You are browsing the archive for July 2012 - Mountain Beltway.
31 July 2012
Deformed carbonatite dikes in Cambrian slate, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Callan’s Canadian Rockies field course visits an outcrop of Cambrian slate in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Folded and boudinaged carbonatite dikes are seen.
27 July 2012
Friday fold: Spray Mountain Group siltstone
Today, we return to Banff National Park, to the outcrops next to the parking area for Bow River Falls… Zoomed-in closer to the thinner layers at left: These strata (shale and siltstone) were laid down in the quiet aftermath of the Permo-Triassic extinction, as terranes colliding with the edge of North America (far to the west) began shedding clastic sediment into the basin to the east. The lack of critters …
26 July 2012
Athabasca Glacier panorama
Click through for a big version… That’s the Athabasca Glacier, crown jewel of the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Its lateral moraines show well its retreat and “deflation” in recent years.
25 July 2012
Dobsonfly
Here’s your macrobug of the week: a male dobsonfly we encountered last weekend, while making houseguests some pizza. What a beast! Envelope for scale: Adding a finger (not too close) for scale: A better perspective on the envelope, with a shirt button thrown in too: Lola looks intimidated as she contemplates this insect through the screen door: Houseguest from Nevada says, “You have some big bugs in Virginia!”
24 July 2012
Tool casts from the Sulphur Mountain Formation of the Spray River Group, Banff
Yesterday I showed you salt casts; today I’ll share a different kind of cast: the infillings of small scorings in the sediment made by tumbling pebbles or sticks or other “tools,”tumbling down a current. These small gouges were later infilled from above by a younger deposit of sediment (frequently coarser in grain size). You’re looking at the bottom of a bed here: These are strata of the Sulphur Mountain Formation, …
23 July 2012
Salt casts from Purcell (Belt) Supergroup rocks, Waterton National Park
I’ve previously mentioned the lovely salt casts that can be found in Mesoproterozoic argillites of the Belt (“Purcell” in Canada) Supergroup of the Canadian Rockies (including the North American portion of the Canadian Rockies: Glacier National Park and the Sevier fold and thrust belt immediately south of it). When I led my Rockies field class students over Alderson Pass / Carthew Summit in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, last week, …
22 July 2012
Close one!
Callan and his students narrowly miss being stranded in Banff National Park when a rainstorm triggers a mudslide that closes the TransCanada highway.
15 July 2012
One year
One year ago today, Lily and I had a fantastic wedding week in Montana. To celebrate the year we’ve been together since then, today I’ve got a gazillion photos to share – reliving the week for those who were there, and sharing it with those who weren’t able to make it… Our first group hike: Spanish Peaks: Cookout at Dave and Stacey’s place: Our second group hike: Sacagawea Peak: Norris …
9 July 2012
101 Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See in Google Earth
Mountain Beltway reader “Earth Mama” responded to the recent geo-meme (which started here, folks!) by compiling all these visit-worthy locations in a single Google Earth KMZ file. If reading the lists from the various geobloggers didn’t whet your appetite, now you’ve got the ‘virtual globe’ option…. Hi Callan, I wanted to thank you for the geosites post–it’s obviously generated a lot of activity in the geoblogosphere, and it inspired me …
7 July 2012
Structures seen at Floe Lake
A showcase of geologic structures observed between downpours of rain at Floe Lake, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. Cleavage, bedding, folds, faults, and strain are all presented for the discerning structural reader’s edification and titillation.
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.