I’m hosting this month’s Accretionary Wedge. For those of you who don’t know, the Accretionary Wedge is a monthly geoblog carnival which is hosted by various geology bloggers. The host proposes a topic and everyone– from amateur to professional geologist, from brand-new to seasoned blogger– is encouraged to post on the topic. If you have a blog, write a post on this month’s topic and then put a link to the post in a comment below. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to email me your entry (georneysblog AT gmail). Please send your entries through by June 20th. I apologise for the short deadline, but I’d like to compile the posts before I leave for fieldwork in Alaska on June 24th.
Here’s the call for posts:
This month’s Accretionary Wedge topic is “Seeing Geology Everywhere.” Like many geologists, I often see geology in places where there are no rocks. I see landslides and orogenies in messy piles of papers on my desk; I see stratigraphy in my desserts and chemical diffusion in my accompanying cups of tea; I see interference colors in paintings in modern art museums.
My geology vision, so to speak, is heightened when I am especially excited about a geological subject– and when I am working long hours on a geology project. For example, back in 2007 I participated in a 50 day long research cruise along the Ninetyeast Ridge in the Indian Ocean. I worked long shifts describing the rock samples that were dredged up from the ridge. One evening after a particularly long shift, I was brushing my teeth before bed and found myself estimating phenocryst percentages in the speckled linoleum tiles on the bathroom floor.
One (in)famous example of geology vision is Geokittehs, a blog about geology and cats that I started with my friend Dana Hunter two years ago. Yes, for two years I have regularly written a blog about geology as shown through cats in various poses. If that doesn’t qualify as “Seeing Geology Everywhere” I don’t know what does!
Now it’s your turn: Do you see geology in unexpected places? Do you often find yourself viewing the world through geology-tinted glasses? Do you have any adorable cat pictures that could be used to illustrate geology?
Please participate in this month’s Accretionary Wedge! I look forward to reading your entries.
Finally, I think we need some volunteers for future Accretionary Wedge hosts. If you’d like to host, please leave a comment below, and we’ll make the necessary arrangements within the geoblogosphere community.
Note: I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis on Friday May 4th, and Dana arrived the next day to help me celebrate. This is Part VI of my description of the fun georneys we had together during Dana’s visit. This is also the last post in my series about Dana’s visit. Dana and I will have to meet up again for more fun georneys!
When Dana came to visit, she told me that she had never been kayaking. I adore kayaking. From ages 12-22 I was very active in competitive whitewater slalom racing, in both kayaks and canoes. During grad school on flat Cape Cod, I didn’t do as much whitewater kayaking, but I’m hoping to return to the sport over the next few months. Since I handed in my PhD thesis a few weeks ago, I’ve been regularly going out on flatwater kayaking trips, which are excellent for building up those kayaking muscles. Anyway, when I learned that Dana had never been kayaking, I just had to take her on a kayaking trip! Fortunately, the lakeside geologist lair (aka my parents’ lakeside cabin) is well-stocked with 4 kayaks.
One of the kayaks at the lakeside geologist lair is a nice tandem flatwater kayak that is excellent for pairing a novice kayaker with a more experienced kayaker. We call the tandem kayak “The Family Wagon Truckster” because it is large and slow and can fit 2-3 people. For our kayak adventure, we took the Family Wagon Truckster and put Dingo, my parents’ dog, in the middle of the big kayak. Dingo is seven now, and he loves kayaking. When Dingo was a puppy, he was terrified of the water, but I spent several weeks training him to go kayaking. Now, Dingo is happy as can be in a kayak. He’ll even bring you his life vest when he wants to go kayaking.
We didn’t see too much geology during out kayak trip, but we did take a look at several large boulders, which are most likely glacial erratics.
Here’s some pictures from Dana’s first kayaking trip:
The view from the front of the kayak.Lakeside scenery.Dingo and I. Also something in front of the lens.Dingo and Dana.Dana, looking reflective.Paddling away...
A casual stroll along the garnet road. Geologists often walk with their heads to the ground,watching for interesting rocks.
I apologize for a bit of a hiatus in posting. There were some technical troubles with the AGU blogs, and then my husband and I were down in Florida for five days. Blogging may continue to be somewhat light for the next few weeks, but I’ll post when I’m able. First, I’ll finish up my “Georneys with Dana” series. Then, I’ll post a bit about the trip to Florida.
Note: I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis on Friday May 4th, and Dana arrived the next day to help me celebrate. This is Part V of my description of the fun georneys we had together during Dana’s visit.
Geologists, you may notice, often walk with their heads pointed downward. That’s because down is where the rocks generally are. Geologists also keep their heads pointed toward cliffs or boulders. When driving, geologists slow down and turn their heads when they pass roadcuts. At times, geologists become so absorbed in watching for rocks– and then looking closely at the interesting rocks they find– that they forget about the rest of the world: the scenery, other people, that squishy biology stuff, lunch, water, continuing the walk or hike that was started, driving at a normal highway speed, and so on.
Long before I began studying geology in a formal manner, I walked with my head pointed downward, looking out for interesting rocks. I guess that’s how I knew I should study geology. For example, my second week of high school I was going on a training run in the woods as part of my school’s Outdoor Program*. As I ran, I kept my eyes on the ground, keeping a casual eye out for interesting rocks. I ended up running straight into a tree. I went to the hospital for a few stitches, but I was generally okay. For the rest of the year, I was called “George” by my fellow students.
Before I learned much about rocks, I used to watch out for “pretty” rocks such as large pieces of rose quartz, silvery garnet schists, and rocks with bright red iron oxide weathering rims. Now that I know more about geology, I still enjoy finding “pretty” rocks, but I also find myself very interested in a wide variety of “ugly” rocks, such as highly-weathered peridotites, dull-colored sandstones, and gray basalts. That’s because even the dullest of rocks can tell fascinating stories.
To non-geologists, rocks are just something to walk upon or drive above or build a house upon; rocks are brown or gray or white hard things that are not worth paying much attention to unless they sink or shake or erupt… or perhaps if they are particularly sparkly. To geologists, rocks– even the dullest gray or brown rocks– are interesting, even when they are not particularly mobile or sparkly. That’s because geologists learn to read rocks the way people learn to read books. To a geologist, a rock’s features are like hieroglyphics. There are stories enfolded in the juxtaposition of two minerals, in the order of a set of veins, in the thickness of a lamination, in the offset of a fault, in the shape of a crystal, in the softness of a sediment, in the curve of a fossil,in the color of a weathering rind, in the roundness of a cobble, and in many other rock features.
Rock stories are almost always mysteries. The rocks provide clues, but it takes often quite a bit of work to figure out who murdered whom in what room with what weapon, so to speak. When reading rocks, geologists use various clues to try to figure out what crystallized from what and then squished into what under what conditions… or, perhaps, who died and was preserved into what that was then altered into what… or, perhaps, what settled onto what and then was filled with what… or, perhaps, what slid past what when and caused what size earthquake and tsunami. There are countless rock mystery stories.
Often, geologists barely begin to unravel rock mysteries in the field. Rocks must also be sampled and brought into the laboratory. Rocks must be cut up into thin slices and examined under microscopes; they must be scanned and crushed and dissolved and, sometimes, turned into plasma. Sometimes, rocks must be analyzed from space, using fancy satellites that provide much information about large and small-scale field features. Field observations of rocks must be carefully examined in the office: thousands of strikes and dips and other field information must be compiled and formed into geologic maps and models. Even then, geologists often only unravel part of a rock mystery. There is always more to learn about rocks. Like a good mystery novel, a rock story is rarely fully resolved; there are always loose ends left at the end; there are always sequel stories to unravel.
Because they can read rocks, geologists are easy to entertain. You don’t need a computer or a kindle or a television to entertain a geologist. All you need are some rocks– and there are rocks almost everywhere.
Here’s one recipe for entertaining two geologists for a morning:
1. Take two geologists.
2. Add one dog, two cameras, one hand lens, and one dirt road in New Hampshire.
3. Sprinkle the dirt road generously with freshly-broken, garnet-filled metamorphic rocks that are useful for stabilizing the road during spring “mud season.”
4. Tell the geologists to take the dog for a walk along the dirt road.
5. Busy yourself with something else while you wait for the two geologists to return. Note that geologists may take much longer to complete walks than non-geologists. A good rule of thumb, when the rocks are particularly interesting, is that geologists will take about two hours to complete a walk that takes non-geologists twenty minutes. If the geologists are too long in returning home, you may be able to lure them back by cracking open a few ice cold drinks.
Recipe warnings: The dog may periodically sit down in the middle of the road, looking forlornly at the geologists while they hunt for pretty garnet rocks in yet another section of the road. The geologists are likely to fill their pockets and camera bags full of rocks. Even for a “short” walk, it is advisable to send the geologists out fully equipped with water, sunscreen, and sun hats. Don’t bother sending snacks as the geologists will likely forget to eat the snacks.
I followed the above recipe when entertaining Dana last week. Dana served the role of “first geologist, I served the role of “second geologist” and Dingo (my parents’ pet) served the role of “the dog.”
Here are some pictures of our walk along the road which we nicknamed “The Garnet Road” because of all the crushed-up, garnet-bearing metamorphic rocks which were recently dumped on the road:
Oooh interesting road rocks.Found something.Interesting rocks = happy geologist.Sitting down to search for garnets. Fortunately, there is not too much traffic along the dirt road.Taking a closer look at a road rock.Dingo was confused about why we were doing so little walking on our "walk."Can we walk please?Dana finds a great pile of garnet-rich rocks.
Here are some pictures of a few garnet-rich, metamorphic rocks which we collected along the road:
Garnet Rock, Picture #1. Just look at those large, gorgeous garnets!Garnet Rock, Picture #2.Garnet Rock, Picture #3.
*My high school has a wonderful program called Outdoor in which students spent the semester learning about hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, and camping. Twice a week the students go on a longer trip, such as a kayaking trip. The rest of the week the students participate in short exercise and skill programs, such as going for a run and then learning how to set up a tent. I participated in Outdoor all four years of high school, and I greatly enjoyed the program.
Note: I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis on Friday May 4th, and Dana arrived the next day to help me celebrate. This is Part IV of my description of the fun georneys we had together during Dana’s visit.
Before continuing with my description of the fun georneys that Dana and I had during Dana’s recent visit, here’s a biological interlude. During a walk along a dirt road in New Hampshire, we found a turtle making his (or her?) way across the road. We stopped to take a few pictures and also to gently move the turtle off the road and out of harm’s way.
I think this is an Eastern Painted Turtle. Can anyone confirm? Does anyone know more about this turtle?
Another view of Mr. (or Ms.?) Turtle.Frontside view.The turtle retreated into his (or her?) shell when we went to remove him from the road.A closer view of the turtle's shell.
I can only respond by saying that I am guilty as charged. However, while I won’t name names, I’m sure I’m not the only geologist who is guilty of being less-than-safe when rock breaking. Sometimes, it’s just too tempting to break those rocks… and you rush into breaking them without thinking of all the appropriate safety precautions. I’m extremely diligent when it comes to lab safety. I really should be more diligent when it comes to field safety.
Here’s a few rock-breaking safety reminders:
-Wear long pants. Jeans or other thick pants are excellent.
-Wear closed-toed shoes. Boots are probably best
-Wear eye protection. Safety glasses or safety sunglasses are essential. One commenter pointed out that regular old sunglasses could shatter. I personally plan to invest in a pair of safety sunglasses very soon.
-Use a rock hammer, whenever possible, especially for those particularly hard rocks. Avoid hammers that could shatter.
Okay, now who else has been a little bit lax when it comes to rock-breaking safety? Worn just regular sunglasses instead of safety sunglasses? Broken rocks in sandals? Please fess up (anonymously, if need be) so that I feel better. And so that we can all pledge to be a little bit more safe when it comes to the good science of rock breaking.
All good evil geologists need a family cabin super sekrit lair. Most geologists prefer volcano lairs, but since there aren’t any volcanoes in New Hampshire, I’m making do (for now) with a lakeside lair. Once I return to my South African lair in a month or so, my geologist husband and I are going to start saving up for our volcanic island lair. Currently, I’m peacefully enjoying working very hard on some Star Trek watching, kayaking, knitting, and sunbathing world domination plotting at my lakeside geologist lair… somewhere in New Hampshire. I can’t tell you exactly where because if I do then my lair won’t be super sekrit anymore. Last weekend, my friend future empire co-leader Dana Hunter visited, and we enjoyed some geological excursions field campaigns and also spent some time watching Dr. Who planning our Geokittehs empire at the lakeside geologist lair. The view from the lair is very pretty, isn’t it?
If you haven’t already, you can read all about Dana’s holiday trip strategic planning mission:
Note: I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis last Friday afternoon, and Dana arrived last Saturday to help me celebrate. This is Part III of my description of the fun georneys we had together during Dana’s visit.
After our visits to the dinosaur footprints and The Rock, Fossil, & Dinosaur Shop, Dana and I headed back to New Hampshire to our secret lakeside geologist lair. On the drive back, we stopped at the Chesterfield Gorge. Although there has recently been some illegal activitiy at the gorge, during our visit Dana and I didn’t encounter anything more dangerous than an overly friendly golden retriever who wanted head scratches. I was happy to see that the gorge is back to being a peaceful natural retreat. I think my mother’s claims of the “danger” of the gorge were perhaps somewhat exaggerated.
Dana and I hiked the 0.7 mile loop trail along the gorge, stopping frequently to investigate the gorge’s intriguing geology. The gorge contains a most unusual looking stream. Most of the time, the bedrock found in streams and rivers is smooth (and often covered in sediment), and the rocks found within streams and rivers are rounded. River and stream rocks are generally worn down and rounded by physical erosion caused by the passage of water over them. However, the rocks at the gorge are not very round. They generally have sharp, square edges that indicate that the stream is fairly young (or just hasn’t been in contact with this bedrock very long) since there has not been enough time for physical smoothing of the rocks.
Sharp, square edges on those gorge rocks.More sharp, square rock edges.More square rocks.
Dana and I made our way along the trail to the first bridge across the stream:
The first bridge. Thou shall pass.
Before crossing the first bridge, we decided to take a closer look at the gorge’s rocks. The rocks are highly-weathered, and many are covered in moss. So, we had to exercise the good science of rock-breaking:
A weathered, moss-covered rock with a freshly-broken rock on top. Penny for scale.
Unfortunately, my rock hammers and other rock-breaking supplies are all in South Africa, and Dana packed carry-on for her trip and couldn’t bring her rock hammer. So, we had to improvise a bit with the rock breaking:
Throwing one rock against another.
Rock breaking by throwing is not as effective as rock breaking by hammer, so we also gathered up some rock samples to break later. The next afternoon, we borrowed a hammer from my dad’s stash of tools and did a little more advanced rock breaking. A word of advice: in the below photos, I set a bad example. Rock breaking should ideally be done with closed-toed shoes and long pants (to prevent injury from stray rock shards), but I did remember the essential eye protection (wrap-around sunglasses, in this case).
Breaking rocks in sandals. Don't try this at home, kids! A little more aggressive rock breaking. Dana, breaking rocks in more sensible rock-breaking attire. Excited about the rock-breaking results.
Here’s what we saw when we broke the gorge rocks:
Gorge rock #1. Gorge rock #2.Gorge rock #3.
So, what type of rock is found in the gorge? Looks like a metamorphic rock (fairly low grade) that perhaps used to be a granite or granodiorite. I managed to find a little more information about the gorge rock type by plotting the location of the Chesterfield Gorge on top of a geologic map of New Hampshire. I found the New Hampshire geologic map on the USGS website here, and I imported the map data into Google Earth. Pretty neat, huh? It’s actually quite easy to do– just download the .kml file, put it into Google Earth, and then you can look at the geologic map as Google Earth layer. Then, you can just click on a geologic formation, and an internet browser window will open with the information for that particular formation.
Below are some maps that I made in Google Earth showing the gorge location. First, here are some regular Google Earth images:
Google Earth image, showing the location of the Chesterfield Gorge in the state of New Hampshire.A zoom-in of the previous Google Earth image.
Now, let’s take a look with the New Hampshire geologic map added as a Google Earth layer:
The geologic map for New Hampshire as a Google Earth layer. Pretty neat, huh?A zoom-in on the geologic map, showing the location of the Chesterfield Gorge.An even closer zoom in. The gorge parking lot area is indicated by the marker.
The marker in the above maps indicates the location of the parking area for the gorge, which is located in the orange formation. If I click on the orange layer in Google Earth, I find that the parking lot is located on the Ammonoosuc Volcanics, which is a Middle Upper Ordovician unit described as,
Part of the Central Maine Composite Terrane (Central Maine Trough) – Variably metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks of greenschist to granulite facies, locally migmatized. Area includes structural belts between the Monroe fault on the west and the Campbell Hill fault on the east; that is, the Bronson Hill anticlinorium, Piedmont allochthon, Kearsarge-central Maine synclinorium, central New Hampshire anticlinorium, and Rochester-Lebanon (Maine) antiformal synclinorium. Ammonoosuc Volcanics = 461+/-8 U/Pb per J.N. Aleinikoff, oral commun., Feb. 1994.
Since the trail to the gorge leads away from the parking area, I believe that at least part (all?) of the actual gorge is actually located in the pink layer. When I click on the pink layer in Google Earth, I find that the pink layer is Granite/Granodiorite/Tonalite of Late Ordovician Age. The unit is described as,
Part of the Oliverian Plutonic Suite (Late Ordovician) – Pink, weakly to moderately foliated, locally porphyritic biotite granitoids found in mantled gneiss domes. Mafic varieties contain hornblends. Variably metamorphosed up to amphibolite facies. Oliverian Plutonic Suite: Keene and Surry dome intrusive rocks = 444+/-8 U/Pb per NH020. Warwick dome intrusive rocks = 444+/-8 U/Pb per NH020.
So, I believe the rocks that Dana and I saw at the gorge are from the pink formation. The rocks aren’t particularly pink-colored at the gorge, but they do seem to be granites/granodiorites/tonalites (the rocks seem to contain a fair amount of plagioclase and biotite, so my guess is granodiorite although I’d really need to take a closer look, perhaps employing a thin section– any opinions based on the rock pictures?) that have been metamorphosed somewhat. I’m assuming that the ages above (based on U-Pb dating) are in millions of years, so the gorge rocks are nearly half a billion years in age. Such an old age isn’t unusual for bedrock. Nevertheless, I still find myself somewhat in awe that these rocks originally formed nearly half a billion years ago. What history is exposed in the gorge! As a quick aside, when people ask me why I became a geologist, I sometimes say, “Well, I always liked history. And geology is really ultimate history, if you think about it. Geology is the study of the history of our planet– and other planets and planetary bodies.”
So, why do such old rocks host such a young stream? Clearly, the stream hasn’t been in contact with the bedrock very long or else the metamorphic gorge rocks would be worn smooth. I searched and searched for some academic papers on the formation of the Chesterfield Gorge. However, despite spending quite a bit of time using search tools such as GeoRef and Google Scholar, I didn’t find any scientific papers on the gorge. If anyone knows of any publications on the gorge’s geology, I would be most grateful if you would direct me to them. I couldn’t even find the gorge in my Roadside Geology of Vermont and New Hampshire book.
The best information I could find on the gorge’s origin is a PDF of an information pamphlet published by New Hampshire State Parks. The brochure indicates that the gorge is located along a fault (I’d love to bring Callan to the gorge to take a look at the structural geology) and that Wilde Brook (never knew the stream was called that until I read this brochure) is a superimposed stream that originated from glacial meltwater ~12,000 years ago. The sediment and gravel that once covered the metamorphic bedrock have been eroded by the young stream (I presume 12,000 years is fairly young for a stream? Perhaps not?), and now the metamorphic bedrock is slowly being eroded.
There is certainly some evidence that there was once a retreating glacier in the Chesterfield Gorge area. For example, just look at this enormous glacial erratic:
A glacial erratic boulder, just a few feet from Wilde Brook.
After Dana and I spent some time breaking rocks at the first bridge, we made our way down to the second bridge. Along the way, we saw some beautiful scenery:
After a short hike, we found ourselves at the second bridge. When we arrived, we found that we had a slight problem:
The second bridge. Thou shall not pass.
Since we are intrepid geologists, we decided to ford the stream rather than backtrack:
Venturing off the beaten path. Caulking the wagon and floating didn't seem necessary.Dana looked a little nervous before the stream crossing, but she made it just fine.
After fording the stream, we headed back up towards the parking area. On our way out, we had another look at the first bridge:
Peaceful and pretty.
And we also found some interesting biologically-assisted rock erosion:
Tree root style rock erosion.More tree root style rock erosion.
And we saw some interesting mushrooms:
Pretty fungi.
And we found a tree growing in a neat shape:
Strangely shaped tree, with geologist for scale.
All in all, Dana and I had a good day of geologizing. We saw dinosaur footprints, visited a kitschy rock shop, and explored the geology of a gorge. After this full day, we picked up a pizza and headed back to our lakeside geology lair to watch Dr. Who. Next up: Day 2 of our georneys!
Dana and I, in the middle of our georney to the Chesterfield Gorge.
I was having so much fun with fellow geoblogger Dana Hunter that I completely forgot to post my Monday geology picture yesterday. Better late than never, I suppose. Above is a picture of Dana and me at the Chesterfield Gorge. Be sure to follow my descriptions of our georneys. I’ve posted Part I and Part II already– more to come!
The front of the Rock, Fossil, & Dinosaur Shop, complete with naked (non-feathered) velociraptor.
Note: I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis last Friday afternoon, and Dana arrived last Saturday to help me celebrate. This is Part II of my description of the fun georneys we had together during Dana’s visit.
After our visit to the dinosaur footprints, Dana and I headed to a place called The Rock, Fossil, & Dinosaur Shop in Deerfield, Massachusetts. I have fond memories of visiting this shop as a child. The shop has many interesting minerals, fossils, and other geology-themed items for sale, which are advertised with a general focus on science and with a minimum focus on the crystal healing, energy balancing, totem stone, etc. woo-woo that is sadly promoted at many otherwise excellent rock shops. The shop also offers a number of other cheesy, geology-themed activities. You can “pan for minerals” in a water sluice located out front. The shop attendant tried to sell us on panning, but Dana and I were not very interested in panning bags of sand spiked with amethyst crystals and small ammonite fossils. We told the shopkeeper we liked to pan in real dirt for our geological treasures. However, I do remember enjoying the fake panning as a child. The shop also features a mining adventure and a backyard full of fake dinosaurs.
One of the fossils (or maybe a cast?) for sale. Giant ammonites from Morocco. Moar fossils. Dana, about to be eaten by a velociraptor.
Dana and I enjoyed our visit to the shop, but I was very sad to see that the shop is now very poorly maintained compared to my memory of it. At first I wondered if I was just remembering the shop through memories glorified by the glow of childhood delight. However, looking at the shop website pictures— which are clearly dated by several years– it’s apparent that the shop has deteriorated. The paint on the shop sign is cracked and peeling, the shop merchandise quantity and quality are declined (parts of the shop seem half-empty now), and the dinosaurs are in a sorry state of disrepair. Sadly, the shop attendant (who I hope was not the owner) didn’t seem to know even basic geology and mineralogy. I’m not sure what happened to the shop– perhaps it has changed ownership or been hit hard by the economic decline.
A sign of the shop's decline #1: a duct taped dinosaur.A closer view of the duct tape repair. A sign of the shop's decline #2: Willy mammoth bone? Hmmm...
Nevertheless, Dana and I had a good time during our visit. We had great fun taking pictures of the dinosaurs:
Dinosaur heads.Stegosaurus in the woods.Jurassic Park? Ankylosaurus. Pachycephalosaurus.
I made a triceratops friend:
My new friend.
And Dana found a new boyfriend:
I really hope this doesn't mean the shop is promoting the whole man-with-dinos thing.
While we skipped the panning and the mine tour, Dana did buy a few mineral samples, and I bought three stuffed animal dinosaurs: a velociraptor, a Utahraptor, and a triceratops. The velociraptor and Utahraptor even have a bit of fluff on them– I’m not sure if they’re quite feathery enough, but at least they have some feathers.
My new dinosaur friends. I think they need to become friends with Paleontologist Barbie.
I convinced my Geokittehs co-author Dana Hunter to fly from Seattle to New Hampshire to visit me for a few days. I handed in the final version of my PhD thesis on Friday afternoon, and Dana arrived last night to help me celebrate. So far, we’ve been having a ball. You can expect several forthcoming posts about Dana’s visit, both here on Georneys and over at Dana’s blogs Rosetta Stones and En Tequila Es Verdad. For now, I thought I would share just a few pictures from the first full day of our adventures.
In this post, I’ll share some pictures from our visit to the dinosaur footprints, which were quite impressive. In the photos below, I’ve indicated the locations of the dinosaur footprints with green markers (glass beads from the dollar store) since the footprints are sometimes difficult to see.
Dinosaur footrpint #1Dinosaur footprint, with my foot for scale. A trackway of footprints. If you look closely, you can see the green markers indicating the footprints.Footprints near ripple marks. More ripple marks.
Dana and I aren’t paleontologists, but we think we have some idea how the tracks were made. We think it went something like this:
A scientifically accurate reconstruction of the events leading to track formation (we are joking, obviously 🙂 )Yummy. Epic dinosaur-army battle.
Alternatively, the tracks could have been formed by a Danaraptor:
Researchers believe these prints were left by small groups of two-legged, carnivorous dinosaurs, up to 15’ tall. The entire Connecticut River Valley – which scientists believe was a sub-tropical swamp a “mere” 190 million years ago – has long been recognized for its wealth of prehistoric footprints.
The first dinosaur prints to be scientifically described are still here to be seen, preserved in sandstone* since this valley was a sub-tropical mix of wetlands and shallow lakes, 190 million years ago. The larger Eubrontes prints were likely made by ancestors of the great Tyrannosaurus rex, standing up to 15’ tall and 20’ long. You can see hundreds of fossils not only from the four distinct two-legged dinosaurs, but also stromatolites, fish, plants and other ancient beings. Finally, look for the 20+ dinosaurs trackways, which formed the basis for the novel theory that dinosaurs travelled in packs or groups.
*Note: I’m not convinced the rock is sandstone– it looked more like siltstone or mudstone to me. Can anyone confirm the rock type? When I have the time, I’ll track down some scientific references.
The dinosaur footprints are located along a beautiful section of the Connecticut River. After we had our fun looking at the tracks and doing our “scientific reconstructions,” we went down next to the river edge for awhile.
A pretty house along the CT River. On the tilted riverbank. Another view of the tilted rocks along the riverbank. Sedimentary, my dear Watson.
Georneys 
