Comments

10 Comments

1. Julie says:

   9 June 2010 at 07:56

   My guess is that like the oats in your cookie dough demonstration the orientation of leaves are stacked in a flat layer formation compressed by some natural force.

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   • Callan Bentley says:

     9 June 2010 at 08:02

     You got it!
     The idea is that floodwaters imbricated these leaves into parallelism as it flowed. The same sort of alignment of tabular mineral grains (think micas in a schist) occurs when sufficient tectonic compression is applied to a rock.
     Send me an e-mail with your address; and I’ll mail you the bumper sticker.
     -Callan

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2. Tes says:

   9 June 2010 at 08:29

   I was going to go more abstract with this one (and with very rusty memories of structural geology)–I saw the compressed leaves as an intrusion, with–and here’s where my memory gets hazier–a pyroclast to the upper left….

   Fun exercise for the morning’s cup of tea, anyway!

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3. Lockwood says:

   9 June 2010 at 12:46

   Yep, I was going to guess foliated foliage as well.

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4. Michael says:

   9 June 2010 at 15:28

   IMBRICATION!

   and a not-quite Andy Goldsworthy work of art.

   (you didn’t say it had to be the first person to respond)

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5. Silver Fox says:

   9 June 2010 at 21:52

   I was going to try and come up with a play on leaf or leave, but that didn’t work.

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6. Eric says:

   10 June 2010 at 11:29

   Because you are particularly proud of those shoes and will be using them as a scaling device instead of the knife (which you have probably lost by now) from here on out? Or is this another great analog shot, like the one of the snow on your window? Either way I can’t wait! PS – what’s the best way to send you a picture? I have a shot of some mud cracks on a reservoir in eastern Oregon that I am certain would be of interest to you.

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   • Callan Bentley says:

     10 June 2010 at 12:46

     You’re funny, Eric! I like the crack about the knife. No, it’s not lost; you’ll see it again soon.

     Yes, it’s an analogue, at least in my mind. Water flow in the stream imbricated these leaves against a rock, aligning them perpendicular to the flow direction. I was reminded of metamorphic foliation, which can align minerals like micas in an orientation which is perpendicular to the maximum principal stress direction.

     You can send your mudcrack photos to me at [email protected] — and thanks!

     Reply
7. geopunk says:

   10 June 2010 at 13:23

   Illustrating foliation with foliage? 😉

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   • drdr says:

     13 June 2010 at 14:50

     How about a leafslide? 😉

     Reply