Monday Geo-picture: Bandelier National Monument

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Geo-picture a Day Week - Zion National Park

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

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