3 February 2014

Ice seeps along Passage Creek

Posted by Callan Bentley

This past week, there’s been a beautiful sight along the stretch of the Fort Valley Road that goes past the Blue Hole section of Passage Creek.

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Ice has been forming beautiful forms as groundwater seeps out along bedding planes in the Massanutten Sandstone (a Silurian-aged quartz arenite, folded during late Paleozoic Alleghanian deformation). At this site, the bedding dips moderately to the south. This is close to the axis of the Massanutten Synclinorium. Here’s a look at the bedding highlighted:

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And here are a few shots showing the variety of icy forms at the site:

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Finally, here’s another high-speed commuting video, which features some regular-speed footage of the ice seep site, starting at 1:38. Enjoy!

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/85615180]