What’s The Deal With Columnar Jointing?

Rocks certainly come in a lot of unique shapes and sizes, and one of the most intriguing rocks of all is basalt that displays “columnar jointing.” And one of the most common questions asked about these distinctively–shaped edifices is “How in the heck did this happen?” 

Columnar jointing in basalt, Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

My Sediments Exactly – Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks

Amid all the rocks eroding off the top of the Paunsagunt and Markagunt Plateaus in southern Utah you will find those of colorful Lake Claron. It is not just any old lake, however. This one happens to be around 50 million years old. 

Brilliantly hued lake bed sediments of Bryce Canyon National Park

 

Late October Zion

Offered today is a photo journal, images taken during a moment of blissful quiet in Zion National Park late last month. I often volunteer with the park’s educational outreach program during the school year, and I was waiting for my next group of seventh graders to explode down the trail to the habitat station. 


 

Bad Video And An American Dipper

I try, I really do try. But it seems that, right now, some things are just beyond my feeble attempts at perfection. In my last post I wrote about Cedar Breaks. I had every intention (and still do – really!) to follow up with a post about its sedimentary cousin Bryce Canyon. But in the meantime I toodled off to Zion for a bit of bird watching along the Virgin River with my birding and biking buddy LucyO. 

LucyO looks for anything avian along the Virgin River