, and our past meetings have been held all over California, Nevada and Hawaii. The conferences usually include the field trips, a field guide, and featured speakers. It's a great way to meet other teachers as well. My personal journey as a teacher has been deeply impacted by my participation in these events over the last 25 years. <p></p><p>Check it out! We would like to get many new faces as we renovate the organization in a post-pandemic world. We hope to see you there! For announcements and updates, sign up at the link above.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_jO0h-YCowqEM-Lpzxr2185RuEahBGqi0uQ1zaZfl3atYGCZyO5L7hSyxfXsmfLbQg5QTjQqosqBlfByc7ZBBQTz6n3NCcyVe9D1SLNW6SOSdro_Df-gzDBL5F8vLjKpIpZaHmQroRekaICqk3ubcG0qIhQWwK3JNOebTPRfvx24AphS3PVwynbypg/s1210/DSC00265%20Upper%20canyon%20near%20Cow%20Canyon%20Saddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="1210" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_jO0h-YCowqEM-Lpzxr2185RuEahBGqi0uQ1zaZfl3atYGCZyO5L7hSyxfXsmfLbQg5QTjQqosqBlfByc7ZBBQTz6n3NCcyVe9D1SLNW6SOSdro_Df-gzDBL5F8vLjKpIpZaHmQroRekaICqk3ubcG0qIhQWwK3JNOebTPRfvx24AphS3PVwynbypg/w640-h480/DSC00265%20Upper%20canyon%20near%20Cow%20Canyon%20Saddle.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-4519480951216807852022-07-18T16:25:00.001-07:002022-07-18T19:24:45.662-07:00What Makes a Canyon Grand? And How Deep is Deep? Exploring Kings Canyon, One of the Deepest Canyons in North America<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgZ3NsY3EP6r2G3Ooi7d6WQ-NVxX_zmCAysfX41N1rU7OG-RxC18T-MN488uxdbuflRa31t8EpoxWDmHq5r-PrTJZ9XEXyMHKn3cmKRq1HcHt5WJJogzJWKKs03KfXEZYqpJ0AHugjwOLs_L_xK6oHjdY43d790W-N4-iWVqKIq_KVvNrq2NpSecNdA/s1516/PXL_20220711_220007729%20Spanish%20Peak%20and%20Deer%20Ridge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1516" data-original-width="853" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgZ3NsY3EP6r2G3Ooi7d6WQ-NVxX_zmCAysfX41N1rU7OG-RxC18T-MN488uxdbuflRa31t8EpoxWDmHq5r-PrTJZ9XEXyMHKn3cmKRq1HcHt5WJJogzJWKKs03KfXEZYqpJ0AHugjwOLs_L_xK6oHjdY43d790W-N4-iWVqKIq_KVvNrq2NpSecNdA/w360-h640/PXL_20220711_220007729%20Spanish%20Peak%20and%20Deer%20Ridge.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>Well, let's jump right into it. The picture above is Spanish Peak in the Sierra Nevada, which looms above the canyon of the Kings River. The peak tops out at 10,051 feet (3,064 meters). The drainage on the left is Rough Creek, and it enters the Kings River at an elevation of about 1,800 feet. The drainage on the right is Deer Creek, and it enters the Kings at about 2,300 feet. This seems to indicate a depth of Kings Canyon as between 8,200 and 7,700 feet, depending on where you choose to define it. <p></p><p>So, what of it? </p><p>If you search for "the deepest canyon in North America", the honor seems more often to be given to Hells Canyon on the Snake River on the border between Oregon and Idaho. The depth often given is the difference between He-Devil Mountain and the river at 7,993 feet (2,436 meters). Or 8,043 feet (2,452 meters). Or 7,913 feet (2,411 meters). <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9kOGXolv3NhrkRbefoPEz-A5Txfbmpp_n5RjbIRPr67eGUl8ED3cgFeoONESFjb3qs7GqgqLPhmpLl0Zcn4IOA2khW3fR4au-O2sZxmtYSTeTGmR7voCeLTsn8dYv4x2wJNrNnXEvN__xCJbHl2dnLW84Iwe7q6Qs7LxvUkE1et5LuCCUSpW7HDBaA/s1165/Screenshot%202022-07-18%20125230.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="985" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9kOGXolv3NhrkRbefoPEz-A5Txfbmpp_n5RjbIRPr67eGUl8ED3cgFeoONESFjb3qs7GqgqLPhmpLl0Zcn4IOA2khW3fR4au-O2sZxmtYSTeTGmR7voCeLTsn8dYv4x2wJNrNnXEvN__xCJbHl2dnLW84Iwe7q6Qs7LxvUkE1et5LuCCUSpW7HDBaA/w542-h640/Screenshot%202022-07-18%20125230.jpg" width="542" /></a></div>So, the designation of "deepest canyon" seems to be somewhat in conflict. The argument can be muddied by pointing out the canyons are asymmetric, and that the other sides of the canyons are less dramatic in height. There is some truth to this, as the south slope at Kings Canyon tops out at just over 7,000 feet, meaning that the canyon is only a little over 5,000 feet deep. But the problem is similar for Hells Canyon, where the ridges across the river are just over 5,000 feet above the river. <p></p><p>Which is deepest? I don't know, and I don't particularly care. If Idaho needs to have the 'deepest' or 'biggest' of something, they can have it. After all California has lots of superlatives, like biggest living things, tallest trees, oldest living things, tallest mountain in the lower 48, and so on. I've not been to Hells Canyon. But I have been to Kings Canyon, and what I do know is that it is one of the most spectacular places on Earth.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeTUTLDL2smQ5ocg1hm5bH95B-mJ_s4MM7m2rHXdxiLsZbtuskGAbea6RSZj5BFg6a9P5NEB78w-zaKdIqD8A6oziDsqGpEkOIJg5TqHZqXGKxLJMipC87xcBE_J3rurq7itGyixZUz-Sqv7UzpTRV_JdwGdsKq70V1CU--3zjhauH4SFS81_03lKRg/s3456/P1160657%20Middle%20Fork%20Kings.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeTUTLDL2smQ5ocg1hm5bH95B-mJ_s4MM7m2rHXdxiLsZbtuskGAbea6RSZj5BFg6a9P5NEB78w-zaKdIqD8A6oziDsqGpEkOIJg5TqHZqXGKxLJMipC87xcBE_J3rurq7itGyixZUz-Sqv7UzpTRV_JdwGdsKq70V1CU--3zjhauH4SFS81_03lKRg/w640-h480/P1160657%20Middle%20Fork%20Kings.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The upper reaches of Kings Canyon include some of the highest and most rugged parts of the Sierra Nevada crest. Parts of the Middle Fork are too precipitous for roads or even foot trails. These parts of the canyon are protected as Kings Canyon National Park, established in 1940. a full fifty years after the designation of Yosemite as a national park. One of the most pleasant parts of the canyon, Cedar Grove, was left out of the park because of plans to inundate the valley under the waters of a reservoir. Better angels prevailed and Cedar Grove was added to the park in 1965. The downstream (and deepest) part of the canyon is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngiU4fQmEbuDtPCONb5gpLBmJGUQF-i9QBWFR7ifMtbtx67o5FXFfk2xru5SVKVseIaVBT5YVi8fOPjDK_xznt674pJAvWxwvgt5LEwQQl-RwfzL7ZXgO8HPaoAb_WSL1jP82HM8OL7N5LuwL5KZ0GTaB7cyVzP4iIygZvg2pNxi0XtS4NKnyyTetLg/s3456/P1160713.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngiU4fQmEbuDtPCONb5gpLBmJGUQF-i9QBWFR7ifMtbtx67o5FXFfk2xru5SVKVseIaVBT5YVi8fOPjDK_xznt674pJAvWxwvgt5LEwQQl-RwfzL7ZXgO8HPaoAb_WSL1jP82HM8OL7N5LuwL5KZ0GTaB7cyVzP4iIygZvg2pNxi0XtS4NKnyyTetLg/w640-h480/P1160713.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>As rugged as the canyon is, a paved highway (Highway 180) provides access to Cedar Grove, and it is pretty incredible to drive. I marvel at the engineering decisions that went into the design of the present-day highway. The terrain is literally impassable, but someone decided where the road would go, and laborers blasted away at the rocks. Most of the construction crews were prisoners. The road was planned as early as 1905, and <a href="https://www.gribblenation.org/2018/01/california-state-route-180-east-of.html">construction took place during the 1920s and 1930s</a>. At one time it was envisioned that the road would continue up and over Kearsarge Pass to connect with Onion Valley. Thankfully that plan didn't come to fruition. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbTl0ZPctVucZPxVXe7mcvYNiNgTaf3MCxvjiIfvjRwn_Cy_gJsdMsBHlORnRlB6I9Julows4vxWiaa-M2UGCW1osS0gDbJXnY_Js7GVsykTQ1bpO_37A7mkZwxKy7UAPdNr3HkTAAj7oy_fBr_JEkpFACD_eoaatpLliwMkzKOYJF_0qIBNf4isoG0g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbTl0ZPctVucZPxVXe7mcvYNiNgTaf3MCxvjiIfvjRwn_Cy_gJsdMsBHlORnRlB6I9Julows4vxWiaa-M2UGCW1osS0gDbJXnY_Js7GVsykTQ1bpO_37A7mkZwxKy7UAPdNr3HkTAAj7oy_fBr_JEkpFACD_eoaatpLliwMkzKOYJF_0qIBNf4isoG0g=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div></div><p></p><p>The highway passes through some astounding geology. Granitic rocks may make up most of the Sierra Nevada, but Kings Canyon contains exposures of some large metamorphic roof pendants of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age. A stunning cliff of gray marble forms one wall of the South Fork, and contains a number of caverns, including the developed tourist attraction of Boyden Cavern. Quartzite, slate and spectacularly folded calc-silicate rocks are also exposed along the highway.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJX5CUPiGuA6J2rFssQ5bjFJJBnJ7yVl347hel9ZwHEx01HIZ-ELejeXApUl5kfn8RCxjcYISM8kvqq8AeFNris3UVwKJzgvc1EO3HVRD4jtju-XtJkfJpIGZRk2MOAnVTIAeTJz0mTjblw1yiTg0iSMJjkRYZbNjTBH43rXbZLZbLn16Qp5rkTeFpBw/s3456/P1160716%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJX5CUPiGuA6J2rFssQ5bjFJJBnJ7yVl347hel9ZwHEx01HIZ-ELejeXApUl5kfn8RCxjcYISM8kvqq8AeFNris3UVwKJzgvc1EO3HVRD4jtju-XtJkfJpIGZRk2MOAnVTIAeTJz0mTjblw1yiTg0iSMJjkRYZbNjTBH43rXbZLZbLn16Qp5rkTeFpBw/w480-h640/P1160716%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>The viewpoints along the highway just north of Grant Grove are simply beyond compare, giving a full-on perspective of the deepest part of the gorge as well as vistas towards the high country near the Sierra Crest. And...it is a LOT less crowded than Yosemite Valley!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPua-xiaWGBQ1FodNZW0-2xNC_xPou3cbCUx3Wq39zDlLx_cvZUR9w6EeDsf5VY-HMn6ZkjnoulfAN5shzucBF5tLahTX_dG7uQS7p8x5sMkgrzq8V9g3utyCFKd2g62mFrJvAHVbZI8NU-5XJmTi4fg6BwY0nqqrSEPv-oAZ_sRIM14eubcraf4wNxA/s3456/P1160728%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPua-xiaWGBQ1FodNZW0-2xNC_xPou3cbCUx3Wq39zDlLx_cvZUR9w6EeDsf5VY-HMn6ZkjnoulfAN5shzucBF5tLahTX_dG7uQS7p8x5sMkgrzq8V9g3utyCFKd2g62mFrJvAHVbZI8NU-5XJmTi4fg6BwY0nqqrSEPv-oAZ_sRIM14eubcraf4wNxA/w640-h480/P1160728%20Kings%20Canyon.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>In case you were wondering about other deep canyons, the Sierra Nevada hosts numerous awesome gorges. The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River is a roadless part of Yosemite National Park which in places is fully as deep as the Grand Canyon at 5,000 feet. I would love to offer pictures, but I haven't traveled through it in many decades. Another canyon, that of the Kern River in Sequoia National Park, is 7,000 feet deep in places. Yosemite Valley is a mere 3,000 feet deep, but with those vertical walls it truly stands apart as one of the unique places of the planet.<p></p><p>Farther afield, Mexico has the Barranca del Cobre (Chihuahua, Mexico). The canyon system has six major gorges, of which Urique Canyon is the deepest and largest, measuring at one point 6,236 feet deep.</p><p>The deepest canyon I know of in Polynesia is Waimea Canyon on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. It is sometimes called the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific", but I think it stands pretty well by itself without having to compare it to others. It is a favorite destination of mine when I visit the islands. It is nearly 3,000 feet deep in places.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWZo5WP0nds1d8o538yS1C9AvZ2F6gax-IgToFGLqUEu6dMfVHd2smfKf8mnqU3Q4dIA0yWC0B346_mEyVqGYy774A_11QWodRy2EihQ1x9h2wF7vHSH2dJ6AXLSWRCNcTVFkTN1nrhqxeiGcRdcqSP3ENBmL99E8NCJOV70m4dwt0ptWb5EXa0txXGA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWZo5WP0nds1d8o538yS1C9AvZ2F6gax-IgToFGLqUEu6dMfVHd2smfKf8mnqU3Q4dIA0yWC0B346_mEyVqGYy774A_11QWodRy2EihQ1x9h2wF7vHSH2dJ6AXLSWRCNcTVFkTN1nrhqxeiGcRdcqSP3ENBmL99E8NCJOV70m4dwt0ptWb5EXa0txXGA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai in Hawaii</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In South America, the deepest canyon I could find info on was Colca Canyon in Peru. At one point it is 13,600 feet deep. <p></p><p>The ultimate canyons would pretty much have to be where the mountains are the highest, so the deepest canyon in the world is found in the Himalayas. Some of the canyons that pass through the range (the Kali Gandaki or Yarlung Tsangpo Gorges for example) are said to reach depths of 17,000-19,000 feet.</p><p>And finally, since it was part of the title, there is the Grand Canyon of Arizona. It's not the deepest canyon overall, but it does maintain a consistent depth of over 5,000 feet for several hundred miles, and there is no canyon like it in the world. I can't even describe how spectacular it is in a few sentences, so I offer the blog series I wrote after a memorable river trip in 2013 in which I almost died, twice, but also had the greatest adventure of my life. Check out <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2013/09/into-great-unknown-journey-down.html">Into the Great Unknown</a>. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSrk372gODA6Z9lPiGkGJEYXXxtlaVKpC8LIP4DcoVVgsByKKdSlgqyIdB1BrHikjKmzsE1QTd3WgGQ_Xy7QGafm7tQ_3o8VwjpErDVdV-S_VCli4_IhRNvLsrAlywwe3JTqOnE2HrWjYoVGbvimqJFm7ffQnkfCKgOke3EqYVa5LYvA21h4VD1wEadg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="425" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSrk372gODA6Z9lPiGkGJEYXXxtlaVKpC8LIP4DcoVVgsByKKdSlgqyIdB1BrHikjKmzsE1QTd3WgGQ_Xy7QGafm7tQ_3o8VwjpErDVdV-S_VCli4_IhRNvLsrAlywwe3JTqOnE2HrWjYoVGbvimqJFm7ffQnkfCKgOke3EqYVa5LYvA21h4VD1wEadg=w424-h640" width="424" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-56715360168690343532022-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:002022-06-29T20:31:24.548-07:00Fan of Columnar Jointing? Here's a Real Gem for You in the Sierra Nevada, and it's Not Devil's Postpile<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7Mrg7lEx4p4olMTKMvtWOazi6KgpYjU_NAso8cDX7lf4vzE3ABRZeu6VFtlEe6YsryOeII53aWNobWaFT2kH3F8DCGV3rnzZF0Evp7yYTdQSNukVudOInMDg8mN0cB0NPKVK2dWsRsKK1Vd_u4pwu_dp_V4hkzBmRL_XXVupwd2vj9tazaro3y3yPtw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7Mrg7lEx4p4olMTKMvtWOazi6KgpYjU_NAso8cDX7lf4vzE3ABRZeu6VFtlEe6YsryOeII53aWNobWaFT2kH3F8DCGV3rnzZF0Evp7yYTdQSNukVudOInMDg8mN0cB0NPKVK2dWsRsKK1Vd_u4pwu_dp_V4hkzBmRL_XXVupwd2vj9tazaro3y3yPtw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Tucked away in a small corner of an unheralded canyon of the Sierra Nevada is a real gem of a geological locality. It is a marvelous example of columnar jointing that has been modified by glacial scouring, and it's NOT called Devil's Postpile. Welcome to the Columns of the Giants.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEQ90dYibhhNqcrONf5aoLSpvfmxnp21uhHSVpsgNIFvpYCa_Z_gf2uAN-V0w_spZBTV5YB-C6eSXqZAHa0B7QooItRZC4aQk3g9SRCYAcfKDZm2arSwrmdiXEg2fwxvVG3Aekuk7yt3v9n-2_-6DN8ZUAWYlYhAhZP6emJoDOeFFEC_EYSx-HSC5R4w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1739" data-original-width="978" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEQ90dYibhhNqcrONf5aoLSpvfmxnp21uhHSVpsgNIFvpYCa_Z_gf2uAN-V0w_spZBTV5YB-C6eSXqZAHa0B7QooItRZC4aQk3g9SRCYAcfKDZm2arSwrmdiXEg2fwxvVG3Aekuk7yt3v9n-2_-6DN8ZUAWYlYhAhZP6emJoDOeFFEC_EYSx-HSC5R4w=w360-h640" width="360" /></a></div><p></p><p>The Stanislaus River doesn't quite have the panache of the Merced River, which flows through Yosemite Valley, or the Tuolumne River, the architect of Hetch Hetchy Valley. It's not protected as a national park like Kings Canyon. It had glaciers during the ice ages, but they didn't have the volumes of ice necessary to carve stunningly deep gorges like the previously mentioned river valleys. But it does have a grandeur all its own.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuAeu_tDX4aeJ1664E2khD6WVm0EWi0nB92HZgD2mcDcA74rBqH1qBtRisos7oqv2clieE4YcP6BfzB9kKhvexaU3EqlATi54thMB6Im9O2RUTdL-r7HUFdk-fVKmqFyjkQW6l3eQrbG0b_DFu7NvWEZmFGSrzzVPixcRGEpk98c6XGHxWGX9y9Nogxg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuAeu_tDX4aeJ1664E2khD6WVm0EWi0nB92HZgD2mcDcA74rBqH1qBtRisos7oqv2clieE4YcP6BfzB9kKhvexaU3EqlATi54thMB6Im9O2RUTdL-r7HUFdk-fVKmqFyjkQW6l3eQrbG0b_DFu7NvWEZmFGSrzzVPixcRGEpk98c6XGHxWGX9y9Nogxg=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br />The headwaters of the Stanislaus expose rocks that are quite distinct from those of the other more famous rivers. The rocks have a darker aspect, due to being composed of relatively young volcanic rocks, rather than the granite that makes up three-quarters of the Sierra Nevada. Highway 108 crosses one of the uppermost tributaries at Sonora Pass (9,624 feet/2,933 meters), and travelers can get a spectacular view of these former volcanoes that were active about 10 million years ago. They erupted onto a muted landscape of eroded granitic rocks. Some of the eruptions produced flows that traveled more than fifty miles downstream through the canyons of the Ancestral Stanislaus River. Later erosion acting on these flows produced the famous <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/04/where-rivers-are-upside-down-hike-to.html">Stanislaus Table Mountain</a> in the vicinity of the Gold Rush Towns of Jamestown and Sonora.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHz3BN7AfyR9UAunY3XhTUcyipOXNEWCYGpNpLMhFRimiTy31FXbpbZiQ80rkfTCtcarrcEu4hSeG7Py-Zag-c3t9E0iJN9dAiUTYmd_0iauGZAWdiFxDzHxe6DYZ8b6tYRP-xZYlyjFojoA_c-5c7L_crvwon1EiUJNLxVEBLJMBaKGjzOVTnOimWvg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="1613" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHz3BN7AfyR9UAunY3XhTUcyipOXNEWCYGpNpLMhFRimiTy31FXbpbZiQ80rkfTCtcarrcEu4hSeG7Py-Zag-c3t9E0iJN9dAiUTYmd_0iauGZAWdiFxDzHxe6DYZ8b6tYRP-xZYlyjFojoA_c-5c7L_crvwon1EiUJNLxVEBLJMBaKGjzOVTnOimWvg=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div>Beginning around 2 million years ago, glaciers began tearing away at the higher parts of the Sierra Nevada, removing many of the volcanic flows and carving U-shaped gorges like the one above, visible just a few miles downstream of Sonora Pass at Chipmunk Flat. The ice age was not a single event. The ice advanced and retreated more than a dozen times, with warmer periods in between that lasted for thousands of years. It was during one of these interglacial periods that something extraordinary happened in the upper reaches of the Stanislaus River drainage. Roughly 150,000 years ago there was a volcanic eruption down in the canyon.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX-WVBH4DFU2eJhATCMRett-eOVm1c-6vQTxmlHevS3XUc4iev58HMkV_sJMXoMn8ZgyD-_sOAYNrrfNsCItJthzh9_HLN0eiDa2qbmakiRfWCL41LXOuRY55p3l8dAqMsC42srizySkgrXDBk5yur7KKEZ5L_2vlCvLAMGO-erRA7nwax7khouIujug" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX-WVBH4DFU2eJhATCMRett-eOVm1c-6vQTxmlHevS3XUc4iev58HMkV_sJMXoMn8ZgyD-_sOAYNrrfNsCItJthzh9_HLN0eiDa2qbmakiRfWCL41LXOuRY55p3l8dAqMsC42srizySkgrXDBk5yur7KKEZ5L_2vlCvLAMGO-erRA7nwax7khouIujug=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>It wasn't a large eruption, certainly not on the scale of some of the rhyolite cataclysms that devastated the regions <a href="https://geotripper.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-sierra-beyond-yosemite-politics-and.html">east of the Sierra crest 767,000 years ago</a>. It was more of a mild cinder cone eruption that might have flooded a portion of the canyon, flowing just a few miles downstream before the lava flows ceased. Subsequent glaciations scoured away much of the remaining lavas, and river erosion removed still more. Hidden in a cleft, a basalt dike just upstream of the columns may be all that remains of the volcano responsible for the eruption. It's not much, just the fracture in the granite that filled with basalt that fed the eruptions above. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTIwWVE8MChERVgaRO44anlzWgXgd6U00HSSE0HM02OtvrO7CYUW2bBVGvlvQ7NmILSeLesTWOCvyfVtRqa6pSCdwNIcmdFQEo1Xy-tGNCKb6SSUC-ra7l9BhVLI22BJ8Fjjjl7hK_BhCdL0y2XAh9ko1k9BIi7LL3hPBEviedVrqptVF6Z1DNQZlFFw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1492" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTIwWVE8MChERVgaRO44anlzWgXgd6U00HSSE0HM02OtvrO7CYUW2bBVGvlvQ7NmILSeLesTWOCvyfVtRqa6pSCdwNIcmdFQEo1Xy-tGNCKb6SSUC-ra7l9BhVLI22BJ8Fjjjl7hK_BhCdL0y2XAh9ko1k9BIi7LL3hPBEviedVrqptVF6Z1DNQZlFFw=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br />The remains of the lava flow, though? Spectacular! The lava flow (or flows; there were possibly two of them) was ponded by some obstruction downstream, most likely a glacial moraine, and a modest lava lake developed, several tens of meters deep. As the lava cooled, it shrank and the rock fractured in generally hexagonal columns roughly perpendicular to the surface against which the lava flowed. Since the lava flows were erupted onto a canyon bottom with slopes on either side, not all of the columns are vertical (this is also true of the better-known Devil's Postpile). <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcjXfrld_iHzgr591WFkmmEwpKwmqlotQqOpFyi54x52NHVxNUOsA53D-Le7ff1aGeqBFNIIGbb30LrwpQTadwDw1Cf5wz9xPOLRHGZyw1v44sbb7B845ZNUbIouu7ICxcifzrRJsbe7dBk8gLwpLt3XC1Oi5GSBZXZDWFfFTsE-yIid66xYEDW9Kb6A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1481" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcjXfrld_iHzgr591WFkmmEwpKwmqlotQqOpFyi54x52NHVxNUOsA53D-Le7ff1aGeqBFNIIGbb30LrwpQTadwDw1Cf5wz9xPOLRHGZyw1v44sbb7B845ZNUbIouu7ICxcifzrRJsbe7dBk8gLwpLt3XC1Oi5GSBZXZDWFfFTsE-yIid66xYEDW9Kb6A=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Subsequent glaciations (primarily the Tahoe and Tioga stages for those who want to know) tore away at the lava flow, exposing the columns. Over the last 10,000 years or so since the last Tioga glaciers melted away, frost wedging has pried many of the columns loose, dumping them into a vast talus slope that covers the base of the lava flow. Cold air emanating from the base of the talus suggests that a mass of ice might actually remain deep within the rockpile. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim-YE86eB07R_OeO9ZqR08PRnKn4P5-SmM9KvktwgCq9JBIZ2f1bDDDf8L1RqicgXuxrOfuJ6GphgF-AyBd7Pmi4YARSHTu8gMNKvowkIo_gnTXqE-WlBeG0eQ3RHY8wpeBU7cDc5uZE5vhUU9QFSYE4BXz9Xz46cec3-MPq0V8mj-df2UeY47tinK-Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="840" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim-YE86eB07R_OeO9ZqR08PRnKn4P5-SmM9KvktwgCq9JBIZ2f1bDDDf8L1RqicgXuxrOfuJ6GphgF-AyBd7Pmi4YARSHTu8gMNKvowkIo_gnTXqE-WlBeG0eQ3RHY8wpeBU7cDc5uZE5vhUU9QFSYE4BXz9Xz46cec3-MPq0V8mj-df2UeY47tinK-Q=w360-h640" width="360" /></a></div><p></p><p>Columns of the Giants can be easily visited by following Highway 108 about 25 miles east of the Pinecrest Lake Resort area or 13 miles west of Sonora Pass. Overnight accommodations can be found at nearby Kennedy Meadows and a number of National Forest campgrounds. Educational groups may be able to make arrangements to stay the High Sierra Institute at Baker Station just a few miles away (contact the <a href="https://www.gocolumbia.edu/career_technical/highsierrainstitutepages/highsierrainstitute.php">Yosemite Community College District </a>for more information).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYgZfnu006fGsH3Pdz_iWLuiFOob5w04gqq3n7prqVBH75BjF8SYcZ5gtwmahi3HIxqaBjfoJeL6MmgLYLEHGCDnlHl4Ey0KUPVJjh-uAdMzaKvUCsBvB-IoLsgO7d1UhtlSzThsE5LJEWO1wcNSOWyfZyfE284vvLPKSEBKWu-yY96_Hsqn6-h_Zqg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYgZfnu006fGsH3Pdz_iWLuiFOob5w04gqq3n7prqVBH75BjF8SYcZ5gtwmahi3HIxqaBjfoJeL6MmgLYLEHGCDnlHl4Ey0KUPVJjh-uAdMzaKvUCsBvB-IoLsgO7d1UhtlSzThsE5LJEWO1wcNSOWyfZyfE284vvLPKSEBKWu-yY96_Hsqn6-h_Zqg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Stanislaus National Forest has provided a parking area and simple toilets for visitors, and a paved ADA-compliant trail and bridge provides access. The trail is only a few hundred yards long, and the visual rewards are great. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0Lkqv9H5PyiIYusgJ-aNY5MpuboOTeDQKt_0q5zhPqypzl_caEriEE8Roty4oLeUShH3ItbmKcisYzxydKvJ1i2bR-5kuZmaigx4mx3e3ggC0Q1T5qxBRGRPnEXf-JBsmFIwhR0LdlmAeLc5itZZmaIHWv-5xlPzuGCca6H2jsOEgOZbWW3qUz8T5ig" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0Lkqv9H5PyiIYusgJ-aNY5MpuboOTeDQKt_0q5zhPqypzl_caEriEE8Roty4oLeUShH3ItbmKcisYzxydKvJ1i2bR-5kuZmaigx4mx3e3ggC0Q1T5qxBRGRPnEXf-JBsmFIwhR0LdlmAeLc5itZZmaIHWv-5xlPzuGCca6H2jsOEgOZbWW3qUz8T5ig=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div></div><p>Can't get there in person? My friend and colleague Ryan Hollister <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/360-degree-expedition/">put together a marvelous virtual field exercise</a> that provides an experience that is the next best thing to being there. It was featured on NPR's Science Friday a few years ago.</p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211670216140060946.post-26408013375810116322022-05-16T00:01:00.001-07:002022-05-16T00:38:19.287-07:00How it Was: Lunar Eclipse of May 2022<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc8TpOOPv9ZLkGfBMbUq-HmVD7gHuFITAowMYw_IotDEzP-bSle1J-M_X-FSQXSL5G_tCtKMBNEf9PN0S1LKHek7SeFmeyZL4LDXc_eBa44ItjoLmyrKfuMlXGCvb9DHX-oE0fQrcVgOBJScs3YszZKSwPRXBLxRhReWFZa4c4L6TG2P5COKAzySJ9A/s3456/P1150238%20Moonrise.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc8TpOOPv9ZLkGfBMbUq-HmVD7gHuFITAowMYw_IotDEzP-bSle1J-M_X-FSQXSL5G_tCtKMBNEf9PN0S1LKHek7SeFmeyZL4LDXc_eBa44ItjoLmyrKfuMlXGCvb9DHX-oE0fQrcVgOBJScs3YszZKSwPRXBLxRhReWFZa4c4L6TG2P5COKAzySJ9A/w640-h480/P1150238%20Moonrise.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>This evening's lunar eclipse was visible all across North America, and it was spectacular! I hope you were able to see it, but if you didn't, here is some sense of what it was like.<p></p><p>Out here in California the eclipse was already underway at sunset, and most of the Moon was already in the Earth's shadow. It was kind of strange to see a "crescent" Moon rising in the east as the sun set in the west.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge20av3qNpQsUCksKEXsVO8GOLUvtl-3uZLKcSx5ADTSEgMBmqTrS4ZxUVV_jLy29Akt0DNJ5mXD-vozBFErxxV5NXjtV0xl1m5hRYvtCLcqtWYQIiGBDwAYh7X5TCdNCG8-WfNWUpvlFl-QKf2jk-3uAWROYJNLNq8-fJAoEL51onlmuf7kNYLd83Mw/s3456/P1150261%20Last%20moments%20before%20totality.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge20av3qNpQsUCksKEXsVO8GOLUvtl-3uZLKcSx5ADTSEgMBmqTrS4ZxUVV_jLy29Akt0DNJ5mXD-vozBFErxxV5NXjtV0xl1m5hRYvtCLcqtWYQIiGBDwAYh7X5TCdNCG8-WfNWUpvlFl-QKf2jk-3uAWROYJNLNq8-fJAoEL51onlmuf7kNYLd83Mw/w640-h480/P1150261%20Last%20moments%20before%20totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The sliver of the sunlit lunar surface grew smaller and smaller, and the Moon seemed to disappear in the deepening dusk. The darkened face of the Moon was actually glowing with red light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere, but it took a few moments for the sky to grow dark enough to see it.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Yi9BAE1m4mOoZ_xbiUufFVE25F1ByKQYjtBEo0Ew_KyJCiHRHHUe4SmK4z2Fc28i6Kh32RLXPZZG4-Du84mu0YYT4C6gkhRGJFrn2dNsUhTg4oQytEg92dNoB-zuy1ZIx_2zNSteW0oLAp5JYLMyIHj6VziDX0ALpK64WZJPHaj98AfktlqBedXcww/s3456/P1150285%20Last%20moment%20before%20totality.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Yi9BAE1m4mOoZ_xbiUufFVE25F1ByKQYjtBEo0Ew_KyJCiHRHHUe4SmK4z2Fc28i6Kh32RLXPZZG4-Du84mu0YYT4C6gkhRGJFrn2dNsUhTg4oQytEg92dNoB-zuy1ZIx_2zNSteW0oLAp5JYLMyIHj6VziDX0ALpK64WZJPHaj98AfktlqBedXcww/w640-h480/P1150285%20Last%20moment%20before%20totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The red of the Blood Moon became visible, and then I had a bit of a surprise. It is hard to see stars in the immediate vicinity of the full moon because it is so bright. But if you look in the picture below, look at the 10:30 position of the disk, and there is a star emerging from behind the Moon! I've never seen this happen before.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH00En6wc12GcO5jx2HpC65lZRn83VKzkHuZnrrwwMZBLkU_DxaYg12kuc4qZAf96x99xAzYkj1EbijVRGHNIlMIJNd36IntiQVSHPWrY2OxyLM3d_yKhfbP_sQL_Ca2bVj0c9cPaMgeLTWz_1DkKxtvrGXa2vHH51bd2yuXUAqplexjOQbhMIBj06g/s2195/P1150312%20Star%20emerging%20from%20behind%20Moon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1784" data-original-width="2195" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH00En6wc12GcO5jx2HpC65lZRn83VKzkHuZnrrwwMZBLkU_DxaYg12kuc4qZAf96x99xAzYkj1EbijVRGHNIlMIJNd36IntiQVSHPWrY2OxyLM3d_yKhfbP_sQL_Ca2bVj0c9cPaMgeLTWz_1DkKxtvrGXa2vHH51bd2yuXUAqplexjOQbhMIBj06g/w640-h520/P1150312%20Star%20emerging%20from%20behind%20Moon.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>A few moments more, and the moon had moved away from the star, and several others were visible as welll.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpyWJCYD7D4E_NeHbPI2UjYKw4pBrQIha1AHZhsDH4ihPhV0JvxcBevaq0f6m63xfHGc5PktBdhkKifqqCNU5Ubi8R9cOlyEjpZFS3cVM6opNi7De3CBKVKwZsKuSfkC2wwetFTAqQhZ0-uXqmsnSRo0ERY7mkKjUfbNvWxGwTsrDVpgJxAZ_hl4Zkw/s3456/P1150320%20Lunar%20totality%20with%20star%20field.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpyWJCYD7D4E_NeHbPI2UjYKw4pBrQIha1AHZhsDH4ihPhV0JvxcBevaq0f6m63xfHGc5PktBdhkKifqqCNU5Ubi8R9cOlyEjpZFS3cVM6opNi7De3CBKVKwZsKuSfkC2wwetFTAqQhZ0-uXqmsnSRo0ERY7mkKjUfbNvWxGwTsrDVpgJxAZ_hl4Zkw/w640-h480/P1150320%20Lunar%20totality%20with%20star%20field.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>It wasn't easy holding the camera still enough to catch the stars as well. I guess I should just use a tripod, but what's life without challenges? I only deleted 30 or 40 shaky shots...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJglui4ZJB_Zbag3nEteVIBzoO5hNr1cxUkr_URsDu3vnpjC758ZbCJNJ72wJXW3M8jZVJowfE7ivrp_VtqHYLclYkXaD45Cg1ldhNYo_x4JmII6W8pTAS-dStWGNbb7XGWCGYOdf8iAy6wRv73x2haq5YgTYEmbSFdnV7E8YSWnB4Ax0c2ahO9ssEDg/s3456/P1150326%20Totality%20with%20stars.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJglui4ZJB_Zbag3nEteVIBzoO5hNr1cxUkr_URsDu3vnpjC758ZbCJNJ72wJXW3M8jZVJowfE7ivrp_VtqHYLclYkXaD45Cg1ldhNYo_x4JmII6W8pTAS-dStWGNbb7XGWCGYOdf8iAy6wRv73x2haq5YgTYEmbSFdnV7E8YSWnB4Ax0c2ahO9ssEDg/w640-h480/P1150326%20Totality%20with%20stars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>This was an unusually long period of totality for a lunar eclipse. After around an hour, the bottom edge of the Moon began to glow brighter as the orb moved closer to the edge of the Earth's shadow.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtp9NhXzOh9XmCWByRG_KaGUqv4ia5qwHWZjDZQ943JzAi5qZIDCg9BSqxRlQ3amD_UOWGXPglKAfpzJ1n6AOCYgyDUl3PKzqsCNgIQKSGjtvlX2q7leClUYQQhurM8EofWeUkjUhaEpGKHVern9BVSiW10WADaMoIr9T1bufOM7geknwdXkOyqi_Yfw/s3456/P1150348%20Totality%20with%20stars.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtp9NhXzOh9XmCWByRG_KaGUqv4ia5qwHWZjDZQ943JzAi5qZIDCg9BSqxRlQ3amD_UOWGXPglKAfpzJ1n6AOCYgyDUl3PKzqsCNgIQKSGjtvlX2q7leClUYQQhurM8EofWeUkjUhaEpGKHVern9BVSiW10WADaMoIr9T1bufOM7geknwdXkOyqi_Yfw/w640-h480/P1150348%20Totality%20with%20stars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>And then just like that the Sun began to shine on the lunar surface again. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxAz7MccOaziteM6d-bW1Mi2zAKElwASjc3M_KrgfomVKaYHTP-FJ6NoKP6yeOYhCm5XCjoKHl1c3VQMe4xRJ7qCTqO7eynoITv1kQNbXp1PiEderq_LiAbhXQUCGBn4usL2qZEy5F4jJv1XxDnMEjlVtp_Z-3_RCjfw4Lk5uRforPv7iWElbyrsW6w/s3456/P1150372%20End%20of%20totality.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxAz7MccOaziteM6d-bW1Mi2zAKElwASjc3M_KrgfomVKaYHTP-FJ6NoKP6yeOYhCm5XCjoKHl1c3VQMe4xRJ7qCTqO7eynoITv1kQNbXp1PiEderq_LiAbhXQUCGBn4usL2qZEy5F4jJv1XxDnMEjlVtp_Z-3_RCjfw4Lk5uRforPv7iWElbyrsW6w/w640-h480/P1150372%20End%20of%20totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The red disk disappeared and the stars dimmed and disappeared once again.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YNiwUvXdzPKQA5WW5jIxrl5bJ1SwYmdX6_BSKNhN33i-5Mxym8tao_NB68vSJBejWj1JGRtAw-G206y6c0P47GvbyS5Qzj52lA6fSu203VXRogHiEuFeKReLqTuz0iX0veq0eTJWbAUcrrJ8ownxlGOnXKui3IAf-P2zWOAwTzPfEf2K5UAJ4NeiMg/s3456/P1150378%20End%20of%20totality.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YNiwUvXdzPKQA5WW5jIxrl5bJ1SwYmdX6_BSKNhN33i-5Mxym8tao_NB68vSJBejWj1JGRtAw-G206y6c0P47GvbyS5Qzj52lA6fSu203VXRogHiEuFeKReLqTuz0iX0veq0eTJWbAUcrrJ8ownxlGOnXKui3IAf-P2zWOAwTzPfEf2K5UAJ4NeiMg/w640-h480/P1150378%20End%20of%20totality.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>And then it was over, and our bright full Moon had returned. And that is how it was! Thanks to our friends Jeanne and Barry for a nice evening with a porch overlooking the Tuolumne River and a perfect moonrise!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_k7h_Z1UCeHPiOJp-zprQScw1dgFpqfAPQNWo2E2Jy5-sJAhS5f7T3WrC5iTkb6L4crpUKI4RH3MxW5AqTyEQCyJTH_PG5YpmkoxNSpX33Joyhp5LkXo78T1m1CUZQ_rfJ6P9noWBnAE9DEmI0KnYIPe4RruQ84e_G_cQ1Wl0QqsXL_2Qt9627qtYKA/s3456/P1150393%20Full%20Moon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3456" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_k7h_Z1UCeHPiOJp-zprQScw1dgFpqfAPQNWo2E2Jy5-sJAhS5f7T3WrC5iTkb6L4crpUKI4RH3MxW5AqTyEQCyJTH_PG5YpmkoxNSpX33Joyhp5LkXo78T1m1CUZQ_rfJ6P9noWBnAE9DEmI0KnYIPe4RruQ84e_G_cQ1Wl0QqsXL_2Qt9627qtYKA/w640-h480/P1150393%20Full%20Moon.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /> </p>Garry Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00531226195147986457noreply@blogger.com0