Water and Rocks...at the Same Time

Dr.Joaquin Cortez talks about Chilean Mining Rescue

2010-10-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

Mastery of the masters degree.

2010-06-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

Recent Oneonta State Masters Program graduate Randall Willson was kind enough to send me a copy of his masters thesis and I decided (with his permission) to post it on here. The following excerpt is only the abstract to his 148 page thesis. Enjoy.

THE SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE MANLIUS FORMATION (PŘÍDOLÍ?) AND ADJACENT UNITS: LOWER HELDERBERG GROUP, CENTRAL NEW YORK
The correlation of disconformities within western portions of the Helderberg outcrop belt in New York State has clarified stratigraphic relationships within the Manlius Formation and between the Manlius and adjacent units. Throughout the region, the Minelot Falls Unconformity marks the contact between the Thacher Member of the Manlius and the underlying Rondout Formation. However, at Skaneateles Falls, the Elmwood C Member of the Manlius rests on the Rondout Formation owing to onlap along the edge of the basin.
The Clockville discontinuity that marks the top of the Thacher Member and the base of the overlying Green Vedder Member (GVM), has been correlated westward, nearly to the limit of the outcrop belt. The GVM persists through this area, though it is significantly thinner than in eastern localities.
Tracing of the Olney Member has revealed a previously undocumented occurrence of branching stromatoporoids (Clavidictyon) in upper portions of the member, stratigraphically much lower than previous reports. Rather than grading imperceptibly into the Dayville Member, the Olney is unconformably (Terrace Mountain Unconformity) overlain by the Dayville, a relationship that is clearly displayed in the town of Manlius. Therefore, strata previously assigned to the Olney east of Manlius, N.Y. are herein considered to be parts of the Dayville Member.
A subaerial unconformity preceded Elmwood deposition and progressively beveled older units westward. The “Manlius tongue,” mapped by Rickard (1962), is not a simple progradation of Manlius strata into the surrounding Coeymans facies, but is a result of the misinterpretation of the uppermost Dayville strata as “undifferentiated Elmwood.” The top of the Elmwood/base of the Clark Reservation Member is also unconformable. Trypanites-bored hardgrounds throughout the Clark Reservation suggest significant stratigraphic condensation within this unit. The notion of a “Manlius tongue” is further compromised by recognition of a second subaerial unconformity that preceded deposition of the Jamesville Member. Traced eastward, this unconformity truncates the Clark Reservation, the Elmwood and then the uppermost portion of the Dayville Member before it is cut by the descending Howe Cave Unconformity near Cherry Valley. These stratigraphic relationships further emphasize the need to reassign the Dayville Member from the Coeymans Formation to the Manlius Formation as suggested by Ebert and Matteson (2003).
The GVM (informal, upper thin-bedded Thacher) of the Manlius Fm. is present within most sections studied, and is characterized by hummocky cross-stratified wackestones and packstones interbedded with mudstones and calcareous shales. Beds of the GVM typically display flat basal contacts overlain by planar to cross-laminae and less commonly rippled caps, a sequence typical of tempestitic shelf deposits. Firmgrounds to hardgrounds developed on upper surfaces of many beds (mm to few cm) are strewn with ostracods, brachiopods, encrusting bryozoans and horizontal burrows of Planolites indicative of post-storm recolonization. Equant spar-filled fractures (mudcracks of Laporte (1969), and others) are common along hardground horizons in mudstone-wackestone beds and are interpreted as subaqueous in origin. Interbedded calcareous shales and mudstones exhibit ramifications of Medusaegraptus (a dacycladacean alga), vascular plant debris, soft tissues of annelids, microbial mats, and rare tentaculites.
Thicknesses of the GVM at Oriskany Falls and Munnsville indicate maximum basinal subsidence in this area during deposition. At western outcrops, hummocks are much broader (> 1m) than their counterparts to the east. Shallower facies to the east are demonstrated by hummocks with much shorter wavelengths, sometimes displaying a nodular appearance associated with large ripple/dune forms. Correlations between outcrops displaying the GVM indicate an eastward shallowing from Oriskany Falls to Schoharie. To the west of Clockville, upper beds of the GVM are truncated by the overlying Olney Member of the Manlius Formation via the Terrace Mountain Unconformity. The presence of this sediment-starved, storm-dominated shelf setting in the presumed peritidal Manlius Formation raises new questions regarding the evolution of the Appalachian Basin during Helderbergian time.

Footage of Eyjafjallajökull

2010-05-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

...I first saw this video through GeoTripper, who got it from Little Red Tent and Americablog. Video by Sean Stiegemeir.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

New Photos on Flickr...of Zion

2010-05-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Zion is my favorite natural place on our planet. It is simply indescribable as anything but.

Sadly, this past summer I was only able to spend two nights in the majesty of this land. I took a few photos, but you absolutely have to experience Zion for yourself.

Go here to book a trip. It is worth your time.

Or, go here, to check out my Flickr snaps of Zion.

New Group on Facebook

2010-05-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've noticed many blogs have recently created fan pages on Facebook. I've thought about doing this myself, but have decided against it.

Rather, I have just created a new group for those of you who appreciate maps.

Maps, maps, maps.

I have created a group, simply entitled "Maps."

Geologic Maps:

Political Maps:

Digital Maps:

All Kinds of Maps.

Please join, and invite your chums. Also, if you frequent this blog, please become a follower, so I can get a better idea of the interests of the readers, and write further on what other would enjoy reading.

Thanks.

Also, we may have a new author soon. The suspense thickens.

Finally starting to notice?

2010-04-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I fired up my email account to see a new USGS Release waiting for me.

"USGS To Award $4 Million in Earthquake Research Grants"

Hmm. Maybe it's about time. Inhabitants of our planet are starting to take notice. In this short calendar year, we have seen quite a few devestating seismic events hitting populated area and regions proximal to high population centres. Along with the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the science of geology is becoming more and more a part of everyone's lives.

Take a look at your TV guide when you get a chance. Over the past few years, National Geographic, Discovery and Science Channel have produced many a show pertaining to geologic phenomena, but only now are we beginning to see repeated shows, marathons, and even geologists themselves narrating said programs.

Of particular commonality, I believe I have seen Iain Stewart's How The Earth Was Made series, and volcanologist Guy de Saint Cyr, host of On The Volcanoes of the World. For the record, I recommend both of these programs. On The Volcanoes..., however, is much more adventure-themed, rather than teaching-themed, but you may be able to see some things you never have before.

It is a bit troubling that tragedies such as Haiti, Chile, and most recently the Qinghai quake of China; are what it takes for seismic hazards to be noticed.

Shameless attempt to stay active in the geo-community

2010-04-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

Since I have a meager full time job an hour away, I dont have time to go hunting for fossils like rockmaster Ruuy does (uber jealousy). I sometimes work 11 hours a day, often six days straight. On my days off, I coach a youth soccer club (crossing fingers for a 8-0-0 season). Anyways, I read a book awhile ago written by Jack Horner, Professor of Paleontology at Montana State University and from the sounds of it, God 2.0. The title of the book is "How to build a dinosaur." I suggest going out and buying this book. Its yummy.

Horner and his author-sidekick James Gorman, after explaining the idea behind the book, describe in detail the vast paleontological digs they took part in. The Hell Creek formation in Montana is a hotbed for dinosaur fossils (jealousy meter rising again). Later in the book, Horner begins to propose his hypothesis on hatching a modern day dinosaur using chicken DNA. Horner compiles the physical similarities between chickens and ancient dinosaurs and further supplements it with similar traits in their chemical and genetic makeups.

I'll leave the actual book review to Good Books and Wine, but Horner does infuse a good amount of humor into a potentially dry topic. He also dumbs down the writing so non-rockology readers can understand the concept. It was a good read.

They're not Seahorses, They're Eurypterids

2010-04-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

With the coming of a new season, one which does not bury the Central New York strata in many feet of snow, is the gradual opening of an unofficial hunting season.

The snow disappears, some glaring ball of fire in the sky once again shows it's face. The ground dries out and pack boots are not required for simple tasks such as walking dogs or getting the mail.

Colorful birds show up or molt from earth toned ones, singing the hunter into the woods as he finally - after months of researching, planning, readying the weapons and of course - dreaming of the kill.

This time has approached in central New York. The season is open.

It's time to hunt some fossils.

ON Tuesday earlier on this week, fellow dead-animals-in-rock enthusiast Randall and myself decided to meet up in Mohawk, NY to start a journey through the Silurian and Devonian boundary rocks of New York's Mohawk Valley. Stops were planned in a total of three counties (Herkimer, Oneida and Madison) known for sedimentary rocks of the middle Paleozoic seas.

Starting near Mohawk, NY; our first stop were Dayville Member carbonates...which are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, near the town of Getman Corners.
On top you can see some the much more planar-bedded Dayville. Member. We're still in the (upper) Devonian at this point.
Here's a huge tabulate coral. Huge by my standards, anyways. This guy is the biggest I have found. The entire top layer you see in the first image is composed, almost entirely, of rocks similar to this. Float blocks at the bottom of the slope (which you may also view in the first image) are composed entirely of tabulates.

We then decided to do a short little drive in the nearby Spinnersville/Ilion area, in the vicinity of Lang's Quarry, famous for Eurypterids of the Fiddler's Green in great quantity and quality. As we neared Lang's however, there were up to six POSTED signs on each tree letting us know that we were not welcome. Maybe someday.

So we continued on to across the valley towards Litchfield. Near Jarusalem Hill there is a fine outcrop of Fiddler's Green in which Randall promised Eurypterid pieces. We got one better:
Probably not complete enough to identify beyond it's genus, but still a great specimen in my opinion. I just managed to hit the rock in perfect spot, and this guy popped out. Randall also collecting an excellent carapace.
This one was from a much bigger specimen, but as you can see, is quite incomplete. This came from a piece of float, so trying to find what could have been the carapace would be like, well, finding a Eurypterid carapace (not easy).

Then on to some of the Green Vedder Member (Devonian). Randall was here to collect some shales, and I was there to finally bite into my pulled pork sandwich I had packed five hours before. We did not stay long, as the aggregate company across the road had someone staked out watching us.
We then visited the amazing Mosquito Point Outcrop in Munnsville(ish) which contained one of my favorite Devonian Formations, The Coeyman's Limestone.
The darker rocks towards the top are Coeymans. The lighter, whitish rock, was composed almost entirely of these guys (On the right):
Tabulata abound!

The Rugosa sp. to the left is from the Coeymans.

Typical Coeymans:
Two nice fat gastropods. Gastropods, though incredibly interested to me, are not my specialty. I wish I could at least place them in a Genus, but alas, cannot at this time.

We ended at Stockbridge Falls, over the hill and across the valley from The Mosquito Point outcrop.
The area was littered with Onondaga Limestone (Onondaga Formation), which in this area is likely to overlay either Coeymans or Kalkberg Limestone of the Helderberg Group of the Early Devonian.

Eyjafjallajokull Jokulhlaup Video!

2010-04-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

(Look at all those vowels...)

A heads up i credited to Dave's Landslide Blog for posting this video earlier this morning (probably afternoon in Durham by now) but needless to say, this is a must see - not only for geologists and rock hounds alike, but for everyone. I mean everyone.

I will write up a post shortly on jokulhlaups - their causes, mechanisms and past events. Truly amazing phenomena. Stay tuned.

Dinosaurs on Baseball Cards

2010-04-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to brew up a quick post on the intermingling of two of my favorite past times.

Dinosaurs and Baseball Cards.

Recently, card companies have been exhuming the remains of baseball cards past. This includes resurrecting themes which vanished hastily when baseball cards first died in popularity. This was almost 100 years ago at this point, so I don't believe anyone who reads this will know what I'm talking about. Old designs are intentionally being reused, and with this theme, old idea. Back when card still came with tobacco, card would also come printed with pictures of boxers, flags of nations far away, historical figures, and of course, dinosaurs.

But I know many people love to collect dinosaur related things, and these "things" are my favorite.

Right now, I only have two dinosaur cards, and I will post them here.

The first, is Taurosaurus:
As you can see, Upper Deck, the company which makes these, did a hell of a job. They are actually "mini" in size, roughly 1/2 to 1/3 the size of a normal card. You can count on getting one "Natural History" card in every fourth pack, so they're not very easy to come by for a modest collector.

From the back of the card:
"The Taurosaurus, meaning "Wide Perforated Lizard," lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (About 70 Million Years Ago.) With a length of 25 feet and a weight of up to six tons, the Taurosaurus had two long horns over it's eyes."

Granted, you cannot fit much on the back of one of these cards, so understandably, the descriptions are brief.

Now for my favorite.
This one is from 2008-2009 set, out for almost a year now. I looooves me some Stegos. They may have spent a little more time on this set, or maybe they're just better for having much more iconic dinosaurs, but here is the description for this one:

"An armored herbivore of the late Jurassic period, the Stegosaurus was distinguished by the dual rows of pointed, bony plates that ran along it's back as well as the long, dangerous spikes that rose from it's tail.

Roughyl 30 feet long, 15 feet tall and six tons in weight, the Stegosaurus' brain was only about the size of a walnut."

Way to dis the beast at the end, Upper Deck. Still, I'd rather be a Stegosaurus than anything that ever lived, except for maybe Eurypterus remipes, Amargasaurus cazaui or Canis familiaris.

If you're interested in finding some of these for yourself, hit up eBay and search for "UD Champs National History" or "2010 Allen Ginter Monsters of the Mesozoic" later this summer.

Dinosaurs and Volcanoes

2010-04-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

I came across this great post today at Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs. If you have not discovered it yet, I suggest you check it out. And if you can, join and submit some Vintage Dinosaur Art to the Flickr Group!

Here's the first one I came across, and I have to say it's quite perfect:

This is from page 403 of Prothero & Dott Jr.'s Evolution of the Earth Textbook. If I could scan the cover, featuring one of the most amazing Amarghasaurus art of all time, I'd get that in there, too.

Disappearing Stream Video

2010-04-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

So I'll have to do some more snooping around with this stream. It seems to be getting bigger every year, and I am yet to figure out exactly where this particular stream is discharging into the river (if it is, even).

Redundant, But About Time

2010-04-03T08:57:00.001-07:00

At risk of sounding redundant, I'd like to reiterate Callan Bentley's tweet yesterday of "About time..." in regards to the Obama administration FINALLY putting an end to this environmental catastrophe.

Is Glen Canyon Dam next? Probably not, but I can dream.

Photo taken from Coal is Dirty.

Science Caught in the Act - Dam Break

2010-03-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

I threw this video together earlier today. This is another of a series of videos from "The Station", a first order drainage in which I conduct fluvial experiments. In this case I have released a plug from underneath a dam (fallen log across the stream) and record what happens with the stream afterward.

Enjoy.

Hey, Look - Fossil Leaves

2010-03-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

So this blog has had a steady diet of paleo lately, and, well, I'm okay with that. My initial thought in the formulation of this post was to pick a random image from the Western Regional Field Course this past summer and make a short little post on it, to keep the readers (all seven!) on their toes.

The above image is from Mesa Verde National Park in the southwestern corner of the magnificently geological state of Colorado. In reality, all states are amazing geologically, even Nebraska (you can't see the Ogalalla, but they still have a Fluvial gem in the Platte).

Mesa Verde may be most well known for the excellent preservation of Anasazi cliff dwellings, but the geology of this park is truly amazing. Perhaps Aucoin will get into the geology-archaeology intertwining in a future post here.

Back to the leaf fossils. The fossil leaves fall into the appropriately names Mesa Verde Group, a late Cretaceous, cliff-forming brown and gray layered sandstones. The importance of the leaf fossils were integral in determining the depositional environment of the Mesa Verde Group.

With the fossil leaves of the Mesa Verde Group, paleontologists or fossil seekers may find other wood debris and a huge variety of plant species, but rarely, if ever, marine fossils. The fossils are so well preserved in some places that the cuticles of the leaves can be peeled off of the rock when freshly split (Raynolds, 2007).

As of Raynolds, 2007, over 100+ seperate leaf species have been identified in late Cretaceous rocks in Colorado. Further investigation led to identifying many of these leaves as drip-tip bearing angiosperms. Drip tipped leaves are common on today's Earth in humid, high rainfall tropical rainforests. the drip-tips relieve the plant of leftover runoff moisture, which can lead to mold and disease in plants.

With the presence of these plant fossils, and the lack of marine specimens, coupled with the grain size and distal relationships (source and sink) of the sediments, the Mesa Verde Group has been labeled a lagoonal type deposit.

Sources:

Raynolds, Robert G.; Johnson, Kirk M.; Ellis, Beth; Dechesne, Marieke; Miller, Ian M. 2007. Earth History Along Colorado's Front Range: Salvaging geologic data in the suburbs and sharing it with citizens. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80205.

Johnson, K.R., and Ellis, B., 2002. A Tropical Rainforest in Colorado 1.4 Millions Years after the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary: Science, v. 296, p. 2379-2383.

Note: The above sources do not refer to leaves of the Mesa Verde Group. The units are similar at Mesa Verde to those of the Castle Rock Flora site, and this was the reason I used these papers. That, and, they were the only source I am aware of.

Who wants to help on a little project?

2010-03-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. Short of writing a full review at this time, I'll just say this - it was amazing, and something every nature fan, natural scientist, angered youth or disgruntled conservationist should read. I mean it. I'll even lend out my own copy. Absolutely mandatory read.

On to the plan. No, I do not plan on blowing up the Glen Canyon National Sewage Lagoon Dam. What I'd like to do is grab a few maps of Arizona and of course, Utah; and retrace George Washington Hayduke's journey through the lands. Being somewhat familiar with the country, I did so already while reading the book. I got through most of Southern Utah without a problem, but will need to consult some maps to complete it all.

Anyone else interested?

Getting Along With Geologic Time #1 - The Silurian

2010-03-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Graptolite Monograptus tomasii and early plant Baragwanathia longifolia
in Silurian silicics of Australia. Image from Geological Society of Australia.

Welcome to what hopes to be a long list of "Getting Along with Geologic Time" series. The introductory period will, of course, be the Silurian. Why the Silurian first? Why not?

This series of posts will not be (geo)chronological. If it were, it would be no fun. Plus, I know a good quantity of Oneonta Staters that wouldn't log onto this blog for months if they knew the evil, evil Devonian was coming along.

So here we go, Silurian Stylee.

The Beginning

As with all geologic periods, the beginning of the Silurian is characterized by new life after a substantial loss of biotas worldwide. In the case of the Ordovician/Silurian (OS) boundary, there was a mass extinction of 60% of earth's biotas at this time, mainly devastating marine shelf-life. The mass extinction(s) were second in magnitude of deceased marine species, only to pale in comparisson to the horrible events circa 249 MYA. Interestingly, the OS mass extinction is classified by two events, one at approximately 442 MYA another a short 1 MY later. During this time, Gondwanda was drifting into the higher southern latitudes, eventually passing near (possibly completely over) the Southern Pole. This process led to a cooling of the land masses, and likely a global cooling to boot. This cooling, of course, led to extensive glaciation of the Ordivician world. Thus, the world's waters became trapped within extensive ice masses, and sea level dropped. With the corresponding drop in sea level, shallow marine life suffered due to extensive habitat loss. Bryozoans, brachiopods, bivalves and echinoderms suffered the greatest.

The Origins

Silurian refers to a Welsh tribe, the Silures. In 1835, the term "Silurian" was coined by none other than British geologist Roderick Murchison, in a series of events which led to the initial geologic time scales. In a joint paper with fellow Adam Sedgwick, On the Silurian and Cambrian Systems, Exhibiting the order in which the Older Sedimentary Strata Succeed each other in England and Wales; the birth of the geologic time scale, as we know it. Sort of. The partnership of Sedgwick and Murchison would later dissolve over disagreements between the end and beginning of said periods. However, Charles Lapworth later defined a new period in between, the Ordovician, resolving the conflict.

The Epochs

(Europe, North American Equivalent(s))

Llandovery, Alexandrian (443-428 MYA)
Wenlock, Lockportian/Tonawandian (428-422 MYA)

Oldest known Tracheophytes appear

Ludlow, Cayugan (422-418 MYA)
Pridoli (418-416 MYA)

Named for the town of Pridoli in the Czech Republic, where excellent exposures of the SD (Silurian/Devonian) occur

Paleogeography of the Silurian

Image courtesy Dr. Ron Blakey, Northern Arizona University

As stated earlier, the Silurian geography can be characterized by a slow, southernly drift of supercontinent Gondwanda. Aside from Gondwanda, there were a number of other land masses and cratons drifting towards the equator. These multiple land masses were in the business of colliding around the equator, leading to the Caledonian Orogeny. During this time, land masses of the current New York State, Greendland and Norway were colliding in order to form a second supercontinent, Euramerica.

If you take a look at the image above, generously shared via Wikipedia and UNA's website by Dr. Ron Blakey; you'll notice a massive ocean dominating the northern hemisphere. This ocean, known as Panthalassa, was accompanied by the southern oceans of Proto-Tethy and Paleo-Tethys, which later evolved into, you guessed it; the Tethys Ocean. Also present was the Rheic Ocean, a seaway of the Iapetus.

Paleoclimate of the Silurian

After the Ordivician-Silurian cooling event, the Silurian period experienced a prolonged greenhouse phase. The glaciers which formed with Gondwanda's passing over the South Pole almost disappeared during the Silurian. With the rebound in Ordovician sea levels, the Silurian saw a return to general climate normalcy, in contrast to the erratic conditions of the Cambrian and Ordovician.

Multiple stratas of coquinas (sedimentary rock composed of broken shell fragments) characterize many units of Silurian formations. These conquinas are evident that violent storms were common in the Silurian. Plentiful, violent storms are typical of time periods in which shallow, easily warmed sea surfaces.

End Silurian Mass Extinction Event(s)

The end Silurian extinction, in comparison to others, has been rather neglected in terms of research and understanding. Rumblings has produced trite reasoning such as "probably caused by climate change..." and other vague scenarios.

The widely accepted Lau Event at 420 MYA, the final of three extinction events ending the Silurian; is viewed as a peak in sigma 13 C (blogger does not allow for greek lettering and sub/post scripts) levels. However, the Lau Event, characterized as a massive conodont extinction events, lags behind the disappearance of index fossils by at least one million years. Building upon this event, some paleoclimatologists have theorized another glaciation event as a possible climatic situation contributing to the extinctions.

So what's so great about the Silurian?

So we've reviewed the main concepts of the Silurian. No much ice (lame), a good amount of warm-weather storms (very awesome) and relatively quiet orogenies (Caledonian Range is all we really have to show for it).

What really sticks out about the Silurian is the organisms. The Silurian period is home to the first tracheophytes and land-dwelling vascular plants.
Cooksonia, above, and Baragwanathia, shown in the first image on this page; are some early examples of these early vascular plants. Vascular plants are those which are able to carry food through lignified tissue, and are exclusive to land. Modern examples of vascular plants include ferns, clubmosses, flowering plants, conifers and gymnosperms.

We have the Silurian to thank for these precious lifeforms today.

While the Silurian was an integral time for the plant life of planet Earth, life in this time was dominated by the oceans.

Fishes underwent important changes. The first fish with jaws evolved, and those without jaws diversified.

Some of the first animals to take to land, various centipedes and scorpions, did so during the Silurian.

And there's these:

Mixopterus multispinosus

Eurypterids, arthropods of the Chilicerata subphylum; first diversified and became prominent in the Ordivician, but they're just way too cool to not be mentioned. They absolutely ruled Silurian waters (sea water, that is. Eurypterids are expected to have taken to fresh water in the Carboniferous.)

One particular Silurian eurypterid is known as one of the largest arthropods ever know (and by known, of course, we mean fossilized), Pterygotus. Pterygotus was capable of reaching an enourmous 2.3 m (that's about 7', you imperialists.) However, as is so common in the fossil record, biggest is certainly not the best. Pterygotus died out by the middle Devonian. Four species of Pterygotus existed, with P. anglicus being the type species. The genus was first described by none other than the legendary Louis Agassiz in 1839. (Go Switzerland!)

And, for a little joke:
Did you know elephants diversified in the Silurian? Neither did I!

Stay tuned for more Getting Along with Geologic Time.

Sources:

Don't be completely discouraged by Wikipedia. Most of the time, the articles are written by legitimate scientists with proper sources. I always check the sources before using the information.

The Paleontology Portal

Wikipedia - The Silurian

Wikipedia - Vascular Plants

Go baseflow go!

2010-03-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Due to the current state of the economy and the current job, I do not have the funds or time to conduct elaborate experiments at the time being. So for now, try to enjoy a series of extremely amateur mini experiments!

I was reading the paper the other day and saw an article stating there was a possibility of some flooding. I was able to scrap up some petty cash (no joke) and purchased a cheap rain gauge. I was able to rig it up to the door of the dog cage in my backyard like so:

After returning 24 hours later, it yielded ~4.4cm of rainfall for the previous night.

The opening to the gauge has a total 2.54cm(sq) surface area for a total of 4.4cm of rainfall per 2.54cm of surface area. This amount of rainfall for a 24 hour window in a much larger space plus baseflow from higher elevations and still melting snow would definitely cause some amounts of flooding....alike so:

Things to get Downright Fluvial About

2010-03-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

After a few days, I went through the videos of the drainage experiments, and here they are:
**As of 3/23/2010 17:18, Two of the three videos have not yet been processed by YouTube. Please be patient, they'll be up soon.

#1 - Quick Mass Movement

#2 - Mass Movement and Damming

#3 - Earth Dam Break + Knickpoint Migration

I left out the best part. I ripped some leaves away from around a groundwater seep and watched a beautiful drainage pattern form. However, as soon as I calmed down from the beauty of it all, I clicked the camera on to get a blinking battery icon.

These things happen. I was able to snap a good amount of photographs of it though, and they should be up within a few days.

Also, look forward to this blog linking up with my flickr account within the next few days.

The New Directions of Water and Rocks

2010-03-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Since my return from the NE/SE GSA conference this past week, it has been increasingly difficult to rage on over topics typical of this blog. I wanted to take this blog slow, waiting until a solid faction of followers was present, and grow like like to CO2 levels in our atmosphere (zing!). This hasn't been the case. Debuting in May 2009, Water n Rocks has only totaled 4 followers. Two of which are authors of this blog, and two are emotionally involved with authors.

It isn't about the followers, and due to adding Water and Rocks to Facebook traffic has been on the rise. Mostly from a small mountain town in Southern NY, and some image searches which have led viewers here ("People write about rocks and water?!").

Needless to say, this blog is not a diary. I started it in order to open peoples eyes to the wonders of out natural world. Yes, with emphasis on geology, geomorphology and hydroscience; but still as a source of pictures for people who just want to discover new natural phenomena in their own backyard.

It was quite embarrassing on the art of this blog to be outright rejected by a very populat blogroll, Nature Blog Network. I will not link to this site as I do not wish to start a word war with these folks, rather I just want to pass on this new life anecdote I have learned from this experience.

Don't take anything too seriously. I was pretty upset with the rejection. "We feel your blog does not match our interests...(paraphrased)" was downright insulting at the moment I read the terse email. Why would a blogroll intended to bring people into their community reject someone searching for a community to belong to? It doesn't make much sense. But this is not the point of this post. The point of this post is more of a State of the Blog address.

So without further adieu, here is what you have to expect in the next epoch (see what I did there?) or Water and Rocks...at the Same Time.

Field Research

I am currently conducting makeshift experiments in first-order drainages in hope of finding insight into catastrophic flooding - think Lake Missoula floods, the "biblical" flood, etc. This is more intended for educational purposes rather than hard science. Quick and Dirty, if you will.

Textbook Diving

Anyone who knows how I function can recall and excessive amount of textbooks, from amazing to awful; on a bowed down shelf in my room. From time to time I will be diving into these textbooks, finding diagrams and visual aides to help clarify geologic and hydrologic concepts - both quantitative and qualitatively.

Pictures!

The photos from the Western Trip of 2009 do exist, I swear. I was doing a photoblog type presentation of this trip, and may continue to, but not in the frequency I was. I burned myself out with massive posts on locations. Trying to fit a week of the Grand Canyon into one post is...well, impossible.

Philosophy

Just kidding. I do not believe in philosophy (dodges poorly thrown bricks). Instead, I plan to question whatever I feel like, from other scientists' research to my own (clay varves in CNY?! Bullshit!)

Themed, Seriesed Posts

And making up new words, like seriesed. Along with the textbook dives, I also plan on multiple types of posts with a common title or theme. One of which will be glimpses into geologic history. Most common, I will go back to the Plesitocene and Siluirian. Because they're awweeesommmme. Deal with it.
And more. I don't know what, yet, but be ready for anything. Also, I am looking to start a new blog in which the ONLY topic will be geology, hydrology and biological field trips (this includes paleo-goodies).

And as always, please comment, leave positive and negative feedback, and if you are interfested in becoming an author at this blog, please let me know.

Who knows where ideas come from. They just appear.

2010-03-17T17:37:00.001-07:00

Time to think about whatever for the first time in almost a week.

The rain killed all the snow, so the field season is back and full of piss and vinegar.

I exhumed the bookface after years of dormancy. Three years dead. Science is a hell of a drug.

I played in a first order drainage for two hours today. I diverted flow. I built dams out of clay, pebbles/cobbled and debris. I watched sediment bars build, surface, drown, erode and grow up to be sediment is another bar downstream.

I took videos of a bank collapse, bar formation and upwelling.

Three packages came in the mail. Oh, happy day.

A bill came in the mail for loans. Oh, terrible day. (It's okay, they'll be dormant again for two years.

Bookface has transformed into a terrifying ad machine.

I'm still waiting on my Buffalo email account, to detach myself (slightly) from the substance abuse capital of college, Oneonta State.*

According to a talk at GSA by Callan Bently of Mountain Beltway, GeoBlogging is on the rise. Maybe I'll shout at him to check out this site and the winners over at Second Floor Science. Good kids over there.

Something you may not hear so much: How can I delete friends from bookface?

I have a dream. That dream is to build a house. Within this house, a staircase. Within this staircase, in ascending order, slabs of the Grand Staircase.

I can ride my bike with no handelbars, no handlebars, no handlebars.

I have so much to do with my life. I just want to play in water.

Dear Baltimore, you embarrassed yourself with your so-called Buffalo Chicken sandwich. Stick to blue crab and lake trout.

This is the most amazing graph of water usage I have ever seen. During the USA/Canada gold medal hockey match:

I have another new blog idea. Geology field trips only. I would be looking for multiple contributors, world wide.

*Disclaimer: Most of the students at Oneonta State are good human beings. Some casually drink and know how to control themselves. Others, not so much.

Huh?..Wha?...Oh. Hello Spring.

2010-03-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Like bears waking from hibernation, us non-glacial geologists awake from the winter coma ready for some hot, outdoorsy geology action. I personally am looking forward to locating and dusting off all the research gear and heading out into some remote creek or stream but any geologic expedition would not be overlooked. Keep checking in on any fun and wacky adventures we all get into this spring and summer!

Oh, The Colors!

2010-02-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

Looks like some nasty precipiation heading this way. I love watching storms like this slowly work their way west from Buffalo/Great Lakes to eventually lose power and totally disappoint me when they get to central NY...

A Break in the Nothingness of Water n Rocks'... winter

2010-02-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

So in case you couldn't tell, I got into UB. I received a digital acceptance last week, but the final hard copy came in the mail today.

This is my second acceptance letter I've received overall (two out of three aint bad!) and both have come in a small envelope. This scared me originally in my Oneonta acceptance, as I was led to believe (via movies and such) that acceptance came in big beautiful 9"x11" manilla packets, or in boxes with hats, scarves and whatever college-labeled flair they can recruit you with. It's become obvious that either A) I'm just not that great a candidate, but just good enough to get in or; B) even colleges are cutting back on recruiting or persuasive techniques.

Anyways, I'll be in Buffalo this fall, unfortunately, without a project at this point. I got in on MA rather than MS basis, which isn't what I wanted, but will do for now. My plan is to get into an MS by semester #3, if not, I'll do the research my damned self. I've done it before.

_______________________________________________________

I've also extended an invitation to Joey from Oneonta/Port Jervis, NY to contribute to the blog. "Rock Doctor Aucoin" has created his own series of websites and such, so it seems like he's out for the time being. Tony is still here and looking for that magical glacier.

_______________________________________________________

My plans until grad school in August right now are jumbled. I'd love to get to GSA NE/SE in Baltimore, but right now it seems unlikely. I might start planning some summer camping/geology trips this summer, before asshole decides to shut down every park in the State. If this really goes through, I might spend my summer defended New Yorker's rights to access our beautiful land.

_______________________________________________________

Winter Hiatus

2009-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

Not much to do in the winter in CNY in terms of geology, so I'll be taking a break for a while. Based on Tony's amount of posts lately, he will be to.

Since No One Reads This

2009-11-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

Direct Quote from Co-Author Tony Grimes:

"I'd have a fluvigasm."

Water without Rocks

2009-11-17T12:30:00.001-08:00

The USGS is reporting (or was, on November 9th) that the amount of pesticides has decreased in the waters of America's "Corn Belt". For those of you unaware, the Corn Belt is an agriculturally dominated region of the Middle United States, centered mainly over Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

The USGS study states that pesticide levels have dropped over the decade-long period from 1996 to 2006. This is a direct result of fewer applications, mandated by the EPA, to corn plots throughout the region.

Pesticides which were accounted for were mostly herbicides applied to corn and soybean farmland in order to control weed growth. In total, eleven chemicals were monitored, including acetochlor, cyanazine, metolachlor. Though most levels declined due to enforced reductions in applications, S-metochlor was introduced, which was stronger in concentration than it's predecessor, thus reducing the amount in rivers.

How does "solid" geology work into it all? Skip Vecchia has the answer:

“The steeper decline in these instances (EDIT: atrazine and metolachlor) may be caused by agricultural management practices that have reduced pesticide transport, but data on management practices are not adequate to definitively answer the question. Overall, use is the most dominant factor driving changes in concentrations.”

However, not all pesticide concentrations decreased over the time. Simizine, a pesticide which can also be used domestically, as well as along roadsides by transportation departments, rose more sharply than the usage trends would suggest.

Rivers surveyed were included within the Upper Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri watersheds.

Source: Pesticide Levels Decline in Corn Belt Rivers. Bob Gilliam, USGS.

You can take a look for yourselves at the following websites:
USGS Newsroom: Pesticide Levels Decrease in Corn Belt Rivers

An interesting find

2009-10-30T03:37:00.001-07:00

I found myself driving up the road past my mother's house and I spotted an unique outcrop at a local swimming hole. Even though I had driven and run past this outcrop many, many times, I just noticed it for the first time as a geologist. It is possible it was exposed from hillside runoff during a flood event that occurred in 2006. Take a look.

As you can see, the exposed rock to the left of the picture is tilting back into the hillside while the rock to the right is still positioned horizontal. The distance between the two exposed outcrop is a matter of a meter or two. Here's a closer look:

Unfortunately, the outcrop itself is pretty inaccessible. Recent rain events have flooded the river to the point where crossing it will be risky and the top of the ridge is private property used for hunting. This is definitely on my list of outcrops to check out.

Phytoplankton for everyone!

2009-10-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I found this pretty cool article on geology.com and it reminded me of a Dan Brown book I read awhile back. If you like science like I do, then you'll be able to focus more on the "what ifs" about the book than the writing. Deception Point turns out to be pretty neat-o if you're interested in sciences.

8.0 Earthquake near Samoa

2009-09-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

A heads up to GeoTripper for pointing this out earlier today. A magnitude 8.0 earthquake rocked the region around American Samoa today, with an epicenter just 135 miles from mainland Samoa.

Originally, tsunami warnings were issued as far away as Hawaii. NOAA has since canceled these warnings, as Pago Pago, located in Samoa, only experienced waves with a maximum amplitude of 1.57m and a period (frequency) of 4 minutes. (Source, NOAA)

The Tonga Trench, located just west of the earthquake center, has been a very active tectonic region - with the Pacific Plate moving underneath the Australian Plate at a rate of 86 mm/year. Currently, the USGS believes that a normal fault occurred here, near the outer rise of the Pacific Plate. (Source, USGS)

If you want to check out the location of the quake, drop the coordinates "15.558°S, 172.073°W" into Google Earth and check out the proximity to Pago Pago and Samoa, as well as the beautiful images of the trench just to the west of the epicenter. No wonder there was a seismic event here.

Update: Tsunamis were reported in Pago Pago, contrary to the data I received from NOAA. According to CNN, a 3m tsunami hit just after the earthquake.

A one sentence post on...Wasserfalles!

2009-09-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Excellent Website of the Week

Marcellus Shale and you

2009-09-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

As most "geology knowledged" people know, the Northeast United States is sitting on top of billions of gallons of oil in the Marcellus Shale formation. Being from and living in upstate New York, I am not immune to all the hulabaloo surrounding it. I see signs for rallies and meetings everywhere.

It is nice to see that several people have taken the initiative to form these groups and organizations to inform the public of the details of oil drilling. I was even asked by an acquaintance to set up a meeting with the professor of all geology professors, Dr. James Ebert, in an attempt to better understand the geologic side of the issue (although his group would be run better if he knew how to turn on a computer).

You stay classy, internetz.

Another Strike Against Global Climate Change

2009-09-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

I like severe weather. Studying radar maps and seeing bigger storms year after year. I like when the summer gets hotter than normal, and winter days drop into the negatives. That kind of global climate change, I must say, excited me.

However, I don't like bitter beer.

Researches in the Czeck Hydrometeorological Institute have concluded the quality of Saaz hops, a mild variety used in pilsner such as Pilsner Urquell, has decreased over the last fifty years. This decrease in quality (attributed to lower Alpha Acid percentage and lower yields) has led to a bitter brew, and decreasing yields.

The articles can be viewed here:
Czech Meteorological Institute: Climate Change Depresses Beer Drinkers
Edible Geography: The Taste of Climate Change

In case you were wondering: The image above, courtesy of Wikipedia, is a map of the Czech Republic. In beer caps.

Random Geology Photo #001

2009-09-23T20:20:00.001-07:00

The first installment of Random Geology Photo comes to us from The Garden of the Gods outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. This beautiful, almost 90 degree rotated bedrock plane was titled "on end" during the Rocky Mountain Orogenies, though I cannot guess as to which one as of right now.
This wonderful red-orange rock, and pink in certain light, is mostly Triassic sandstone, with various sedimentary structures such as ripple marks. There is also pebble-pavements present, (as well as a little aliteration) which may not be attributed as a common sedimentary structure, but I for one believe it should considered.

Ice Core Delight

2009-09-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

I was surfing geology.com about a month ago when I came across this article published by the National Geographic and subsequently posted on geology.com.

For those of you who are unfamiliar or inexperienced in glaciology, I posted a video interview with Penn State glaciologist Richard Alley to help you learn a little bit more about the science and history behind glaciers plus some impacts of glacial melting.

Enjoy!

Back to Reality

2009-09-20T16:48:00.001-07:00

First off, let's welcome Tony to Water and Rocks... The wait was long overdue, I've been waiting for someone to post with for a while now.

A little update: Today was my last day of work at Historic Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, so posting should become more common now. This winter I plan on some pseudo-research, as it becomes rather difficult to study geology under six feet of snow on the Tug Hill Plateau. I plan on heading back up to Salmon River Falls a few more times, as well as a little bit of deer-trail observations, but that will probably be over at Into The Woods.

Check back soon.

Greetings

2009-09-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Roy-z was kind enough to invite me to post on his blog and I decided to start off with telling ya'll a little about me. I was born and raise in Otego New York and attended Unatego Jr/Sr high. I recently graduated with Roy from Oneonta State with a degree in Geology. My area of interest focuses on fluvial geomorphology as well as sedimentology and stratigraphy. Prior to graduating, I was involved in researching the movement of sediment particles in stream settings. Unfortunalty, I left the project uncompleted when I graduated and I would like to continue sometime in the future.

I also have a great respect for nature and all its "happenings." I often sit and wonder how many of Earth's processes work. I hope that in the future that I will obtain a better understanding of the workings of our planet.

Until next time.

New Laptop Plug

2009-09-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

So it seems Water and Rocks...At The Same Time might be back up and running respectably again. It's only been about 2 months (is that too long) of computer failures, work, GRE studying and other non-geology, mostly canine-related time consumption. However, thanks to my new, fancy, computin' machine, it looks like the future can be restored (did that blow your mind?!).

Anyways, time to plug the new laptop. Thanks to a sick deal at Best Buy, I got myself a new Gateway NV-52 for a cool $560. Most comparable notebooks, such as the Dell Inspiron 15 and various HP abominations, would run roughly $630.

Specs: Vista 64-Bit and Windows 7 upgrade, 4GB of sheep, and a cool 320GB (advertised) hard drive. I think it's a sick deal.

Let's Get Back Into It

2009-09-06T06:33:00.001-07:00

So, computer problems aside, and no real replacement laptop available yet, I've decided to maintain writing about our wonderful environment and the ground we walk on, without the use of question marks, sound, and the final letter of the alphabet.

During my browsing yesterday, just an hour before work, but interesting enough to cause me to be slightly later than normal, I ran across a link on EPOD (which, by the way, has a pretty new layout) for geography-based maps. Now the subject would cause most to be bored to tears by the simple concept of maps of demographics, income, computer usage, this website, World Mapper, has all kinds of maps, including geologic disasters, natural resources, fuel usage, and many other earth-science, meteorological and hydro-based goodies. I encourage everyone to go check it out.

Western Update: I'll be posting again soon, as the Amusement Park will only be opened Friday-Saturday-Sunday after Labor Day. So no fear! Pictures of sunsets, cliffs, deadly trails, rockfalls and occasional (tamed) Grand Canyon wildlife are on their way.

FAIL

2009-07-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

My Toshiba has recently developed a nasty sickness and may not survive the night. INcluded on my baby were the pictures from this summers Colorado-Arizona-Utah trip. The fact of it all is that those picture may never be seen again. Best case scenario my harddrive is still salvagable and we'll be back up and running in no time. Likely scenario: all is lost.

Colorado Springs - Mesa Verde

2009-07-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

...is pretty much just a westward trek through the Rockies in southern Colorado. Now, before you hardcore Rockies enthusiasts come at me for that last statement, mind you: we were just passing through at this point on our way to Mesa Verde National Park. If it were up to me, I would have checked out the Tepee Buttes, Spanish peaks, anything and everything between Colorado City and Durango - but it wasn't up to me.

BUT - we stopped by Great Sand Dunes National Park.

I enjoyed Sand Dunes. We actually skipped a stop further in towards Silverton, Colorado, a town built within an ancient caldera to go there. Now, we ended up skipping a few spots on this trip, and I don't know who's to blame for this, so I'll let it go. But please, never tell a group of geologist that they're going to a caldera - and not do it.

On to Sand Dunes. Sadly, we did not spend an ample amount of time here either, but what we did see was what gets geomorphologists like myself to sleep at night.

The first photo on the top of the page, is being described in the lecture of the century by Dr. Albanese here (heavy, dark minerals [magnetite] are being deposited in the shallow stream, due to their higher density, they form bars). I figured that this was about as good as a geology lecture photo gets, so here it is:

What are, I believe, some SUCO field trip goers:
Some serious cumulnimbi forming north of the Dunes:
Wishing to grow up to be just like the Navajo Sandstone:

And later that day...

We also drove over the continental divide, did some nalgene experiments (to no avail) and had a beautiful overlook of the San Juan National Forest later on. At this point, though, we had driven into more storms associated with the thunderheads in picture #4, so photography increased in difficulty.

The Continental Divide (someone put a sign in front of it...):

A good looking jay at the San Juan N.F. overlook...you might even say, Stellar:

And one amazing view of the SJNF:

Garden of the Gods: Mainly a Picture Show

2009-06-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

(Still) Day 4 - Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

After our morning of tempting gravity to pull our 2-ton vans down 5000' of Pike's Peak Granite, we venture on to western Colorado Springs to unwind with cold nalgenes and soft rock. Colorado BASIN soft rock (ohhh geology joke....) Anyways, we arrive at Garden of the Gods around 1PM, after eating lunch in the scalding visitor's center parking lot, and after visiting the welcoming center. (Beware: this is not the first time we'll stop by a visitor's center before actually visiting the attraction.)

The Garen of the Gods stop is a series of tremendous, near vertical or completely vertical tipping bedrock monoliths protruding upwards. Aside from one bright white limestone piece, many orange and deep pinkish-tan sandstone outcrops (with outrageous sedimentary structures) surround you as you enter the park. I believe the rocks are Paleozoic, but my rite-in-the-rain notebook is currently drying in the dining room right now. Anyways, on to more pitcures.

Les Hasbargen in Super-Geologist-Photo Mode

Vertical Bedrock=Drool
Sedimentary Structures worth Killing For
Something happened riiiiiight here...
Don't tell my geo-colleagues I took pictures of a dicot...I mean plant..
And this.

Pikes Peak (or) I'm Going to Die, Volume 1

2009-06-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Day 4
Pikes Peak, Colorado

So we got up pretty early to take a ride up to Pikes Peak. Thinking that it would be a typical up-mountain tredge in our beastly Chevy 3500 Vans, and obviously tainted by my assumption that this meager 14,000' peak would be just like negotiating Whiteface Mountain (4600') of the Adirondacks.

I was wrong.

The ride up was devastating. Switchbacks all the way up, for about 14 miles I believe, all with near-vertical cliffs at every hairpin turn. Not to mention, coming around every corner there seemed to be rock outcroppings just high enough to obscure the view from the vans. Also, it doesn't help when your driver is a rubber-necking geology professor more interested in the surrounding mountains than his own well-being.

Our first stop was at a visitor's center about 30% up the mountain by a nice body of water known as Crystal Creek Reservoir.

A little later we stopped once again, a stop which was probably induced by personal comfort issues (gasses expand at higher altitudes, including the ones inside you) at Glen Cove. From here you can see a heavily jointed rock face, as to be expected in this part of the country, but also, what seems suspiciously like a rock glacier...

To see the magical rock glacier, look in between the trees in the center of the photograph. I have not found any published information on rock glaciers at Pikes Peak, but it's still kind of a new field. This looks quite a bit like those developed in the highlands of Maine which remain active in movement during the summer months when temperatures can fall below freezing.

Moving on. On to the Peak itself! From here you'll see a few typecast tourist-rockhound photos. But they're still rad, so check them out.

Looking out over Colorado Springs vicinity.

Some much tougher grasses than myself...

A hungry fox...

Rockhounding some Pike's Peak Granite

Scientists at play...

...and water and rocks, at the same time...

Coming up next: Day 4 Part 2 - Garden of the Gods

Getting it Started Again

2009-06-28T18:58:00.001-07:00

So it's been about two weeks since we returned from the Western trip, and I figure it's about time to start posting again. I plan on doing a day-by-day kind of this, but for the sake of boredom I will sum up the first three travel days into one post, rather than three.

Day 1 - Oneonta-Enon Beach, Ohio

Upon arriving at our (meth lab) campsite in Enon beach, Ohio, camp spirits are high. Everyone is getting to know each other, though the vans were semi-segregated so far (geology in one van, bio-ecology in the other, including professors.) We decided to time our tent-setting-up, but gave up after 10 minutes (we got better after this one day, we just forgot how to be decent human beings for one day).

Like I said, camp spirits are high, at least until dinner shows up...

TUNA SURPRISE!

Meanwhile, Ross, Brenden and Ryan are out getting a 30 rack of Miller High Life...

SPIRITS RETURN TO HIGH!

And Ducks:

Day 2 - Enon Beach, Ohio - Clinton Lake, Kansas

Definitely an improvement on the previous campsite. The drive was truly awful, sitting 3-a-seat from 7am-4pm, but camp spirits remain in good form, and the campsite is actually really nice. There is a reservoir nearby, and the pseudo-sunset offered some good dusk photography. Not much else to report, however, so here's some more pictures yayyy...

A common Bluet...though not blue at all:

A nice dusk shot of a bass condominium:

Day 3 - Clinton Lake, Kansas - Colorado Springs, Obvious (Getting Close!)

The excitement grows as we enter the Great(er) Plains of North America and venture into the territory of Pronghorn and Mule Deer. It's a welcome sight fore sore eyes of plains cottonwood leaves and a few insects.

Once we arrive in the greater Colorado Springs area, everything changes. Mountains rise up again, and us New Yorkers find solace in the fact there there's still snow atop Pike's Peak (just kidding..,or am I.) Also, it's taco night, and I'm cooking!

Next Up: Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods

Places to Be

2009-05-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

Water n Rocks will be on hiatus for about three weeks as the authors will be taking a trip to the Southern Rocky Mountains.

Here's the itinerary:

May
25 - Depart Oneonta at 7 AM, Camping in Ohio
26 - Travel Day, camping in Kansas (or Nebraska)
27 - Arrive and Camp in Colorado Springs, CO at Chatfield State Park
28 - Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, Chatfield St. Pk.
29 - Petrified Forest, Morefield, Arizona
30 - Mesa Verde Nat'l Park, Balcony House, Morefield Arizona
31 - Silverton, CO, Camp at Morefield, Arizona

June
1 - Grand Canyon - Mather Campground
2 - Grand Canyon, West Rim - Mather Campground
3 - Grand Canyon, Cedar Ridge - Mather Campground
4 - Grand Canyon, East Rim - Mather Campground
5 - Travel Day, Zion National Park
6 - Hiking in Zion
7 - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
8 - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
9 - Mt. Evans, CO, Chatfield St. Pk.
10 - Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, CO, Chatfield St. Pk.
11 - Arsenal Wilfdlife Refuge, Dinosaur Ridge, Red Rocks, Chatfiels St. Pk.
12 - Ogallala Aquifer, Nebraska
13 - Travel, Iowa
14 - Travel, Ohio
15 - Return to Oneonta, NY

The Water and Rocks...At The Same Time Phenotype

2009-05-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I headed up to Salmon River Falls in the Orwell(ish) area of Oswego County, New York. The falls had been an important fishing location for local Iroqouis natives before the settlement of the white men in central New York. Although, you wouldn't know it up in this area - there's hardly anyone here.

Recently the NY DEC has thrown some cash at the Salmon River Falls, and since it is situated on state land, they have built small trails and wooden stairs down to the top of the falls themsleves.

The falls are etched into 440+ MYA sandstones (that's Ordivician for non-geologers) and rise over 100' above the lower riverbed. The beds are mostly planar, with many ripple marks on the top layers, which are heavily jointed.

I appologise for the brief geology session, but this was more of a reconaissance mission than an in-depth study. However, if you're curious as to the formation of the falls - so am I. The river system, not a very powerful one, cuts deep into the sandstone without much explanation. My guess is that this was formed subglacially, mainly due to my previous studies on tunnel valleys along with the presence of striations and potholes, but I've truly never seen anything produce a channel quite like this one.

Now for pictures!
With my girl Lily atop the Falls.

The Salmon River leading towards the Falls.
Some glacially "punk'd" asymmetrical ripples.

The Falls themselves.
...And cliffs on the northside of the channel.

5-17 Circumzenithal Arc

2009-05-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Always look at the sky.

If you're ever searching for something to catch your interest, or something rare to shoot, always know that the sky is always worth taking a glance at. In the middle of a "graduation" party just yesterday, I decided to take a glance at the sky, around 3:45 PM Eastern. What I saw was this:

The sky has been my best friend these past months where it has been hard trying to get out into the woods and explore. This is the second arc I've seen in the skies above my house in the past year - the first being on a completely clear day in June of last summer.

So my advise to everyone boils down to one thing: If you can't see anything in front of you, look up.

Update: I decided to add a few more shots to the post. Enjoy.

This on kind of offers a matchstick ignition illusion to the red pine tree without a top in the lower right.

Peaking out from behind clouds.

We'll be back Eventually

2009-05-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty hectic lately, and I haven't been able to make any posts. I'll hopefully get out and take some pictures tomorrow, but won't have internet access for a while.

...So here's a map of college camp!

Epinephelus itajara

2009-05-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I'm going to drop a rare species on our readers here at Water-n-Rocks. Today's installment comes to my attentions from History Channel's Monster Quest.

The Goliath Grouper

A cousin of one of North America's most popular game fish, the Goliath Grouper is a critically endangered monster fish lurking in the waters around Florida. It is common on the shore-continental shelf near Jupiter and other popular fishing destinations. They can grow to an impressive length of 8' at a weight of 800 lbs and have been known to attack divers.

Check it Out

2009-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

So in my neverending thirst for sever weather, I stumbled across a huge cell brewing over Missouri this morning (after I aced the Geography of Developing Regions final). My roommate then mentioned they have live feeds from Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers, so I went to their website, and found that it is probably 100x better than The Weather Channel could ever hope to be.

For some reason, I cannot take screenshots right now, so you'll have to check it out yourself.

Cape Elizabeth

2009-05-05T11:32:00.001-07:00

"The best geologist is the one who has seen the most rocks." - Dr.
Albanese

A month or so ago, our Geology Club ventured to Maine for the Northeastern Geological Society of America Conference. We took a day and went to Cape Elizabeth. The metamorphic features present were absolutely wicked.

Soil Nails

2009-05-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Pretty interesting story out of America's west coast here. The Colorado-based company, Landslide Solution Inc., has created this tremendous air compressor\nail gun to drive "nails" into unstable hillsides, effectively creating a block of soil on the hillslope, rather than building an unstable retaining wall or letting nature takes it course. Heads up to Dave's Landslide Blog for this one.

See the video.

Fun Fact

2009-05-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Had to share this with everyone. It's an old paper, and I'm no professional ecologist, but Mackie, et. al. 1989 has this to say:

"Crayfish could have a significant impact on the densities of 1 to 5 mm long zebra mussels. An adult crayfish consumes an average of nearly 105 zebra mussels every day, or about 6000 mussels in a season."

Just a thought, NYSDEC.

Into the Woods - 5-1-09

2009-05-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

So the department picnic came along at it's expected time this Friday, and seeing as I choose not to bring the Jeep down to college, I decided, along with Aucoin, to hike our way up to College Camp and back, hoping (yes, hoping) to run ourselves into a refreshing rain shower or too. On the way up, while the weather remained warm enough to break a clean sweat, we stayed dry and took our fair share of photographs, practicing for the western trip coming up in...25 days or so.

Well it's about time, this one took me about 20 minutes to center in the page, but we're good now. This shot is with the macro lens at leaf layer level. I tried to get a nice near-and-far images, and it seems to have worked out well for my meager Samsung Point-and-Shoot.

Here's a nice backlit macro shot of some very plentiful tree flowers along the way, I'll look up the species soon and edit the post with the info.

Glamour shot.

One of the ones I like the best out of the day, we got lucky enough to get some great lighting through the red pine plantation right near the camp.

Another good one here, at the same location as the birch picture from above. In this case it was just a typical point-and-shoot shot for Panaramio in GoogleEarth of the Red Trail

Lesson and Photo of the Day

2009-05-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Mmm. Floods. I don't know what it is about them, but I love floods. We become so accustomed to seeing water in certain places, and when said water breaches it's banks it creates, to me anyways, a whole new world.

Floods like the one we see in the picture are generally "absorbed" by riparian zone ecosystems which are generally recognized as the wooded borders of perennial streams. Riparian zones accept some excess sediment load from streams, absorb nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen (instead of depositing them in estuarine environments and creating hypoxic environments) and create beautiful woodland habitat.

This particular flood occurred in Spring 2009, in Blossvale, NY. Spring meltwater from the Tug Hill Plateau (which received over 9' of snow in some places) rapidly makes it's way downstream to Oneida Lake (after being intercepted by the NYS Barge Canal).

Watauga Falls

2009-04-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

In the Fall of 2007, we went out to this outcrop, or waterfall in Delaware County, rather proximal to the town of Delhi. I don't remember the exact stratigraphic location of the falls themselves, but I do recall an abundance of excellent sedimentary structures, including ripple marks, as well as cross stratification in multiple directions.

The bad news: after about 1 hour we realized there was a Delaware Co. police vehicle parked behind our van. Needless to say, we were out of there way too soon, but there long enough to get some nice shots of the falls.

On a side note, this was the top terrace of a two-fall system. The second terrace was much larger, at least 4x as wide, and over 100' vertical drop. However, the lower falls were not accessible from out position.

Formation of Rodinia

2009-04-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

"For every tectonic event there is a sedimentary response" Dr. Ebert

Greetings all, this is mt first post and I'd like to start by taking you on a journey that I recently travelled with my Historical Geology at SUNY Oneonta. This journey, guided by Dr. Ebert, took as back 1.2 billion years into the past and forward in time to look at glacial features.

Our first stop is in the Mohawk River Valley 1.2 billion years in the past. The rocks are a highly metamorphosed gneiss. There are two distinct features present in the gneiss. The first is the pink and purple crystals that can be found all over the rocks. These crystals are in fact garnets! The other predominate feature is extensive foliation, or banding, seen with in the rocks. The foliation is both on small scale

Our second stop brings us to Canajoharie where a large grouping of sedimentary rocks begins to show us some indicators that an orogeny, mountain building event, is eminent. The first two lays of rock are carbonates. The first layer is dolostone, a chemically altered limestone, and the second layer is a limestone. The first layer is bare of fossils except for stromatolites, a feature formed by mats of algae. This, combined with the present of carbonates indicates that the environment was very warm. The second layer was rich in bryozoans, brachiopods and crinoids. The third and final layer was an extremely black shale. The black shale indicates that the water extremely deep and very anoxic. The only life that can be found in these shales are graptolites, a floating organism. The two limestones are part of what is called The Great American Bank, a large deposit of carbonate rocks that indicate the subsidence of the continent. The shale is part of what is called the Starved Basins which is a time when the crust has subsided a lot and has a very small sediment source.

The third stop brought us to a sequence of alternating sandstone and shales. These rocks were filled with burrows and flute casts, a sedimentary structure that indicates the flow of water and sediment. This sequence is known as flysch. This is a sequence that indicates that an approaching landmass is now close enough to dump sediment on the area.

Our final stop was in Schoharie and was simply a fossil prospecting run. These fossils were everywhere at this site, among them were bryozoans, cephalopods, brachiopods, crinoids and tentaculids.

A Lacuna is NOT a pore of a "various inverebrate"

2009-04-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to start posting geology photos every few days that I have taken (and maybe Rock Doctor Aucoin will as well) with sometimes brief explanations to them. Today - we fly up to Bering Glacier, AK and take a look at a (glacial) Lacuna.

A lacuna is defined in the geologic dictionary as follows:

1. A chronological stratigraphic unit representing a gap in the record. Syn: unconformity.

2. A pore, opening or hole, or gap in various invertebrate organisms.

For those looking to fill a gap in the stratigraphic/evolutionary record, please be advised that a glacial lacuna is not a "various invertebrate organism"...

No. Far from it. A glacial lacuna is actually, through a rough translation, a lake. Now, when I was standing in this particular lacuna, on the Piedmont lobe of Bering, I can certainly say the only liquid water here was a small ephemeral stream running from the top of the ice into this very deep void.

It is thought that these formations are due to rapid wasting of ice in certain locations, but not through typical phase change. What makes the most sense to this particular, amateur glaciologist is sublimation, when solid water transitions to gaseous water. Believe it or not, the temperature on the top of the ice sheet this day was a comfortable 55F or so, while within the lacuna, out of the Chugach Range's strong adiabatic wind, was over 75F.

Weekend Water Quality Testing of Upper Susquehanna Watershed

2009-04-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Watershed Management (Geology 384) headed down the Susquehanna River to check on Nitrogen loads. The main idea was to check into wether the Susquehanna River was contributing the most Nitrogen load, or if the Unadilla and Chenango Rivers were contributing more. The results were quite typical, and as of right now, the Susquehanna exiting the state of New York falls within the nitrogen alottment.

Maine USGS Makes the US a little more Green

2009-04-21T08:13:00.001-07:00

Just got this email from Augusta, Maine's Water Science Center and they really impressed me with this one. They have developed an instrument powered by both wind and solar energy to measure rain and snowfall in remote regions in Maine in order to predict the amount of spring meltwater to be expected in Maine's reservoirs.

The whole article can be seen on the USGS website.

Welcome Notice

2009-04-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome all ye water and rock loving geologers, naturalists, outdoor nerds and such to this elegant "blog" depicting life as a student of Earth (and sometimes Mars...) The purpose of this blog is to account for the natural beauty of our glorious planet, to observe and report the phenomenon that make this rock the best place in the universe to live; and much, much more.

The meaning behind the title dates back to the Spring of 2006, just before a joint field trip between a Mineralogy and Water Resources class at Oneonta State in Southern NY. Realizing something had been forgotten in his office, Dr. Devin Castendyk, from here on out to be referred to simply as Devin, was unlocking the door to his office, smiling and saying to himself,

"Water and rocks...at the same time.."

Those words, witnessed by myself and fellow undergrad hard-rock aficionado Mike DeVasto, come to life here in this humble post, which will concentrate on the local geology of wherever I find myself traveling to in my up-and-coming "real life".

So enjoy it.You never know when it's all going to be gone. If you read this post, please realize your inside, and nothing you can ever get from this will ever account for a simple suprise moment in the wilderness, coming across a great mineral intrusion, or jumping a whitetail doe and faun from a quiet, seemingly quiet swamp. Read on, play on, live on.