13 January 2012

Friday folds: the Poleta folds

Posted by Callan Bentley

In the White Mountains of eastern California, just west of the Deep Springs Basin (site of my coldest camping experience ever, followed by a memorable morning walk in the playa and discovery of a bat mummified by salt), there lies a classic field mapping location, the Poleta folds. Here’s what it looks like from Google Earth:

And a side-view from Google Earth:

I haven’t personally visited this site, but I found out about it when I was in the Owens Valley two years ago for the excellent Field Forum there. Kurt Frankel, the structural geologist from Georgia Tech who was tragically killed last summer, told me it was a great place to bring students for a fold mapping project. I’m going to be bringing a crew of NOVA students to eastern California for spring break this year, and depending on snow cover, we may attempt to visit the Poleta folds in person, and pay homage.