The Laramie Mountains are part of the central Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming. Archean and Proterozoic rocks form the bulk of the mountain range due to late Cretaceous–early Eocene (Laramide) basement-involved uplift. Hogbacks made of Paleozoic to Mesozoic age rocks flank much of the Precambrian cored mountain areas. But what sets the Laramie Mountains apart from the…
The Field Season Is Going Strong in Southwestern Montana
My field season is in full swing. I recently spent time with students from the Webb Schools in Claremont, CA, during their annual sojourn to southwestern Montana. We prospected a few Tertiary localities, with the students making some good fossil mammal and fossil invertebrate finds. We were also extremely lucky to have a southwest Montana…
The Yellowstone Volcanics
Volcanic stratigraphy is hard to ignore when touring through the Teton to Yellowstone National Parks (YNP) area. Three major volcanic eruption cycles occurred during the last 2.1 million years and resulted in hundreds of feet of volcanic rock. The eruption cycles make a good basis for separating the volcanic rock units and consequently there are…
North Carolina Sandhills and Weymouth Woods
My first trek into the Carolina Sandhills began with a visit a couple days ago to Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Weymouth Woods is a great place not only to hike through part of the Sandhills, but to also see the longleaf pine forest that readily grows on the sands….
Machu Picchu – The Geological Landscape
Much has been written about Machu Picchu since its rediscovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham and his expedition crew. And although I was truly amazed at the ruins of Machu Picchu when I hiked around it a few months ago, I was mesmerized by the area geology as soon as I got off the train…
Peru’s Sacred Valley- Andean Culture With Some Geologic Context
Most people traverse Peru’s Sacred Valley quickly on their way from Cusco to Machu Picchu. But this stretch of countryside is an area well worth staying around in for awhile, both for getting to know Andean culture and understanding some of its history. The Sacred Valley is considered the heartland of the Inca Empire (1438…
Wildlands Wildfire – Getting Ready for the Fire Season at the McCall, Idaho Smokejumper Base
The McCall Smokejumper Base, in west-central Idaho, has 70 wildland firefighters on staff. McCall’s Smokejumper program was established in 1943, and since then has continually provided fire management personnel to wildland fires throughout the nation. As noted on the McCall Smokejumper website: “Today, the McCall Smokejumper Unit is an interagency resource providing highly trained, experienced…
Cusco, Peru – Markets, Ruins, and a Geologic Puzzle
During the 14th century, the Inca ruler Inca Pachacuteq (Tito Cusi Inca Yupanqui) transformed the central Andean area of present-day Cusco, Peru into a major urban center. The city became the capital of the Inca empire, containing religious and administrative areas that were surrounded by fertile agricultural expanses. In the 16th century, the Spanish conquered…
Spiralling Global Temperatures
This is one of the best visualizations for global temperature change that I’ve seen. It’s created by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading. As noted by Ed Hawkins: “The animated spiral presents global temperature change in a visually appealing and straightforward way. The pace of…
Lima, Peru’s Historic Centre – A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Earth-Shattering Events That Helped Shape It
Lima, Peru is fast becoming a preeminent food hotspot with traditional Peruvian foods and various fusion cuisines that I found extremely delicious. And of course it is also internationally known for extraordinarily magnificent museums such as the Museo Larco with its collection of pre-Columbian art. Lima, the capital city of Peru, has a population of almost…
The Miraflores District of Lima, Peru – Green Spaces, Alluvial Fans, and Huaca Pucllana
I just returned from travels in Peru, which took me from Lima to Cusco, to the Sacred Valley, and eventually to Machu Picchu. It was a spectacular trip! Adventure Life, a company from Missoula, Montana, did the trip travel logistics for our group of University of Montana Alumni. They did an amazing job, starting with…
Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise, and Superstorms
Dr. James Hansen (Director of Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program Earth Institute, Columbia University) and 18 co-authors just published an article – Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 °C global warming could be dangerous – in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics. Their article is…
Forest Legacy Lands – Preserving Forests in Northwestern Montana
Montana Outdoors just published an article on two Forest Legacy projects that I’m very proud to have worked on – the Haskill Basin and Trumbull Creek projects, which are both located near Whitefish, MT. Both are projects where varied interests have come together for a common goal. As well stated by the article’s author, Allen…
Siccar Point – The Roots of Modern Geology
Siccar Point, located on the southeast coast of Scotland, is well revered in the geological community. Outcrops at this locale display ‘Hutton’s Unconformity’. This is an angular unconformity where tilted rock units of about 370 million years in age called the Old Red Sandstone (with a basal layer of conglomerate) lie atop nearly vertical strata of greywacke that…
Puerto Rico – Beaches, Rain Forests, Bio-Bays, and Rocks
Spending time in Puerto Rico is a fantastic experience. The beaches are wonderful, the rain forest of El Yunque National Forest is unique in the U.S. Forest Service’s holdings, the bio-bays are enchanting, and of course there are intriguing rocks that underlie all these natural wonders. Geologic Setting Puerto Rico is the eastern-most island of…