Geobulletin alpha

Living the Dream, Day 5 – Bright Angel and Beyond 

We are deep within the metamorphic rocks of Granite Gorge, more than a mile below the rim of Grand Canyon. At river mile 88, in the area of Phantom Ranch, we cross beneath two narrow bridges. In 1928, construction of the Kaibab (Black) Bridge changed the dynamics of tourism along the Colorado River. Its purpose was to connect the North Kaibab trail and the South Kaibab trail, making travel safer for both humans and mule traffic. A short distance downstream is the Bright Angel (Silver) Bridge, [...]

Flyover Country—The next generation field-based research tool 

In December 2015, with the support of a National Science Foundation (NSF) EAGER grant, the Flyover Country (FC) team of Amy Myrbo (University of Minnesota Research Associate), Shane Loeffler (2015 B.S. graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth), Reed McEwan (University of Minnesota M.S. in Geology and Software Engineering) and Sijia Ai (University of Minnesota), launched FC as a geosciences mobile app for air travelers, road warriors and

Pucker-worthy Debris Flow Video 

I saw this video a few weeks back on The Landslide Blog, and it's also been posted on GeoEngineer.org. It's well worth the watch. It's one of the scariest debris flow videos I've seen. Some hikers are crossing a channel cut naturally through old debris flow deposits, like a hiker bowling alley. Fortunately the guides hear it coming and everyone manages to get out of the channel before the latest debris flow roars through! [Source: YouTube via Dave's Landslide Blog. Image:

Friday fold: Yin-Yang at Swift Dam 

What is Matt looking at here? Matt was one of my Rockies students this summer, a geology major at the University of Virginia. Together with another UVA student and students from Mary Washington University and George Mason University, Matt embarked on a mountain-climbing hike during our evening camping at Swift Dam, near Depuyer, Montana. The hikers were treated to an extraordinary sight when they attained the summit: Click to embiggen;

Phreatic eruptions – the silent assasins 

The recent eruption of Mt Ontake, Japan tragically killed at least 50 hikers who were on the volcano at the time. Within hours of the eruption taking place, social media was flooded with first-hand video footage illustrating just how close many survivors came to perishing in an onrushing pyroclastic flow. Despite having a sophisticated seismic

On Japan’s Mt. Ontake volcano, a perfect day turns deadly for hikers 

latimes.com It was a perfect fall weekend, with sunny skies and the prospect of colorful autumn foliage. Hundreds of people flocked to Mt. Ontake in central Japan, planning to hike to its volcanic summit. READ MORE Japan’s Mount Ontake Erupted Suddenly Over the Weekend smithsonianmag.com Over the weekend, the Mount Ontake volcano—a popular hiking spot in

10% of Iceland Closed as Concern Over Volcano Grows 

Concern is increasing tonight that the Bararbunga (BOWR-Thar Boon-Ka) volcano may be getting ready to erupt. Earthquakes continue, and these type of quakes indicate that magma (Lava with high pressure gases) is moving beneath the volcano, which is much larger than the one that caused serious air travel disruptions a few years ago. Late today, Icelandic officials declared about 10% of Iceland off-limits, and is evacuating residents, hikers and campers

Snow photos sought to illuminate snowmelt puzzle 

In some places, where trees protect snow from sun and wind, it actually melts faster than in open areas. That’s what scientists concluded recently when they did a review of global data about snowmelt. Now, to gather much more data needed to deeply understand the discovery, and to make it useful for land and forest management, those same scientists are reaching out to an unlikely pool of collaborators: hikers, forest managers and other outdoors enthusiasts throughout the Pacific

Photos: Hiking Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch 

Some of Utah’s finest features—our slot canyons. ksl.com Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch are both beautiful slot canyons in southern Utah and hikers can access both of them from a single trailhead. READ

Okama Crater Lake Known to Change Color 

Mount Zao in Japan is a popular destination for skiers and hikers year-round. During the winter, many come to see vertically piled heaps of snow that collect around the mountain.[...] The post Okama Crater Lake Known to Change Color appeared first on Lake

Vancouver Island's West Coast Trail - A Trip Into the Green - Part 1 

In late July I traveled up to Canada eh, embarking on an invitation to hike British Columbia's West Coast Trail. This 75 km long (47 mile) track is world famous for its ladders, swinging bridges, cable car river crossings, slippery log bridges, and tree root infested mud. It was awesome! Totally different from what I am used to as this place does green like the Southwest does red. Take a look at this very green and interesting place.  I first had to get myself up to the Great North and [...]

Going Hiking In Pangaean India 

I have been thinking unhappy thoughts ever since I came upon this map of Pangaea with today's political boundaries overlaid on it. Where would I have going hiking in Pangaean India? 1) The Himalayas, crown jewel of hikers arose begining early Cenozoic and reached their bewitching heights in the mid Miocene -Pliocene. 2) The Western Ghats, the poor man's Himalayas, arose in the

Satellites Rescued 207 People in 2011 

“In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations [...]. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.” Quoted from the NOAA press

Rocking Along The Rim 

If it weren’t for the Hurricane Canal, the southwestern Utah town of Hurricane would not exist. Begun in 1893 the canal was constructed to take water from the upper reaches of the Virgin River near present–day Zion National Park and deliver it to the early Mormon settlement of Hurricane. With a keen eye, hikers and mountains bikers today can discover ancient fossils and historic artifacts while walking or pedaling the pathway of the original pioneers who created this engineering [...]

Grizzly Bear Kills a Yellowstone Hiker 

Hikers in Yellowstone National Park surprised a female grizzly bear with her cub. The threatened bear killed one of the hikers. Related: Staying safe around

Mount Washington 5: glacial features & views 

Busy days here in DC and northern Virginia… Blogging time has been limited. A few more shots from this past summer’s time at Mount Washington, to fill the void… Prius atop mountain: The Great Gulf: Hikers in relatively warm weather: Another look down the Great Gulf: Glacial cobble of diorite, exotic to the top of the Presidential Range, and therefore icily transported there from a distant source. Mount Jefferson, as

12 October, 2007: Rock fall at the Einser 

On 12. October 2007 a rock fall occurred from the Einser- Spitze (2.698m) in the Fischlein - valley (Dolomites), with an estimated volume of 60.000 cubic meters it was not an extraordinary large event, however the dust cloud resulting from the fragmentation of the dolostone was very impressive and reached even the village of Sexten.Fig.1. Rock fall from the Einser-Spitze, photo from CARRARO 2008.First minor rock fall occurred on the morning, the native Franz Tschurtschenthaler, noted a strange [...]

Hawai`i in Iceland: The style of the Eyjafjallajökull-Fimmvörduháls eruption 

The eruption at Eyjafjallajökull-Fimmvörduháls continues on - the explosive spatter and bomb eruptions at the new central vent (on the second fissure) were impressive all night, making the hikers/cars/aircraft look like mites in comparison. This eruption has, so far, followed the pattern of Hawaiian-style volcanism quite well, so I thought it could be a good time to talk about what exactly Hawaiian-style volcanism is. There is a sequence of events that leads up to and follows the start of an [...]

Monday Musing: Iceland update, false alarm at Taal and the SI/USGS Weekly Report 

Quick hits for a Monday morning (however, the week did have a good start). Lava fountaining on March 27, 2010 at the Eyjafjallajokull-Fimmvörduháls eruption in Iceland. The Eyjafjallajokull-Fimmvörduháls eruption is still going strong with two active fissure - and a lot of tourists poking around as well. If you watch the webcams closely, you can even see the cars and hikers trekking up near the erupting basaltic fissure (except today, as there seems to be a blizzard). Not to say that [...]

Where on (Google) Earth #185 

A message from Erwin Sevens: As a incidental visitor, wandering through geology related webpages, I stumbled upon the WoGE 184 contest. Intrigued by the beautiful phenomenon shown on the image and loving to browse around the planet with the Google Earth application, I could not resist trying to find out where it was located. So, with a little bit of luck, I pretty quickly found the location in Bolivia. The "crater" like structure is a synclinal depression formed of Cretaceous sediments [...]