Thunderbird rhyolite
Have you ever seen a black rhyolite? Neither had geoblogger Callan Bentley – until he went to the Franklin Mountains of West Texas.
Callan Bentley
Permian fusulinids from west Texas
Today, I’m going to show you some monster-sized single-celled organisms: giant fusulinid forams from the western flank of the Franklin Mountains in west Texas, beyond El Paso. I saw these critters in February when I went on a field trip there led by Josh Villalobos of El Paso Community College. Here’s the scene where we … Read more
Leopard rock of the Yaak
After our “pre-honeymoon” sojourn to the Canadian Rockies last summer, Lily and I returned to the U.S. via Porthill, and then drove over to a place I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time: Yaak, Montana. Yaak (or “the Yaak“) is way up in the Kootenai National Forest, in way-way-way-northwesternmost Montana. We camped out … Read more
Leopard rock
Callan shares some photos of “leopard rock” (porphyritic mafic dikes) seen along the Beartooth Highway, northeast of Yellowstone National Park.
Walking to the mailbox
It’s a mile downhill from our new place to the mailbox on Fort Valley Road. It’s a nice little walk that my wife and I do. A neighbor has a mowed path along the edges of his property, and sometimes we take that route back up the hill. It allows my wife to visit with … Read more
Friday fold: an asymmetric anticline from Wyoming
Another landform seen out the window of that very productive photo-flight last March: That’s a breached plunging anticline – doubtless a Laramide structure. This was over Wyoming; I think here. Looking north-ish, along the axis of the fold: Note that the lengths of section line A and B are not equal: this anticline is asymmetric. … Read more
Plane views: “Is that the Tetons?”
Another batch of out-the-airplane window photos from March, on my flight from Reno, NV, to Minneapolis, MN. I looked out the window and saw a form that seemed familiar…. A slightly higher-contrast exposure: I was focused on that asymmetric mountain range in the distance. Is that the Tetons? And Jackson Hole to their east? I … Read more
Pebble Creek memories
This summer is the first summer in half a decade that I won’t be spending time camping at Pebble Creek campground, in the Lamar Valley of northeastern Yellowstone (“America’s Serengeti”). While I’m very excited to be nesting and exploring my new home in the Fort Valley, it does make me a bit wistful to think … Read more
101 American Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See, by Albert B. Dickas
I just finished reading 101 American Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See, one of the latest publications by geology-friendly (and Missoula-based) Mountain Press. I’m grateful to the the publishers for sending me a review copy. It’s a nicely written and produced book highlighting sites across the United States of America of geological interest. The book is organized … Read more
My new commute
Callan describes the geology along his new commute from the Fort Valley east to the Annandale campus of NOVA. The driving route traverses the Valley & Ridge, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont provinces, including the Culpeper Basin, and stops just shy of the Coastal Plain.
Massanutten sketch
A sketch of the Massanutten Synclinorium is presented, made with a Wacom Cintiq stylus/monitor combination.
Friday fold: home
Wow! Is it Friday already? Time flies when you’re settling into your dream house. The Friday fold is of my new home, the doubly-plunging Massanutten Synclinorium: The Alleghanian Orogeny is responsible for deforming these strata. Differential weathering produced the valley/mountain/valley pattern. The Cambro-Ordovician limestones and flysch (shale + graywacke) of the Martinsburg Formation in the … Read more
Moving
This morning, I sold my condominium in Washington, D.C., and tomorrow Lily & I buy this place: Posting’s potentially going to be kind of light this week as we sort through the move.
Friday fold: Brienz, Switzerland
Today’s fold comes to us from the Alps, courtesy of blog reader “Earth Mama.” She says: Attached is a photo of the outcrop, near Brienz, Switzerland, and a GE screenshot of the location. I saw this as I was looking out the train window, and was able to grab my camera in time. Best I … Read more
Plane views: Flatlands edition
More photos from the flight from Reno to Minneapolis in March. The photos in today’s post come from the air above the Dakotas and Minnesota. First up: a series showing the intersection of natural patterns (presumably related to ground moraine) and the palimpsest geometric regularity of anthropogenic designs: Are these kettles? A close up look … Read more
Virginia geology on video: the Alleghanian Orogeny
Here’s another video, wherein I’ve made some improvements from the last one (reserved the lower right corner for the webcam “talking head” video inset, and adjusted the microphone for fewer audio blowouts). It’s still not perfect – there’s a disconnect between the audio and the webcam video that becomes more and more pronounced throughout the … Read more
A clutch of amygdules
Callan presents a collection of well-exposed amygdules, seen along the Dark Hollow Falls trail in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. These white dots on a green background are the signatures of (1) Iapetan rifting, and (2) Alleghanian metamorphism.
Weekend critters from Shenandoah National Park
My penchant for macro photographer of small animals continues unabated. Here are some images from Saturday and Sunday along Skyline Drive and the Whiteoak Canyon / Cedar Run loop in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia: A fly with a hairy back of golden iridescence. Compare it to this one: Very similar in some regards, but check … Read more
Friday fold: Hoh Hoh Hoh
Another guest submission for the Friday fold – this is becoming a major trend! Peter Selkin‘s student Rick Schwartz loaned us this one. Peter describes the outcrop this way: The rocks here are Miocene turbidites of the Hoh lithic assemblage (sometimes called the “Hoh Terrane”) exposed at Beach #4 on the Pacific coast of the … Read more
Plane views: Wyoming
I wanted to pick up where I left off months ago with some airplane photos as I was flying back from my California field class (over spring break). All views are to the north (out the left side of the airplane as we flew from Reno to Minneapolis). We crossed from northern Nevada into Wyoming, … Read more