Ripple marks

… And here are some ripple marks from a block of the same sandstone in the previous image.

Nice! Hope everyone is doing well. Lots of good geological experiences to report on, buy it’s hard to write a substantive blog post from phone… You’ll have to wait until I’m back at a computer!

Mudcracks

Here’s a package of mudcracks from a block of riprap on the waterfront of Burlington, Vermont:

Oh yeah….

Gros Ventre landslide, Wyoming

Yesterday’s field work took us to this classic mass wasting site:

Grand Teton

It’s late afternoon in Jackson Hole, with the sun dipping down behind the Tetons. I’m waiting for some students to finish up their hike in Cascade Canyon and ferry back across Jenny Lake. Here’s a snapshot of the moment:

Stack of field notebooks

Dashboard decor…

Van flag

The students had placed this flag on te van antenna when I came out this morning… The other side says “it’s too gneiss!”

Folded Archean gneiss

Here’s a nice sample of folded gneissic banding in basement complex of the Gallatin Range, Montana. According to Dave Mogk of Montana State University (who I met in person for the first time on Saturday), these high grade metamorphic rocks are as old as 3.2 Ga (billion years old). They experienced temperatures as high as 750 degrees C, and pressures equivalent to 25 kilometers of depth in the crust. The lovely folds were what caught my eye, however:

Happy Tuesday!

Morning plume

Greetings from Bozeman, Montana, where my students and I are on Day 3 of our Rocky Mountain Regional Geology class. Here’s a nice long example of plumose structure to start your Monday. More to come, now that I am back in the States and reconnected with my iPhone.

Turkey update

Hey there folks,

Long tıme no blog. I am enjoyıng Turkey. We spent several cool days ın Istanbul, checkıng out the awesome buıldıngs and twısty streets and great food there. Took a boat tour up the Bosphorus, walked across the Golden Horn. The Haghıa Sophıa ıs amazıng… a Chrıstıan cathedral datıng to Emporer Justınıan, then retrofıtted to be a Muslım mosque after the fall of Constantınople ın 1453 to Sultan Mehmet II, and now a museum as decreed by the man who made Turkey a modern, semı-secular natıon, Attaturk. Pretty amazıng stuff, and lots of cool buıldıng stones employed ın ıts hıstory-soaked foundatıons. I also really enjoyed walkıng through the Tokapı Palace and eatıng fısh sandwıches on the docks of the Golden Horn. We checked out the Roman ruıns at Ephesus, and then journeyed to Pammukkale, a travertıne-deposıtıng hot sprıngs where I am wrıtıng thıs brıef blog post. Tonıght we take an overnıght bus to Cappadoccıa, a trıppy landscape of eroded tuff deposıts. More later (wıth pıctures! I’ve been takıng so many pıctures!) when I get the chance to download them from the camera and upload them to the blog.

Hope all ıs well; dıd I mıss anythıng whıle I’ve been unplugged?

-Callan