TelegramSam's Completely Random Post of the Day

Poststructural Pub
1

I couldn’t find a random site, so you get a random geology lesson instead:

This photo was taken in Utah.

  1. There used to be an ocean here, and it left behind a bunch of evaporite minerals (i.e. gypsum, anhydrite, salts, etc)

  2. Being less dense than other rock, it slowly creeps upward, much like cream rising over milk (but much slower). The overlaying rock gets bowed upward.

  3. It either finally breaks through to the surface, or else erosion reveals it, so idiot geologist tourists like me can take pictures of it.

The End.

2

Hmmm. I’ve heard stories about parts of Utah being desolate, but I had no idea . . . :wink:

Will O’Ban

3

I can just hear Walden singing now… “Ohhh… ohhh… the Evaporites!”

4

What’s the red dotted line going through that bush supposed to be?

5

the axis of the fold.

6

Geology is cool.

7

rock on!

8

Very cool, Sam :slight_smile:

9

But, but, but…the arrow is pointing to apparently vacant air space. Does this mean the rock, bulging with evaporites, used to be there until it crumbled under its own weight…or are there teeny tiny little evaporite molecules suspended there amongst the O, H, and Ni? (and other random pollutants.)

10

Why’s the axis of the fold there instead of, say, two shrubs to the right?

Axis of the Fold . . . heh . . . three alpha ewes . . .

11

The axis of the fold is at the point of inflection.

The dotted lines in the air represent what I think was there before erosion stripped it off. I could be totally wrong, of course. The arrow pointing up is indicating the direction of the movement of the evaporites.

12

Ya’all on one o’ dem rolls, ain’t ya! :smiley:

13

*rimshot

Heh! Wait til you see my samba outfit!