Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: Mt. Gilbert

The glacially carved cliffs around Camp Lamoille are truly spectacular — and while we were, now nearly a month ago — they provided us with constant fascination and wonderment amid the ever-changing light and cloud effects. To the south of us, besides Ruby Spire and the Wolf's Ear (seen in this earlier post), Mt. Gilbert towered over us at 11,120 feet.
A view of Mt. Gilbert, the highest point near an unnamed spire, as seen on the second day from the trail near the South Fork beaver ponds.
A closer view of Mt. Gilbert and the same spire;
photo taken on the second day from the main part of camp.
In the view above, you can see a couple spots of snow high on the cliffy slopes, probably left over from the previous winter (2013-2014).

Mt. Gilbert is a pyramid-shaped peak, possibly qualifying as a glacial horn, AKA pyramidal peak (British usage?). As you can see below, it's bounded on the west by the large bowl-shaped head of the glacially carved, U-shaped Seitz Canyon; it's bounded on the northeast by a high, well-defined cirque; and it's bounded on the southeast by an irregularly bowl-shaped area, also a cirque.
Topo map from USGS TNM 2.0 Viewer (link), with Mt. Gilbert right of center.
Same map, with the outlines of three circular depressions or bowls formed by glaciers. As you can see, the west side of Mt. Gilbert is essentially one arĂȘte. Other horns and arĂȘtes are present in the topo image.
It just occurred to me that the unnamed spire might also be a small horn, but only if the indentation into the cliff below it to the east consists of a small cirque formed from a small hanging glacier (I wish the USGS would provide individual links in their Glossary of Glacial Terminology, but they don't).
What do you think? Is it a horn?
Rain and hail from an intense, long-lasting embedded thunderstorm (or set of storms), pounded the Lamoille Canyon area late on the second afternoon and long into the second night. When we awoke the morning of the third day, the tops of the cliffs and peaks around us were well dusted with snow:
Mt. Gilbert with snow, as seen from camp on the morning of the third day.
A closer view from the same time, same location. The snow highlights the foliation of the metamorphic rocks — gneiss and marble,
possibly with sill-like intrusions of granite.
USGS Glossary of Glacier Terminology

Thursday, October 9, 2014

First Trip into the Ruby Mountains of Nevada

Would you believe...a geologist living mostly in Nevada since 1975, who had never been into the Ruby Mountains until two weeks ago? One who had been over Secret Pass several times and down Ruby Valley once, but never into the mountains?

One reason to go to Lamoille Canyon, if you've never been there, is the excellent scenery. Another reason would be the excellent geology...including geology related to the metamorphic core complex that makes up the Ruby Mountains — along with several, and more than one type, of low-angle faults — and also geology related to the Pleistocene glaciation of the mountains.
Terminal moraine of Lamoille Canyon,
beyond the field that happens to be part of an outwash plain.
The photo above wasn't our first view of Lamoille Canyon, when MOH and I visited about two weeks ago on our way to the NMEC 2nd Annual GBR. That photo is from the second day's morning field trip to see some of the glacial geology of the Rubys (or would that be Rubies?), led by Dr. Mike McFarlane. Instead, our first view of the canyon was as pictured below:
Looking into Lamoille Canyon from just before the entrance to the Ruby Dome Ranch (Google Maps location).
Unnamed hill 9942 forms the flattish-looking knob just right of center, and although it's hard to tell for sure, even from repeated viewings in Google Earth, the jagged knobs in the distance on the left appear to be Ruby Spire at 10,835 ft on the far left, the Wolf's Ear at 10,788 in the center, and an unnamed peak at 10,835 ft on the right (seemingly lower because it's behind the other two jagged knobs). I've gleaned the names Ruby Spire and Wolf's Ear from Panoramio and Google Earth photos rather than from USGS topo maps of the area, suggesting to me that at least some of the supposedly unnamed peaks and knobs of the Rubys may have names known by the locals and other frequenters of the area.
Another view looking into the first part of Lamoille Canyon,
this time from the 2nd day.
With these first views of the canyon, the valley appears to be dominantly V-shaped: the overall U-shape of the valley has been modified by the post-glacial down-cutting of Lamoille Creek.
At this point, where a falling rock sign appears on the side of the road, the overall U-shaped nature of the glacially carved canyon can be seen.
The main part of Lamoille Canyon forms the foreground right of the road and highway sign, and it continues to the far left where cliffs of brownish gneiss, marble, and granite abound. The Right Fork of Lamoille Creek shoots off to the right, into the U-shaped canyon where its eastern, sunlit slopes are covered by green, yellow, and orange aspen trees.

The GBR was located at Camp Lamoille (AKA Lion's Camp Lamoille or the Boy Scout Camp), nestled in a flat area along Right Fork Lamoille Creek (or South Fork Lamoille Canyon). Photos of the area shown below are from Days 1 and 2 of the three-day outing.
Looking south up the South Fork of Lamoille Canyon. Back in the rocky section of the canyon, Ruby Spire and the Wolf's Ear are on the left;
Mt. Gilbert is on the right.
This photo is centered on a lateral moraine of South Fork Lamoille Canyon, which blocked the main canyon (to the left) and has been breached by Lamoille Creek.
In the photo above, besides the breached lateral moraine, the upper portion of a couloir called "Terminal Cancer" can be seen on the far left. Ruby Spire (Google Maps location) is in the center distance (highest spire of the jagged ridge on the east side of the Right Fork of Lamoille Creek. The Wolf's Ear (Google Maps location) forms the center of that jagged ridge.
We've arrived in camp. The Wolf's Ear is still visible as the highest jagged knob near the center of the photo.
Rapidly changing lighting at Camp Lamoille.
Wolf's Ear is on the left (east side of the South Fork canyon). Mt. Gilbert is the tallest peak on the right.
Our campsite below the cliffs. You can see in this photo the very minimal spots of snow below Mt. Gilbert, fairly unusual in the Rubys for late September.
A closer view of the Wolf's Ear.
Looking up the same canyon from one of the trails near the beaver ponds.
An even closer view of the Wolf's Ear (dark knob on the left), taken on the stormy second day.
Another view of the South Fork of Lamoille Canyon, taken during a downpour featuring multiple hail events and (later) lightning directly overhead.
Camping in the stormy weather of two weeks ago was fascinating. The overall camping experience, which could have been a disaster, was mitigated by the presence of a wood-heated lodge or dining area, and abundant free food and drinks.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Geologists: The Cowboys of Science

A colleague of my former (deceased) husband once said, "Archaeologists are the Cowboys of Science." (I don't know if he actually said it in Capital Letters like that, but that's how it came across to me.) DH disagreed and said, "No, Geologists are the Cowboys of Science. Archaeologists don't even come close."

The first character that actually comes to my mind, for some reason, is Bret Maverick's brother Bart. He's not a geologist, but he goes off gallivanting around the countryside on his horse, somehow managing, often, to get into trouble. He reminds me of some geologists I know, who go off the same way in their 4WD pickups.

Also read:

Sherlock Holmes, Forensic Geologist
The Romance of Geology in Russia: A Tribute to Alexander Ainemer
Here's to You: Geological Heroes
Dust Hole (previous post)