SUU Geology Death Valley Field
Trip
February, 2002
Of course we drove to Badwater
and looked up at Dante's View. Not so cold here.
We hiked Golden Canyon, volcanic
ash dominated lake sediments that form a superb badlands topography.
That is Kevin and Merriam enjoying the walk.
We stopped at the Harmony Borax
works and received a double treat, we viewed the human history
and discussed the evidence for recent faulting in this area, where
the south Death Valley fault zone on the west side transitions
to the north Death Valley fault zone on the east side of the valley.
Bill Lund from the Utah Geological Survey is describing the features.
The hill in the background is actually a strike-slip induced anticline!
Of course while we were in Scotty's
Castle on the tour, Gaylene locked her keys in the car. We had
quite a party while various individuals tried to extract them.
The winning device was a wire hanger!
This is our last group shot before
we headed for home. That is Ubehebe Crater, a phreato-volcano
with a fault trace exposed in its walls. It erupted very recently
(160-300 years bp).