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The Great Sand Dunes of Colorado: Part II – Climbing the Geology of the Dunes
"The whole landscape was on the move."Ralph Alger BagnoldAuthor of The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes, 1941Having left the lofty San Juan Mountains in July, my colleague Wayne Ranney and I...
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Powell Point at the Top of the Grand Staircase
KODAKCHROME BASINTraveling north on the unpaved Cottonwood Canyon Road in south-central Utah, this overlook oversees the appropriately-named Kodachrome Basin State Park. A National Geographic...
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A Curious Intra-Formational, Angular Unconformity within the Chinle...
Within Moab Canyon on the Colorado River between Castle and Moab-Spanish Valleys, the Chinle Formation possesses a spectacular angular unconformity. Its distinctiveness resides both in its...
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A Curious Intra-Formational, Angular Unconformity within the Chinle...
“The same regions do not remain always sea or always land,But all change their condition in the course of time.”Aristotle, MeteorologicaIn my previous post entitled “Part I – A Conspiracy of Events”, I...
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First Visit to the Florida Everglades: Part I - The Geology of Florida and...
“The miracle of light pours over the green and brown expanse of sawgrass and of water, shining and slowly moving, the grass and water that is the meaning and the central fact of the Everglades. It is a...
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First Visit to the Florida Everglades: Part II – Intended Change. Unintended...
“There are no other everglades in the world. Nothing anywhere else is like them.”Marjory Stoneham Douglas (1890-1998) Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, pink Roseate Spoonbills, Glossy Ibises, White Ibises, a...
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First Visit to the Florida Everglades: Part III – Excursion into a “River of...
Please visit my two previous posts on the Everglades entitled:Part I - Geology of Florida and the EvergladesPart II – Intended Change. Unintended Environmental Consequences. Perhaps your best chance at...
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Neighborhood Fungus Watch (Someone’s Got To Do It): Part I - What's A Mushroom?
“One side will make you grow taller...”“One side of what?”“…and the other side will make you grow shorter.”“The other side of what?” “The mushroom, of course!” Dialogue between the Caterpillar and...
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John Wesley Powell
GeologistScientistExplorer of the American WestExpedition LeaderAuthorTeacherEthnologistAnthropologistCivil War Major in the Union ArmyAmputeeDirector of the United States Geological SurveyDirector of...
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Neighborhood Mushroom Watch (Someone’s Got To Do It): Part II – A Summer Sampler
Mushrooms and toadstools. Mold and mildew. Puffballs and earthballs. Jellies and slime. Rusts and smuts. Stinkhorns and bloodfoots. The only thing more colorful than their names is their staggering...
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Roadside America: Part III - Weird, Wacky, Tacky and Wonderful
Virtually every geology-based road trip I've been on has had its share of unforgettable side trips, off beat detours and unplanned turn offs. The best part, second to the geology, was the adventure of...
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Petroglyphs of Signal Hill: Geology and Cultural History Come Together in...
In the Tucson Mountains west of Tucson, Arizona, lies the unsuspecting rocky outcrop of Signal Hill. Just a short hike from the scenic Bajada Loop Drive through the Sonoran Desert in Saguaro National...
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2013 Posts That Never Quite Made It - Ancient West African Crust in Boston;...
Every blogger knows the challenge. What shall I blog about next? What photos should I use? By the time the end of the year rolls around, there are always a few posts that never quite made it. And so,...
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The Great Unconformity at Baker's Bridge: Part III - Regional Geological and...
In my first post on the Great Unconformity, Part I (here), I discussed its contiguous stratigraphy within the Grand Canyon. In my second post, Part II (here), I offered a more global interpretation of...
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Climbing the Geology and Tectonics of Katahdin: An Exhumed, Glacially...
“The tops of mountains are among the unfinished parts of the globe, whither it is a slight insult to the gods to climb and pry into their secrets, and try their effect on our humanity. Only daring and...
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Geological Legacies of the Paris Basin: Part I – Plaster of Paris, the...
In March, I escaped from the frigid grip of the Polar Vortex that enveloped New England and found climatic, cultural and culinary refuge in Paris and London. Not expecting to encounter any geological...
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Geological Legacies of the Paris Basin: Part II – Subterranean Limestone...
"...Paris has another Paris under herself…which has its streets, its intersections, its squares, its dead ends, its arteries, and its circulation”Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, 1862 For a discussion of...
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Guest Post: "Before They Took Off - A Study of Feathers and How Birds Gained...
I am elated and honored to present this guest post to the followers of my blog, written by my daughter Julia, who attends a major American university. The subject matter is the developmental evolution...
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Anatomy of a Cinder Cone Roadcut and Its Tale of Farallon Plate...
"Nothing in geology makes sense except in terms of plate tectonic theory."Lynn S. Fichter, Ph.D., Department of Geology, James Madison University (here)In spite of their global ubiquity and profusion,...
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