tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55624770034059035912024-03-05T12:26:44.439-08:00Geology Field TripsSnowGeologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676946932850471408noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-69120704770281295782014-12-15T19:51:00.004-08:002014-12-16T09:36:45.991-08:00A budding paleontologist finds some trilobites, or rather, they find her. By Chakira Walls <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Imagine yourself
on October 10th; you were probably just relaxing on a nice day right? Well,
five Snow College geology students embarked on our geological journey for minerals and
fossils near the town of Delta, Utah. Looking at all of the beautiful minerals like topaz and quartz at Topaz
Mountain and the geodes in Dugway Range was remarkable. But, I stayed on the edge of
my seat till we could reach the House Range. Paleontology is the field I chose
to pursue and gong to the Wheeler Amphitheater was one step headed in the right
direction. It is said that paleontologists have a funny way of letting the
fossils find them and I was elated that as soon as I stepped out of the car I
saw fossils. I looked down and to my surprise I found trilobites. I ended up
finding and collecting up to 8 trilobites and even several brachiopods.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="irc_mutc">
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" style="margin-top: 61px;" width="220" /></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler_Shale">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler_Shale</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During the
Cambrian time (570-500 million years ago) most of Utah was covered in water
which explains why creatures like trilobites and brachiopods are found so many
millions of years later. Trilobites belong to the Phylum Arthropoda, which includes
animals with segmented bodies, numerous appendages and exoskeletons. Some
examples of arthropods today are, insects, siders, scorpions and centipedes. Trilobita are an extinct class of arthropods according to Rebecca L. Hylland. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what we have been able to collect I'm
going to make an educated guess that the species of trilobite that we
collected is <i>Asaphiscus wheeleri</i>. You can find more
information about the type of trilobite by reading from </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; text-indent: 0px;"> "A collectors guide to Rock, Mineral, Fossil localities of Utah"</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> by James Wilson. According to Hylland, most
trilobites were bottom dwellers; some actually can curl up like a modern day
pill bug, others burrow into the bottom of the sand and mud using their
shovel-shaped cephlons (heads).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
scavengers and they would ingest the sand and mud, similar to how worms eat. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="irc_mutc">
<a class="irc_mutl" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gopixpic.com%2F500%2F5b-24-8a-91-0a-ce-3a-7e-07-47-f0-e1-03-56-d8-b1-1a-18jpg%2Fhttp%3A%257C%257Cevawayus*s3*amazonaws*com%257Cphotos%257Coriginal%257C5B%257C5B-24-8A-91-0A-CE-3A-7E-07-47-F0-E1-03-7E-56-D8-D8-B1-1A-18*jpg%2F&ei=GqyPVKmzJ5GtyQS9rICgDA&bvm=bv.81828268,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNENDC3dLUCTb1gnWur4zB8aQMzdEg&ust=1418788224738177"><img class="irc_mut" height="393" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQbdbun7b1DhgieteGdipvmGU0Of43JK-ot3Iw2a5NLqD7lRCdWg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="591" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.gopixpic.com/500/5b-24-8a-91-0a-ce-3a-7e-07-47-f0-e1-03-56-d8-b1-1a-18jpg/http:%7C%7Cevawayus*s3*amazonaws*com%7Cphotos%7Coriginal%7C5B%7C5B-24-8A-91-0A-CE-3A-7E-07-47-F0-E1-03-7E-56-D8-D8-B1-1A-18*jpg/">http://www.gopixpic.com/500/5b-24-8a-91-0a-ce-3a-7e-07-47-f0-e1-03-56-d8-b1-1a-18jpg/http:%7C%7Cevawayus*s3*amazonaws*com%7Cphotos%7Coriginal%7C5B%7C5B-24-8A-91-0A-CE-3A-7E-07-47-F0-E1-03-7E-56-D8-D8-B1-1A-18*jpg/</a></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Works
Cited</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hylland,
Rebecca. "Trilobites and the Cambrian Environment of Utah - Utah Geological
Survey." Trilobites and the Cambrian Environment of Utah - Utah Geological
Survey. Utah.gov Services, 3 May 1996. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
<http://geology.utah.gov/surveynotes/gladasked/trilobites.htm>.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wilson, James R. 1995. "A collectors guide to Rock, Mineral, Fossil localities of Utah" Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous publication 95-4</span></div>
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</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16499336836805103575noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-14879309206607014182014-11-05T21:09:00.003-08:002014-12-03T14:34:14.174-08:00<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Britt </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Fiscus</span></span></span></div>
<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Dugway</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> Geodes </span></span></span><br />
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5562477003405903591" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNzv_HiovGT7U01i-m0E15WHDvDa3fEAu_iZRN_9ZXa6To5rAv-q86M6GtZrwS4osnGRDidk_iX6J8uhmqp12y1h03X6itXNTuXLcUhhOJ6tfN9k0xi1RjbuO2APExo_YMvyytki_qUw/s1600/geode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNzv_HiovGT7U01i-m0E15WHDvDa3fEAu_iZRN_9ZXa6To5rAv-q86M6GtZrwS4osnGRDidk_iX6J8uhmqp12y1h03X6itXNTuXLcUhhOJ6tfN9k0xi1RjbuO2APExo_YMvyytki_qUw/s1600/geode.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">On October tenth and eleventh I went on a field trip with the </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">Snow College</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">G</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">eology </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">F</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">ield</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">S</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">tudies class.</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> One of the stops we made on the tenth was to the </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Dugway </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Geode Beds in Juab County. We drove a couple of miles into the beds to find a promising pit, then started searching and digging for geodes. It was a very successful trip and we all took home several geodes. Finding these beautiful crystal-filled rocks made me curious about how they form.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">I found out that they </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">form in two different ways. They can form in sedimentary rocks when organic matter such as a tree root, rots away and leaves a cavity in the ground. If the cavity is still preserved in the ground after the sediment becomes rock, it has the potential to become a geode. (</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">Baggaley</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">, 2012)</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> To become a geode, water has to find its way into the cavity of the rock to deposit the minerals that are necessary to create crystals. After millions of years of mineral rich ground water running through tiny cracks in the rock, crystals will form in the cavity.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="s10" style="border: 1px solid transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">The other way that geodes can form is in volcanic rock. Cooling lava or magma often </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">contains gases that are trapped in bubbles. </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">After the lava </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">solidifies</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> </span></span><span class="s8"><span class="bumpedFont20">into</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> a rock the process is the same as sedimentary geodes. </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">The geodes formed from water – in this case water that was hydrothermal (heated by the magma in the area) and so it contained a lot of dissolved silica. This silica rich water seeped into holes left by the gases and precipitated quartz. </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">This is</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20"> the </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">most common type of crystal found in geodes. They were formed in volcanic rock called rhyolite. </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">According to </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">http://geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/rockmineral/collecting/rkhd0500.htm </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">t</span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5562477003405903591" name="_GoBack"></a><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">hey were formed in rhyolite that formed 6 to 8 million years ago</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">. </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">Then, </span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">a</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">round 32,000 to 14,000 years ago Lake Bonneville covered western Utah. The lake’s activity eroded the rhyolite that the geodes are found in and </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">redeposit</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">ed</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> it as lake sediment where we </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">find them today</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">.(</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">Ege</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20">, UGS.gov</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">)</span></span></span><br />
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<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">References</span></span></div>
<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Baggaley</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">, Kate. "Where Do Geodes Come From?" </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Scienceline</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">. 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2014</span></span><span class="s5"><span class="bumpedFont20"> http://scienceline.org/2012/11/where-do-geodes-come-from/</span></span></span></div>
<div class="s4" style="margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Ege</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">, Carl. "</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Dugway</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> Geodes - Utah Geological Survey." </span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20">Dugway</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> Geodes - Utah Geological Survey.</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> Web. 23 Oct. 2014.</span></span><span class="s3"><span class="bumpedFont20"> </span></span>http://geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/rockmineral/collecting/rkhd0500.htm </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12000719929313004906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-47335251130165223142014-11-05T14:14:00.000-08:002014-11-05T14:14:39.026-08:00Pseudobrookite<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">An Unexpected Find</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhzRJ0CjQLpHfgXY7eTuvRyzkTWct-r_znpPfoSWLk61LOf8efx4FpTGw8KxdVn9p6balVXRn1-rjMX8hhQa_RmD9Gkyqp1rdp18BTpEwgwX_LhCkDD7jkAAUO6q0_SybC6E6TrUmx6tYr4IkQdPDmAXnlp2Xi9ga_jALxs7ET6Xm4n=s0-d-e1-ft" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhzRJ0CjQLpHfgXY7eTuvRyzkTWct-r_znpPfoSWLk61LOf8efx4FpTGw8KxdVn9p6balVXRn1-rjMX8hhQa_RmD9Gkyqp1rdp18BTpEwgwX_LhCkDD7jkAAUO6q0_SybC6E6TrUmx6tYr4IkQdPDmAXnlp2Xi9ga_jALxs7ET6Xm4n=s0-d-e1-ft" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Starting October 10th and ending on the
11th the GEO 2500 class went on a two day geology marathon full of traveling on
rough dirt roads, hiking, rock hunting and finding. We also learned about some
of the major geological events that created the variety of terrain we
encountered. We left Ephraim at approximately 8:45 am on the 10th and headed
westward to Topaz Mountain. Roughly 116 miles later we arrived at Topaz
Mountain. Almost immediately we put on our safety goggles, grabbed hammers and
chisels and got to work looking for topaz. We had a variety of success finding
topaz, and while looking closely at some grayish white rhyolite I stumbled upon
a small black crystal called pseudobrookite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pseudobrookite, which is Greek for false
brookite, is a rare oxide mineral which usually forms by pneumatolytic
processes or by reactions with xenoliths in titanium-rich andesite, rhyolite,
basalt, according to <a href="http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/pseudobrookite.pdf"><span style="color: #003ba2;">rruff.info/doclib/hom/pseudobrookite.pdf</span></a>.
According to <a href="http://dictionary.com/"><span style="color: #003ba2;">dictionary.com</span></a> and <a href="http://merriam-webster.com/"><span style="color: #003ba2;">merriam-webster.com</span></a>,
pneumatolytic means formed or forming by hot vapors or super heated liquids
under pressure, the process by which rocks are altered or minerals and ores are
formed by the action of vapors given off by magma. <span style="color: red;"> </span>Pseudobrookite
is often found with hematite, magnetite, bixbyite, ilmenite,
enstatite-ferrosilite, tridymite, quartz, sanidine and topaz. The topaz at
Topaz Mountain formed in vugs located in a lava flow, and the pseudobrookite
formed in the same rhyolite as the topaz in a similar process. <span style="color: red;"> </span>Pseudobrookite , which has the chemical formula
Fe<sub>2</sub>TiO<sub>5</sub>, often has either a brownish-black, a reddish
brown, or a black color. It is opaque with a metallic luster (<a href="http://webmineral.com/"><span style="color: #003ba2;">webmineral.com</span></a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to <a href="http://www.mineralmarket.com/TopazMtn/topaz7.html">http://www.mineralmarket.com/TopazMtn/topaz7.html</a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2VgBxP1rgcg/VFqghLVc8WI/AAAAAAAAACo/7VIjmEeLCvY/s1600/topaz7.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2VgBxP1rgcg/VFqghLVc8WI/AAAAAAAAACo/7VIjmEeLCvY/s1600/topaz7.gif" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pseudobrookite crystals are skinny elongate prisms with striations (look like
grooves) and belong to the orthorhombic crystal system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The pseudobrookite was an unexpected find
since we were looking for quartz and topaz. We got home late that night tired
but successful in finding multiple crystals, geodes, and trilobites. The next
day we left later in the day and headed to eastern Utah. We managed to find heaps
of gypsum after a long day of traveling, which was very exciting. The two day
road trip was a very enjoyable adventure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #262626;">Information gathered from</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/pseudobrookite.pdf"><span style="color: #262626;">rruff.info/doclib/hom/pseudobrookite.pdf</span></a><span style="color: #262626;">, </span><a href="http://www.minweb.co.uk/oxides/pseudobrookite.htm"><span style="color: #003ba2;">www.minweb.co.uk/oxides/pseudobrookite.htm</span></a><span style="color: #262626;">, </span><a href="http://www.webmineral.com/data/pseudbrookite.shtml#.VEgriPnf_T8"><span style="color: #003ba2;">www.webmineral.com/data/pseudbrookite.shtml#.VEgriPnf_T8</span></a><span style="color: #262626;">, </span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pneumatolytic"><span style="color: #003ba2;">dictionary.reference.com/browse/pneumatolytic</span></a><span style="color: #262626;">, and </span><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pneumatolytic"><span style="color: #003ba2;">www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pneumatolytic</span></a><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mineralmarket.com/TopazMtn/topaz7.html"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">http://www.mineralmarket.com/TopazMtn/topaz7.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16544525748778729360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-76846369954953768692014-10-21T12:46:00.000-07:002014-10-21T12:46:37.023-07:00<!--[if !mso]>
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Wanda Williams</div>
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A Gem of a Different
Color</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On a
beautiful October morning our small group eagerly piled into the SUV at Snow College.
The time of year couldn’t have been more perfect; the weather was amazing. Our
clan consisted of Snow students impassioned in the field of geology, and
paleontology. We had our esteemed leader, Geologist and instructor Renee Faatz,
to guide us. Sailing over the dirt roads, like a ship with the wind in her
sheets, we first headed out to Topaz
Mountain. The mountain is
not much to look at with its gloomy, grey slopes and patchy scrub. But it seems
that the most wonderful things come out of drab, dreary rock – and Topaz Mountain
is certainly no exception. Besides bearing its namesake, Topaz Mountain’s
rhyolite is also host to quartz, garnet, pseudobrookite, bixbyite, and the
elusive red beryl. These are just a few of the treasures tucked away within the
unassuming gray walls. The topaz, however, was the main reason for our being
there.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Thomas Range
topaz formed from trapped volcanic gasses. Six to Seven million years ago,
volcanic vents emerged along faults in the area. The thick, gaseous lava flow
contained numerous bubbles called vugs. Inside the vugs, fluorine-bearing vapor
sublimated from the lava. In the last stages of solidification, the trapped
vapor cooled and formed beautiful topaz crystals.</div>
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The topaz at Topaz Mountain
can be found in a small variety of colors. The colors range from a nice rich
sherry, to light pink, to clear. The reason for this color palette has something
to do with good ol’ wholesome sunshine. When the crystals are exposed to sunlight
they tend to fade over time. I thought this was rather curious, so I decided to
find out why. I rummaged through my field books, remembering that I own a copy
about Topaz Mountain; the author and expert on this
location, John Holfert, offers this explanation:</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Unfortunately, the color of the Thomas Range
topaz is not stable when crystals are left exposed to direct sunlight for
extended periods of time. . . .The sherry color of the unexposed crystals is a
direct result of exposure to naturally occurring ground radiation for millions
of years, probably from trace amounts of uranium in the rhyolite. Radiation
causes electrons to be displaced to a higher energy state giving the crystal a
temporary color center. Exposure to direct sunlight excites the electrons
causing them to return to their normal state, thereby eliminating the color
center, resulting in a color shift from sherry to colorless. (4) </div>
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Holfert goes on to express that the rich sherry color can be
restored if the crystal is exposed to, “strong radiation for a short period of
time” (4). This makes sense because I also found out that this is precisely how
most blue topaz are created. According to the Department of Geological Sciences
at the University of Texas, “Most natural topaz is colorless or very pale blue;
the dark blue color, so commonly seen today is produced by irradiation, usually
followed by heating” (Topaz).</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Holfert
assures his readers that the color change takes about a week to ten days to
take place. He also states, “Artificial light, including florescent and halogen
light, does not appear to have any negative effect on the color stability of
the topaz” (5). I found this to be a relief because I was trying to keep my
topaz in eternal darkness to preserve their coloring. Now I can display them
without any worries, as long as they stay out of direct sunlight.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After a
very satisfying expedition to Topaz
Mountain we were back in
the SUV, being blown by the wind to our next grand adventure. Most of us found
some very pretty topaz crystals. We all had a really great time.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt6a2gphJyJokiGEXdgf_OOkVz0on-LZ-_QNodDcihQ1PBRECeNUQfSkNBx9lBO6FGUXupRpHs2eFqKgCLywMQS8UFIZH3mPQBoYcmSbLPON96XOp2aM8ZxkyREz6aMou8GJ56W729Y8H/s1600/topaz+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt6a2gphJyJokiGEXdgf_OOkVz0on-LZ-_QNodDcihQ1PBRECeNUQfSkNBx9lBO6FGUXupRpHs2eFqKgCLywMQS8UFIZH3mPQBoYcmSbLPON96XOp2aM8ZxkyREz6aMou8GJ56W729Y8H/s1600/topaz+014.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Notice how the topaz in the foreground is a light pinkish
color, while the topaz in the back is a deeper sherry hue.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMih-pzWJIjHrEKSfS5dVq2-6ITGQzQfLf0830hGV5jczbATUF-DkdocwoXIx6OS1WWzlNoOJE_37xI8Q4QRcHWxG7pTPbauVkBw8NVhW-Wfv9sSwIAkFukuWcG4Khbx2oBq7ms6Ppshk/s320/topaz+ut.jpg" style="height: 562px; width: 343px;" width="195" />In contrast, this topaz from Topaz Mountain
is colorless. (Mike)</div>
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Works Cited</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Holfert,
John. A Field Guide to Topaz and Associated Minerals of the Thomas Range,
Utah (Topaz Mountain)
Volume 1. UT: HM Publishing, Dec. 1996. Print.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Mike.
CSMS Geology Post. Colorado Springs
Mineralogical Society. 5 June 2013, Web. 18 October 2014.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Topaz.
Deptartment of Geological Sciences, University
of Tx. 1998, Web. 18
October 2014.</div>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06616922629078191815noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-64956461117310583962014-05-05T09:44:00.002-07:002014-05-05T10:08:43.926-07:00Weathering Rinds by Jonathan Major<div class="MsoNormal">
While on a field trip working in the Grand Staircase
Escalante National Monument (GSENM) , a few members in our group came upon several cobbles of chert and quartzite cobbles with an unusual surface that I can best
describe as a rind. Each cobble of chert and quartzite had a black rind 1- 2 cm thick around it. The cobbles are part of units such as the Canaan Peak. The same cobbles are found Dakota Formation near Capitol Reef National Park. The units were deposited in streams during the Cretaceous period of time. The cobbles have since been reworked and deposited in the GSENM in alluvial terraces.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These rinds, sometimes referred to as patina apparently form from weathering on the outside of the cobbles that were deposited in braided streams deposits. Analysis of similar rinds show iron, manganese and other elements like silica leaching out of the rock over time. Some suggest that the microflora aid in this process. </div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Try as we might, we can't find any papers that are specific to the rinds on these Cretaceous conglomerates. We would like to know more - the composition of the rinds, why they are so common in the Cretaceous (Sevier Orogenic) conglomerates. Looks like a great future research project.</div>
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References<o:p></o:p></div>
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Baker, J. C., Edmonds, W. J., Ogg, C. M. (2001) <i>Research Gate.</i> Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/232149104_Quartzite-Cobble_Weathering_in_Alluvial-Fan_Soils_of_the_Virginia_Blue_Ridge<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rajamani, V., Tripathi, J. K. (1999). <i>Current Science.</i> Retrieved from http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_076_09_1255_1258_0.pdf<o:p></o:p></div>
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Viveen, W., et al., Reconstructing the interacting effects
of base level, climate, and tectonic uplift in the lower Miño River terrace
record: A gradient modelling evaluation, Geomorphology (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.026<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wagner, G. A., (1998). <i>Google
Books.</i> Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=ADuZDCa08kwC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=iron+rinds+on+chert+in+alluvial+terraces&source=bl&ots=txI_5azP_I&sig=PtZAyR89-EaP4nBfxXuCLq8ehVc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6iVRU_6PJqbq2gXF0IGQAw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=iron%20rinds%20on%20chert%20in%20alluvial%20terraces&f=false<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-10234551790896114462014-05-04T11:30:00.003-07:002014-05-05T07:16:59.204-07:00Diablo the Ceratopsian and more by Jason Scott Dillingham<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 13px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Many animals and reptiles that exist today can seem relatable to the creatures in the past. Imagine the beautiful Serengeti, the dry sun beating on your face. Suddenly you feel the ground pounding and across the way you notice a muscular grey animal with large plates covering its body charging on all fours through the wilderness, armed with a horn atop its nose. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, notice the sun getting warmer and more humid; the plant life: taller, greener, everywhere. The ground shakes even more as a “snorting, stampeding, five-ton animal the size of a car, with a giant bony frill on its head, and you've got a fairly accurate picture of a ceratopsian dinosaur such as Triceratops” - a larger friend of the rhinoceros - charges by (Carroll, 1988). </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ceratopsians (Greek for “horned faces”) date back to the late Jurassic period in Asia. These species preceded Triceratops (up to the Late Cretaceous) and lacked the frills and horns that Triceratops had. Over time, predators such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex came along and the Ceratopsians slowly evolved to defend themselves (Strauss, 2014). </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On our Geology field trip to the Grand Staircase, we first had to transport - before we even got to any digging sites - a skull of a Ceratopsidea (a frilled Ceratopsian) named Diablo to a museum where he could be displayed for people to view. It was exciting to relate how large the animal could have been by the size of its skull, and encouraged me, personally, to get into the field and begin finding new things.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Throughout the trip, we broke up into two/three groups, one with Scott Richardson, the other with Alan Titus. I was fortunate to participate in the group with Scott that went to a site where a discovery had already been made, but not completed. “[Scott] discovered what is thought to be a previously unknown species of dinosaur similar to a triceratops, the latest in an extraordinary series of dinosaur finds in the area over the past 15 years (Hollenhorst, 2014).” The discovery is still unclear, but the excitement endures on.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sources</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hollenhorst, John. <a href="http://www.ksl.com/?sid=29496320&nid=148&title=dinosaur-discoveries-in-utahs-amazing-place-get-national-attention&s_cid=queue-5"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">http://www.ksl.com/?sid=29496320&nid=148&title=dinosaur-discoveries-in-utahs-amazing-place-get-national-attention&s_cid=queue-5</span></a> , 2014</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 13px; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carroll, R.L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York. Found on: <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/ornithischia/ceratopsia.html"><span style="color: #1900ae; letter-spacing: 0px;">http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/ornithischia/ceratopsia.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Strauss, Bob. Ceratopsians - The Horned, Frilled Dinosaurs. <a href="http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/ceratopsians.htm"><span style="color: #1900ae; letter-spacing: 0px;">http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/ceratopsians.htm</span></a> . 2014</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Photo courtesy of James Montgomery</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-64428902979043391082014-04-24T15:31:00.001-07:002014-05-03T05:19:13.530-07:00Ripples<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">James Montgomery</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> On
the last day of our exploration into the Grand Staircase Escalante National
Monument we </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ventured into a Hackberry Canyon, exploring millions of years of rock
formations. While walking in and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">around the small creek that ran through the
middle of canyon we noticed ripples in the water. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Upon </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">closer inspection we
could see the soft sand ripples at the bottom of the stream migrating slowly </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">forward with the current. Ripples begin to form through when the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">water disrupts the grains of the sand on the bottom of the body of
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The steeper, down current side of the ripple is always at the angle of repose.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VGXAoqaUY-o/U1mN3NLmISI/AAAAAAAACIM/5_oWUanqw1U/s1600/20140406_085211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VGXAoqaUY-o/U1mN3NLmISI/AAAAAAAACIM/5_oWUanqw1U/s1600/20140406_085211.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><o:p></o:p></span> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deeper in the
canyon, we noticed a large boulder with lithified ripples dating back to the
Jurassic Period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These embossed ripples
had been preserved over millions of years.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">What a great example of uniformitariansim. We could see modern ripples forming in a stream bed next to ripples formed in the Jurassic almost 200 million years ago.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-21168633041451346702014-04-21T22:32:00.001-07:002014-05-03T05:21:14.240-07:00The Kaibab Monocline<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-f5OFfDTlUvAmDqfq1BzYj8ayDDfSJ0FPlXnHAPopcwHQwua1KUlq_reLUnvrrbEmBU90eGnoUmCNJYirtG0bvM1iXpz9jg9OaGZ8dSz2SJ6u_IHIV0XF6Pgl8PVA4WxDfEWTKOC7oU/s1600/mono+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-f5OFfDTlUvAmDqfq1BzYj8ayDDfSJ0FPlXnHAPopcwHQwua1KUlq_reLUnvrrbEmBU90eGnoUmCNJYirtG0bvM1iXpz9jg9OaGZ8dSz2SJ6u_IHIV0XF6Pgl8PVA4WxDfEWTKOC7oU/s1600/mono+3.png" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During our
Geology Field Studies trip to the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument
the class camped within a structure called the Kaibab Monocline. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the right is a cross section of the Kaibab
Monocline as it looks near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A monocline is a one-sided fold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This particular one stretches north-south for
about 240 km and dips steeply to the east<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>- up to 60<sup>o</sup>-70</span><sup><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%;">o</span></sup><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
monocline was formed by subsurface movement on a fault during the Laramde
Orogeny between 50 and 80 million years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Tindall, 2000). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xSfZqOv3BP5s1gvh52_R0GDUlPFMsvyPvXwKFC_QKLwPBXnTPVmOUJ-hO0c7boRP_a0u401svZyJkFhbplTvxpIXRlQX5KtlwC0X3ZF9jlrLZyZ7MccBQVrVFB9dT4gHH9yMW_F4mKo/s1600/mono+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xSfZqOv3BP5s1gvh52_R0GDUlPFMsvyPvXwKFC_QKLwPBXnTPVmOUJ-hO0c7boRP_a0u401svZyJkFhbplTvxpIXRlQX5KtlwC0X3ZF9jlrLZyZ7MccBQVrVFB9dT4gHH9yMW_F4mKo/s1600/mono+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJcSHIk3M4uO0OkkJMVYFd2IY4nUt86-Yj8c_Jx7x0OXNW0hY5qknM_y_PVn_IM-KHY0SaP_X6omOkckMbMhNrBMPmyAg_TXhQmOW3DcIgHjbfhD4-SvUaGOoFv8KPKT9P7654TDIXI8/s1600/mono1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJcSHIk3M4uO0OkkJMVYFd2IY4nUt86-Yj8c_Jx7x0OXNW0hY5qknM_y_PVn_IM-KHY0SaP_X6omOkckMbMhNrBMPmyAg_TXhQmOW3DcIgHjbfhD4-SvUaGOoFv8KPKT9P7654TDIXI8/s1600/mono1.jpg" height="156" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Differential erosion of the tilted rock layers exposed
along the monocline has created a series of east dipping ridges and valleys.
Differential erosion occurs because less resistant rock layers like shale will
wear away more quickly than more resistant rock layers like sandstone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here,
the less resistant Tropic Shale and Carmel Formations weathered to form
valleys, while the more resistant layers like the Navajo Sandstone and Dakota
Sandstone formed ridges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stream erosion
of the ridges creates the triangular hogbacks seen here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Locally, this is called the Cockscomb. It
was the down-warping on the east side of the monocline that allowed the young
layers of the Wahweap and Kaipairowits to be protected from erosion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had it not been for the monocline, these
layers and all the dinosaur bones they contain might have eroded away long
before humans came around to discover them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reches, Ze'ev. 1977<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Development of monoclines: Part I.
Structure of the Palisades Creek branch of the East </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Kaibab monocline, Grand Canyon,
Arizona." <i>Development of monoclines: Part I. Structure of the Palisades Creek branch of the East Kaibab
monocline, Grand Canyon, Arizona</i>. The Geological<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Society of America, 25 Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><http://memoirs.gsapubs.org/content/151/235.abstract>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tindall, Sarah E.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> 2000</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> "The Cockscomb Segment of the
East Kaibab Monocline: Taking the</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Structural
Plunge." <i>Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments</i> 28 pages 1-15.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-20512858104597414152014-04-21T21:08:00.000-07:002014-05-03T05:21:35.729-07:00Dinosaur Excavation<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Before I went on our
geological field studies trip, I thought that by some strange coincidence,
paleontologists would just be walking along a random plot of dirt and find T.
Rex skulls and bones poking out of the ground, kinda like this 60’s
paleontologist guy below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-witmer/images/With%20T%20rex%20lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-witmer/images/With%20T%20rex%20lg.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> How wrong I was! I had no idea how much work
and effort a paleontologist puts into finding dinosaur fossils. I found the
whole excavation process very fascinating, and so that’s what I will teach you
about.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Before
a paleontologist even begins digging, he has to survey the area he’s working
in, and see if anything promising can be found. Fossils are found in
sedimentary rock layers, and the layer we did our work in was the Wahweap
Formation. A paleontologist surveys and prospects for fossils while hiking
along the bases of hills and such. Fragments of fossils erode out of the ground
and tumble downhill, so if any fragments are found at the base of a hill, you
search up the hill to find more!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">After
identifying what has been found (if anything) and if it was actually a fossil,
the paleontologist has to decide if it would be worth time and resources to
pursue an attempt to excavate any fossils from the ground. On public land,
permits must be obtained from the appropriate agency, such as the BLM or the
Forest Service, before an excavation can begin. Once a permit is acquired, the
paleontologist heads out with an excavation team and begins work. It involves a
bunch of digging with shovels and picks until the bone layer is found. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">When
the bone layer is found, the paleontologist will use only small hand tools and
brushes to carefully isolate fossils. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/a-paleontologist-brushes-a-patch-maria-stenzel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/a-paleontologist-brushes-a-patch-maria-stenzel.jpg" height="258" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Once
the top of the fossil is exposed, hardener is put on the fossil, and then the
fossil gets jacketed. The jacket involves lots of wet paper towels and strips
of burlap soaked in a liberal amount of Plaster. The jacket sits until it is
firm and solid. However, this is only the top of the jacket. Now the
paleontologist digs under the fossil and layer of dirt and applies more
jacketing material. When the bottom is solid enough to hold the jacket in
place, the jacket is flipped over and brought out of the dig site to the lab. Pictured
below is a large jacket being removed by an excavation team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi792IEEfB8fRoarxM5pbLdQ_0gKoC1QtwO9CKqjXmJK0-nhIETRX1Qn11XR4CZwxSJhvXT18e27v9DsPlu1UPY9ZyX43m3MYNBh1oQubHUzLYYU70idGv-fTwBf7i2xAVhxifaLGUJ5BPK/s1600/bonewithcast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi792IEEfB8fRoarxM5pbLdQ_0gKoC1QtwO9CKqjXmJK0-nhIETRX1Qn11XR4CZwxSJhvXT18e27v9DsPlu1UPY9ZyX43m3MYNBh1oQubHUzLYYU70idGv-fTwBf7i2xAVhxifaLGUJ5BPK/s1600/bonewithcast.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">This
is the process a paleontologist uses to excavate a fossil, and it’s totally not
what most people think happens when fossils are found. I was glad I had the
opportunity to go and learn about paleontology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-59612523648995945162014-04-21T18:04:00.000-07:002014-04-21T18:04:09.086-07:00Wahweap Stratigraphy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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For my blog post I have chosen to write about the
stratigraphy of the dig sites where we spent the majority of our time. The two main
quarries that we worked in over our two days in the Grand Staircase Escalante
National Monument were both located in the Wahweap Formation. The Wahweap Formation
is approximately 80 million years old. The climate and geological processes
that created it were perfect conditions for dinosaurs to live in and be buried.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Wahweap
is composed of mainly two types of rocks: sandstone and mudstone. The plant and
animal fossils found in these layers, such as petrified wood, Hadrosaur and
Ceratopsian bones, indicate that there was a climate that could support both plant
and animal life when it was being deposited. These sandstones and mudstones
were deposited in swampy lowlands, shallow lakes, slow moving rivers and
floodplains (<a href="http://www.gsenmschool.org/Geology/Unit_02/" target="_blank">http://www.gsenmschool.org/Geology/Unit_02/</a>). Most of the
running water flowing through the area, at the time, was runoff from the Sevier
Mountains to the west, flowing toward the Cretaceous Interior Seaway to the
east.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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As we look at the different
sedimentary structures in the Wahweap, we can see more evidence of its
environments of deposition such as fine grained sediment sizes and small scale
cross beds<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"> </a>which indicate slow moving streams and
floodplains. The loose mudstone slopes of the Wahweap also indicate that there
were lakes and swamps present. </div>
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This lush and humid climate was perfect for dinosaurs. Erosion
of the growing Sevier Mountains created a large source of sediment. The
mountain building to the west created a trough in front of it called a foreland
basin which allowed the large source of sediment to build up quickly creating
perfect conditions for the burying and preserving of the plant and dinosaur
fossils found there today. <s><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></s></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-23559953128903342442014-04-21T11:31:00.000-07:002014-04-21T11:31:32.000-07:00Siderite ConcretionsAt one of the quarries in the Wahweap Formation we were working on with Dr. Titus, the majority of the bones we were unearthing were rotten and past the point of being able to salvage. However, surrounding some of the rotten bone were rocks called siderite concretions. In the picture below you can see that this particular concretion was quite large and after we put it somewhat back together, you could tell that it was once encasing an 80 million year old hadrosaur bone -- the dark reddish color that you see is rotten bone still attached to it. According to Dr. Titus, these concretions often form around organic material and that’s why there was so much of it in this site.<br />
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/mmZJp25c_xYpLAAzPo3ehV0bx0aI7Xsfz12SPWIQ6FyRTJ0IVKvtGLN7NeBxvHQqfASW6asKZT73vnsOwAgpZvwAsDSdEDa3O_pXdIv8LMwCfOv5qsHYS6BSJgzhszSVhg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="10012729_616465285104738_2096722888_o.jpg" border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/mmZJp25c_xYpLAAzPo3ehV0bx0aI7Xsfz12SPWIQ6FyRTJ0IVKvtGLN7NeBxvHQqfASW6asKZT73vnsOwAgpZvwAsDSdEDa3O_pXdIv8LMwCfOv5qsHYS6BSJgzhszSVhg" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none;" width="400" /></a></div>
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According to geology.com, concretions are formed by groundwater leaving minerals behind in soil or sediment. Many concretions form around a fossil like ours. Usually the cementing material is calcium carbonate. But, it is common to have iron carbonate (siderite) nodules like those seen here.<br />
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The concretions were part of the process that caused the bone in this location to be destroyed. Also, the siderite encased bone was not possible to extract. But at least the concretions saved enough bone to give us an estimate of the type and size of dinosaur that had been preserved there.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-52205155282425315942014-04-16T22:52:00.001-07:002014-04-16T22:56:09.361-07:00Digging Utah's Dinosaurs - Video: Digging ItCheck out this video made by National Geographic in conjunction with their May 2014 issue. They did a story about about the area that Snow College students also get a chance to work in:<br />
<a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/utah-dinosaurs/dig-video">Digging Utah's Dinosaurs - Video: Digging It</a><br />
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SnowGeologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676946932850471408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-6060190283345803372013-12-16T22:02:00.000-08:002013-12-17T21:59:10.177-08:00Fall 2013 Geology Field Studies - Westan Robertson (student)During September of 2013, the Snow College Geology Field Studies class had the opportunity to go to Capitol Reef National Park. Most of the area is part of a monocline (a one-sided fold). Erosion of this fold exposes a many different rock layers from the Triassic Moenkopi Formation to the Cretaceous Mancos Shale.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">from <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/capitol-reef-national-park/171316">http://www.summitpost.org/capitol-reef-national-park/171316</a></span><br />
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We stayed at the UVU Field Station which is located in the park near Pleasant Creek. Exposed near the field station were the Moenkopi, Chinle and the cliff forming Wingate formation.<br />
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My favorite part of the field trip was the fault just north of Chimney Rock. We learned how to identify a fault in the field - the red Moenkopi was next to the green Chinle (instead of below it). We also found evidence of the fault in the form of both slickensides and fault breccia.<br />
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This was my first experience with geology in the field and it helped me to ensure this was what I wanted to major in. It was great it help me to understand the concepts in real application. I look forward to the next trip.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-48986906752635223172013-04-19T19:18:00.003-07:002013-04-25T21:56:15.371-07:00Grosvenor Arch<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLVZq_RTVCgn4QI-o1ZXwYsqsWwAF8SWqQvRPRYMwYw3cIHocJ9L4fUc9LwKmrjwqGK4h29g5vj3fOyoi9ys7K5bwhz1j-J-ZHZ1xkOmWg77un0MjoWiLN-c7oBnDkXVDDhkx5oOvXuWs/s1600/Grosvenor+Arch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLVZq_RTVCgn4QI-o1ZXwYsqsWwAF8SWqQvRPRYMwYw3cIHocJ9L4fUc9LwKmrjwqGK4h29g5vj3fOyoi9ys7K5bwhz1j-J-ZHZ1xkOmWg77un0MjoWiLN-c7oBnDkXVDDhkx5oOvXuWs/s400/Grosvenor+Arch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grosvenor Arch</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Grosvenor Arch is located in the northwestern corner of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. It is unique in that it is actually two sandstone arches towering 150 feet above the ground.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">1</span></span> The larger of the two arches is nearly 100 feet in diameter.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">2</span></span> The arch was named for Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor who was the president of the National Geographic Society and would become the first full-time editor of National Geographic Magazine.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">3</span></span> <br />
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The
arch is accessible from either the north or the south via Road 400,
also known as Cottonwood Canyon Road. It is ten miles by car from the
nearest paved road. When you reach the small parking area, there is a
sidewalk that will take you almost right to the base of the arch.<br />
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Water (and to a much lesser extent, wind) persistently carved away at the landscape to form this structure. <span id="ctl00_ContentBody_LongDescription">The arch is formed in yellow Henrieville Sandstone from the late stages of the Entrada Formation. The capstone layer is formed of darker Cedar Mountain from between the underlying Morrison and overlying Naturita Formations, and Dakota Formation sedimentary rock.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">4</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">1.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce_canyon/grosvenor.htm</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">2. </span></span>http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce_canyon/grosvenor.htm<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">3. <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Hovey_Grosvenor</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">4. </span></span>http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Southwest/Utah/GrandStrcase/GrsvnrArch/grsvnrarch.htmlUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-50555748206020536112013-04-19T17:11:00.000-07:002013-04-21T21:42:42.679-07:00Dinosaur Wrangler<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5789653568062931" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5789653568062931" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A white government issue truck speeds along the Cockscomb leaving a lingering trail of dust, the occupant seemingly uninterested in the stunning scenery that surrounds him. Another truck pulling a trailer creeps along, two sinewy cowboys dressed in Wranglers scan the landscape for stragglers, a Coors beer rests in the console, their cigarettes glowing a fiery red match the horizon as they are swallowed up in the dusk and another invisible valley. An unsuspecting car with California plates traveling towards Kanab crosses the plateau. The occupants probably unknowing that they have left Bryce Canyon National Park are unaware of the rich, biodiverse, paleo-treasure that lies to the east as they marvel at the rugged outcropping of rocks formed by the differential weathering of a monocline caused by a faulting in the basement rock during the Laramide Orogeny. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5789653568062931" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The wind carries the fine dust as it settles across the expansive dry landscape. The desert somehow becomes more dramatic with the knowledge that the region was once an area of moist peat swamps and rivers flowing into the Western Interior Seaway from the Sevier Highlands millions of years ago during the Cretacious Period. The Kaiparowits Plateau has not only seen a history of extreme climates but is also a plateau and a basin at the same time. The area to the east was uplifted during the Laramide while the Kaiparowits Basin was folded down. Later the area erosion of the Colorado River left behind a high plateau. This unique feature mixed with the rich paleoclimate created a perfect storm of sorts for dinosaur fossils and the occasional pristine preservation of a biological microcosm. Plants and animals frozen in place create a mysterious intrigue that pulls you back for more, a thirst to understand their origin, their life and their demise.</span></b></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The amount of new species and understanding of the history of our earth that has come out of the Kaiparowits is just the tip of the iceberg. The Kaiparowits Plateau or Basin depending on your area of study, is on the forefront of humankinds understanding of paleontology of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs. A white government truck parks on the edge of one of the seemingly infinite outcrops of the Kaiparowits. A jackhammer, shovels, pickaxes, probes and paintbrushes wait for hands to uncover just a few more feet and maybe the skull of a new species. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Albert Behling</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-64669974404624657162013-04-19T10:48:00.000-07:002013-04-25T12:11:44.603-07:00CSI Cretaceous<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYszn6IP9pexmRYdp9v7n2hMg0SNYs5X3aL65hlTSq_Fg5fP5sfO66dMItsZjhAKCE0Y14FNpsbmqwuGnIoKjaRFqgSh1lKMGIrpTwggbpde7xh7JJy45dHZQGyY1HqCFQfT4DwpB9Bw0/s1600/549137_10200978248763390_585004404_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While we were out digging up dinosaur bones Dr. Alan Titus told us that there is sometimes still evidence in the bones and around the bones of how the dinosaur had actually died. I (being a future forensic scientist) found this fascinating. I didn't realize that the same process that we use today to solve crime could solve the mysteries of the dinosaurs. It never occurred to me before that the way dinosaurs died could be determined in the same way that we solve crimes and events of today!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNKCbN2CMaAHH5mWiNvonSA6zGsBxZFRCTYb-1lVOmwdo4KxQK-QRBOo7q74lij4YHIEWvbC-rvryiXwkyzoqGvU4MQoB-r3b5Vn44lX60d_M0q74VzlJNYxhuQwhb2DVP-gQLOWNB48/s1600/549137_10200978248763390_585004404_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNKCbN2CMaAHH5mWiNvonSA6zGsBxZFRCTYb-1lVOmwdo4KxQK-QRBOo7q74lij4YHIEWvbC-rvryiXwkyzoqGvU4MQoB-r3b5Vn44lX60d_M0q74VzlJNYxhuQwhb2DVP-gQLOWNB48/s320/549137_10200978248763390_585004404_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sometimes there are bones that have teeth marks in them which tells you that the dinosaur was attacked. The pattern of teeth marks may help determine if this was the cause of death. The other fossils that are found around the bones and the type of rock that you find the bones in can tell you about the environment that the dinosaur lived in.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Hadrosaur that we dug up was interbedded with clams, fossil wood, leaves and turtle shell. The rock was also very clay rich. This told us that it was a probably a lake or pond on a floodplain. We also found a Tyrannosaurid tooth next to the bones. Maybe our hadrosaur had been attacked by the tyrannosaurid. More work needs to be done before we can determine this.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-76236150610247895592013-04-18T17:51:00.003-07:002013-04-25T12:12:58.399-07:00Float MappingA few of us were able to go out looking for dinosaur bones close to the dig site. At first all we knew was to look close to outcroppings on the sides of the hills, but as we explored and searched the area we noticed patterns in the pieces of bone that we were finding. We would find pieces that looked extremely weathered in the small washes and <br />
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at the bases of hills. Once we found these pieces we would generally find more pieces higher up the hill above where we found the first. As we moved up the hillside the pieces we would find appeared less and less weathered until we wouldn't see any pieces at all. When we stopped finding bone we would brush away at the hillside where the last piece was found and sometimes find the source of where the bone fragments were coming from, usually from a bigger piece of bone still partly covered by earth. Float Mapping usually refers to finding loose rock below its source, but we were able to apply the same principal in finding where loose bone fragments came from. This same process is how many of the dinosaur bones are found in the Grand Staircase.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-83065409342640279292013-04-18T00:15:00.000-07:002013-04-28T14:42:07.481-07:00Hoodoos<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HOODOOS</span></h2>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vAjMBT3SP88/UW-TTlg7SXI/AAAAAAAAAAw/sD1OOqBQjAg/s1600/544405_10200978256403581_2139912332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vAjMBT3SP88/UW-TTlg7SXI/AAAAAAAAAAw/sD1OOqBQjAg/s320/544405_10200978256403581_2139912332_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vAjMBT3SP88/UW-TTlg7SXI/AAAAAAAAAAw/sD1OOqBQjAg/s1600/544405_10200978256403581_2139912332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On our beautiful drive through the Grand Staircase National Monument to Camp K, we passed by some pretty cool structures, such as monoclines, hogbacks, arches, and my favorite, hoodoos! Hoodoos are found all over High Plateau region of the Colorado Plateau. They appear to have a "totem pole" type body shape, due to the erosion patterns of alternating hard and soft layers underneath a hard cap-like layer, acting as a roof. For example, soft mudstone or poorly cemented sandstone covered by a protective layer of well-cemented sandstone, limestone, or basalt. Further erosion of the softer layers causes the cap to be undercut, eventually falling off (balancing rocks), and the leftover cone is then quickly eroded (NPS.org). This is a great example of differential erosion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hoodoos are found mostly in hot, dry, desert areas. On our field studies trip last spring to the Moab area, we saw tons of them, especially at the Fiery Furnace! Interesting fact: minerals deposited within the rock give them the appearance of different colors throughout their height. In this image, the iron oxide makes the rock reddish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Information found from the National Park Service's Bryce Canyon website says that Hoodoos can be eroded when winter snow melt seeps into the cracks and freezes at night, called <i>frost wedging</i>. When the water freezes, it expands almost 10 percent and pries open cracks in the rock, making them even wider; similar to how a pothole forms in a paved road. Geologically speaking, they live a short life; their average rate of erosion is 2-4 feet every 100 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Information from National Park Service's webpage: <a href="http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/hoodoos.htm">http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/hoodoos.htm</a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pictured above: Hoodoos found outside of the visitor center at Red Canyon on Rte 12 west of Bryce Canyon. They are in the Claron Formation.</span></i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-3914018806882715192013-04-16T22:36:00.001-07:002013-04-25T12:33:54.913-07:00How can you tell the difference between a dinosaur bone and a piece of petrified wood?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMOV2C9-imVOQrujkWRXFLXXw_ACz3vLpyyMe5rH6O9f84DrMtoPqdc5gljIeYWHgWPl6ddfko1Ujhr9zu6opSiPys_zBQAEJLO7BUlV0R-gMcGVEjsFm49KOiGOVpx96PiSnUZuXFSE/s1600/DSCF6159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMOV2C9-imVOQrujkWRXFLXXw_ACz3vLpyyMe5rH6O9f84DrMtoPqdc5gljIeYWHgWPl6ddfko1Ujhr9zu6opSiPys_zBQAEJLO7BUlV0R-gMcGVEjsFm49KOiGOVpx96PiSnUZuXFSE/s320/DSCF6159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have learned the value of being able to properly distinguish dinosaur bone from petrified wood. While on our field trip I happened across what I thought was a large round piece of petrified wood. So thinking that it was just another chunk of cretaceous wood, I decided to see just how big it was. Before doing this however I conducted the “lick test” to make sure it was not bone. The reason the “lick test usually works is because bone is porous, this allows the moisture from your tongue to be absorbed into the bone. This causes your tongue to stick to the bone. Wood is not porous so it does not have the same affect. After doing this test I determined that's what we had found was wood. I soon learned that this test is not always accurate. It turns out what I thought was a large piece of tree was actually a Hadrosaur femur. The most sure fire way to find out if something is bone or wood is to ask a paleontologist. If you have any hunch that you have found a bone the best thing to do is take its GPS location and leave it exactly how you found it. <o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-34486789049588126982013-04-16T22:22:00.000-07:002013-04-25T13:10:10.808-07:00The Kaibab Monocline<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our class was able to meet with Dr. Alan Titus in the Grand Staircase National Monument. We helped dig up some real dinosaur bones. It's not every day you find yourself digging up something you've seen only in the movies and natural history museums. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="EN"><br />We were asked to give a brief explanation of something we learned on the field trip. I have chosen a geological feature known as the East Kaibab monocline. A monocline is a single bend (mono) of rock strata. (picture below)</span><span lang="EN"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUhaVXI9alKYod1QTg6vQ81_5VLcUMsz-P9wWdqkMa7v4cpKbbZ_FZQv2JFenzG-FBNFLfpOC2Wtb5k-OBoY1jzGZIZ7LiglabkZRzz6PtZvOgMw0i-JR4S7J4bqiExk064ISp_BHCUhq/s1600/800px-Monocline01_svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUhaVXI9alKYod1QTg6vQ81_5VLcUMsz-P9wWdqkMa7v4cpKbbZ_FZQv2JFenzG-FBNFLfpOC2Wtb5k-OBoY1jzGZIZ7LiglabkZRzz6PtZvOgMw0i-JR4S7J4bqiExk064ISp_BHCUhq/s320/800px-Monocline01_svg.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span lang="EN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The East Kaibab monocline dips from west to east and runs north to south. The formation of the monocline is due to a west dipping reverse fault. This fault lays in the Precambrian rock beneath the newer folded Mesozoic and Paleozoic Rock. The hanging wall of the reverse fault moved up and pushed up overlaying rock with it. The foot wall moved down allowing the rock above to settle. Over millions of years the Mesozoic and Paleozoic rocks has slowly been eroded down into jagged hogbacks and deep slot canyons. The weather resistant sandstone forms most of the protruding hogback features. East (picture looking south) of the Navajo and Dakota sandstone the less erosion resistant Tropic Shale (Caleb Franks is standing in) forms a valley that parallels the monocline. (picture below)</span><br />
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<span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNABeaV80xqbgR__H_KydF_nK4wOw76xlOfAnQ8Zw9N3LfpnzEhlIxAjaYNDalQiZPT5D_lZ9V4Q4zlOQzKlIh2Vx2qOp_cMJ5bb7y4v4V80dYt_Nqgj2C7eXuuTqHYAzm8Qz-u9G6FNzC/s1600/IMG_3685.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNABeaV80xqbgR__H_KydF_nK4wOw76xlOfAnQ8Zw9N3LfpnzEhlIxAjaYNDalQiZPT5D_lZ9V4Q4zlOQzKlIh2Vx2qOp_cMJ5bb7y4v4V80dYt_Nqgj2C7eXuuTqHYAzm8Qz-u9G6FNzC/s1600/IMG_3685.jpeg" /></a></span></div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-54372331402471648072013-04-11T18:33:00.000-07:002013-04-25T13:13:17.409-07:00Crevasse SplaysI can think of few events in my life that can compare to digging up dinosaurs with Alan Titus. Not that there haven't been fantastic moments in my life, but digging up dinosaurs with a busy paleontologist is just kind of unique experience that not a lot of things compare to. That just goes to show how incredible geology really is.<br />
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While working with Alan, digging up what we think to be a Hadrosaur, in the Grand Staircase National Monument, I was told about an interesting event that happens along rivers called a crevasse splay. Some of the dinosaurs were found in crevasse splay deposits. My interest was peaked and so I will attempt to paint a picture for you.<br />
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Imagine that it is the rainy season of the year. The river's banks are filling and soon the water will overcome the levees. It isn't anything new to the area seeing as this is a well established meandering river. As you are overlooking the river, you see a weak point in the levee begin to give to the weight of water against it. All of the sudden the river breaks through at that point. It starts out small but rapidly grows into a side channel. The swift moving water from the river cuts a ravine in the soft levee sediment. As you look past that point where the levee broke, you see a Hadrosaur grazing in the flood plain. You call out to it to move out of danger but it is too late. The water overtakes the dinosaur and it disappears from view. Soon you can see the sediment carried from the river, through the crevasse, and out into the flood plain settling into a fan shape. You, however, don't see the unfortunate Hadrosaur.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUiit6bo6RxyUCOTcjq66eFYdFJFPud7QW25lVV_QOJ5bjI2hudRsgbibmlZM6RuWkN95kxGFlwWP0YdoWlCApdgTXxOxRoEh8-s1kvdD2oItFeIihnuPaAlGTEIIiIovfYe3WKtL3XA/s1600/Crevasse+Splay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUiit6bo6RxyUCOTcjq66eFYdFJFPud7QW25lVV_QOJ5bjI2hudRsgbibmlZM6RuWkN95kxGFlwWP0YdoWlCApdgTXxOxRoEh8-s1kvdD2oItFeIihnuPaAlGTEIIiIovfYe3WKtL3XA/s1600/Crevasse+Splay.jpg" /></a></div>
This is an aerial view of a crevasse splay. One much like an unsuspecting Hadrosaur could get caught up in. Turns out that crevasse splays are fantastic places to find well preserved dinosaurs. However, sometimes the river's cut bank will erode far enough into the flood plain to scour out buried dinosaurs and other fossils. Pretty cool stuff, right?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-33537360840732023702012-05-08T16:57:00.000-07:002012-05-09T06:23:32.534-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM006xKiShA2OMb1BJm2X5jidMjYCoDMrRFUv8XgXRZA8I3YZT_kLK7IUlsKYB1htH8QgyyT-vOYPgjKxYe5sMvEO_gJ2hEtwauqVi0S5PNe9ZVeYLV70m9f0zaPpghc8sjB1AdU71x0k/s1600/Arches_Firey_Furnace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM006xKiShA2OMb1BJm2X5jidMjYCoDMrRFUv8XgXRZA8I3YZT_kLK7IUlsKYB1htH8QgyyT-vOYPgjKxYe5sMvEO_gJ2hEtwauqVi0S5PNe9ZVeYLV70m9f0zaPpghc8sjB1AdU71x0k/s320/Arches_Firey_Furnace.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On are wonderful trip to Moab we spent a lot of time in Arches National Park. I would like to tell you about the difference between a natural arch and a natural bridge. Natural arches most often form when there is a narrow section of sandstone that is permeable that sits on top of shale which is impermeable. When water seeping through the sandstone meets the shale it is forced out forming springs. The water will begin to erode the shale and weaken the sandstone by dissolving its cement. When this happens the sandstone begins to be undercut and rock fall will occur until a hole is formed creating an arch. The arch then grows upward through successive rock falls. Natural bridges form where a stream once ran. One type of natural bridge is created by potholes in a streambed. The stream may undercut the lip of a pothole to form a natural bridge much like in the photo of Skull Arch. This is called a pothole arch. Everyone should go on these field trips. You learn so much about the cool things the earth does and see some of the most amazing sites mother nature has to offer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-67781176673002136662012-05-07T20:07:00.002-07:002012-05-09T06:27:08.602-07:00<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahIxKG5UtJIVTvApNyprSEHRQjAcyF3DTv7UWXdhaBBb4sIlY5ln-a1FO_itYvr9JWrKX_w9IaQiMEn7__tSrTwNEbh1Mqwt1YyDlD1QxrZ3LQu1ly2dk-8glaSvC44u_uWwPKnTlMMUZ/s640/IMG_3568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahIxKG5UtJIVTvApNyprSEHRQjAcyF3DTv7UWXdhaBBb4sIlY5ln-a1FO_itYvr9JWrKX_w9IaQiMEn7__tSrTwNEbh1Mqwt1YyDlD1QxrZ3LQu1ly2dk-8glaSvC44u_uWwPKnTlMMUZ/s400/IMG_3568.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicate Arch</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 200%;">On
the spring 2012 field trip we went to Arches National Park. We saw a ton
of beautiful arches and a lot of other cool geology. My favorite arch of
the trip was Delicate Arch. It is the same arch you can see on many of
the Utah State license plates. I had no idea that the arch was so big.
The arch is pretty high up there.
You can sit and watch birds flying beneath you. Through the arch
you can see the La Sal Mountains. We got to stand underneath the arch and
touch it. It was amazing! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVo9lZzAjhkXAL8SKea2bVv6raoyak7Wr76JRW1Fd2XI6r3Vgpe1Xv777wvQwHMey5xnexUxWoWkzoFoR1a6ncetfv-aw_SDksc-gGcxUsUyIO70AgSZ7ajtqw7-wYvt4s0ytx4jGSUavh/s640/IMG_3559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVo9lZzAjhkXAL8SKea2bVv6raoyak7Wr76JRW1Fd2XI6r3Vgpe1Xv777wvQwHMey5xnexUxWoWkzoFoR1a6ncetfv-aw_SDksc-gGcxUsUyIO70AgSZ7ajtqw7-wYvt4s0ytx4jGSUavh/s200/IMG_3559.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fault to the side of trail -Slickrock Member<br />
on left, Morrison Fm on right.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 200%;">However, the arch wasn’t the only cool part
of the Delicate Arch Trail. The small
hike up to the arch was pretty cool in and of its self. There was a
smaller picturesque arch on the way up there. Also, when we were hiking up the Entrada formation we stopped and looked at
some ripple marks formed by the wind during the Jurassic. Because of ripple marks you can even tell
what direction the wind was blowing almost 200 million years ago. On the
start of the hike we saw a fault to the side of the trail. This fault formed from the collapse of the Salt Valley anticline. It's really cool to actually be able to see faults. Next to that fault We saw a lot of little white lines in the Slickrock Member of the Entrada
Formation. They were joints and mini faults in which fluids has precipitated calcite I had come across lines like that before I took geology, but I didn't
know why they had formed. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Because of geology class I now know how
arches formed and a whole host of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">other things I have always wondered about. During the field</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">trip, it was great to
actually see the things we had learned </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">about in class.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyOZ0x126pIvE1VD1jaYiDyw6ldCI3-eOM5QoHWSkL6e1u2rj9C3K7EWdP2POI9b_qQQAEyJ38OsSY1IgBBYAcoc5brzgaX6H9A6UVQmpUW4m-NvlAg9Z3_uyFcU4x9YnMlilGKHrmQSA/s576/IMG_3560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyOZ0x126pIvE1VD1jaYiDyw6ldCI3-eOM5QoHWSkL6e1u2rj9C3K7EWdP2POI9b_qQQAEyJ38OsSY1IgBBYAcoc5brzgaX6H9A6UVQmpUW4m-NvlAg9Z3_uyFcU4x9YnMlilGKHrmQSA/s320/IMG_3560.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calcite filled faults</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-2487861647483124412012-05-07T10:22:00.002-07:002012-05-07T10:22:37.650-07:00Groundwater BleachingTo be entirely truthful, (as compared to partially truthful), few things in the world are as cool as the study of rocks. Particularly Sedimentary rocks. Like Judy from "What's Up Doc?" I share the sentiment that "I can take your igneous rocks or leave 'em. I relate primarily to micas, quartz, feldspar. You can keep your Pyroxenes, magnetites and coarse grained plutonics as far as I'm concerned."<br />
As such, the field trip we took to Arches National Park was most exceptionally engaging. The different formations we saw tell of the history of the Earth, and within Arches, of the Mesozoic period of time. It's like the ultimate time machine, but without having to wear the bulky safety suit! Off to dino Land!!!<br />
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One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was our journeying through the Fiery Furnace (which was aptly named btw.) Within the Fiery Furnace we saw that in the Entrada layer of Sandstone, there were streaks of white sandstone within the red. This was like, seriously cool, because for my research paper I had written on groundwater bleaching that had taken place within the Navajo Sandstone, and I realized that the same general processes that had taken place within the Navajo had also taken place within the Slickrock Member of the Entrada. As acidic groundwater (pH 4.8 or less) had travelled through the sandstone, it removed the iron oxide coating that coated the individual quartz grains.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7XXqiWCECB-vWBmWhhx442E76wSoAevnANM-TNIXpnFqmehAZGjyn0gBnfiVl_xUx4-eOsO43KdYFZFTXZXy8PwBP3dgBbL46vbRQenR9OsnnW7PvtCZCyXsQGxZ6WjfBaYJKthh/s1600/IMG_3410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7XXqiWCECB-vWBmWhhx442E76wSoAevnANM-TNIXpnFqmehAZGjyn0gBnfiVl_xUx4-eOsO43KdYFZFTXZXy8PwBP3dgBbL46vbRQenR9OsnnW7PvtCZCyXsQGxZ6WjfBaYJKthh/s320/IMG_3410.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
In this picture we can see bleaching that has taken place from groundwater. In the front is the Navajo Sandstone, which is bleached. In the back is the Entrada Sandstone, and on the right side you can see a layer of white stone within that layer. Cool huh? Fact.<br />
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In sum, Geology is boss. You should all major in it. The trip was fantastic, and I learned a whole lot! But aside from the academic aspect of it, we also had so much fun! We went to Rock shops, and somersaulted down sand dunes. Good times.<br />
<b></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5562477003405903591.post-72493677445670441432012-05-06T23:43:00.000-07:002012-05-06T23:43:45.856-07:00Salt Valley Anticline Graben<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", sans-serif;">On our way to Arches National Park for our awesome field studies spring 2012 course, we stopped at a little pagoda to learn about the Salt Valley Anticline just before the turnoff on Rte 163 towards Moab. The most exciting feature of this anticline is the huge graben that has formed over time. First, it started out with the formation of the anticline: in the Paradox formation, salt well below the earth's surface began to rise as it flowed upward. As it rises, it pushes the rock and sediment on top up with it, forming an n-shaped hill or a dome. This deformation is what created the anticline. Because of this uplift, the rock starts to form cracks called joints that allow water to pass through all the way down to the salt, where it begins to dissolve. Where the salt is dissolved, there is weak rock or gaps that, with the help of gravity, cause the rock layers to collapse and form this spectacular graben. (Picture above: The collapsed Salt Valley anticline in the center of Arches National Park)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0P22hADtowYkjcOe13I-ebNkkH8YYYjcOSqwoJznRz_W9-adbPy8zWHx9Fr18SVzO8YlSVQDeJkNKbF9p2nmdwXSKBM2gpnS_uY_soB_KxcsU54qujd1yXRwLzsaeXCDaRI7fdHKFLxe/s400/P1010594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0P22hADtowYkjcOe13I-ebNkkH8YYYjcOSqwoJznRz_W9-adbPy8zWHx9Fr18SVzO8YlSVQDeJkNKbF9p2nmdwXSKBM2gpnS_uY_soB_KxcsU54qujd1yXRwLzsaeXCDaRI7fdHKFLxe/s320/P1010594.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", sans-serif;">And our field trip only got better from here! We got to see lots of arches, fins, toured Fiery Furnace, saw amazing faults, huge large-scale cross beds, hogbacks, dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs, balancing rocks, tons of fossils, poured acid on plenty of calcite, and ended it off chillin at Dead Horse Point. We saw the coolest stuff!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1