Saturday, December 14, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 14, Day 348: Sheared Breccia

Looking more closely at roughly the center of yesterday's photo, the shearing across the rock is more apparent. I can't with any confidence pick out a single clast that's been cut and offset by one of these faults, but there's one I'm suspicious about, just above the center. This is roughly equivalent to the cracked pebbles I had hoped to see at Humbug Mountain, but these aren't pebbles: they're mostly cobbles and boulders, with some finer material in the interstices. It's also much more of a monolithic source material than that of Humbug. It looks like basalt, but I didn't look carefully enough to be certain. On top of that, again like Humbug Mountain conglomerate, this material has been somewhat metamorphosed. Though it isn't terribly apparent at this scale, the stringers of secondary minerals are sticking out from the rock face, indicating they're more resistant to weathering and erosion than the host rock. As I said yesterday, I suspect it's mostly quartz.

I tried a couple of processing steps to see if I could un-muddy this, but wasn't content. Auto level was too stark, and didn't bring out any more detail. Then I darkened that substantially, which I thought was an improvement. Below are those results:
Top photo unmodified, others processed as described. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 13, Day 347: South of the Stack

...looking north. This is the same sedimentary breccia as the last couple of days, but I think there's something else going on here, as well: a significant shear zone dipping to the right. In addition, there's much more secondary mineralization on this face, as compared to the east face, which can be seen as stringers and vein-like features all over the exposure. As we'll see tomorrow, this material is weathering in relief- that is, it's more resistant than the rock around it- and I think it's probably quartz.

Photo run through Paint.Net's autolevel routine because I'm tired of blah-gray pictures. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 12, Day 346: Breccia Closeup

This is a shot zoomed in closer to the right middle of yesterday's photo. The bedding is crude, but it's definitely there, dipping to the left. Of particular interest to me, though, is the sharply angular nature of the clasts. It seems unlikely this could have been transported more than a few miles from its source.

Photo unmodified. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 11, Day 345: Sedimentary Breccia

I almost described this as "conglomerate," then I took a closer look. Given the angularity of the clasts, I think "sedimentary breccia" is a better description. This is on the road side of what looks like a large sea stack, tectonically uplifted enough to be mostly above sea level- completely, at high tide- on the shore south of Gold Beach, Oregon.

Photo unmodified. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 10, Day 344: Disappointing Serpentinite

A few miles south of Gold Beach, Oregon, Route 101 passes by a beach access area with the best outcrop of serpentinite that I know of in Oregon. I was disappointed, though not really surprised, that ODOT decided to armor and obscure this outcrop. The problem is, this stuff is yearning to fall apart and does so with alacrity. Boulders and blocks of serpentinite, however appealing to us geotypes, do not play well with traffic. While it looks as if one might be able to get a peek to the left (north) end, over by the "Do Not Pass" sign, we were cold and tired, and decided to just check out the beach. While there's no equivalent rock exposed there, we did find some loose chunks of it in a ditch, and there was much more of it to be seen at a different location the following day...

Photo unmodified. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Geo 365: Dec. 9, Day 343: Hydrocephalus Rex

Can't really say if it's true, but to my eye, this guy's head is just too damn big. Prehistoric Gardens again.

Photo unmodified. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: Dec. 8, Day 342: Prehistoric Gardens

We both agreed that this wasn't going to fit on this trip, but Dana wanted to stop and check it out. Established in 18 1955, and reflecting perhaps a bit of the actual scientific knowledge of that era, it is what it is, and you know exactly what you're going to get. I've never actually been into this "feature." and as far as I can remember, this was the first time I'd even stopped. I think this Yelp review sums it up perfectly: "The best way to describe this place is: big dumb concrete dinosaurs in the middle of the forest. That being said, it was a random, fun, hokey roadtrip stop."

I suspect the best way to enjoy this attraction is thoroughly intoxicated, but that leaves the driver plain out of luck.

Photo unmodified. May 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.