Earthly Musings - Wayne Ranney's Geology Blog

Update to: "Google Honors A Geology Giant"

2012-01-16T08:43:00.005-07:00

Friend Al Tomas of Phoenix forwarded a link so that you can view the January 11 doodle on Google that honors the 374th birthday of Nicholas Steno. Peruse it here.

Google Honors A Geology Giant

2012-01-11T16:20:00.001-07:00

You'll have to be quick - these things only stay up for about 24 hours. But today, January 11, Google is honoring the birthday of Nicholas Steno, the "Father of Stratigraphy" and much more to the science of geology. Check it out at: www.google.com.

Just click on the "stratified" word that says Google. (In case you are too late to see it, I have added a photot of my desktop with the entry page for Google on January 11, 2012.

And Happy Birthday Nicco!

Earthquakes in Flagstaff?

2011-12-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

The city of Flagstaff sits among some of the most beautiful western scenery to be seen anywhere, with graceful Ponderosa pines and the San Francisco Mountain nearby (both shown above). But the Lake Mary fault is a potential hazard in this idyllic setting, that could unleash a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the area. Other large quakes were felt in here in 1906, 1910, and 1912. Their magnitudes were 6.0 and 6.2.

Watch a five minute video with Dr. David Brumbaugh who explains many of the particulars about this Falgstaff geo-feature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi3TVP8l7rc

Map of the Lake Mary Fault system, courtesy of the Arizona Earthquake Information Center at Northern Arizona University

Trail of Time at Grand Canyon National Park Receives Award

2011-12-16T13:40:00.001-07:00

Regular readers of this blog will remember a posting from October, 2010 when the world's largest geo-science exhibit was dedicated at Grand Canyon National Park. My blog posting on the Trail of Time can be recovered and viewed here. This exhibit recently won an award from the National Association for Interpretation. You can read the official NPS release about the award here.

Here's to the Trail of Time at Grand Canyon!

Back to the Antarctic - the 100th (and 75th) Anniversaries of the First Person to Reach the South Pole

2011-12-11T12:12:00.002-07:00

Roald Amundsen and four others from Norway had been trekking across the Antarctic continent by sled and dog team for 54 days when they finally arrived at 90° south on December 14, 1911. Amundsen and his team were thus the first people to ever stand at the very bottom of the Earth! Wednesday marks the 100th anniversary of this exploration milestone and in honor of it, I am sharing some of my photographs from my stint at the South Pole Station in December/January, 1986, when the 75th Anniversary of Amundsen's feat was commemorated. In this portfolio you will also see images of McMurdo Station from the winter of 1986-87. At the South Pole Station on December 14, 1986 about 46 of the 64 persons stationed at the Pole that day went outside on a bright and sunny day and remembered Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott, and their men.

This is (or was?) the National Science Foundation headquarters at McMurdo Station in 1986. The flags of the original 13 Antarctic Treaty signees fly in front of the building. Antarctica is the only continent dedicated to science and peace.

A view of a "street" in old McMurdo Station. I am sure that the buildings here have now been replaced.

Playing hacky-sack in front of the church in McMurdo, January, 1987. A bit of Observatory Hill is visible in the right background.

Here is the entire McMurdo Station as viewed from the top of Observatory Hill in November, 1986. Note the frozen Ross Sea in the upper left. Scott's Discovery Hut (1902) is located on the small peninsula jutting out into the sea.

I volunteered to help various geologists conduct their research. Here I am (on the left) working a tool that drills through the sea ice. Yes, we are out to sea in this photograph and standing on frozen ocean, where the sea ice is about 10 feet thick. Once we drilled a hole in the ice, we dropped a coring device that hit the ocean bottom about 1,600 feet down and brought up whatever sediment had accumulated there over many thousands of years. This was research being conducted by Dr. Rob Dunbar, then of Rice University but now at Stanford.

An outdoor picnic at McMurdo Station, November, 1986.

On December 13, I received orders to report to the South Pole Station at 90° south. Here we are flying over the Shackleton Glacier (or was it the Beardmore?) with the Trans-Antarctic Mountains in the distance. These mountains are about 5,000 miles long and are a fantastic trove of earth history

Of course, the bottom of the world is upside down and when I walked off the C-130 airplane, this is what I saw. I'll turn the rest of the photographs "up-side down" so that you can see them better.

The old sign in front of the South Pole Station. Back in these days it was called USARP - the United States Antarctic Research Program. Now I believe it is called simply USAP - the United States Antarctic Program.

This is the main entrance to the old dome as it looked in December, 1986.

Here is the official 75th Anniversary photograph on December 14, 1986. We were commemorating the first arrival of Amundsen and his men at the South Pole on December 14, 1911. I am in the front row, third person on the right (light colored shirt beneath the jacket). We decided to hoist the Norwegian, British and American flags for the commemoration. Why not - Scott arrived only five weeks later and after 100 years, that is essentially the same time. I think Amundsen would agree that it's close enough.

I stepped out from the group photo to take one of my own in color

The galley crew made a cake for the occasion that shows the old South Pole Station on top of it. Nice!

This is a blurry photo taken of the group after we returned to inside the dome, with the baker kneeling in front of the cake below. It was dark in there and this was film photography, so that is why the photo is blurred.

A rousing celebration at the South Pole on Christmas Day, December 25, 1986. Even though a lot of work is performed at these stations, every day is a holiday at the South Pole. Temperature here a brisk -30° F.

The reason for my stint at the South Pole Station is that the Clean Air Facility (about 10 years old) was becoming buried in snow drifts and we were sent to hoist it up using pneumatic technology. Previous attempts in other southern summers had failed. The conditions were cold and windy. I saw a wind chill of -60° F, and the warmest it ever got was -6° F. Not cold you say, but this was summer time!

After three weeks, we had the building up on steel girders and were ready to lock it in place. The snow accumulated here at about one foot per year, so all buildings are subject to being buried.

After only 20 minutes in the cold, one's beard begins to get heavy

There was a "warm-up" hut located nearby with hot coffee and soup and most of us needed to go inside at least every 30 minutes - even with our Antarctic clothing

The glacial ice "drifts" over the pole of the earth at about 10 meters per year. This means that the official marker must be moved each year. You might see a small marker located between the two poles on the sign - this was the exact pole position on January 1, 1987. My feet frame the view (below).

The sign shows that the land at the South Pole is very close to sea level but that the ice thickness is about 9,000 feet. Not only is it cold here but there is not much oxygen!

In December of 2002, I returned to the South Pole with a group of visitors. We took an eight hour flight (with a refueling stop on the ice along the way) to the Pole from a camp we were staying at.

This is the view about half way to the pole. 90% of the planets fresh water is tied up in Antarctic ice!

At this time, a new South Pole station was being built near the old dome.

The material for this station was brought in overland from McMurdo Station on an Ice Highway. Read about it here. This station is designed so that it can be uplifted as the snow begins to pile up around its base.

Research in Antarctica continues today and to read a recent article about a sub-glacial mountain range on the White Continent, click here. And to read the blog of Dr. Ed Stump who has conducted 40 years of research in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, click here.

Wonders of Geology - A New and Stunning iPad Download from Michael Collier

2011-11-28T14:07:00.001-07:00

A Michael Collier photograph of the Teton Mountains

When most people think of the science of geology, they likely do not conjure up thoughts that excite the senses or exude images of great beauty. How odd because to geologists themselves, their chosen field is nothing if not exciting and beautiful! I know of geologists who routinely gasp with pleasure, losing their breath when they come over a rise and see what is laid out before them on the landscape. If you have ever wanted to enter a realm of earthly magic, do so through the eyes of an earth scientist who will show you the everyday things in whole new light. Geology holds wonder for everyone, if only we could access its jargon and complexities.

Say no more - for this coming Friday on December 2, Mikaya Press unveils a brand new download created by geologist, photographer, and small aircraft pilot Michael Collier. It is called "Wonders of Geology " - An Aerial View of America's Mountains and is sure to be one of the most modern and easy ways to access the arcane but ultimately rewarding world of our planet's geology. I had a chance to preview the download earlier this month and can share some of what I learned from the experience.

First, an acknowledgment that I know Michael Collier very well. He was my next-door neighbor for 20 years and being both "lovers-of-all-things-earth", we have a lot in common. But our connection does not warrant me to write a review of this new learning tool. What does is Collier's unique tri-part combination of being a geologist, a photographer and a pilot that make "Wonders of Geology" a truly breathtaking tour of North America's mountains. There is perhaps no better way to see and learn about mountains unless you become a geologist, a photographer and a pilot, all in the same life.

In "Wonders of Geology", we learn how mountain chains were created by uplift and see how they have been sculpted by erosion and carved by glaciers. The download would be well worth the $12.95 asking price even if it only included Michael's 240 photographs. But the program is also well-illustrated with numerous diagrams, maps, and figures developed by Tasa Graphics in Taos, New Mexico. These are used to blend what you see in the photographs and hear in Michael's own voice-overs, teaming together to make the learning pleasurable and easy. There are various "chapters" that can be easily navigated to from a prompt on the bottom of the screen.

There are few downsides. At this time it is only available to owners of Apple's iPad platform. (Having been an Apple geek myself since day 1, this does not present a problem for me and I can heartily endorse any Apple product for the sheer sense of beauty each of their inventions contains). Geologists themselves will know most of the subject matter in the program and it is not meant to be anything more than an introduction to the "wonders of geology". But even if you are a professional already, you could easily utilize this when teaching family or friends about your world view. It is an excellent way to grasp difficult concepts in a meaningful and fruitful way.

Here is a sampling of some of Collier's magnificent photographs in "Wonders of Geology". The captions here are mine but each photograph is part of a lovely narrative presented in "Wonders of Geology".

The Sheep Mountain anticline in Wyoming. This fantastic warp in the earth's strata was formed between 70 and 60 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny. When these strata were buckled upwards, they were still many miles below the earth's surface but more recent erosion (and stunning early morning light) accentuate these mulit-colored strata. Such are the views that Michael Collier will share with you as he flies his small Cessna airplane over these features.

Mt. Stanford in the Sierra Nevada of California. John Muir called the Sierra the "Range of Light" and Collier definitely has captured the essence of this moniker.

Closer to home in Flagstaff, Arizona and a view of the southern slopes of Mt. Elden, a dacite dome volcano that erupted in the San Francisco Volcanic Field about 500,000 years ago. The three obvious lobes formed when very viscous lava (dacite) was extruded on the top of the volcano. As the lava piled up, gravity grabbed a hold of it causing it to cascade very slowly downslope. This aerial view of the lava lobes is the best I have ever seen and allows for quick comprehension of the earth processes that created them.

Death Valley plays a prominent role in "Wonders of Geology". Here is a view of Split Mountain, a volcanic cinder cone that erupted along a fault line. After the cone had formed, the fault moved again and split the volcano. See the diagram below with accompanying graphics to explain this concept.

Spilt Mountain, Death Valley, California.

You can watch a preview of the program at this url: http://www.mikayadigital.com/. I found this program worthwhile and if you already own an iPad and are a geologist you have to have this to share with your friends and family over the holidays. If you are a photographer you will love Collier's works of art. And if you are a pilot, you'll find this useful as well to know what you are looking at from above.

Geology of the Spur Cross Ranch

2011-11-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, November 12, I led a group of 27 avocational archaeologists from the Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society on a geology field trip to the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The park is one of the gems in the Maricopa County Regional Park System and was established in 2001 to encompass 2,154 splendid acres of the northern Sonoran Desert. Many "arch" sites are located within the preserve and the members of the club wanted to learn more about the geological resources here. I had previously given two geology lectures to the group, in my role as an Arizona Road Scholar. This program is a part of the Arizona Humanities Council, whose mission is "to build a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection". The AHC is one of the best programs I know of in the state of Arizona.

The history of the preservation effort of the Spur Cross Ranch is an interesting one but much too convoluted to go into detail here. In short, developers bought an old cattle ranch in the 1990's with the intent of creating a mini-city on the north fringes of Phoenix. This was during the boom-boom days of the Arizona housing frenzy and it looked like a done deal. Not so fast, said the citizens of Cave Creek, a sleepy little hamlet that started life as a mining camp in the 1870's. They voted for a sales tax that paid for the land sparing it from development. With 80% of the town voting in the election, 77% of them voted in favor of the 0.5%, 20-year sales tax. The cost of the bond will be paid off by next June (eight years early) and a story can be read here that details the history of the acquisition fight. For a more jaded view of the preservation effort, you can read it here.

After I gave a brief overview of the geology at the trailhead, we hiked up Cottonwood Wash. The geology begins with its location in the north part of the Phoenix basin, specifically at the junction of Arizona's Transition Zone and the Basin and Range. Many mine shafts are located here and recall the glory days of prospecting when Arizona was seemingly as far away as Mongolia. Miners were lucky in some instances in finding gold and silver in the area. These elements would have held no value to ancestral peoples.

My gracious hostess, Paddi Mazoli, in the entrance to one of the many adits or mines in the Spur Cross area. Two groups of rocks are found here - an older sequence of Precambrian meta-sediments and meta-volcanics, and much younger basalt lava flows and sediments that are Cenozoic in age. Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks were likely here at one time but have been removed by erosion.

In the washes of the area, most of the durable rock types can be found. These make for a colorful mélange that are striking in their appearance. By far though, the most striking outcrops involve the lava flows of the Hickey Formation that cap Skull Mesa (shown here) and New River Mesa to the west. These flows were emplaced about 14.8 million years ago when the valley floor was not as dissected.

Skull Mesa located northeast of the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area is capped by Hickey basalt that has been dated at 14.8 Ma. The whitish outcrops beneath the mesa top belong to the Chalk Canyon Formation, a lacustrine and fluvial deposit that had yielded Arizona's oldest mammal fossil, an oreodont.

Artists reconstruction of an oredont, an example of which was found in the Chalk Canyon Formation near Cave Creek, Arizona, when this area held an ancient lake some 22 Ma

The Hickey basalt lava flows once continued much farther to the south after they were erupted, but more recent faulting disrupted the flow ends. This is evident everywhere in the northern parts of the Phoenix basin. Here from near the center of Cave Creek Town, you can see the same flows that were once attached to Skull Mesa. They have been faulted such that the former tops of the lava flows are now slopes on the right side (north end) of the hills. As the Phoenix basin was extended, the flows slipped downward and became tilted. Geology in action!

Petroglyphs abound in the area as do these boulders of Hickey basalt

Note this basalt boulder which has been rolled in a flood once or twice in Cave Creek! The white calcium ring that was once sitting horizontally in a pool of water has been moved such that it is now vertical on the rock. A new calcium ring has begun to form at the base in its present position.

It is a lovely area and a big thanks to the members of the Desert Foothills Chapter of AAS. They were most welcoming and a great group to hike with. Also, a big thank you to the citizens of Cave Creek who temporarily taxed themselves so that these 2,154 acres would be preserved in perpetuity for all Arizonans. Your forward thinking is very much appreciated by this Flagstaff boy.

Rainbow over Cave Creek, November 12, 2011

More Photo's From The Toroweap Geology Trip

2011-11-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Alice sent along some more photo's from our Toroweap field trip this morning. Thank you Alice!

In this shot we can clearly see the offset on the Toroweap Fault which runs across the photo behind the shadowed cliff on the left. It is the Esplanade Platform on the upthrown side of the fault, while the bench in the center distance is the same feature faulted lower to the west. About 500 feet of offset has been measured on the fault here. Note the cinder cone on the lip of the downthrown block. Magma likely utilized the fault line as a conduit to the surface. Note also the dip towards the photographer on the downthrown block, which rotated as it was lowered.

Here is an example of weathering on the Esplanade surface. The Esplanade Sandstone began life on the shores of a Permian sea, located not too far west of this locality. Sand was deposited on this coastal plain in low-lying dune fields. Subsequent burial put it into silent preservation for hundreds of millions of years and groundwater left a calcium cement between the quartz grains. Upon exposure, rainwater reacted with and dissolved the calcium cement such that hollows like these were formed. Although Alice took this photo to highlight the beautiful heart shape of the depression, she also had an eye for the process that creates these features.

This is Vulcan's Throne after we descended its top and hiked to another cone north of it. The view is to the south and behind the Throne is a 3,000 drop down to the Colorado River. Note the white playa lake deposits that accumulated at the intersection of the cone (erupted about 71,000 years ago) and the scarp of the Toroweap Fault (with movement mostly before the cone was emplaced - there is a small saddle on the east side of the cone that likely represents post-eruption movement on the fault).

Toroweap is an awesome place!

A Geology Field Trip to Grand Canyon - Toroweap Overlook and Vulcan's Throne

2011-11-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Over Halloween this year, I embarked on a five-day field trip with many of my former geology students from Yavapai College in Prescott. I've been semi-retired from formal teaching for a few years now but the magic of geology just doesn't seem to wane for these die-hards. I love it! They choose a location and off we go. This posting is written by me but with illustrations from Bruce, Carol, and Mary Lea. I asked the class for photo's to show off what we saw and learned here. You can also view some of my photo's and narrative here from a trip I took in April.

The trip began with an overnight stop at Lees Ferry on the Colorado River. We meant to hike down Cathedral Wash but a recent storm had filled mudholes along that creek making it impassible. So, off to the hoodoos and here I am pointing out the amount of "deflation" on the landscape since this Shinarump boulder rolled down from the cliff above. The boulder is a conglomerate rock from this member of the Chinle Formation. The pedestal below is carved into the underlying Moenkopi Fm. This deflation is probably on the order of a few tens of thousands of years in length (just an educated guess). These features are found everywhere along the base of the Vermilion Cliffs and you can see two other large boulders in the background awaiting more defaltion so that they can have their pictures taken.

We finally arrived at the edge of the canyon and this is one of the viewpoints looking east. Many images from this place have been featured in mainstream advertising in recent years.

Contemplating the Grand Canyon. What a marvelous place.

At the main overlook we got a great view across the Colorado River into Prospect Valley. The lighting here does not easily show it, but this was once a deep side canyon that became filled with lava. The shadowed, inverted V canyon is what has been re-excavated since the lava filled the old canyon. On the left side of the photo but not as obvious is the Toroweap fault. It lies at the base of the scarp across the river to the left hand side of the photo. The vast majority of the Esplanade surface in the center of the photo is down dropped about 500 feet here.

Students on the edge of Grand Canyon looking into Lava Falls. Note the cross-bedding in the Esplanade Sandstone here.

One of the days, we hiked from camp over the sandstone ridge to Vulcan's Throne. There are few things as wonderful as walking on slickrock in the southwest.

Ken is checking to see if we have arrived at the top of this 500-foot tall cinder cone and his calculations verified that we ran out of volcano and were at the end of the hike. Actually, he is looking in the trail register located in a cairn on top of the feature.

What are the chances that a cinder cone would have erupted at the edge of the Esplanade over the Colorado River? This has got to be one of the most spectacular settings for a volcano - on the lip of a 3,000 foot gorge.

Pointing out the trace of the Toroweap fault across the Colorado River.

A group shot from the top of Vulcan's Throne. Note the wide, Toroweap Valley in the left background. This was also once the site of a big side canyon in Grand Canyon but was filled with numerous lava flows from the Uinkaret Volcanic Field. Recent offset on the Toroweap fault interrupted a small drainage on the north side of Vulcan's Throne and caused a playa lake to form just beyond and below the group. There is so much to see and learn here.

Back at camp, it was time for the Halloween celebration and here you see my very first pumpkin carved.

A basalt boulder with many native petroglyphs etched into it.

One last shot before leaving the Toroweap area. From left to right - Sharon, Clint, Ken, Louise, Mary Lea, Brenda, Carol, Bruce, Chris, Wayne, Barbara, Russ, Alice, George, and Dennis. Great folks - one and all.

Sunset from Toroweap Overlook.

Brenda wrote poem about our trip here:

Toroweap Time Shared by Brenda

"River's high,"

Sinyala sighs,

while Lava Falls'

sirens call

"Come close."

From his cinder throne

Vulcan moans

"Where's the fire?"

Two-toothed Jack with Buddha smile

knows where embers glow and
shine magic

on this hallowed night

Chris too:

Although too old to do some treks,

You are never too ancient to attempt

that first Pumpkin. With skill, you

carved out eyebrows that resembled the

narrow curves of the Colorado. Again

with competence, you lead our group of

aging Geonuts on another journey.

Adroitly you presented information for all to

digest, no matter how clogged are our skulls.

We observed hot air rising out of the canyon,

with birds capturing the drafts, and occasional

explosions of campfire discussion addressing

inflamed bodily emissions.

A new volcanic hill was scaled and all

groupies are content with another rewarding outing.

Thanks for being there,

and Dennis:

The Professor and the Pumpkin

by Dennis Peterson

Our leader, professor Wayne Ranney
can rhapsodize for days on carving
the Grand Canyon,
from Apatites to Xenoliths
but has never carved into a pumpkin.
How can that be?

Well, last Halloween history was made.
George and Carol, the pumpkin providers
for our Toroweap geology trip
during the Halloween celebration
presented the spheroidal object
to Professor Ranney.
Even though it wasn't stratified
or volcanic in origin, he went
at it like the mighty Colorado.

With pen first drawing the face
giving place for the knife to follow
not unlike those early miners
who dug out the Grand Canyon
those many many years ago;

a place to insert their shovels. The orb now looking like a topo map and with directions coming from all sides the first slice was made,erosion by knife. The face began to take shape,first the eyes, then nose and lastly the mouth. Oh schist! a slip of the knife, a tooth has been mass wasted. Emergency call to Dr Weld our groups' staff Dentist. But how to reattach it? Forward comes Ken, Dr Welds able assistant with a toothpick for the attachment; now the Grand Toroweap Pumpkin has its smile restored. Withcandle inserted and lit casting an eerie smile over us not unlike professor Ranney's when he stumps the class with questions like "who here has ever seenor lit a fart?" Questions like that, deep thinking and reflective cause his students into long and meaningful discussions. Meanwhile the Grand Toroweap Pumpkin all lit up and smiling, wondering what all this talk is about and what it has to do with geology. Even though the Grand Toroweap Pumpkin has an internal flame glowing and could work very nicely as a flame thrower, it's of no use for the topic now discussed for no thought was given to hollowing out a fumarole. Withonly a carved head and nothing below the Grand Toroweap Pumpkin can only laugh with us.

Making Phoenix A Green City

2011-11-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

An editorial appeared in the New York Times recently that takes a hard look at my home states' struggle to move into the 21st century. I reprint the article here for your perusal. Please note that I will return to my more photogenic blogs later this week with some beautiful pictures taken on my various trips in the fall. And thank you for your support!

The Dark Side of the ‘Green’ City
By ANDREW ROSS
November 6, 2011

The struggle to slow global warming will be won or lost in cities, which emit 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. So “greening” the city is all the rage now. But if policy makers end up focusing only on those who can afford the low-carbon technologies associated with the new environmental conscientiousness, the movement for sustainability may end up exacerbating climate change rather than ameliorating it.

While cities like Portland, Seattle and San Francisco are lauded for sustainability, the challenges faced by Phoenix, a poster child of Sunbelt sprawl, are more typical and more revealing. In 2009, Mayor Phil Gordon announced plans to make Phoenix the “greenest city” in the United States. Eyebrows were raised, and rightly so. According to the state’s leading climatologist, central Arizona is in the “bull’s eye” of climate change, warming up and drying out faster than any other region in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southwest has been on a drought watch 12 years and counting, despite outsized runoff last winter to the upper Colorado River, a major water supply for the subdivisions of the Valley of the Sun.

Across that valley lies 1,000 square miles of low-density tract housing, where few signs of greening are evident. That’s no surprise, given the economic free fall of a region that had been wholly dependent on the homebuilding industry. Property values in parts of metro Phoenix have dropped by 80 percent, and some neighborhoods are close to being declared “beyond recovery.”

In the Arizona Legislature, talk of global warming is verboten and Republican lawmakers can be heard arguing for the positive qualities of greenhouse gases. Most politicians are still praying for another housing boom on the urban fringe; they have no Plan B, least of all a low-carbon one. Mr. Gordon, a Democrat who took office in 2004, has risen to the challenge. But the vast inequalities of the metro area could blunt the impact of his sustainability plans.

Those looking for ecotopia can find pockets of it in the prosperous upland enclaves of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and North Phoenix. Hybrid vehicles, LEED-certified custom homes with solar roofs and xeriscaped yards, which do not require irrigation, are popular here, and voter support for the preservation of open space runs high. By contrast, South Phoenix is home to 40 percent of the city’s hazardous industrial emissions and America’s dirtiest ZIP code, while the inner-ring Phoenix suburbs, as a legacy of cold-war era industries, suffer from some of the worst groundwater contamination in the nation.

Whereas uptown populations are increasingly sequestered in green showpiece zones, residents in low-lying areas who cannot afford the low-carbon lifestyle are struggling to breathe fresh air or are even trapped in cancer clusters. You can find this pattern in many American cities. The problem is that the carbon savings to be gotten out of this upscale demographic — which represents one in five American adults and is known as Lohas, an acronym for “lifestyles of health and sustainability” — can’t outweigh the commercial neglect of the other 80 percent. If we are to moderate climate change, the green wave has to lift all vessels.

Solar chargers and energy-efficient appliances are fine, but unless technological fixes take into account the needs of low-income residents, they will end up as lifestyle add-ons for the affluent. Phoenix’s fledgling light-rail system should be expanded to serve more diverse neighborhoods, and green jobs should be created in the central city, not the sprawling suburbs. Arizona has some of the best solar exposure in the world, but it allows monopolistic utilities to impose a regressive surcharge on all customers to subsidize roof-panel installation by the well-heeled ones. Instead of green modifications to master-planned communities at the urban fringe, there should be concerted “infill” investment in central city areas now dotted with vacant lots.

In a desert metropolis, the choice between hoarding and sharing has consequences for all residents. Their predecessors — the Hohokam people, irrigation farmers who subsisted for over a thousand years around a vast canal network in the Phoenix Basin — faced a similar test, and ultimately failed. The remnants of Hohokam canals and pit houses are a potent reminder of ecological collapse; no other American city sits atop such an eloquent allegory.

Andrew Ross is a professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University and author of “Bird on Fire: Lessons From the World’s Least Sustainable City.”

The Beginning of the End

2011-11-07T19:33:00.002-07:00

Here in the American Southwest, water is king and the scarcity of this commodity is written into the DNA of every living creature. Pack rats process so much water out of their urine that their pee comes out thick as molasses. This enables them to get by on next to no water at all and they obtain most of it from what they eat. They are the ultimate southwestern creatures who laugh at the monthly periods of no rain that we oftentimes experience here.

The pack rats' viscous pee has an unintended consequence - it cements together all of the material inside their nest. This is composed of pieces of dried out cactus, pine needles, juniper berries, Rolex watches, etc. Pack rats only travel about 100 meters away from the nest to obtain all of this material. So even if we couldn't see beyond the nest, if we were a crippled pack rat so to speak, we would know what is growing within 100 meters just by examining the material found within the nest. (Where's that damn Rolex tree?).

It's so dry here that the vegetation held in these cemented nests can last tens of thousands of years in an protected cave. This is how geologists are able to reconstruct what the Ice Age Southwest looked like 15,000, 20,000, even 50,000 years ago. No person was present here to write about or otherwise record what was growing at that time. But the pack rats were recording it for us (by collecting whatever was growing within 100 meters of that ancient nest). What a beautiful science!

Along comes a creature with a big brain and voila! - water storage. Water storage has been the real growth engine for cities in the southwest and without it, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas would still be towns of about 75,000 people. Water storage is the Miracle-Gro for Southwestern cities.

But water storage on sediment rich rivers like the Colorado has long term consequences. These consequences were not even considered (if at all recognized) when we decided to tame the Colorado River for water storage in the 1920's. Think about it - the idea to build dams on the Colorado River was hatched before we knew that the Milky Way was not the only galaxy in the universe, and long before we knew that the continents drifted over the surface of the earth.

My point is that the cumulative human knowledge that we possessed when we decided to tame the Colorado was miniscule compared to what we see and know now. Our knowledge of the natural world has increased many times over and our large brains might allow us to reevaluate the decision to dam this river (if political interests weren't so strong). Don't get me wrong - the short term benefits of these dams is still viable and has actually allowed southwestern cities to laugh at the current 12 year drought. Lawns are still green in Arizona and cement driveways are still being washed in southern California.

But what will happen to the Colorado River as all of its sediment continues to pile up behind the dams? Perhaps only a geologist could even begin to frame such a question (although environmentalists were the first to question the rationality of these dams but for other reasons). Only a geologist could think that the 700-year maximum life expectancy of Glen Canyon Dam (with other estimates as low as 250 years) will be here before we know it. Perhaps only a geologist can envision the mess that will be created on a regional scale as these dams fill with sediment. When the sediment absolutely fills the storage body, what will the river water do? What will those cities do for water?

When I bring this topic up with most people, they become noticeably indifferent - it's just too far off in the future for most people. (Our brains also retain a lot of wiring from the Pleistocene that "keep us in the moment"). But the era of tearing down dams has begun already. If you want to see a vision of the future for our southwestern dams (admittedly hundreds of years in the future but reality nonetheless) watch this video of the Condit Dam in Washington state being breached and drained of its sediment.

The future is here now. And what you watch here in this excellent video will happen on the Colorado River one day. This is the ultimate fate of Glen Canyon Dam, Hoover Dam, and every dam ever built on any river. This is the beginning of the end.

You can watch the video here.

Fall Trip to Southeast Utah

2011-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've been out of computer range for the past two weeks but am now back up and running. This past weekend I traveled to a remote place in Southeast Utah where the fall colors were in full glory and we poked around a few great and familiar places.

From our camp, we had a view to the south down into Comb Wash, named after the obvious geologic feature on the left, Comb Ridge. This feature is one of the Colorado Plateau's famous monoclines, a flexure in previously flat-lying strata. This structure was formed during the Laramide Orogeny about 60 million years ago but when the rocks in this view were folded, they were still many thousands of feet in the subsurface. More recent erosion has exposed this view. The cliff-former on the left is the Wingate Sandstone and the valley trailing aware from the camera is cut into soft formations like the Chinle, Moenkopi, and Organ Rock. If the geology doesn't interest you, note the colorful cottonwood trees in the valley floor.

Turning 180 degrees from the photo above reveals a view of the Comb Ridge monocline towards the north. Here you can easily see the flex of the strata, which from left to right are the Cedar Mesa Sandstone (light colored sandstone in upper left), the Organ Rock and Moenkopi formations (directly above and far behind the flat sandstone slab in the center), a very thin ledge of the Shinarump Conglomerate (barely visible), and the Chinle Formation in the upper right.

This is Tower House ruin located near Comb Wash. We hiked to here from camp on our first day in the field. It is a well-preserved ruin that was built atop some interesting deposits. Look just below the obvious window and you'll note a slightly cemented conglomerate. We saw this deposit filling other alcoves nearby. My interpretation was that this wash was dammed by a landslide and that rocky debris accumulated within the alcoves behind a natural reservoir. When the landslide was breached, the streams in this area began to scour out the deposit but remnants were left in the alcoves.

A granary near Tower House ruin. The many ruins that date from the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods (about 950 to 1300 AD) utilize alcoves for shelter and sun aspect. Passive solar heating (winter) and shade (summer) was well-known to these people.

A petroglyph on the wall at Tower House Ruin. By chipping off the slightly darkened and varnished surface on the outside of the rock, a lighter image can be seen.

On day two we drove to the north and explored an area known as Whiskers Draw, where aspens were growing on the valley floor.

Hiking on slickrock is a favorite past time of mine and here we are angling up to view more surprises.

A view of an old dwelling that dates from about 1250 AD.

Here is an iside view of the old dwelling with roof beams and latillas.

Hand prints were also evident, both positive (above) and negative (below)

A small ruin perched on ledge near famous Cave 7

A view from the other side of the same house

This is the Cave 7 site. It was here in 1893 that Richard Weatherill came to the understanding that a previous group (before the Puebloans) had lived in these caves. The name of these earlier peoples would become the Basketmakers.

Group shot taken near Comb Ridge with the Abajo Mountains in the background. Left to right Bill Leibfried, John Shortridge, Don Webster, Chuck LaRue, John Grahame, George Abbott, and Wayne Ranney. There are not many things better than having friends like these to go exploring with. And that deserves an exclamation point!

My 10-Day Rafting Trip Through Grand Canyon - 2011

2011-09-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

This years 10-day rafting trip in Grand Canyon was one of the best ever with an enthusiastic group that was treated to some of the best "earth on show". We had some spectacular weather that was challenging at times but never failed to deliver top notch scenery, waterfalls and comfortable hiking. I still have a few spaces for the trip in 2012. If you've ever wanted to see Grand Canyon with a geologist, check out these pictures from this years trip.

At Lees Ferry, the start of all Grand Canyon river trips, the Kaibab Limestone makes its first appearance above river level (the whitish beds beneath the red Moenkopi Fm.). In just 65 miles it will tower between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above the river. The river drops just 500 feet in this distance but the rocks rise up at an average rate of 70 feet per mile.

The first day on the river with brilliant sunshine

The first appoearance of the Coconino Sandstone above the river at mile 4 below Lees Ferry. The Coconino was deposited as ancient dunes along a shoreline.

The skies opened up in Marble Canyon and we were witness to the rare treat of red waterfalls!

The pictures cannot capture the sound and smell of this red rain, coming off the upper slopes of Hermit and Supai formations.

The water poured off the cliffs in great leaps.

There were literally hundreds of falls within a three mile stretch of the river.

Our boatmen, Brandon and Amity, admired the show as well.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the sun came out to illuminate the recently watered cliff faces.

From the mouth of Saddle Canyon looking upstream on the Colorado River

Back inside Saddle Canyon - one of my favorite places in all of Grand Canyon

The water this morning was red from the previous days rain

Can you spot the channel fill of Temple Butte Limestone in the wall of Saddle Canyon? It is shaped like a smiley face and contains Devonian estuary deposits.

The famous "brain rocks" of Carbon Creek Canyon. These are Precambrian age stromatolites or algae fossils. The algae would greow a thin mat on the shallow sea floor and then sediment would thinly cover the living organism, which then sent more filaments upward to create a new mat. And on and on and on, through time.

A recent flood left behind a strange, black colored deposit on the bed of Carbon Creek that partially buried the vegetation that is growing along the small creek.
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It was very soft and behaved like quicksand when walked upon. Here Laurie, gets stuck within it.

The famous upturned beds of Tapeats Sandstone along the Butte Fault in Carbon Canyon. Some young earth creationists use this outcrop in an attempt to show that the sediment was not lithified when deformed but other explanations (such as ductile deformation) can also explain this arrangement of strata.

These are the rocks that the stromatolites come from - the Galeros Formation in the Chuar Valley

Storm clouds hover near Papago and Zuni viewpoints on the South Rim, September 14, 2011

Clouds within the canyon on Zoroaster Temple

Close-up of Zoroaster Temple

Riding the river within the Granite Gorge of Grand Canyon

Deformation within the Vishnu Schist revealed in a S-bend to the foliation (giant S-bend is found in the fabric of the rock just above river level.

Morning classroom on the river

The moon setting behind the Great Thumb Mesa in Conquistador Aisle

The warm waterfall in Stone Creek

The patio, a quiet paradise in Deer Creek

A sill of basalt that has intruded into beds of the Bright Angel Shale (lower part of the photograph)

Vulcans Anvil is a volcanic plug or neck that remains as a remnant upstream from Lava Falls on the river

A lava cascade comes into the Grand Canyon from the north side of the river near Whitmore Wash. Imaging what it must have looked like to see red hot lava pouring into the Ice Age river.

Opportunities to see wildlife abound on this trip we saw many Bighorn sheep browsing along the rivers edge

On at least five separate occasions, huge lava dams burst catastrophically into the lower river, leaving behind some pretty fantastic deposits. Here, a former channel of the Colorado River is filled with such debris, which can contain boulders as big as 100 feet in diameter and up to 600 feet above the modern channel. These were huge outburtst floods.

The Black Ledge lava flow as exposed near Mile 208 on the Colorado River. This flow traveled 86 miles down the river and only remnants of it remain after it was erupted 600,000 to 650,000 years ago.

Group shot at Travertine Grotto in the Lower Gorge

A black dike within the igneous rocks of the Lower Gorge

This is the remains of Bridge Canyon City where dam builders were surveying the proposed Bridge Canyon Dam.

A backward glance at the far end of the Grand Canyon where it abruptly ends at the Grand Wash Cliffs.

Happy 100th Anniversary to the Kolb Brothers Historic River Trip

2011-09-08T09:51:00.001-07:00

It was 100 years ago today that brothers Emery and Ellsworth Kolb began their adventurous river trip from Green River, Wyoming to Needles California. You can peruse a fantastic web site full of information about the trip here. (Note that Chapters 2, 3, and 4 deal with the river trip specifically, but other chapters highlight the brothers other activities at Grand Canyon).

Ellsworth and Emery about the time of their trip from Wyoming to California, 1911-1912

When the Kolbs reached Bright Angel Creek deep within Grand Canyon, they parked their boat and walked 7 miles up to their home on the South Rim. The Kolb Studio still stands and is one of the highlights of a visit to the Grand Canyon.

Photo from deep within the Grand Canyon

An Irene Colored Sunrise from Boston

2011-08-28T07:55:00.001-07:00

My friend Jack Share lives in Boston and was able to capture the outer bands of Hurricane Irene as the sun was rising in downtown Boston. Check it out here. Jack's blog, Written in Stone, is good one for you to link into. He doesn't blog daily or even weekly so no need to worry about too many postings clogging your time. His knowledge and explanations of east coast geology are fantastic and the graphics match the stories.

Book Review

2011-08-23T09:43:00.001-07:00

Dana Hunter, erstwhile blogger and budding geologist, recently reviewed three of my books on her blog En Tequila Es Verdad. Check out Dana's reviews here.

My 2011 Grand Canyon 7-Day Rafting Trip

2011-08-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

My rafting trips in the Grand Canyon have become quite popular and this year I added an additional 7-day trip to my regularly scheduled 10-day trip. A shorter trip is preferred by some people and allows those with work responsibilities to see the entire canyon in one week. We travel 280 miles - the whole length of the canyon. Every trip is different, with different boatmen, hikes, stops and camps. My recent trip was one of the best ever! Have a look.

This blog is widely read as a geology site and I normally highlight items of geologic interest. You will certainly find that in here but I also include additional camp scenes for those you are considering a rafting trip with me. The dates for the 2012 trips are: 7-day: June 10- 16; 10-day: September 12 to 21.

This particular posting is photo-rich so I will keep the captions short.

There is high water in the Colorado River this summer and our first hike of the trip was 50 meters downstream from the put-in! I had never hiked to this view of the river from the left bank. The Vermilion Cliffs rise in the background. Note the old Mormon road next to the river - this is where the wagons would approach the ferry site.

Here are wagon ruts from the 1800's carved into the Shinarump Conglomerate on our way uphill.

A giant petrified log was found across the trail. This one was over 100 feet in length and four feet wide.

Kaibab Moon Rise - Our first nights camp was along the Fence fault and I took this shot just as the call for dinner was made. Just 3o miles into the canyon, we were already 1700 feet deep within it.

Our first stop on Day 2 was near Stanton's Cave at South Canyon, where a series of Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs are found.

This section of the canyon it beautiful as it runs directly through the Redwall Limestone. Here solutions have created a series of caverns that formed along fractures (both evident here).

A very few of these solution caverns are still active in the canyon today! This is called Vasey's Paradise.

The Grand Canyon is not finished yet and the elements of erosion make for some interesting sights and photographs from the boat.

Spectacular Redwall Cavern at River mile 33. This huge amphitheater was scoured by eddies at extremely high flows before Glen Canyon Dam.

Bill and Ann share a quiet moment inside Redwall Cavern. The clean sand felt good on our feet.

Group photo in Redwall Cavern

This is an 1871 photograph in Marble Canyon taken by one of Powell's men.

We recreated the same photo here. Reliving history is a great part of these trips.

We made a fantastic climb up to a granary site at Nankoweap Canyon.

This is the view downriver from the granaries.

From camp on Day 2 I spied an old alignment of the Colorado River before it shifted course. Note the truncated wall just above the center line in the photo. This surface is capped by Colorado River cobbles and boulders. The approximate age is unknown but may be as old as 300,000 years - it sits about 100 feet above the modern river channel.

The next day we climbed up to the Hilltop ruin. This is located in the widest part of Grand Canyon and may have been a lookout or vision quest site some 1,000 years ago.

Looking upstream from Hilltop ruin on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.

Scouting Unkar Rapid - from 300 feet high!

"Bleached" circles can be found everywhere in the Dox Sandstone in this part of the canyon. They are a curiosity and formed when otherwise oxidized rocks (red) become reduced. These are spheres but have the misnomer of reduction spots.

The upper Granite Gorge is one of the most incredible defiles in all of Grand Canyon. The river has been very efficient at cutting through these resistant rocks.

The New York Yankees have their symbol in pink granite dikes near Crystal Rapids. I do not have a waterproof camera so there are no pictures of whitewater in this blog posting.

Preparing dinner at our 3rd Camp near Shinumo Creek.

The bar-b-q is blazing.....

...Rachael gets the salad ready......

....Carolyn grills the chicken.....

....and Jake and Rachael share a tender moment.

More pink dikes in the Vishnu Schist. These dikes were liquid magma when they were intruded into the solid but deforming schist. All of this happened 13 miles in the ground.

The river has sculpted some pretty incredible features as it attacks the riverside rocks.

The Wheeler fold near Elves Chasm has bent strata in the Tapeats Sandstone. Rocks can behave like putty when put under deep burial for millions of years.

Huge aprons of travertine reveal that springs once spilled into the river corridor. This travertine flowstone can be seen everywhere along the river near Elves Chasm.

Elves Chasm is a well-known and well-named waterfall in the canyon. This is the only active spring today but the area once held thousands of springs!

Close up of the Tapeats Sandstone in Elves Chasm. Note the pink feldspar grains - these were incorporated into the sandstone as the sea rolled over a surface of Zoraster Granite.

Bill admires the Great Unconformity in Blacktail Canyon. Here the Tapeats Sandstone buried a surface cut into the metamorphic rocks about 525 million years ago. What a great stop.

River view in the middle Granite Gorge. The gold colored boulders belong to a limestone bed in the Bright Angel Shale. This bed can be traced through more than 1/2 of the Grand Canyon. I always point this bed out to river travelers when it first appears and they can watch it rise and fall beneath the river channel as the rock layers are warped.

A unique and seldom seen view of Randy's Rock from the right hand bank. This large block of Tapeats Sandstone fell into the river channel but has not yet been removed by the river.

Beautiful morning on the river.

The middle Granite Gorge contains some of the darkest rocks seen on the trip. These are part of the Brahma Schist, metamorphic basalt lava flows about 1,750 million years old.

The mouth of Havasu Creek in Cataract Canyon. The water is especially blue here due to the dissolution of Redwall Limestone in the subsurface.

Group crossing over Havasu Creek on their way to the swimming hole. The water was warm!

Havasu Creek in the Grand Canyon.

Bill and Sharron pose in front of an ocotillo at Havasu Creek.

Where blue Havasu meets the red Colorado!\

Pumpkin Spring is the only hydrothermal hot spring in Grand Canyon but at this high water level it was completely underwater.

Mojave Desert vegetation is found in the Lower Granite Groge in Grand Canyon.

Fluted schist in the lower Granite Gorge. This forms when a pebble or cobble get trapped in a depression and the river causes it to swirl around and chisel out a flute.

Strata in the lower canyon can be confusing with so much limestone. But its good to have a guide.

Rachel doing a reading on the boat.

The "Lake Mead Formation" is exposed now that lake water is so low in the reservoir. 280 miles! What a trip. I took over 400 photos and these are only 50 of them. Thanks to all for participating.

Intense Rainbow After Storm in Flagstaff

2011-08-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

On August 14 a strong monsoon storm dumped over an inch of rain on Flagstaff. The rain came down in torrents and as a slow drizzle over about 5 hours. After the rain, the setting sun illuminated one of the most intense rainbows Helen or I have ever seen.

Our garage is on the left as the rainbow arcs over the pine trees in our backyard.

The intensity of the colors was amazing. Note a second arc appearing on the far right.

Three bands of violet were evident on the bottom of the arc. The colors of a rainbow are described here.

Helen admiring the view.

A Colorado River Rafting Trip Through Horsethief, Ruby, and Westater Canyons

2011-07-28T15:57:00.005-07:00

In mid-July I got to raft the Colorado River where it transitions to the red rock country of the Colorado Plateau. Horsethief, Ruby, and Westwater canyons are the first red rock canyons that the river flows through and we completed a 54 mile trip through them. Surprisingly (for this time of year), the river was running quite high flowing at just over 20,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). This volume contained the last of the spring snow melt from the high Rockies as well as recent inputs from monsoon rain.

The trip begins just downstream from the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, near the town of Loma, Colorado. A canopy of cottonwood trees lines the river here and once away from shore, I took a picture in the upstream direction. The rocks in the far distance are rather young lake deposits about 60 million years old.

A mature bald eagle stood sentinel at the entrance to Horsethief Canyon.

Unlike the central portion of the Colorado Plateau, the Navajo Sandstone has either pinched out or changed facies in westernmost Colorado. Behind the far cottonwood trees you can see a bit of the Wingate Sandstone. The darker layered beds above it belong to the Kayenta Formation. But even though it looks similar to the Navajo Ss., that is the Entrada Sandstone forming the high cliff. The reason for the absence of the Navajo and Carmel Fm. here is that this was the flank of the Ancestral Rocky Mts. and it was not part of the depositional basin at that time (about 190 to 170 million years ago). Can be confusing at first but it has been worked out by stratigraphers.

The Kayenta Formation at River level capped by the Entrada Sandstone in Horsethief Canyon.

This is a view downstream of the Rattlesnake monocline, where the strata were compressed and upturned during the Laramide orogeny.

On day 2 I took this picture at sunrise of our rafts in Mee Corner camp. The river was whistling by at about 6 mph and became quite muddy from runoff overnight. Huge logs were seen drifting by.

We had time to hike up to the top of the cliff behind camp.

About 250 feet above the river lies a deposit of Colorado River cobbles. The suggestion is that the river has incised its channel 250 feet after these were laid down and they have become perched above the modern channel. Cobbles like these are the actual cutting agents that help rivers deepen their canyons.

A old juniper tree leans out over the mighty river. Prior to 1921, this stretch of it was known as the Grand River (thus the names that remain in the area - Grand Junction, Grand County, Grand Mesa, etc.). But in that year, the Colorado State Legislature, in an attempt to secure more water rights for the state, petitioned a federal commission to have the name changed. Prior to that change, the Green and the Grand flowed together downstream to create the Colorado River. See more about this name change here.

Every morning while in Ruby Canyon, the Amtrak Zephyr would come by about 10:30 AM. This rail line only saw about 5 trains in a 24 hour period. In Flagstaff, we get that many in an hour.

Another beautiful fold in the strata in Ruby Canyon.

As we approached our second nights camp we entered a shallow gorge cut into Precambrian age granite. These rocks are the same age and general composition of the Vishnu Schist in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. But take a look at the deposit that overlies it - that is the Chinle Formation. In the Grand Canyon, the schist is mostly overlain by the much older Tapeats Sandstone and 4,000 feet of other strata. That means that here in Ruby and Westwater canyons, the great unconformity is even greater than in the Grand Canyon! it is 1,500 million years duration here; in Grand Canyon it's only 1,200 million years. The reason? Again, it is the former presence of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, which had all of their Paleozoic strata stripped off of them before the Chinle Formation finally buried this part of the ancient range.

Here is a close-up of the rock from behind our camp. The rectangular flecks are potassium feldspar crystals that grew in the magma as it slowly cooled.

Here two dikes cross one another with the granite. Can you see which dike occurred first? Since the dike in the lower left corner is offset slightly by the other one (look where the two cross each other), it must be the older dike - how else could it have been cut if it wasn't already there.

Steamy morning after a night of rain in Ruby Canyon.

A beautiful grove of cottonwood tress lines the Grand River (sorry - I think the name change is something that should be reversed - now that the water allotment has been determined). A cliff of Entrada Sandstone is capped by the Morrison Formation behind the trees.

Same thing here with a tilt in the strata. This marks the entrance into Westwater Canyon.

The Precambrian/Triassic unconformity rises again from beneath the depths. The rocks here are composed of high grade metamorphic types. At this point I put the camera away for about 7 miles. This is the whitewater stretch of the trip and I wasn't willing to take a chance. The rapids were mostly washed out at this water level but it still was a bit tense as we rode one long rapid where normally there are 8 or 9.

When we exited the whitewater stretch, the Precambrian gorge was almost 100 feet deep.

Once we landed at our third camp (Bighorn), we saw that the grade (or intensity) of metamorphism was much less here than it was back upstream. Visible here is evidence for the original rock types prior to metamorphism. The more massive, light colored rocks below the persons finger used to be sandstone until it was cooked and pressurized into a quartzite. The darker rocks above that used to be a shale or mudstone before they were changed into a pelite.

A the exit to Westwater Canyon, the Precmbrian rocks go beneath the surface and do not return back to river level until a place below Hance Rapid in the Grand Canyon! That means they are still buried in the subsurface beneath Moab, Canyonlands National Park, and all of Lake Powell and Marble Canyon - almost 400 miles.

A typical landform on the Colorado Plateau.

Whenever the river emerges from one of these wilderness canyons, the hum of humanity cycles loud. Whether it is an alfafa farmer plowing her field or a giant mower cutting down exotic vegetation, it seemed like something was always going on. Here a giant mower chews up tamarisk trees along the bank of the river.

The Morrison Formation is beautifully colored in this part of the world. The trip was led by Michael Smith and Tamsin McCormick, who direct Plateau Restoration, an organization dedicated to education and restoration of native habitats on the Colorado Plateau. They invited many old timers from the 1970's and '80's who worked at the Grand Canyon and this was a great trip!

Time

2011-07-09T10:44:00.003-07:00

Time is likely the single most important idea in geology. The very basis of geology involves a survey of planet earth, and geologists think about time in much different ways than other professions. Time is important to us and makes us joyful when we witness its passage.

This idea became quite clear to me last year when I celebrated my 20,000 day of life. I invited a few friends over for a celebration but a few of them became perplexed when they learned the reason for the celebration. Most people I've met will encourage anyone to celebrate the years they've been alive, but I've discovered that if you attempt to measure your life in other units of time it perplexes people. I guess it's okay to measure years but counting the days, weeks, minutes or seconds you've been alive seems to perplex some people. Last year, you would have thought I was celebrating the death of a cherished pet the way some people reacted to my 20,000 day.

Nonetheless, I will be commemorating three important milestones on July 14. On that day I will turn 500,000 hours old. A little later in the day, I will turn 30 million minutes old and 1.8 billion seconds! I'm just so happy to have spent many of those hours, minutes, and seconds alive in the wild outdoors, the only true reality show that is actually based in reality. By the way, if you must know, those units of measure mean I've been alive just a little over 57 years.

If you are asking yourself how I will celebrate, it won't be with others who don't appreciate a good milestone. I'll probably take a walk through a northern Arizona forest in what is unequivocally the best time of year here. There may be a short but intense rain storm but the sun will never be far away. The clouds will be huge and billowy. The smells will be of green pine trees and fresh air. The temperature will be about 82 degrees and the humidity about 30%. It will be ideal. And I'll note the passing of time. I may not be aware of the exact second it happens or the exact hour but the whole week for me will be filled with reflections on time.

The most amazing thing to me about these milestones is the realization that I've only been here on earth a mere half a million hours. That seems so short a time, especially since I've been sleeping for at least 170,000 of those 500,000 hours! So few hours, yet so much that has been done.

Why note the 1.8 billionth second you ask? Well, that's the age (in years) of the oldest rocks in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I will have been alive for as many seconds as the Vishnu Schist has been around in years! I will then be about 1/31,500,000 as old as the Vishnu Schist. That's a milestone worth noting.

If you'd like to chart your own time, use the Paul Sadowski web site that I use. You can mark your own disambiguous moments in life and watch as other people become perplexed at your hyper-awareness of time.

Have a great time, whatever you do next week!

To the Top of Arizona's Highest Peak - San Francisco Mountain

2011-07-06T13:53:00.001-07:00

San Francisco Mountain is the highest point in Arizona, rising 12,633 feet into the sky. However, this strato-volcano has a collapsed top and if the former height of it were restored on the landscape today, the cone would top out at about 15,300 feet. This means that Arizona's San Francisco volcano might once have been the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states.

Back in the 1970's I started a tradition of hiking to the top of the San Francisco Peaks on my birthday. This past July 1 I did it again with my wife Helen.

The trail begins at an elevation of 9,200 feet and climbs through aspen and eventually the spruce-fir forest. The trail is quite shady on a summer morning but steadily climbs uphill.

Much of the geology is hidden beneath this veneer of vegetation but occasionally a block of andesite pokes through the green carpet and exposes vesicles, that formed when gas escaped as the lava hardened into rock.

We finally reached the saddle on the trial after only 2.5 hours. The elevation is about 11,900 feet. This is a view to the north and the summit area on Mt. Humphreys.

To the east is the Inner Basin of the Peaks and in the foreground you may notice a curved pile of talus rock. This is likely debris pushed into a ridge or moraine, when Ice Age glaciers filled the Inner Basin and flowed to the east.

Does this bristlecone pine reveal the dominant wind direction. Agassiz Peak is seen in the distance, the second highest peak in the state.

We saw more flowers in the alpine zone than we did down below. Here small blue flowers frame the crest of this giant volcano.

Helen making her way up towards the summit. At this elevation, one must take a breath every few steps along the way.

There are numerous false summits on towards the top but here we can clearly see the crest.

This is the finally climb to the top! One last rubble strewn slope.

On top we found a small group of Boy Scouts from Gilbert enjoying the view.

For many years now, this stone wall has served as a wind protector. Surprisingly, there was no wind on top this day!

Helen taking a break on top of the mountain.

There is plenty of evidence of lightning strikes that have struck the top of the Peaks. Here is an example of a fulgarite where the rock was melted from the intense heat.

My official birthday shot for 2011.

Far off in the distance is the Grand Canyon and with my binoculars I saw Deva, Brahma and Zoroaster temples inside the canyon.

A view to the northwest and Kendrick Park (right) and Kendrick Peak (left).

This photo doesn't look like much but in the far distance (and perhaps too small in this photograph to appreciate) is a curious linear feature out on the grasslands. This is likely a fault and it is directed right towards the top of the San Francisco Peaks. I wondered, "Could this be a zone of weakness in the crust that these lava's took advantage of?"

Looking west to Kendrick Mountain (right), Sitgreaves Peak (center), and Bill Williams Mountain (left distance). These three lava dome volcano's were erupted along a fracture that is outlined by the position of the volcano's.

One last look from above the saddle before we headed down the slope.

Uranium Mining at the Grand Canyon?

2011-06-22T18:33:00.002-07:00

You may have heard through the various media outlets about proposed mining of uranium near the Grand Canyon. As a Grand Canyon geologist I am often asked what I think about this. On June 20, Secretary Ken Salazar gave a speech on the rim of the canyon that urged restraint for one million acres that immediately surround the park boundary. I offer a transcript of his words here so that you may better understand the context of the issue.

Remarks Prepared for Delivery by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona on June 20, 2011

Good morning everyone.

One hundred and forty-two years ago, John Wesley Powell and his crew became the first explorers ever known to successfully steer their way through the rocks and gorges, the rapids and whirlpools, of America's greatest natural wonder: the Grand Canyon.

Powell came here to read the story of our planet in the layers of the canyon walls. He came to study the forces that shaped this land, pebble after pebble, flood after flood, over 2 billion years.

To be here - for John Wesley Powell or for any of us - is to be overwhelmed and humbled by the scale of geologic time. The minutes, hours, and days by which we measure our lives are hardly an instant in the life of these canyons.

Yet, all of us - by the decisions we make in our short time here - can alter the grandeur of this place.

Our ancestors understood this. Time and again, people like John Wesley Powell, Theodore Roosevelt, and Stephen Mather (for which this point is named), helped us choose the protection of the ancient over the pressures of the now.

As Teddy Roosevelt famously implored from this very place: “Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it."

That courage... that wisdom... that patience... is why we have Grand Canyon National Park, iconic places like Yosemite and Yellowstone, and wild and untrammeled forests and public lands for all Americans to enjoy and explore.

Our ancestors could not have known that one day the Grand Canyon would attract more than 4 million visitors a year. That hunting, fishing, tourism, and outdoor recreation would generate an estimated $3.5 billion in economic activity in this area. Or that millions of Americans living in cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles would rely on this river and this canyon for clean, healthy drinking water.

And many Tribes in the area see their history and culture woven throughout the Grand Canyon’s landscape.

Like our ancestors, we do not know how future Americans will enjoy, experience, and benefit from this place. And that's one of the many reasons why wisdom, caution, and science should guide our protection of the Grand Canyon.

In this moment, we face a choice that could profoundly affect the Grand Canyon in ways we do not yet understand.

Some of the lands near the Grand Canyon contain uranium resources that have helped meet our energy needs. Over the past 20 years, eight uranium mines have operated in the area and one study has shown that a possible additional eight to eleven mines might be developed in the area.

The question for us, though, is not whether to stop cautious and moderate uranium development, but whether to allow further expansion of uranium mining in the area.

The Bureau of Land Management, under the leadership of Director Bob Abbey, has been carefully studying this question since July, 2009, when I initiated a two-year closure of the area to new uranium mining claims.

BLM, in coordination with other agencies, the States, Counties, Tribes, and other partners published a draft environmental impact statement that examined whether to implement a twenty year mineral withdrawal, subject to valid existing rights, for certain areas around the Grand Canyon.

The options they considered were no withdrawal (which would allow new hard rock mining claims to be filed), a partial withdrawal of approximately 300,000 acres, a partial withdrawal of 650,000 acres, and a full withdrawal of approximately 1 million acres.

The BLM received nearly 300,000 comments on this draft environmental impact statement. The time has now come to respond to those comments and identify a "preferred alternative" for a final environmental impact statement that the agency will complete by this fall.

Based on the analysis that has been done and the public comments that have been received, in particular - many of the water quality concerns raised by downstream water users, I am directing two steps today.

First, I am ordering a temporary emergency withdrawal - through December 20, 2011 - of the full one million acres we are studying for the potential long-term withdrawal, subject to valid existing rights. This emergency six-month withdrawal will ensure that no new mining claims can be filed after the current two-year segregation expires on July 20th.

Second, based on the input of BLM Director Bob Abbey, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, USGS Director Marcia McNutt, and the United States Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, I am directing the BLM to identify the full one million acre uranium withdrawal as the preferred alternative in the final EIS.

This alternative, if ultimately selected, would ensure that all public lands adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park are protected from new hard rock mining claims, all of which are in the watershed of the Grand Canyon.

This remains an ongoing process. Based on this direction, BLM will complete the environmental analysis of the preferred alternative and other alternatives and publish a final environmental impact statement by fall 2011.   I will then be ready to make a final decision on the potential 20-year mineral withdrawal.

Finally, before I turn it over to Bob, I want to make a couple of things clear.

First, I know some critics will falsely claim that with a full one-million acre withdrawal from new hard rock mining claims, we would somehow be denying all access to uranium resources.

That, of course, is not true. Uranium, like oil and gas, solar, wind, geothermal, and other sources, remains a vital component of a responsible and comprehensive energy strategy. We will continue to develop uranium in northern Arizona, Wyoming and other places across the country.

It is worth stating again that we believe there are likely a number of valid existing rights in the proposed withdrawal area even if the preferred alternative is ultimately selected as the final decision. We expect continued development of those claims and the establishment of new mines over the next twenty years.

In fact, cautious development with strong oversight could help us answer critical questions about water quality and environmental impacts of uranium mining in the area. This science, derived from experience, would help others decide what actions are necessary to protect the Grand Canyon.

Second, as we move through the final analysis toward a decision, let us all be reminded of what these canyons can teach us.

It is what John Wesley Powell and his crew experienced here as they risked their lives more than a century ago.

And it's what families sense when they stand on this rim: that our lives are fleeting instants when measured against the geologic time and forces that forged this canyon.

But our decisions - our actions - can alter billions of years of history in all its wonder and glory.

Let us be cautious. Let us be patient. Let us be humble.

###

In this country, the 1872 Mining Law still determines how our public lands are to be mined. Mining interests have worked diligently to insure that this law remains on the books, in spite of scientific advancements since 1872 that can show us which lands are suitable for development and which ones are not.

There is only one Grand Canyon. Let us be cautious. Let us be patient. Let us be humble.

A Trip Around the Island of O'ahu

2011-06-12T11:52:00.001-07:00

On our recent trip to Hawai'i we also spent some time on the island of O'ahu. Long maligned as a piece of paradise that suffers from ubiquitous urban blight, this island is a marvelous place to mingle with Hawaiian culture and gaze at spectacular Hawaiian geology. My sister Laura lives on O'ahu and she took took time off from her job at the University of Hawai'i and treated us to a two day adventure around the perimeter of the island.

We started our excursion on O'ahu's far eastern shore. Here the northeast trade winds batter the coast and expose the many tephra deposits found on this side of the island,

This is Koko Crater, a cinder cone that is approximately 10,000 years old, making it one of the youngest eruptive features on O'ahu. This crater is 1,207 feet in height and the slopes of it drop steeply into the Molokai Channel. Note how runoff has created numerous gullies and rills in the volcano's eastern slope.

Nearby is the fabulous Hanauma Bay, where a shoreline crater has been breached by the incoming waves. This has formed a protected cove that is quite popular with snorkelers. The last time I was here was in 1983 and the increase in visitation is staggering.

Wikipedia offered this aerial view of Koko Crater and Hanauma Bay and gives you a birds eye view of the scenic splendor of Oahu.

The afternoon waves batter the eastern coast of O'ahu

Around the corner to the north is a spectacular coastline with the famous North Shore pali (or sea cliff). Note the out-wash debris that protrudes out into the sea here. The northeast trade winds bring immense storm systems that slam into the islands, causing phenomenal runoff events that progressively (or catastrophically) create these features - a real estate brokers dream when it first happens but a home owners worst nightmare when it happens again.

Another view of the same pali further west along the North Shore drive. This pali formed when a huge chunk of O'ahu slid away to the north.

This map, used courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, shows the two islands of O'ahu and Moloka'i (shaded in dark green). The other colors represent the depth of the seafloor, progressing from nearshore (white) to deep (dark blue). The light green and light blue areas depicted north of the islands are interpreted as large areas of debris that originated from catastrophic landslides from these two islands. The pali's originated when these landslides occurred. Note how the largest chuck of landslide material, located up to 70 miles away from O'ahu, lies parallel to the North Shore. Imagine these slides when they occurred and the tsunami's that likely resulted from them.

To learn more about this spectacular pali and how it formed, see the link here for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Rabbit Island is another tuff cone along the North Shore that has been beaten by the sea on its eastern (right) side.

The Chinaman's Hat on O'ahu's North Shore. Read more about it here. It is composed of layers of lava that are erosional remnants from the main island flows (to the right off of the photo).

Another spectacular view of the pali as we wind our way west on the North Shore drive. Note how the runoff from all the rain here has created the pattern on the cliff wall.

Although Honolulu is what most people think of regarding O'ahu, we found this North Shore to be every bit as Hawaiian as any other place we've been in Hawai'i. It is rural, slow-paced, and very scenic.

The Waimea Valley looked very interesting to us, with a botanical garden and numerous trails. The entrance view from the highway was very enticing and we may return one day to check it out.

Next we saw a small crowd that had gathered and upon inspection found some green sea turtles hauled out on the beach.

As we watched, even more turtles came ashore. Volunteers stand nearby and move ropes that keep people from getting too close to the turtles.

The bridge entering Haleiwa on the North Shore.

Haleiwa is a delightful town where we strolled for about an hour.

In the graveyard of a Haleiwa church was this headstone - that of a missionary. It is always fun to walk around graveyards but this one made me wonder why some brow-beaten missionary thought Hawaiians needed to be "saved". How strange humans are sometimes.

On a lighter note were the many hippie shops located along the roadway. Seems other, later arrivals came here to be saved from the drudgery of mainland life.

This may look like a tourist shot of Helen and me on Waikiki Beach but it's actually a geology shot of Diamond Head in the background. (Note: We did enjoy Waikiki and always do when we are here. It is a great beach with a lot of history). Diamond Head is another tuff cone that was erupted about 150,000 years ago.

This is my sister Laura in front of the entrance to Diamond Head, where we hiked to the top.

The trail begins as a concrete sidewalk through the small forest on the crater floor...

but soon turns to an asphalt lane that swithbacks up the inside of the cone.

The view from the top is spectacular. You can see the floor of the crater where the hike begins. Note the tunnel one drives through to access the trailhead. The outer view is to the east and takes in the features shown at the start of this O'ahu roundabout - Koko Crater to the left and Koko Head to the right. The neighborhood of Port Lock where my sister lives sits below these two.

Here is a view of the lighthouse that faces the south on the Pacific Ocean.

And a final view of Honolulu to the west of Diamond Head. Note the gap in the high rise buildings along Waikiki Beach. You might see the pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel there where the picture of us on the beac h was taken. On the skyline is the Waianae volcano, the oldest of the two shield volcano's that made the island of O'ahu. It was active between about 3 and 4 million years ago.

Helen and I really enjoyed our time on O'ahu and there is much more to this island than shopping and surf.

Hawaiian Geology at Haleakala Crater

2011-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation on the island of Maui in Hawai'i where Helen and I completed an eleven and a half mile hike on May 30 through Haleakala Crater. The summit of this impressive volcano rises 10,023 feet above sea level and after adding the 16,000 feet of height that is below sea level, this volcano is over 26,000 feet high! Take a look at some of the photos from the summit and inside the crater.

The view towards West Maui volcano. We set our alarm for 5 AM so that we could begin the hike well before the clouds build up. This is not how most visitors to Hawaii spend their day (alarm clocks, fleece jackets, hiking shoes and socks, etc.) but I can highly recommend this activity while visiting here. This view to the west is towards the West Maui volcano, already cloaked in clouds at 7 AM. The lowlands in the foreground is the valley between the two volcano's and is where most people reside on this island.

Our first view of the crater was from Kalahaku Overlook at 9324 feet along the summit road. The parking area reveals nothing but a short walk to the edge brings visitors to a most spectacular view. Haleakala is not an eruptive crater but rather is a depression that has formed from repeated slumping on the summit. In this wet tropical climate, moisture seeps into the volcanic rock, causing large portions of the mountain to slide down to the sea. This photo was taken on the west rim of the crater and looks across to the south rim, about two and half miles away. The obvious cinder cone on the floor of the crater is called Ka Lu'u o ka O'o.

Swinging the view farther to the left on the crater floor brings one to a cone called Kama oli'i. You can see that a lava flow issued from its right hand side, which flowed downhill to the east and around its near side. A typical sequence in many cinder cone eruptions is that gas charged lava erupts first in fountains of lava droplets. These cool and form the cinder cone around the vent. Once the gas is gone out of the lava, it cannot be thrown up into a fountain and pools within the cone. It then breaches the side of the cone as a lava flow.

Swinging our view even further left brings this scene. The lava flow that erupted from Kama oli'i has almost completely engulfed a previously formed cone (seen embedded in the middle of the lava flow). Another cone is present beyond the flow and it is called Pu'u o Maui. Maui is the demi-god namesake of the island.

A last look from Kalahaku Overlook with the highest mountain on Earth visible in the far distance, Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawai'i. It is over 13,000 feet above sea level and is higher than Mt. Everest with it's submarine portion included in its height. The air quality was outstanding this day to achieve this view.

On the summit of Haleakela are a number of astronomical observatories and NASA space tracking facilities. They are off-limits to the public but easily visible from the summit which has a small hut for viewing out of the wind or snow (when they have snow).

Helen beginning the hike at about 8:30 in the morning. In the entire 11.5 miles, we saw perhaps six people on the trail.

This is a view to the west as the trail switchbacks down the side of the crater.

A view to the north back towards the direction of Kalahaku Overlook. The spectacular wall in the distance is the cliff we would ascend to exit the crater about five and half hours later.

The silversword (Argyroxiphium sp.) is an endemic plant on Haleakala that takes 5 to 50 years to bloom, signaling the end of its life cycle.

Silversword close-up. I took a side hike on the Silversword Loop where hundreds of these were growing in their native habitat of rocky, well-drained soil.

Looking back to the west towards the summit of Haleakala (located on the flat-looking ridge top left). The chain of craters was formed along a rift present beneath the volcano.

The floor of the crater has some green growth on it, especially where the windward side rains spill into it. Here you can see some clouds moving into the crater from the windward side.

Here is a a view of Pu'u o Maui from the floor of Haleakala Crater. Compare this view with the one from the overlook above.

I accidentally hit a button on my camera and then about 60 of my pictures were taken in black and white. Here Helen approaches our lunch spot near a spatter cone or hornito. The lava globules in the walls of this were fantastically preserved.

Just before our ascent we looked back up at the wall we had to climb. Good thing I took the photo at this moment as the clouds began to roll in off of the Pacific.

In Hawai'i, volcanic features are so easily seen and observed. Here along the trail in the floor of Haleakala is a lava tube partially obscured by a patch of grass and flowers (upper left). A pahoehoe flow issues from this with lava levees on either side of it. This is textbook volcanology!

After finishing the hike we looked out into the Pacific Ocean and saw the area near Big beach with ts shoreline cinder cone. The little islet in the sea is called Mokulini and is a crater that is breached on one side with the ocean inside it. Te island of Kaho' o lowe is in the distance.

Geo-Hiking Around the Lees Ferry Area, Arizona

2011-05-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

I recently led a small group on a camping and hiking trip to Lees Ferry along the Colorado River in northern Arizona. There are some very nice hikes that captivate the geologist! Here I write about two hikes - one down Cathedral Wash to the Colorado and the other up the Echo (or Vermilion) Cliffs on the Spencer Trail. One hike is narrow; the other has huge vistas.

The hike in Cathedral Wash begins along the Lees Ferry Road and starts out in the Triassic Moenkopi Formation (upper red unit). Here, Ed is standing on top of the Permian Kaibab Limestone (white below) and the contact not only marks a transition in time periods, but between era's too. Below are Paleozoic rocks with Mesozoic rocks above. The gap in time at this unconformity represents about 35 million years.

Burrowing animals left these traces within the Kaibab, part way down the canyon.

The route is quite narrow in places with beautiful refracted light bouncing off of the limestone walls. In a few places, hikers must negotiate some steep cliff descents that require route finding. It is not for beginning hikers.

But you really cannot get lost -just follow the bed downstream until you reach....

..... the Colorado River.

After a night in the campground, we got an early start on the Spencer Trail. This steep trail cannot be seen from the famous ferry site and raft launching area, yet it climbs the cliffs above. In no time the big vistas begin to appear. This is a view to the south where shale in the Petrified Forest Member is being eroded off the top of the Shinarump Conglomerate Member (both the Triassic Chinle Formation). The Moenkopi Formation is along the river bank. This same couplet can be seen in the low bench in the right distance at the base of the Vermilion Cliffs.

Our group ascending the trail in the cool shade of morning. Behind is the Colorado River in its last reach in Glen Canyon. The dam is located about 13 miles upstream from this point. Note the obvious dip in the Mesozoic rocks in the far background - these are tilted along the Echo Cliffs monocline as it crosses the river.

Higher still, the views become quite expansive. The Vermilion Cliffs are seen in the right background with the Echo Peaks on the left skyline. The colorful Chinle Formation is located in the center of the picture. A large detrital fan from the Paria River has pushed the Colorado into its left bank where it has scoured a cliff in the Moenkopi Formation. This is where Mormon pioneers built the road to connect to the ferry site. This old road is known as Lees Backbone.

The Vermilion Cliffs are one the Southwest's greatest landforms and they attain noble proportions in the Lees Ferry area. The light colored rocks next to the river belong to the Permian Kaibab Limestone, the rock unit that makes up the rim of Grand Canyon. These are overlain by the red Moenkopi Formation and the Shinarump bench in the center of the photo. The soft Chinle Formation has eroded back from this bench and forms a prominent terrace beneath the upper cliff, which contains the Moenave, Kayenta, and Navajo formations. This is geology paradise with a large river in an arid environment providing the scenery and geologic history.

The top of the Spencer Trail was achieved in under 90 minutes and the views were terrific.

Standing atop the Navajo Sandstone (foreground) the Lees Ferry area is popular with river runners, trout fishermen, campers, hikers, even fruit pickers.

A large falling dune is seen on the leeward side of the Echo Peaks. These features form when wind carries sand but drops its load as the wind falls behind a rock obstruction such as a cliff. As the velocity of the wind lessens behind the obstacle, its capacity to carry the sand diminishes and the sand falls to the ground. This is an especially large falling dune.
Note the tilt on the Echo Cliffs monocline as well.

On the way down we noticed some well-developed mud cracks in a block of the Moenave Formation. You may also notice the ripple marks that formed in the dark colored mud before it was dried out.

History and geology share center stage at Lees Ferry and here are some of the remains from a gold mining operation that was located here in the early 20th century. The Spencer Trail is located on the cliff in the background.

I will be leading a 7-day river trip down the Colorado River this August and have a few spots left open. If you would like to see Lees Ferry and enjoy a trip kin the Colorado River through Grand Canyon with a geologists, please contact me!

"Sedona Through TIme" Wins Another Award

2011-05-13T16:32:00.001-07:00

On May 7 the Arizona Book Publishers Association (ABPA) presented an award for my book, "Sedona Through Time". The award was presented in the Science Book category for the entire state.

I want to first of all thank ABPA for their recognition that science is a worthy topic deserving of its own category for an award in book publishing! In a time when science illiteracy runs rampant in our society, this is welcome news. Second, thanks to the judges for selecting "Sedona Through Time". It is self published so there was a significant financial and emotional commitment to see the project through. Third, thanks to my designer, Bronze Black of Flagstaff, who made the book so attractive and scientifically interesting. And lastly (but not leastly), thank you to my wife Helen, who encouraged me to keep this book in print, even when I thought it should just quietly disappear.

The third edition has already sold 1,600 copies in just over a year and has been a great success to me and those who love to learn about the geology of this special place.

You can read about all of this years winners in all categories here at this link.

Grand Canyon From Toroweap Overlook - A Geologic Gem

2011-05-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

I just returned from a fabulous trip to Toroweap Overlook on the north side of the Grand Canyon. I was leading a charter group of folks who have been with me before on many excursions, backpacks and river trips in the southwest. This trip was coordinated through the Grand Canyon Field Institute, who I highly recommend for any of their educational classes at Grand Canyon.

The trip to Toroweap involved car camping and day hiking for four days and three nights. Have a look and learn some geology from this spectacular location.

The famous Toroweap Road - 61 miles long and a real tire shredder if you drive too fast. We escaped this trip without any - on my last trip out here with a film crew we had three! Those are the Toroweap Cliffs on the left hand side and they are on the up-thrown block of the Toroweap Fault. A giant side canyon to the Colorado River was carved along this fault but the Toroweap Valley here is infilled with lava and gravel some 3,000 feet thick! Yep, this is valley fill we're driving on here. There's the south side of the Grand Canyon in the distance.

From our group camp site, we had a fantastic view to the east all the way to the Kaibab Plateau on the horizon. The smallish (looking) butte in the far sunlight is Mt. Sinyala, an erosional remnant that remains out on the Esplanade terrace.

On our first evening, we walked out to a viewpoint and watched the sunset. Across the river to the south, we spotted the first of many volcanic features here, a small cinder cone sitting on the Esplanade platform. Well, it looks small within the Grand Canyon but is likely 500 feet high.

The next morning, we took a walk to the Overlook. Jim has no fear of heights whatsoever and was born to roam in these extreme canyonlands.

Looking downstream for the Overlook to numerous lava cascades that entered the Grand Canyon beginning about 700,000 years ago. You'll notice a prominent bench where the farthest cascade flattens out, then forms a cliff straight down to the river some 1,000 feet. This is the site of a former lava dam across the river and the inner cliff of basalt rock is the remnant of this dam. Perhaps as many of 13 lava dams once existed in the canyon and on at least 5 occasions, these dams failed catastrophically.

Excellent telephoto view of Lava Falls at river mile 179. We watched three groups go through the rapid and many of the boats ran left, signaling to us that the river flow was quite high this day.

We peered over the lip of rock beneath us and saw a large river boat circle around Vulcan's Anvil (the boat is 33 feet long and likely carries 15 people). This prominent block of basalt is interpreted as the eroded remains of a volcanic vent and if this is true, it makes Vulcan's Anvil one of the most unique settings ever for a volcano - right in the path of the Colorado River.

This is a cinder cone that lies perched above the junction of Prospect Canyon (left) and Grand Canyon (right). It appears that some of the cinder cone has already sloughed off into a widening Prospect drainage.

A close-up of the cross-bedding within the Esplanade Sandstone. Cross-bedding records the direction of currents that laid down the sediment and the direction the cross-beds dip (left to right here) show the direction that the current was moving. The Esplanade Sandstone was deposited in coastal rivers some 290 million years ago.

Our group stayed at the Overlook for 3 hours, watching river boats run the rapid and the sun run across the sky.

Looking upstream towards Cove Canyon at Toroweap Overlook. You can see the Cove Canyon fan that is spread across more than half of the Colorado River's channel here, pushing the river into a narrow rapid against the south wall of the canyon. Most Grand Canyon rapids form by debris dams that issue from side canyons into the river.

On day three we headed to a cinder cone located just one mile west of our camp - Vulcan's Throne! It sits right on the north lip of the canyon.

Vulcan's Throne as framed in a small valley on the Esplanade.

We parked the truck and began our 600 foot climb up the loose cinders.

Here is a view of another cinder cone - this one erupted against a slope of Hermit Formation (dark red rocks). Wow!

A valley filled with lava as seen from the slopes of Vulcan's Throne.

Once on the top of Vulcan's Throne, we had a marvelous view to the south up Prospect Valley. Note the partially eroded cinder cone discussed previously on the Esplanade surface, right side of the photo. Prospect Valley has been filled with lava but a new canyon has begun to etch its way back to the south (the prominent v-shape - center).

Group shot on top of Vulcan's Throne - from left Ed Hibbard, Al Astorga, Jim Randall, Jim Gruneisen, Howard Capito, and myself. (Steve Keagy not pictured but part of the trip). Toroweap Point in the background.

A graceful scene on the Esplanade. To read more about this landform see my blog posting from a backpack on the Esplanade here.

Mt. Sinyala highlighted by the shadow of a cloud with the Kaibab Plateau on the far horizon near Swamp Point.

The weather was perfect for us and the clouds a treat.

Near our camp this old pinyon pine made for a wonderful subject at sunrise.

Shadows on a rock.

Driving out, we saw numerous snakes that were basking in the warm spring sun. Here Ed handles a bull snake.

The air quality was fantastic and on our way home we stopped at LeFevre Overlook on the Kaibab Plateau to view the Grand Staircase. The Vermilion, White, and Pink cliffs are clearly seen from this view. The Pink Cliffs are located very near Bryce Canyon. The Grand Staircase was named by Clarence Dutton in 1882 when he recognized that tilted strata had been stripped back by erosion to create one step on top of the other.

Geologic Study of Montezuma Well, Arizona

2011-04-25T09:08:00.003-07:00

In an arid state like Arizona, water is king. And that would be a Meso-American king if you happen to live in the Verde Valley. As one of the state's most scenic watering holes, Montezuma Well is a gem of a landscape feature that in many ways defies easy description. Last week two geologists gave a series of lectures and field trips at the Well that shed some light on this curious feature.

(By the way, the famous Aztec king, Moctezuma, never had anything to do with this area or its landforms. However, when Anglo pioneers first entered the Verde Valley in the 1870's they assumed that the many ruins found scattered throughout the valley must surely have something to do with the fabled leader. Although his true name was Moctezuma, that was apparently too hard of a sound to replicate and the name was corrupted to Montezuma).

Cross-section showing the flow path of groundwater from the Coconino Plateau and Mogollon Rim (upper right) through the Redwall aquifer (dark blue) to Montezuma Well (labeled)

Ray Johnson, a hydrologist with the USGS, and Ed DeWitt, a geologist, completed their study and gave the series of public programs. Their official report will be released next month but you can read an excellent summary article in the Camp Verde Bugle by Steve Ayers here. Steve is a science writer who has the ability to capture the essence of a topic and make it understandable to regular folks. He has published many pertinent geology features in the Bugle through the years.

The study by Johnson and DeWitt states that the water in Montezuma Well originates as precipitation on the Coconino Plateau and travels a lengthy journey within rocks beneath the Mogollon Rim. This subsurface journey, which lasts up to 13,000 years before emerging in the bottom of the Well, is routed through the Redwall Limestone. The Redwall serves as a regional aquifer in northern Arizona and was laid down in a tropical sea some 340 million years ago.

Paleogeography of the Four Corner states at 340 million years ago when the Redwall Limestone was deposited. Figure from "Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau" by Blakey and Ranney

Along the way, the groundwater dissolves some of the limestone, making the water calcium rich and creating carbon dioxide in the process. The water encounters a basaltic dike some 750 feet below the Well floor and this forces some of the water up to the surface. The evidence for the dike comes from tiny olivine crystals that are found in the Well sands. Olivine is a common mineral found in basalt.

This is an excellent study with many avenues available for public understanding. In my opinion, this is the best kind of science. I leave you with a quote about this from George Otis Smith, the director of the US Geological Survey in 1921:

"I am convinced that at its best, science is simple - that the simplest arrangement of facts that sets forth the truth, best deserves the the term science. So the geology I plead for is that which states facts in plain words - in language understood by the many rather than the few."

Earthly Musings Chosen as Nature Site of The Week

2011-04-23T11:17:00.003-07:00

A pleasant surprise came to me this week. Emma Springfield, who writes a blog called Nature Center Magazine found my site Earthly Musings and awarded it "Nature Site of the Week". You can read about the distinction here. It is nice to get noticed from so far away (Nebraska) and to be told that your offerings are meaningful to others. Thank you Emma and good luck with your work to help people connect with the natural world! We need people like you more and more as time goes by.

The Mojave National Preserve - A Geologic Paradise

2011-04-02T10:34:00.001-07:00

When some people hear the word Mojave, they may think of snakes, centipedes, or spiders. Maybe even cactus, sand, and desolation. But lovers of the Mojave well know its charms, perhaps more difficult to discern in July but here nevertheless. In March, I traveled to the Mojave National Preserve with 11 former students to learn about this varied landscape. What we found more than anything else was the unexpected. Sand yes, but snow too. Cactus and other desert vegetation but all growing next to some pretty fantastic rocks. The weather was challenging but all good things have a rightful price.

We entered the Preserve on the south at Essex Rd. The preserve was created in 1994 to help stop the wanton destruction of this lush desert locale.

Our first stop was at Hole-in-the-Wall, located to the east of the Providence Mountains. Pyroclastic rocks are exposed here and have weathering into fantastic shapes.

We followed a trail into a slot canyon that has been carved during the numerous summer thunderstorms that rack this landscape. The rocks are mostly resistant but cannot withstand the hard boulders washed through here.

A set of ring bolts helps hikers negotiate the steep drop-offs. The trail was bout one mile in length and we got an appreciation for the power of explosive volcanism.

At Hole-in-the-Wall, tafoni textures permeate the rocks. These features begin to form long before the rock is exposed to erosion. Groundwater moves through the ash flow and can dissolve some of the silica. No hole is created at this time - only pockets of weakened rock. Some of the dissolutioned silica is redeposited adjacent to the weakened areas. When the rock is exposed to erosion, the weakened areas form holes while areas with extra silica cement surround them!

Taking a break along the trail. The banded range in the distance is the Woods Mountains and is the center of this explosive volcanic complex. It erupted 18.5 million years ago, making is the same age as the famous Peach Springs Tuff in Arizona. Neither the Mojave nor the Basin and Range were in existence at this time. Rather Woods Mountains Volcanic Complex is one of the last vestiges of the Mogollon Highlands which stood here.

Volcanic stratigraphy exposed near the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Center.

During the first night's camp at 4,500 feet, it rained a lot. Thankfully, it did not start until we were snug in our sleeping bags, then let up just before sunrise - Camelot! As we poked our heads from out under the rain fly, this is what we saw - snow in the Mojave! We had come here in hopes of finding Spring, but winter still lurked in the air.

Just 500 vertical feet above us, there was snow that had accumulated to about 3 inches. We drove through this wonderland of volcanic rock and snow.

Pinto Mountain on the southern fring of the New York Mountains. Unfortunately, this meant that we could not visit, hike, and camp at Carruthers Canyon.

So instead we drove south to a lower elevation to hike the Kelso sand dunes. You can see them far off in the distance glowing in the sunshine.

A trail (of sorts) leads to the top of the dunes. I remember hearing in grade school that there were more stars in the universe than grains of sand. When you hike on a dune field like this, it seems almost unimaginable. And then we heard on this trip about a new book, "The Hidden Reality", by Brian Greene, that talks about parallel universes and the possibility that there are many other universes - some that may be just like this one. Sand dunes have a way of making everything seem big.

The sand comes from the Mojave River as it flows into Soda Lake north of here. As the river dries in it's bed, the wind picks up the loose sediment and blows it south towards the Granite and Providence mountains. These ranges create a barrier that slows the wind and the sand grains drop here on the desert floor. Look for pictures and a story about the Mojave River below.

Dark colored minerals such as mica, hornblende, and pyroxene are layered within the more common quartz grains. Settling and deformation of the laminae creates this unusual and striking pattern on some dune faces. In reality, all of the grains reflect the mineralogy of the San Bernardino Mountains, where the Mojave River originates. As it flows north from there, it picks up sediment from other ranges - the Rodman Mountains, Cady Mountains and so on. The sand that arrives at Kelso dunes is the eroded remains of these ranges, piled exquisitely into fashionable dunes.

The Providence Mountains lie east of the Kelso dunes and were laden with wet clouds on the first day of spring, March 21, 2011

The Granite Mountains to the south of Kelso dunes

From the top of the dunes, we could see our next destination on the north horizon, the famous Cima Dome.

We hiked 1.5 miles on the Teutonia Peak Trail to get this view of the Cima Dome from the east. Cima Dome originated as a giant mass of Mesozoic granite that was emplaced as hot magma deep in the crust. The granite was uplifted and exposed to chemical weathering, where the feldspar were degraded, causing the other mineral grains (quartz and mica) to become liberated. This chemical weathering was perhaps aided by fracturing and jointing. As the weathered debris was plucked from the mountains, it could not travel far in the dry desert and the reaming granite mass became buried in its own debris! The Cima Dome.

This is said to be the densest stand of Joshua trees in the world. And my friend and botanist Orlando Mistretta says it is a subspecies too, The Jaeger Joshua (Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana)

Joshua trees and the Ivanpah Mountain in snow.

Next on our geologic tour was a visit to the Cinder Cones and Lava Flow area in the Preserve. Basaltic volcanism occurred here between 7.5 million years ago and 8,000 years ago and left behind 33 craters and cones. Here Louise poses in front of a large volcanic bomb on the slopes of one of the cinder cones.

This is a fantastic area to explore and the scenery was fabulous. Another eruption is likely but no one knows when.

Our final day in the field saw us join up with Dr. Norman Meek of Cal State San Bernardino who showed us some wonderful Ice Age lake evidence in the Mojave. Here is a shingled beach deposit from the shore of Lake Manix.

And a view from this strand line to the west. All of the low ground where the interstate exists today was under lake water about 19,000 years ago.

Note the bed of the Mojave River flowing away from the photographer to the upper right. To the left of the river bed and slightly above it are green clays laid down in Lake Manix. The earth tone deposits on top of these (and in the left foreground) are delta sequences that prograded from the west onto the lake sediments. A glorious sequence indeed!

While standing on top of the delta sequence, we could look across old Lake Manix and see a wave cut terrace of the former lake etched into the north side of the Cady Mountains. Most folks probably don't think of "lakes" in the Mojave Desert, but the Ice Age climate was pluvial at this time.

Dr. Meek pointed out tufa deposits that line rocks along various shorelines of old Lake Manix. Such deposits are still found along the shore of Mono Lake north of here.

Students walking on a ridge towards Lake Manix deposits.

Three sequences can be seen from here in the walls of a side canyon to the Mojave River. The light colored deposits below are granite rich fan material that originated to from the north and were washed south (right) before the river was here. These are overlain by volcanic rich deposits (gray-purple beds just below the ridge top) that came from the Cady Mountains to the south of here. These in turn are overlain by the green lake beds of Lake Manix seen on the ridge top to the right. The source terrain for each fan sequence is still visible in the area and shows what was present in this valley before the lake developed.

Here we see a lake bed remnant on top of the fan sequences. The green color comes from reduction of the iron minerals in the deposit.

Dr. Meek shows evidence for the fluctuation of the lake shore. In the lighter colored bed behind his right hand is a course cross-bedded sand. The greener beds behind his left hand are finer grained clays. The interpretation is that when the lake shore dropped, sand was washed into the area, and as the lake expanded, the lake beds covered the area.

The Cady Mountains fan sequence (brown, irregular eroded beds below) topped with Lake Manix clay sediment (upper green beds). Afton Canyon can be seen in the backgound.

A marvelous sequence that would be entertaining even to non-geologists. Knowing the origin of the scenery just seems to add to the enjoyment of this special place.

Our next stop was up into Afton Canyon, along the track of history.

The Manix Fault rips through the canyon and has upended many of the once flat-lying rocks here. Rainwater then runs down the vertical bedding creating this interesting texture.

It almost reminds one of Bryce Canyon on a small scale.

Afton Canyon

Runoff has carved some spectacular slot canyons into the old alluvial fan sequences.

This canyon became so narrow, you literally needed a flashlight to see in it. Thank you to Dr. Meek for meeting with our group in the desert to share his expertise on Lake Manix and its history.

This is a long blog and I'll end it here with a picture of the Providence Mountains, looking southeast from the Cinder Cone area. It was great trip with challenging weather but the Mojave National Preserve is worth a visit. Bring a geologist with you!

Article Published on geology.com

2011-03-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

My article "How Old Is The Grand Canyon?" went live this morning on the web at geology.com. You can jump right to it here. Thanks to Michael Conway of the Arizona Geological Survey for connecting me with Hobart King who operates the site.

The history of the Grand Canyon is large and complicated but there is nothing I enjoy more than making its story at least a bit more understandable and accessible to those not well versed in geo-speak. Hopefully, this article will do just that. Enjoy it and share with your friends.

Book Review: North Pole South Pole

2011-03-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

I rarely do book reviews on this site, it being more oriented towards field explorations in the southwest. But I can not count how many times I have been leading a trip and someone asks me detailed questions about the earth's magnetic field. There is just something about the earth's magnetism that is ... well, magnetic to some folks. They want to know how it all works.

Maybe it's because all of us used to use magnets in the dirt as children to gather iron filings. That was cool. Or maybe it's the way a compass intrigues us - magnets always point north no matter where we go. (Although on my first trip to the South Pole in 1986, we pulled out a compass and watched the dial point down against the bottom of the compass as it tried to point north from there). The next time someone asks me about the earth's magnetism, I'll just tell them about Gillian Turner's new book, "North Pole South Pole", published by Awa Press (New Zealand) and The Experiment (New York). This small but handy book contains a history of our knowledge about magnetism, and the scientists who have studied it through a long span of time.

As most geologists will know, the earth's magnetic field sometimes switches such that what is now magnetic north reverses to the other side of the planet. This last happened about 780,000 years ago and many scientists wonder what a magnetic reversal would "look like" if we lived through one. Do species go extinct during these events or become confused when they migrate? How long do reversals last? Readers of this book have to wade through gobs of history concerning past study and understanding of the magnetic force to find these answers - the book deals mostly with a chronology of this understanding. I wish there would have been a table in the book where all of the "facts" concerning the magnetic force were readily available. As such, this is a book that will likely find favor only to other scientists and historians of science.

But I still found the reading worthwhile. Turner is a very easy-to-read writer who crafts her sentences well, with stories that flow nicely. Most of us received what little knowledge we have of the magnetic field in grade school and a book like this has such a depth of information about the important milestones in the field that you are sure to learn much from it. But you'd have to be interested in the topic in a big way to keep slogging through all of that history. Someone could probably write another book for non-scientists on this topic that would be more approachable, but if you are a scientist and want to know about the history of magnetic studies, this is your book.

I learned many things from Turner but the most fascinating was that the strength of the earth's magnetic field has dropped 15% in only the last 200 years. Could this suggest that a magnetic reversal is underway? Perhaps we will get a chance after all to live through one of these!

An East Africa Volcano Like No Other!

2011-03-07T13:23:00.001-07:00

Many friends have been e-mailing me about this link from the Boston Globe. If you have not yet seen these pictures of a crater located along the East African Rift Valley, you must see them now. Follow the link here.

"Birth of the Grand Canyon" Airs on Nat Geo TV

2011-02-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Way back in June, 2010 when the World Cup was in full swing in South Africa, myself and other geologists were participating in interviews on the rim of the Grand Canyon with a film crew from National Geographic TV. The production is titled "Birth of the Grand Canyon" and made its debut February 24 on the Nat Geo television channel. I haven't seen it yet but many viewers tell me it was well done and clearly presented. You can view a short trailer of the film here.

Rebecca Flowers

Carol Hill

Featured in the production are colleagues Ron Blakey (paleomap creator), Carol Hill (karst researcher), Rebecca Flowers (thermochronologic researcher), Karl Karlstrom (field geologist), and many others including myself. It is nice to see the science of geology and the Grand Canyon displayed so prominently on the tube. I hope you'll be able to catch the show. It will be running many times through out the years. Check the natgeotv.com and search for Naked Science.

Searching the Origins of the Esplanade Platform in Grand Canyon

2011-02-23T17:29:00.005-07:00

Far away from the main tourist areas in Grand Canyon lies a huge wilderness of stone and space. It is silent beyond belief and seldom visited. Within this huge expanse lies the Esplanade Platform, a stunning landscape feature that is found only in the central and western portions of the canyon. The Esplanade forms a broad terrace positioned about a fourth of the way down in the canyon, where the Hermit Formation overlies the Esplanade Sandstone. The Esplanade thus creates a canyon within a canyon. Geologists have long been intrigued by the presence of the Esplanade Platform in Grand Canyon and many theories have been proposed to explain its origin. Did the Colorado River carve it during a period of erosional quiescence, as some say? Or did it form in response to the canyon's variable stratigraphy? I explored these questions on a recent trip to the Esplanade. From February 10 to 16 I was privileged to backpack with two other friends here. This is our story.

The trailhead is located in the Grand Canyon. A poor road leads to the boundary of the Kanab Creek Wilderness, administered by the BLM. Here we parked our car to begin our journey. You can see tumbleweeds piled against the boundary fence of the wilderness area on the right side of this photo. We had no idea at this point what wonders awaited us.

This is the canyon we walked down to access the wilderness. The lower red slopes are cut into the Hermit Formation, a rock unit that plays an important role in the development of the Esplanade.

At the start of our hike we immediately became aware of the great space we would be experiencing on this trip. Usually a backpack into the Grand Canyon is a trip into the "womb of Mother Earth," with the high cliffs closing in tightly all around. But travel on the Esplanade is different. You can see far and the promenade makes for some exhilarating views.

But make no mistake about it - this is very far away from everything human. Any misstep or fall that would lead to an injury would require someone to backtrack out again many days walk to the trailhead, then to fetch help as quickly as possible. A trip out here is to place yourself in the hands of fate, come what may.

Here Frank R. walks up a slope in the Esplanade Sandstone. You can see the cross-bedding evident in the many shadowed lines. The Esplanade is the first deposit in the canyon of Permian age and was laid down in a dune field about 290 Ma (million years ago). I include a paleogeographic map of the Esplanade Ss. below to show the geography of the Grand Canyon region at this time.

Esplanade Sandstone time in the American Southwest at 290 Ma. Note the faint outlines of the Four Corner states in this image. The yellowish pattern denotes sand dunes in the ancient landscape and the small red line in northern Arizona represents the 55 miles that we walked in the seven days of backpacking.

Even though we had bright sunshine for all but the last day of our hike, ice was still present in the many side drainages we passed that never receive sun this time of the year. They formed some spectacular icefalls on the Esplanade.

Frank taking notes on the Esplanade with Jump Up Point visible in the far distance.

The Esplanade forms many beautiful overhangs and we walked past many of them in our seven days. Note the pile of gray rubble on the floor of this one, which signifies a place where ancestral people once roasted agave. Although it felt like we were the only people in all of Grand Canyon on this hike, evidence like this reminded us that we were not the first ones here.

Some of the overhangs were extreme and formed cave like entrances that framed the canyon beyond.

And we utilized many overhangs for sleeping, as the temperatures at night dropped into the 20's. Sleeping in an overhang could make a 10 degree difference on the warm side!

In this wilderness adventure, our only source of water was from potholes that had been replenished from the late December snow storms that swept across northern Arizona. We estimated that 90% of the potholes were already dry from the extremely dry conditions that persisted in January after these storms. We had to hunt occasionally for potholes with water.

So, what about the Esplanade? Why is there such a broad platform within the canyon at this level? Look at this view of the upper 1/4th of the canyon and note that the Hermit Formation is barely visible, being covered in talus or colluvium from above. This strongly suggests that it is erosional retreat of the Hermit Formation that undercuts the overlying rocks, causing them to collapse and bury the Hermit in the collapsed debris. Note the more recent rivulets that have been etched into this debris apron (center) and a lot more of this recent erosion into the apron on the far right side of the slope. We can imagine that the apron of debris was once more extensive and "smoother" across this view.

In this view you can also see what used to be a continuous apron of talus covering the Hermit Formation, until it was partially eroded by runoff off of the upper cliff. It is likely that the aprons of talus formed during the Ice Age (pre-10,000 years ago) when conditions were much wetter in northern Arizona and the American Southwest. The dissection and partial removal of the talus aprons most likely has commenced in the last 10,000 years. So another question presents itself - what drives the retreat of the Hermit Formation (and the generation of talus) and what causes the non-retreat of the Hermit Fm. and the partial destruction of the talus aprons?

First, the episodic nature of talus creation and removal can be seen in the many talus remnants that are perched today as isolated remnants on the Esplanade. Here, Bryan B. stands in front of one huge remnant which is seen in the middle distance as a whitish-capped surface that slopes to the right, well below the canyon rim. This isolated remnant of upper cliff material used to be connected to a talus slope that once covered the Hermit Fm., well before it was stripped back to its present position.

And here, I am standing in front of another smaller remnant in the right background. These old remnants definitely show that the creation of talus and its ultimate destruction is episodic in nature.

In modern Grand Canyon, many springs are developed at the contact between the red Hermit Fm. and overlying white Coconino Sandstone, marvelously visible here where the talus cone has been recently eroded. We can imagine that during the wetter conditions of the Ice Age, spring discharge was much greater at this contact. This increase in discharge is likely what caused the Hermit Fm. to retreat rather rapidly, and thus undercut the cliff above it, thereby causing the creation of an extensive talus apron. When the Ice Age ended, the springs dried up, the retreat of the Hermit Fm. was arrested, and the talus cones began to be eroded like we see in the photo above. Thus, the remnant talus deposits that are curiously scattered across the Esplanade may show the rather recent development of the Esplanade Platform. In my observations, the Colorado River in ancient times had nothing to do with forming the Esplanade, it developed "locally" through fits and starts during Ice Age glacials and the intervening interglacials.

Within the talus debris that litters the Esplanade, we observed many great fossils in boulders of the Kaibab Limestone. Here are some well preserved crinoids we found one day on our hike.

And here is a fossil sponge also preserved in the a block of the Kaibab.

Walking on the Esplanade. There was very little trail in this stretch of the hike and only well-experienced Grand Canyon hikers should attempt to enter these remote locations. The possibility to get lost or sustain an injury is great.

But the scenery was fantastic. Here Bryan and Frank ponder a rock sentinel.

Our route took on a platform that is extremely untraveled in the Grand Canyon, the top of the Redwall Limestone. This surface is not well-developed in most parts of the canyon and does not have a name at all like the Tonto or Esplanade platforms.

But we enjoyed this tramp across the surface of the huge Redwall cliff.

Back on top of the Esplanade, I noticed some well-developed channels that are cut into the Esplanade Sandstone and filled with deposits of the Hermit Formation. These channels would have been features on earth;s surface some 285 Ma, when the lower part of the Hermit was laid down across the lithified dunes of the Esplanade Sandstone.

Here is the same photo with some guides to show you these very subtle features. It is likely that the Esplanade Ss. was already a rock when the channel was cut into its top surface. Then fluvial mud was washed into the channel.

Here is a close-up of the same channel above.

And a look at one other channel I took a photo of. This one might be a bit easier to see to the untrained eye.

Our hike was a glorious success. No one was injured, we found water when and where we needed it, and we lucked out beating a huge snow storm that blew in just as we were leaving. But more than that, we experienced the Grand Canyon on a very personal level. Bryan and Frank were excellent backpacking companions and I am lucky to have friends so dear and willing to undertake such an adventure. Geology was also my constant companion on this hike and I cannot imagine not being aware of its overriding presence everywhere upon this landscape. If you would like to experience the marvels of the Esplanade Platform in Grand Canyon, you can take a much more accessible backpack on the South Bass Trail, or drive out to Toroweap Overlook on the North Rim.

A Look at the Marcus Landslide in the McDowell Mountains of Arizona

2011-01-31T12:37:00.003-07:00

For those aware of the special appeal in "seeing" long-gone events and the power of geologic observation in resurrecting such events, the Marcus landslide is a truly wonderful story. Imagine being a young geology student out on a spring field trip with your professors and other researchers. The day drags on as a few of the "big-wigs" co-opt an otherwise valued discussion, endlessly debating some arcane or miniscule detail. Predictably, you wander off away from the group with your best friend and ultimately stop to enjoy lunch.

Image courtesy of AZGS

With the wide expanse of the Sonoran Desert as your backdrop, you suddenly look up and notice an unusual and vibrant concentration of golden brittlebush, back lit perfectly on the slopes of the McDowell Mountains outside Scottsdale, Arizona. Other parts of the range do not have this density of flowers and something appears unusual. You begin to also notice clusters of large granite boulders that seem to trend up the slope towards the colorful brittlebush. A lively exchange of ideas ensues and soon the light clicks on inside both of you - you have just detected the initial evidence for a giant Ice Age landslide that occurred here. No one else has ever seen this before!

Such is a description of how Brian Gootee and John Douglass discovered the Marcus landslide in 2002. (The feature was named in honor of the late Melvin Marcus Professor of Geography at ASU). Gootee (now with the Arizona Geological Survey) and Douglass (now a professor at Paradise Valley Community College) completed subsequent research on the evidence left by this humongous slope failure. Admittedly subtle at first, the evidence is convincing that something big happened here about 500,000 years ago.

Aerial view of the Marcus landslide (AZGS)


View of the east side of the McDowell Mts.	(AZGS)


Digital elevation image of the slide (AZGS)

I was fortunate to accompany my good friend Brian Gootee on a field trip to the Marcus landslide in January of this year. Accompanying us were his wife and duaghter, Rachel and Zoe, and my wife, Helen. Below are some of the photos I took on this glorious winter's day in the desert.

This is the east side of the McDowell Mountains looking south. Fortunately, this patch of desert is protected by the City of Scottsdale and Maricopa County in two nature preserves. The city and county are working closely with Brian Gootee to develop an interpretive trail to the slide.

A closer look to the south reveals a famous Arizona landmark in the Superstition Mountains - Weavers Needle. According to legend, the Lost Dutchman's gold mine was located within sight of this feature, meaning that the treasure could lie among the boulders in this slide. However, most of the people who believe in this legend scratch and scour the Superstition area.

As we hiked to the south we began to see the slope of the collapsed debris pile. You can see it in the middle distance between the sunlit foreground and the shaded slope of the mountain range.

Helen listens to Brian as he gives an excellent description of the features present and the sequence of observations that led him and colleague John Douglass to the conclusion that a giant slide mass is present here.

These are some of the granite boulders that are located on the north levee of the slide. This material likely originated high up on the slopes of the McDowell Mountain in a rock failure that was activated along joints (fractures) in the granite. It was then entrained with other smaller grained components into a debris flow that traveled almost one mile in length and 1/3 of a mile in width.

Detailed mapping has shown that the tilted boulder (above) is part of the slide material, but the granite it rests on is in place and not part of the slide. The evidence will be shown below.

Looking southeast across the Marcus landslide towards the Superstition Mountains.

Here is a close-up (with lens cap for scale) of the clay and sand size material that makes up the matrix of the slide mass. As it came down the slope of the McDowell's, at an estimated speed of 16 to 44 miles per hour, the huge boulders would have been "cushioned" by this fine material.

Here is a view of the eastern terminus of the slide. Note that the boulders are not found farther out in the valley and outboard of the slide front. One of the boulders at this location is where Gootee and Douglass shared lunch on a field trip in the spring of 2002 and first pondered the possibility of a huge slide here. And if you are still wondering what the heck "an unusual concentration of brittlebush flowers" had to do with their discovery, note that the scar left on the side of the mountain front from the slide left the perfect substrate for the enhanced growth of brittlebush. They just happened to be in the right place at the right time of day and year!

Here is a close-up of the mega-crystic granite that forms the backbone of the McDowell Mountains and was caught up in the Marcus landslide. The quartz crystals are quite durable chemically but the feldspars weather more rapidly and certainly helped to facilitate the slide. Remember, this all happened just prior to 500,000 years ago (a date based on rock varnish micro-laminations) during the Ice Age, when Arizona was much wetter and cooler. These conditions certainly played a big role in the development of the slide.

How did Gootee and Douglass determine what granite was involved in the slide and what granite remained in place as bedrock. Look closely at the granite above and notice that the upper boulder has no joints in it, while the lower granite has at least three joints running through it. As the granite came down the slope catastrophically, it would have broken into its constituent pieces along joints. So the material arrived here already "chopped up". The lower granite wasn't involved in the slide and so still shows its obvious jointed nature.

A nice view of the slide front to the south - it is highlighted by the shade of the late afternoon sun. The timing of my visit did not allow for me to take pictures of the pocket or headwall area of the slide up in the mountains - it was looking right into the late afternoon sun.

A zoom view of the immense fountain in Fountain Hills, which can be seen during the first 15 minutes of every hour.

Please read Brian Gootee's official description of the Marcus landslide here on the AZGS official web site. You can also go on a virtual field trip to the slide on John Douglass' web site here. I can highly recommend both sites to learn more about this fascinating discovery.

If you would like to visit the Marcus landslide be aware that there are no signs yet, nor official trails to it. Use your ingenuity to find the trails on the east side of the McDowell Mountains that approach Tom's Thumb. Walk south from there and keep your eyes open for a train of debris that looks anomalously strange.

Amazing Photo's and Video of the April 4, 2010 Earthquake Near Mexicali

2011-01-18T09:54:00.003-07:00

You've likely heard (and perhaps forgot) of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on April 4, 2010 that occurred near Mexicali, Baja California. See this link for the details of the Easter Sunday quake and this link for a well written summary. Recently, a friend forwarded some amazing photo's that were taken just as the rupture occurred. The oft-forwarded e-mail stated that the photos were taken by a California Highway Patrol officer, but these were clearly taken within Mexico by someone else and thus, not a CHP officer.

The first set of photo's show the usual result of an earthquake - offsets and damage done to roads and bridges. But be sure to scroll all of the photos down to the end and see how a mountain range responds to the earth shaking. Amazing! You can also view a video clip of the earthquake, taken by the security camera at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Mexicali, here (sorry about the pre-video ad).

*** Added note: Chris Rowan, author of the blog Highly Allochthonous, made me aware of this YouTube video of the rising dust plumes on the Sierra Mayor. Check it out here. ***

The damage visible in this road appears to show some aspect of vertical offset to it (see the dirt portion adjacent to the road on the left). Most of the faults associated with the San Andreas system have lateral offsets but oblique offsets - those that combine vertical and horizontal displacement) can also occur.

In spite of the quake, folks appear to be having a great time seeing the results of our earth in motion.

Here is a bridge that obviously shows that the photos were taken in Mexico - I crossed this bridge just a few weeks ago on my trip to Sonora. It makes me wonder, who makes up these stories in the many e-mails that are forwarded to us? Taken by a CHP officer - jeez!

If you look at the white line in the road that was offset by the quake (near the funny man in the fault trough), you'll notice that it contains both a vertical offset and a horizontal offset. Note that the horizontal offset is left-lateral - that is if you stand and look across the fault, the other side was moved to the left. The San Andreas is typically a right lateral fault but smaller subsidiary faults can accommodate spatial motions with different senses of offset.

A badly damaged section of road that looks as if it was shaking quite violently during the 45 seconds of motion. But the real interesting photos begin now......

This is the Sierra Mayor looking west from the Mexicali Valley. The epicenter of the quake is located somewhere in this range.

The shaking of the earth caused huge dust storms to emerge from the rocks in the mountain range.

It must have been quite a series of sensations to behold - first to feel the whole ground shake beneath your feet, then see large volumes of dust rise out of the nearby mountains. Earthquakes are attention grabbing events that remind us that the earth is alive! These lucky folks were able to experience this one without the fear of something toppling over and injuring (or worse, killing) them. An ideal spot to be on this Easter Sunday.

A final look at the dust plumes from the Sierra Mayor earthquake last Easter Sunday. Studies of the San Andreas Fault by scientists at the US Geological Survey suggest that there is a 95% chance that a large rupture will occur on the system within the next 20 to 30 years. People who live in this area should remind themselves every day that they live next to one of the planets most seismic areas and prepare as best they can for a large shake.

Thanks to Glenn Rink of Flagstaff, Arizona for sending these photos along.

A Short Trip to Sonora Looking for Warmth

2011-01-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

Winter in the Western US has been downright brutal for us non-skiers and sun seekers who normally expect cool, clear days in the American Southwest. But extremely cold temperatures, numerous snow storms and a large number of cloudy gray days have made this a winter to forget. So I took the opportunity to head to Mexico to see if I could find the sun. My lovely wife, Helen, encouraged me to go knowing that she would have one happy boy upon his return. Here are a few pictures.

I traveled to the Gulf coast of Sonora and the little hamlet of Puerto Lobos. Near there we found a volcanic remnant that looked ripe for hiking to. Here we are wandering through the senita cactus towards the top.

Ocotillos still had a few red flowers from the October rains and the sky finally turned blue.

Can you spot the three hikers? (two in the lower left of the photo and the other in the center)

Elson stands on top of "El Diente de Tiburon" (the shark's tooth) with Puerto Lobos visible in the back.

Here is a closer look at the little fishing village.

And closer still with the lighthouse clearly visible here.

From the top of El Diente looking south along the Sonoran coast of the Gulf of California. This is very wild country and was the last part of the entire coastline to receive a highway in only the last year.

A group shot from atop the shark's tooth.

Elsewhere to the southeast are isolated ranges of uplifted granite. There are likely bighorn sheep in such ranges that hardly ever see people.

A senita cactus fell victim to the recent drought atop el diente. Puerto Lobos in the background.

This is a typical Sonoran winter day! Cactus, blue sky and wispy cirrus clouds splayed by the winds.

This is what we live for! Shimmering skies and not a breath of moisture.

Elson and Cindy have a rustic but comfortable abode in Lobos that would make any desert rat feel at home. We played cards at night and hiked in the day.

Sunset on the veranda, January 6, 2011.

My stay was too short and there is much more to explore. I will be back.

A Lobos sunset.

On January 7 I left Lobos and headed north and west to Alta California. A new coastal highway was opened in the last year and I decided to take it. After driving 120 miles to Puerto Peñasco (Rocy Pt.) I turned on Highway 003 towards San Luis. This route passes through the Pinacate Bioreserve and there were some great interpretive signs.

The signs are state of the art and bilingual.

The geology interpretation was quite good. This one explains the 2 million year history of the Pinacate Volcanic Field. Cerro Pinacate can be seen in the distance.

After passing through the volcanic rocks, the new highway skirts the north edge of the gulf coast. This was formerly quite inaccessible country due to the aridity. In this photo you can see Colorado River sediments in the foreground with the mountains of Baja California in the background.

This last photo shows the main street in El Golfo de Santa Clara, a small fishing village with a quaint charm. The tacos were muy excelente!

Hike to Some Flagstaff Craters in the Snow

2011-01-01T18:27:00.001-07:00

Flagstaff is surrounded by volcanic cones and craters. There are approximately 600 of them in the San Francisco Volcanic Field alone. I listened to my wife who encouraged me to forgo a day of writing (indoors) and go out with three friends and hike a bit around some craters (outdoors). She's very smart that way. Here are the photographs from our hike.

Our intention was to hike to the top of SP Crater but the drifts of snow were too large to crash through. So we looked to the north and found this crater with access. Views of SP Crater would be had from here.

Once on the side of our chosen crater we could look to the west and see SP. That's it with the partial shadow on its northern flank. SP Crater was recently dated at about 4,000 years old, quite a bit younger than a previous date from the 1970's. A resistant carapace of agglutinate - red hot spatter that welds on impact - can be seen capping its crest. A lava flow spilled from its northern base.....

.....and this is the distal end of that same flow, which is about 4 miles in length.

The views everywhere were spectacular. Here is a shot to the south showing the San Francisco Peaks strato-volcano in the left distance and Colton Crater with a deep shadow on the right background. The snow seemed to bring out the color and textures of the various flows and ash beds.

Looking to the west northwest is Mesa Butte, which erupted along a fault line of the same name. The picture is small but to the right of Mesa Butte in the far background in Red Butte, located just south of Grand Canyon's South Rim. The air quality was spectacular this New Year's day.

The crater we walked had wonderful rocks and wind-swept Mormon tea shrubs.

Here you can see the pyroclasts that were ejected from the vent during the eruption. The textures on the pyroclasts was quite fresh and I suspect that this crater might be similar in age to SP Crater. The lichens that grew on the rocks was brilliant orange and lime green.

The snow accentuated angular lines and inviting shapes. Not that far removed from the winter solstice, the shadows were long providing much contrast.

The crater was linear in outline from north to south and I suspect that the eruptions began as a curtain of fire along a fissure. There seemed to be a few cirques on either side of the elongation and I wonder if a few cones coalesced to make this single landform. Look at the San Francisco Peaks in the background, heavy with snow in this La Niña winter.

Another view of Mesa Butte. I want to hike this famously named crater next.

There must have been 500 Babbitt-owned cows near the water tank on the way out to the crater. That was one cold night for these cows.

After the Storm

2010-12-31T12:05:00.003-07:00

It was a good one! The last snow storm dropped 19 inches here at 255 E. Hutcheson Drive and now its really cold in Northern Arizona. At noon today the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is 16 degrees! Here are some pictures of our house.

You may recall from a blog I posted here on January 23, 2010, of my pick-up truck buried in snow. We'll, just about 11 months later here it is again at the new house.

Our backyard is the south side and this will melt off first in the sunshine.

The view from our front yard looks toward the San Francisco Peaks.

The front of our house. Note the pile of snow from the road grader which is about 5 feet tall.

"Walking in a winter wonderland......"

Scenes like this really get me thinking of the summer days in Buenos Aires right now. It's probably close to 92 degrees and folks are sitting out on the grass drinking beverages in the sunshine. I really do not like snow.

Come on sun, melt it all away!

You might be able to see one tiny geranium flower in the window. It's nice and warm in our home.

The view out of our front window.

A "Ground Zero" Hike Into Meteor Crater, Arizona

2010-12-17T17:39:00.010-07:00

The Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona is Earth's best preserved extraterrestrial impact site and is located 35 miles east of Flagstaff. The understanding that this feature is extraterrestrial in origin is complicated by the fact that it lies adjacent to the San Francisco volcanic field, where over 600 volcanoes are strewn across the landscape. After seeing it for the first time in 1891, none other than the eminent 19th century geologist G.K. Gilbert concluded that the feature was formed by a volcanic steam blast through rock and groundwater. However, a self-taught geologist from Philadelphia, Daniel Barringer, was convinced that it was an impact site and set about to prove this through careful field study, borehole drilling, and persistence. Although he never lived to see his ideas widely accepted, the evidence is overwhelming now for an impact origin.

On Wednesday, December 15, I had the pleasure of hiking down to the floor of the crater with Barringer's grandson, Drew Barringer. I serve with Drew on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Northern Arizona and when he offered to take myself and other geologists and friends on a hike to the floor of the crater, I jumped at the chance. It was certainly one of the top "bucket list" destinations for a geologist. (Note that liability and safety concerns render hiking to the floor of the crater off limits to the general public. For this hike, Drew wanted the chance to visit his childhood "playground" with a few friends who are also trained geologists. Do not attempt to hike to the bottom of Meteor Crater without prior permission).

Travelers heading east on Interstate 40 from Flagstaff can see the upturned edges and ejecta blankets of rock that outline the crater (background). Prior to its interpretation as the site of an impact, the low hills were locally known as Coon Mountain or the Franklin Hills. Most travelers have no idea these low hills are Meteor Crater or that a 550-foot deep hole exists within them.

Here is Drew Barringer besides the largest meteorite ever found from this impact. It is on display within the museum present on site. Incredibly, this stone weighs over 1,400 lbs. and was discovered about 5 miles from the impact! Look at how the flash from my camera is superimposed on the aerial image of the crater behind Drew. It makes it looks like the bolide is on its way into the ground.

Drew leads us west along the Rim Trail, walking on a blanket of ejecta material.

A view to the west along the Rim Trail showing the overturned ejecta blanket that rests on top of Meteor Crater. The light colored material on top is the Kaibab Limestone which is overturned in this position. It rest on reddish Moenkopi formation of which about half is overturned as well. Bedded Kaibab Limestone, which is locally brecciated from the impact, makes up the tilted strata below.

A view of the south (shadowed) and west (sunlit) crater walls and floor from the rim. The crater is about 550 feet deep and is deeper than the surrounding plain outside the crater. Studies indicate that between 100 and 150 feet of post-impact material has washed into the enclosed crater.See the following image to know something of the size of the bolide that created the crater.

Same photo as above with a red dot indicating the interpreted size of the bolide, about 150 feet in diameter. This image shows how small of an object it takes to create such a large landform. The bolide hit the earth at between 26,000 and 32,000 miles per hour. The kinetic energy was enormous. The crater is about 4,000 feet in diameter and 2.5 miles in circumference.

Image taken from the publication, "Guidebook to the Geology of the Barringer Meterorite Crater, Arizona" by David Kring, 2007. This image has the postulated Ice Age vegetative zones superimposed over the modern landscape (note the Spruce Forest Zone on the left which no longer exists in this part of Arizona). The red circle denotes the 12-mile diameter scorch zone where everything was burned upon impact. The yellow ring denotes the 20-mile wide zone where all large animals were killed or wounded. And the blue ring denotes the 40-mile wide zone of hurricane force winds away from the blast.

Starting down the trail into the crater. The ruins of the original visitor center building can be seen in the background.

View of the ejecta blanket from inside the lip of the crater. Remember that the white Kaibab Limestone lies stratigraphically below the red Moenkopi Formation. But here, blocks of white Kaibab lie over the Moenkopi as ejecta was forcefully thrown from the impact site.

As we approached the floor of the crater, I was taken by these eroded blocks of Kaibab Limestone that have dislodged from the walls of the crater and come tumbling down the slopes.

Our group approaching the borehole site on the floor of the crater.

The borehole site is fenced for safety and on it is a cut-out of an astronaut and a real American flag.

A piece of the ruined equipment near the borehole.

Giant levers on the wench serve as artful beacons on the floor of Meteor Crater.

Author Rose Houk and geologist Michael Collier pose in front of the old boiler on the floor of the crater. We did not find any coal debris around the boiler and we were stumped as to how the boiler could have been fired.

As we made our way uphill along the steep trail, the clouds of an oncoming winter storm framed the crater walls. Thankfully, the storm held off until our return to the visitor center.

Not everything we saw related to the impact which is thought to have occurred about 50,000 years ago. Here in beds of the Moenkopi Formation are the burrowing remains of some Triassic critter (right of the lends cap) and in the block above this are impression of rip-up clasts within sandstone. To learn more about rip-up clasts, see my blog from a Henry Mountains field trip here.

Near the top of the trail are many old artifacts from days gone by. This looks to be some kind of contraption for use with mules that brought supplies to the crater floor.

Scott Harger inspects a huge block of ejected Coconino Sandstone on the rim of Meteor Crater. This specimen retains original Permian-age cross-bedding within it but was thrown out of the impact site. It is most likely overturned in this position.

This is a close-up view of the same block, which can be seen to be brecciated but still retaining original cross-bedding.

Looking into the ruins of the old visitor center on the rim of the crater.

Debris is strewn about the ruin site and documents a time long gone in northern Arizona.

Our group returning back to the museum area ans walking on top of a slab of Coconino Sandstone ejecta.

Here is a normal view of the Coconino Sandstone ejecta blanket on Meteor Crater's south rim. See the next photo for a clearer view of it.

Enhanced view of the Coconino Sandstone ejecta blanket. The rocks outside the colored area are Kaibab Limestone ejecta which is more golden in color.

A view northwest to the oncoming storm. The photograph was taken on the crest of the ejecta blanket and looks down about 120 feet onto the surrounding landscape. Thanks to Drew Barringer for allowing us geologists to experience this world-class landform from its central heart.

More on the Cardenas Party

2010-12-07T11:05:00.004-07:00

My most recent blog post was written with the intent to inspire thoughtful discussion. There has been a multitude of discussion about it with some at Grand Canyon National Park. I admit up front that I am more accepting of newer ideas than most others. Some people prefer to initially react in the negative when new ideas are presented - until those ideas can be proven to be right. I tend to accept things more readily because I believe that it can be a faster way to the truth, whatever the truth actually is. In my field of Grand Canyon's geologic evolution, the skeptics hold all of the cards and you know the status of where we are with that.

Anyway, I agree that it is more likely that this inscription was made by someone from Bass's era (hired help or tourist). But Dr. Kenny's hypothesis rightfully should spur a new round of thought on how exactly did the Cardenas party spent their time at Grand Canyon? "Three days on this bank looking for a passage down to the river..." is a powerful description of men looking for a route down into the canyon. To me, the Desert View to Moran Pt. area is not conducive for this, especially to flat-landers like the Spanish. Whether the inscription itself is from the Cardenas party or not, I find it plausible that the Spanish would meander along the rim and attempt a descent as soon as the Esplanade came into view - ironically right here where the Grand Scenic Divide first comes into view as one approaches from the east.

I was told by park staff last night that the esteemed archaeologist Robert Euler visited the site in the early 1980's and proposed that the inscription was left by some Bass era person. However, since the proposed location of the "first view" was first offered in the late 19th or early 20th century, our knowledge of how people interact with landscapes has grown exponentially. A re-evaluation of the "norm" seems to be warranted.

Did the Cardenas Party Leave a Rock Inscription in Grand Canyon in 1540?

2010-11-30T12:11:00.008-07:00

An inscription on the Esplanade Platform near the Bass Trail stirs debate (photo © Wayne Ranney, 1991)

A geologist in Colorado has proposed that a mysterious rock inscription found in the Grand Canyon may record the exact place where the first people of European descent could have laid eyes on the Grand Canyon. Traditionally, historians have proposed that the "first view" should be located somewhere between Desert View and Moran Point, in the far eastern part of the canyon. Their reasoning stems from journal references to a place with "low twisted pines and open to the north", and the fact that their Hopi guides would not have walked any farther than necessary from the journey's origin on the Hopi Mesa's. Additionally, journal entries state:

Captain Melgosa and one Juan Galeras and another companion ... spent three days on this bank looking for a passage down to the river [and] made an attempt to go down at the least difficult place... They returned … not having succeeded in reaching the bottom ... They said they had been down about a third of the way and that the river seemed very large from the place which they reached. [emphasis added]

Using these very subtle landscape clues (ones that allow geologists to see a bit more into the mystery than perhaps a historian can), geologist Ray Kenny of Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado thinks he may have found where the "first view" might be. He thinks it could actually be located farther west in the vicinity of the South Bass Trail (where low twisted pines are also located). There, a cryptic rock inscription about a third of the way down on the Esplanade platform can be found, that reads simply, "Monte Video" (perhaps roughly translated as, "I see the mountain"). The calligraphy used is reminiscent of early Spanish script and it appears to be of rather old age. One wonders, if not a Spaniard who wrote this, who then? William Wallace Bass? Not likely. I think Kenny may be on to something. You can read about the hypothesis in its entirety here. Be sure to hit all of the tabs listed on the left side of this page for a full treatment of the hypothesis.

I visited this remote site in April, 1991 while serving as a guide on a Museum of Northern Arizona Ventures trip. I was led there by historian Jim Babbitt who was my co-leader at the time. Memory recalls that Babbitt had been long perplexed by this odd inscription and its cryptic message. I too became curious about the inscription but never gave it much thought until the NPS article above was brought to my attention. Kenny's hypothesis seems reasonable to me. The calligraphy is certainly from an antiquated time. And known Spanish incursions into the canyon were quite rare until we stole - er acquired - the land from Spanish domination.

But more important is the notion that the "first view" party would necessarily travel the shortest distance possible to reach the river (which was the primary objective for the trip west from Hopi in the first place - to resupply the Coronado Expedition via the Sea of Cortez by ship). This is Euro-centric thinking at its finest - "get me there in the shortest, quickest way." While it's still possible that they could have first approached the canyon from a point farther east, it's also likely that with "three days exploring this bank," they could have wandered farther west to the South Bass area. (As Kenny points out, it's likely that the Hopi would not want the perceived intruders to know about their routes into the canyon in the Desert View area). Also, "a third of the way down" would take them to the Esplanade level in the Bass area of the canyon and the Desert View to Moran Point area is one of the least likely places in all of Grand Canyon to attempt a trip down off the rim. Lastly, the Hopi used a well maintained trail from their mesa's to the canyon home of the Havasupai, and the South Bass area is not that far from this route. A landscape perspective has not previously been utilized in attempting to solve the mystery of where the "first view" party saw the canyon.

And so the Grand Canyon again leaves us with a wonderfully appetizing mystery. Let's see where this one leads us!

(All photos this posting © Wayne Ranney, April, 1991)

View to the north from near the South Bass Trailhead. Fossil Mountain on the left with Mt. Huethawali on the Esplanade Platform to its right. The terrace north of Mt. Huethawali is where the inscription is located.

View of the Esplanade Platform from near the inscription site. The Esplanade has formed a broad terrace in western Grand Canyon where the Hermit Shale has retreated off of the harder sandstone below.

Looking at the inscription near Mystic Spring. It's tantalizing the think that members of the Coronado Expedition in 1540 left this inscription.

A Guided Walk on the Trail of Time

2010-11-23T10:25:00.002-07:00

This past Saturday, I led a group of about 30 people on the "Trail of Time" at Grand Canyon. They were members of the Central Arizona Geology Club in Prescott which is very active with lectures and field trips. They posted a short blog about the trip here. It was wild and windy day but thanks to their interest we made a one mile walk in three hours! Only at the Grand Canyon do you get "brownie points" for taking longer walks!

Geology and the 2010 Moab River Rendezvous

2010-11-15T15:36:00.007-07:00

The 2010 Moab River Rendezvous was held under sparkling sunny skies from November 11 to 14 and featured a one-day float trip on the Colorado River, numerous lectures and films, and a gathering of scientists and river enthusiasts. I was honored to be the Keynote Speaker on Saturday, Nov. 13, with "Carving Grand Canyon". This lecture was very well received and has been revamped to include the latest findings on how the Grand Canyon formed. Pictures of a lecture are not that exciting but look below to see how the river trip worked out!

(You can also read about and see photo's from my posting on the 2009 Moab River Rendezvous here).

The trip took place on Friday, Nov. 12 and put-in at the Hittle Bottom ramp near the Fisher Towers. One of the highlights of the Rendezvous was the participation of three historic replica boats from the 1950's. Here the Flavell and the GEM (replicas) take to the water at the put-in.

Gus Scott and Richard Quartaroli stand in front of the Flavell before she was launched on her maiden voyage

One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing geologist Peter Winn again after nearly 18 years. On my very first Grand Canyon river trip in 1976, Peter was an ARTA boatman who shared a story about transgressing Cambrian seas. I remember the proverbial "light-bulb" going on for me at that moment and knew that geology was what I wanted to pursue after hearing his stories from the rocks.

Myself with Peter Winn at the lunch stop

A picture of me with Bill Bishop, a colleague from our days as boatmen with Worldwide Explorations

Here is a shot of the two main organizers of the event - geologist Tamsin McCormick and Director Michael Smith of Plateau Restoration. PR does great work rehabilitating beaches from exotic plant invasions and placing students in conservation positions and careers. They are the main sponsors of the River Rendezvous. Board member Leif Johnson looks on from behind.

River historian Roy Webb (University of Utah) looks at a piece of driftwood on the lunch beach. But this is not just any old piece of driftwood - it is a piece from the old Dewey Bridge upstream on the river. In April, 2008, the bridge caught fire and was destroyed. You can read about this historic loss here.

Michael Smith examines some of the hardware that was used to identified this historic piece of driftwood. He proposes to raft this piece of history back to town where it can be preserved as a part of Moab area history.

Now for the geology part! I took this picture from the boat beach which shows rounded river boulders resting on an outcrop of the Cutler Formation. Across the Colorado River and far in the distance are the Fisher Towers, fantastically eroded monoliths cut into the same formation.

The La Sal Mountain laccolith received a dusting of fresh snow just a few days before the Rendezvous began. These spectacular mountains provide much of the scenic charm found everywhere in the Moab area. They formed when magma spread laterally within sedimentary layers and cooled into a dense rock called trachyte. This all happened between 28 and 22 Ma. Relatively recent erosion has removed the once-enclosing sedimentary rocks and left the intrusive rocks in these peaks. Not visible from this angle is Mt. Peale, the highest point in the range and considered the highest point on the entire Colorado Plateau at 12,726 ft. (it barely beats out Mt. Humphrey's on the San Francisco Peaks at 12, 633). To read more about laccoliths see my previous postings on the Henry Mountains and other Plateau laccoliths.

Fantastic outcrops of Triassic rocks near Castleton Tower. Aprons below consist of the Moenkopi and Chinle formations, The towers are cut into the Wingate Sandstone. To see photo's of Castleton Tower from the open doors of a helicopter look here!

Eroded rills in the Moenkopi Formation along the Colorado River near Moab

The trees were still showing gold in Moab at this late date. All of the fall colors out west are a little later than normal this year.

Jason Hughes takes the oars of the GEM while boat builder and river historian Tom Martin looks on (left) with his wife Hazel (right). The 2010 Moab River Rendezvous was a great success. Plan on attending it in 2011!

"Sedona Through Time" Wins National Award!

2010-11-02T12:00:00.002-07:00

The Association of Earth Science Editors awarded my book, "Sedona Through Time" its Outstanding Publication for 2010! AESE is a bi-national organization of editors, journal managers, and others in the United States and Canada who are dedicated to excellence in the field of earth science publication materials. The award was given at the group's annual meeting, held this year in Victoria, British Columbia and was accepted on my behalf by local resident and long-time friend Karen Keeney. I am extremely gratified to have received this award in recognition of my efforts to bring relevant landscape histories to diversified and curious audiences.

"Sedona Through Time" was first published in 1993 and released in a new, fully updated 3rd edition in January, 2010. Many thanks to my wife Helen who prompted me to keep the book in print. I was tempted to let it "die" an honorable death until she convinced me that a new edition was a worthwhile endeavor. Also, Bronze Black Design of Flagstaff did a bang-up job in designing the book, which is full color and quite attractive. Bronze does great work and I am sure that the award was made easier by the books easy of navigation. Pam Frazier Enterprises of Sedona completed the copy edits for me. Since AESE is a group of editors, Pam's efforts were critical in claiming the award. My heartfelt thanks to all of these gracious and talented contributors!

The goals of the AESE are: To strengthen the profession of earth science editing; to foster education, and to promote the exchange of ideas of general and specific problems of selection, editing, and publication of research manuscripts, journals, serials, periodicals, and maps pertaining to the earth sciences.

I printed 3000 copies of "Sedona Through Time" and after only 10 months in circulation, I have sold almost half of those. Look for a gold medallion on the cover of the second printing, which is likely to appear towards the end of 2011.

The weather is fantastic in northern Arizona right now! Fall colors are everywhere and the rocks are still as red as ever in Sedona. This Sunday I will give a lecture entitled, "Sedona's Geologic Heritage" which will tell the story that is contained in my book. If you are in the area, come see me at Red Rock State Park. More information can be found here.