Hi Readers!
Well after a few days of resting following a 15 day whirlwind geology field excursion around eastern California and Nevada, (with a fleetng stop in Arizona) here are some pics I have taken. This first batch largely focuses on the Mono Basin and Long Valley of eastern California. We were going to stop at Obsidian Dome to look at "my baby" but nearby Mammoth Mountain recieved
600 inches of snow this winter, apparently double the usual amount according to the person that does reservations in Mammoth Lakes. Mammoth Mountain was mantled with thick snow cover and skiers were still carving crisp turns on the slopes. Needless to say, Obsidian Dome, (and the road leading to it) was still coloured white. In late April. I was scheduled to do my talk regarding the geology of Obsidian Dome in front of my travel mates while on Obsidian Dome, but Panum Crater had to suffice as an imposter. How do you spell "dang"?
That said and done, here are some pictures from the first couple of days on the trip,
Map for geographic reference:
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| The famous tufa spires on the south shore of Mono Lake, California |
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| Large spherulite in Obsidian from the Glass Mountains (NE margin of Long Valley Caldera) |
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| Nice reverse fault cutting the distal, non-welded Bishop Tuff exposed at an abandoned pumice quarry just north of Bishop. |
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| Nice photo showing densly welded, more proximal facies of the Bishop Tuff exposed in the Owens River Gorge. Note the nice wisps of flattened pumice, or "fiamme."This was slightly overhanging so, in order to show scale, I faintly denoted 1 cm to the lower left of the large angular lithic clast, near the centre of the image. |
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| View of the Hot Creek Geological Area. Ahhh the sight of hot springs and fumeroles and the sweet smell of volcanic perfume is a nice way to end a day of geotripping. :-) |
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| Yours truly warming his hands in "Handwarming Fumerole." Informally named by me thanks to the nice handwarming qualities of this particular fumerole. The temperature outdoors was kind of nippy at the time, but not too bad. Handwarming Fumerole was far from scalding in temperature. |
Hope you enjoyed these photos, and I'll post a second batch in the next few days.
Untill nxet time: Prosper geologically!
~Cole K.
Above photos (c) 2011 by Cole Kingsbury
