Geo 365: August 3, Day 215: Tafoni 6

Another view of the spine from yesterday; oddly the north side of this object shows none of the tafoni that nearly covers the south side. However, there's plenty to see in the surroundings. The pools sitting on the bedrock surface were brackish- yes, I tasted- a mixture of ocean water and either seepage from the terrace deposits or rain water. I suspect seepage, as it hadn't rained in several days here. Dana and I were extremely lucky on this trip in terms of weather. To get as much sun at the coast in March as we did is unusual.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: August 2, Day 214: Tafoni 5

An odd spine of resistant sandstone embellished with yet more tafoni.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: August 1, Day 213: Tafoni 4

Dana standing near some of the tafoni-weathered knobs of resistant sandstone. The unconsolidated terrace sands are well exposed behind her in the mid-distance.


Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 31, Day 212: Tafoni 3

More tafoni at Shore Acres State Park, near Charleston, Oregon.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 30, Day 211: Tafoni 2

It's not terribly obvious at this scale (right-click and open in new tab to see details more easily), but the knobs in the above photo are covered with what appear to be honeycomb-like pits. This is tafoni weathering, a phenomenon that is not well understood. I tend to associate it with saline environments- either marine shores, or enclosed basins in arid settings. I don't think it's limited to salty areas, though, and numerous explanations have been proposed for how it occurs. Whatever the mechanism, it's appealing and fascinating.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 29, Day 210: Tafoni 1

Tafoni weathering on a loose boulder sitting on the eroded platform at Shore Acres State Park. Lens cap is 52 mm diameter. Dana's mussel shell has not been calibrated, as far as I know.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.

Sunday Funnies: Sharing Edition

Poorly Drawn Lines

Sober in a Nightclub

Washington Post, in reference to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's long history of sexual harassment supposedly to enter a 2-week "treatment." Not familiar? Article at link lays it out well. But not funny.

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He’s 20, much like your IQ.

Excerpts from court transcripts at Funny to Me. Many others at the link; the last one is the best.

Blackadder

Dr. Boli

"Nope, Nope, Nope" at Funny to Me. Several other funny cat gifs at the link.

Cheezburger

Tastefully Offensive

TYWKIWDBI

Julia Segal

@KarynBryant

What Would Jack Do?

Bits and Pieces

Funny to Me

Shannon Wheeler

deeptrout

Very Demotivational

"When undergrads present data at lab meetings" What Should We Call Grad School?

One of a large number of panels in "Star Wars Vs. Game of Thrones" at Imgur.

Senor Gif

Jim Benton, Via Tastefully Offensive

Tastefully Offensive

Cheezburger

Very Demotivational

Clay Bennett

Blue Gal

Liz Climo

Bits and Pieces

This is just weird. Are You Talking to Meme?

Joy of Tech

Wil Wheaton's Tumblr

GraphJam

Bits and Pieces

Geo 365: July 28, Day 209: Denuded Terrace

To the north of Cannonball Rock, the shoreline is less protected, and heavy spray from the crashing surf has eroded the terrace deposits off the bedrock. The combination of erosion by spray, salt heaving, and tafoni weathering has created some wonderful forms, which I'll be posting over the coming days.

Photo unmodified. March 8, 2012. FlashEarth location.