Feild Trip

So yesterday as a class we went to Red Rock Canyon and Fossil Falls. It was an amazing experience. I have driven through Red Rock Canyon numerous times but never had the chance to stop and take a look around.

We have to do a scientific write up on the trip but this post is going to talk about the pictures that I took and what was going on instead of what rocks or formations are in them. At least not an in depth explanation.

I don't have any pictures from our first stop in Red Rock Canyon because my camera was dead but on our second stop I took quiet a few, while on the ground and as we climbed up the cliff face for lack of a better term.

This is the back side of our first stop its all pink. Rhyolit Tuff.

This was the cliff face that we climbed. Its pretty fun and not as tiring as i originally thought

Just cool colors and angular unconformitites

This is were we climbed

and now we are looking down to the road with people for scale

there is a better view from up high

this reminded me of the Flintstones because of red rock looking like a roof on a house

this was actually a small step that is only about 2 inches high. I just got the camera in close

We weren't the only ones to climb up high

This was coming back down, we weren't the last ones

look how pretty

this was a road cut of basalts

i just liked this because it looked like a flower

Cinder cone with the Sierra Nevada's behind

Lava flow at least a mile away

Better picture of same lava flow

look at the pretty colors and contrast

a vesicular basalt with what i think is quatrz

large ingenious intrusion just off the 14

MUD CRACKS YAY!!!!!!!

Oooooh ripple marks with a foot for scale

The start of Fossil Falls

looking out toward the end

Another road cut

Lake Isabella road cut

These people scared me because they were so close to the edge and the wind was very strong

She was very brave

Large basalt

All these rocks were very smooth from the long gone water

My attempt at climbing down

The edge looking over the falls

Other brave souls

Road  cut with folds

I think you can see the dykes

My favorite rock

Holy Schist that's cool

 

That's one big pile of schist

These were just my favorite pictures. This was more fun than i had in a long time and the icing on the cake was that i didn't have to drive. Yes.

These pictures are for the most part in order but not all of them.

Washington Mudslide

It is a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to all the families that were affected by the mudslide.

With that said the mudslide itself was an amazing event. From the 1950's until now the Stillaguamish River has been eroding away the hill side taking with it all types of material. After the much of the soil was washed into the bottom of  the river a small land slide happened in 2006. Then two weeks before the big mudslide happened there was a small 1.1 earthquake that could have displaced and shifted the already wet earth. Then finally 15 million cubic tons of material was sent down the river and covered everything in its path.
Geologist have called that area a slide area since the 1950's and records prove it but other than that there was no warning that this much could happen.

The Chicken from Hell

A new 66 million year old dinosaur was discovered by paleontologist. This dinosaur has feathers and is said to be the biggest that has been found in North America. It was discovered in the Hell Creek formation in North and South Dakotas.

There were three skeloetons that were uncovered and after years of study this new species is called Anzu wyliei. It is a two legged bird like dinosaur and the average size is that of a human.

Based on the physical features of the skeletons, it has been concluded that the Anzu ate a variety of things from plants to small animals and possibly eggs.

No one is quite sure why his dinosaur had wings. It had a jaw that would suggest that it ate vegetation, large claws on its front limbs that would be used to catch little prey and prongs in the throat that egg eating snakes have today.

To me this is absolutely amazing. It is really impressive to see new species being discovered especially bigger animals. And the fact that this dinosaur looks like a giant chicken really links the current animals that live in this day and age to those that used to roam the Earth. It does take a little bit of imagination to look at a dinosaur like the T-Rex and be told that that's were birds came from. However, with Anzu it is very easy to see the link between the two.

bedding and angular unconformities

When I was on my annual training with the NAVY, we went to the shooting range down in Port Hueneme and the range faces the ocean and to the rear are the mountains. As we were waiting for our turn to use the range I had a chance to take a look at the mountains and I was able to take some pictures of some pretty cool rock formations. And I was just in awe of how big one of these formations was.

Geology and Me

My major was Civil Engineering  but this year i changed it to Geology, and I'm so glad that I did. I am actually enjoying class now. I find everything fascinating and I understand how and why everything matters in the real world.
I find myself looking at the rocks in the gravel at work and trying to identify as many as i can. As well as the foothill outside of town with a whole new outlook and understanding. There are a few where i can see the original horizontality and then there are a few that have angular unconfomitites.

This class is not unthinkably difficult but it is by no means a cake walk, but I am understanding the material, truly understanding not just memorizing. I look forward to class, which hasn't happened for a very long time.