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Berwind Canyon Coal slag

24 Mar

2013CO_BarwindCyn_Coalslag_ed2This outcrop is located north of Trinidad on County Rd 40.2, a few miles west of the site of the Ludlow Massacre. This coal slag most likely dates back to the early 1900s.

We are at the Eastern edge of the Raton Basin. The top of the slag points toward the lowermost coal in the Vermejo Formation, situated close to the top of the Trinidad Sandstone. The Trinidad Sandstone is prominent just to the left/west of the slag. The bright red surface on the coal slag is the result of in-situ burning of the impurities associated with the coal.

Red Rocks the morning after

2 Mar

Red Rocks Park, Sunday February 24, our first real snow fall – all day! A heavy wet snow that we all prayed for. By mid day it was blizzard conditions that lasted the afternoon. When it was all said and done we got about a foot and a half of much-needed wet snow. Now I grew up back east and the winters there were always cold and cloudy, colors of gray and more gray. And what I love about it here, is a blizzard blows one day and the next day the sun comes out and blast you with color, a winter wonderland. You got to love it ……I do!

Red Rocks, the morning after the blizzard!

Red Rocks, the morning after the blizzard!

Trinidad CO, nodule

23 Feb

2013CO_Nodule1This nodule is located near Trinidad, Colorado. The nodule formed around the root ball of a Cretaceous palm tree.  Two feet above the root ball, the tree trunk was truncated by the erosive forces of the newly formed fluvial channel.

The top of the nodule and surrounding the tree trunk is a thin layer of black carbonaceous material.

Huw Williams from across the pond describes it best: Looks like shallow lake shale/paleosols with composite crevasse splay events coming in.

The ultimate nodule!

Fountain of Wonder

23 Feb

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The Fountain Formation makes contact with Precambrian rocks of the Laramide Orogeny along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies across a 1.4 billion year unconformity. Well-known outcrops from Boulder (the “Flatirons“) to Morrison (Red Rocks Park) and Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods) make this arguably the most photographed rock unit in Colorado.

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Bringing Outcrops to Life

23 Feb

So to speak… that is, photographing and documenting them in a way that helps tell their stories. That’s what this new site is all about. Join us as we explore Colorado geology (for starters) and introduce some favorite localities.