Friday, November 28, 2008

Friday Fault Photos #9

On a fairly recent road trip to Baker, NV (gee, I almost wrote Baker, CA - yikes! - so many *fond* memories from there), I took the opportunity to look around while MOH was getting gas, and discovered that you can see the Snake Range decollement or detachment fault from town.
In case you need to have the low-angle fault pointed out, here's a great photo with a power line running parallel to the fault! Upper plate rocks are dipping westward (to the left), and lower plate rocks, besides the white-line mylonite right along the fault, are obscure.
Ah, then we drove up Wheeler Peak, where the road is closed part way up the mountain to the upper campground, and we had this great view of part of the Snake Range detachment fault, with a snow-covered mountain in the background. The detachment fault is a little difficult to see, but is essentially following a somewhat curved or arched line where all the tilted upper plate rocks end. The snow-covered mountain might be Mount Moriah, one of the highest peaks in Nevada.
And here's the Snake Range detachment fault again, this time from the rock glacier on Wheeler Peak. Bristelcone pines grow on the rock glacier, and can be seen in this photo mostly toward the far edge of the glacier. More info can be found about the detachment fault, the geology of the area, and the bristlecones in my series on Wheeler Peak.

Way out west, they got a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire's Joe and
They call the wind Mariah [Moriah, in this case.]

See these sites for lyrical references.

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