Geo 730: July 28, Day 574: Backing Up

On my last trip up to Quartzville, we stopped at a locale I'd almost forgotten. When I did this trip with middle-school-aged students, first, the safety issue was iffy; there's not a whole lot of berm here. Enough for adults who are accustomed to paying attention, but not really for a dozen or so excited kids. Second, while it's an informative and interesting spot, it's esoteric enough to be not terribly interesting unless you've already got some background. Third, with kids, there's a lot of time wasted getting into and out of vehicles, which means this stop just makes a long day longer. Overall, just not worth it.

However, on the most recent trip, we did stop here. As the post title indicates, it's well before Green Peter Dam and the zeolite/calcite stop. The best landmark is an old schoolhouse which appears to have been recommissioned as a daycare or preschool sort of thing, on the outside of a bend in the road. That school sits on a glacial-era fluvial terrace. Since then, erosion by the Middle Santiam River and roadwork has cut down into the terrace gravels, exposing this excellent example of imbrication. In the roadcut below (NE from) the school, the pattern of gravel deposition indicates right-to-left current direction. Unsurprisingly, that's the same as the modern river flow.

Photo unmodified. June 19, 2012. FlashEarth location.