4 May 2010
Hackles, ribs, plumes
Posted by Callan Bentley
Today, you get a photo from GMU structure student Nik D. This is a small exposure in the Hampshire Formation (Devonian) on New Route 55 in West Virginia. It shows a fine example of plumose structure with the not-often-seen concentric ribs running perpendicular to the ‘plumes.’ At the edge of the joint, you can see the flaring fringe of hackles. Top edge of a Rite-In-The-Rain field notebook for scale:
Where shall we zoom in? How about these two boxes?
Close-up of the concentric ribs:
Close-up of the hackle fringe on the edge of the joint:
…Even the hackles have hackles!
Good stuff: I love me some fine plumose structure!
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.