Zoophycos trace fossils in Mahantango Formation, Fort Valley
A morning’s field trip yields an outcrop of excellent Zoophycos trace fossils in southern Fort Valley, Virginia.
valley and ridge
Bloomsburg Formation in GigaPan
Three images, working our way in from outcrop setting to hand sample: [gigapan id=”168000″] link [gigapan id=”168012″] link [gigapan id=”163085″] link These fine red sandstones are the Silurian-aged Bloomsburg Formation, as it crops out in Fort Valley, Virginia. What would we see if we kept zooming in? …Stay tuned…
Stromatolite at the Strasburg Museum
The other fossil I saw at the eclectic and haphazardly-curated Strasburg Museum was this stromatolite. Top view: Side view: Probably this comes from the Cambrian-aged Conococheague Formation, although the Beekmantown Formation (early Ordovician) is another possibility.
Pygidium from the Strasburg Museum
My family and I went to the Strasburg Museum in Strasburg, Virginia, last fall, because (1) we’ve lived out here for two and a half years now without stopping in, and we felt “overdue” for checking it out, and (2) a big train is prominently featured out front, and my son is really keen on … Read more
Three ridges and three valleys
That’s the view from Woodstock Tower, on the crest of Three Top Mountain, looking east/northeast across the Little Fort Valley and through Mine Gap (a water gap), across the main Fort Valley and then Massanutten Mountain itself, with the Page Valley separating Massanutten’s ridge line from the horizon-forming Blue Ridge.
Buzzard Rocks
Back in 2011, when we were still living in D.C., Lily and I made a hiking trip out to Buzzard Rocks. It was a destination. Now that I live out here in the Fort Valley, I see Buzzard Rocks all the time, and I love it. It’s such a cool feature – a spot on … Read more
Friday folds from the Shenandoah River
My student Josh B. found this beautiful map view of a plunging fold in the bed of the Shenandoah River, as viewed in Google Earth: Josh posted his results on Facebook, and then the other Josh (Joshua Villalobos of El Paso Community College) poked around the area and found some others downstream (north): Here’s a … Read more
Non-bedding-parallel stylolites in Helderberg limestones, Corridor H
Saturday I posted some images of bedding-parallel stylolites from one member of the Devonian-aged Helderberg Formation (or one formation in the Helderberg Group; I’m not sure whose stratigraphy is preferable in this case). Here we are, further up-section, and you can see both bedding-parallel and non-bedding-parallel stylolites overprinting the limestone: Bedding-parallel stylolites can be understood … Read more
Stylolites in Helderberg crinoidal grainstones, Corridor H
Long week, no blog. But, hey – it’s Saturday, and I have a couple of hours of breathing room – so here are some stylolites in a crinoidal grainstrone in the New Creek member of the Helderberg Formation, exposed on Corridor H in West Virginia. Stylolites are pressure solution features, which overall form perpendicular to … Read more
Friday fold: GSW fall field trip
Last Saturday was the Geological Society of Washington’s fall field trip. Dan Doctor, Alan Pitts, and I led a team of ~20 geologists out to the great new exposures along Corridor H in West Virginia. Here’s the team in front of some of the parasitic anticlines and synclines that decorate the larger structure of the … Read more