Evidence of coastal uplift at Brookings, Oregon
Oregon's coast is a geologic wonderland of steep cliffs, nearshore sea stacks and caves, estuaries where rivers flow from the coastal range into the sea, and a large variety of landscapes and rock types. The entire coast is adjacent to the Cascadia Subduction zone where the oceanic plate is colliding (and descending beneath) the continental plate. Because the plates are...
Palenque and other Mayan ruins in Chiapas, Mexico
During our trip to Chiapas in March (2024), we visited several Mayan ruins, including Palenque, considered to be one of the most impressive and mysterious of all Mexico’s ancient Maya sites. Please see my last post for map of Chiapas and location of Palenque: https://landscapes-revealed.net/the-beautiful-turquoise-blue-waters-of-chiapas-mexico/. In this post, I'll describe some features of the Mayan sites and consider why these...
The beautiful turquoise-blue waters of Chiapas, Mexico
Chiapas is Mexico's southernmost state. It is celebrated for its natural beauty and strong indigenous culture. In late February to early March (2024), we spent 16 days in Chiapas. After a week in San Cristobal de las Casas, known for its well-preserved colonial architecture and excellent tourist infrastructure, we completed an eight-day circuit to visit natural sites and ancient Mayan...
Welcoming 2024 on Songer Butte, Ashland
Happy 2024—may we greet its challenges with peace and optimism. And what better way to bring in the new year, and focus on the positives, than to get out into nature. This post will highlight some of the geologic features that are visible from Songer Butte, where our Ashland Hiking Group went on New Years Day. Songer Butte is located...
Trekking in Los Picos de Europa
We completed a 10-day trek in Los Picos in early September—arriving in Arenas de Cabrales on 3 September, trekking from 4–13 September, and continuing onward from Arenas on 14 September. It was a self-guided trip. We worked with a company called Natural Adventure, who made our lodging reservations and provided us with apps, maps, and other information we used to...
Los Picos de Europa—a history of collisions
We now travel farther back in time to the Paleozoic Era when Los Picos de Europa (the Peaks of Europe) were formed in a series of sedimentary basins that were later deformed and uplifted during two major collisions between continents. This post focuses on the geologic history of Los Picos and my next post will focus on the 10-day trek...
The Jurassic (dinosaur) coast of Asturias: Part 2
For three amazing days in early September, we went dinosaur hunting along the Jurassic Coast in northern Spain. We were seeking the tracks of dinosaurs that inhabited this coastal region around 155–145 million years ago, and we found a lot! An example of what we found. Left photo: Jay's foot in the ~150 million-year-old footprint of a dinosaur. Right photo:...
The Jurassic (dinosaur) coast of Asturias: Part 1
The Jurassic Coast in northern Spain is located in Asturias between the autonomous communities of Galicia (to the west) and Cantabria (to the east). The Jurassic Period is the middle part of the Mesozoic Era, extending from ~200–145 million years ago. So we are going back in time more than 35 million years from the time period recorded in sediments...
A tour through the Basque Geopark flysch
My previous post provided background information, including location map, about the Basque Coastal Geopark (https://landscapes-revealed.net/the-basque-geopark-60-million-years-in-20-km/). This post provides more details about this extraordinary sequence of sedimentary rocks called "flysch" (pronounced "flish"). When you are in the Geopark, you will constantly see this word. The fancifully-decorated FLYSCH sign is advertising "Guided activities during all of the year". The boats for guided...
The Basque Geopark—60 million years in 20 km
Clearly, I did not find time to post any more blogs during our travels in northern Spain. The upcoming posts will follow a geologic time scale—from younger to older—rather than the chronology of our travels. This post focuses on a sequence of sedimentary rocks that were deposited between 110 and 50 million years ago, during the Cretaceous and Paleogene Periods....
Paleolithic rock art in Cantabria, northern Spain
In northern Spain, we will find many interesting geologic features to explore during our month-long trip. Our first day's activities (on 30 August) focused on the intersection of geology and early humans. In Cantabria, there are 17 cave sites that can be visited. We visited three caves whose walls were decorated during the Late Paleolithic period starting more than 40,000...
Warner Range in the northeast corner of California
Because of its remote location far from urban centers, the Warner Mountain Range is relatively unknown. We have thought about visiting this place, and exploring its volcanic rocks, for many years. We knew about the Warners because my husband Jay traveled through them on the way to his geologic field site in the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada (see...
About the Blogger
Karen (here with Mt. Shasta in background) is a geology professor emerita who aims to provide a "pocket geologist" for world travelers. Follow the blog to explore the landscapes of our planet and figure out what causes them to look the way they do.