I'm sure you've also been losing sleep over my obsession with the rock formation I saw a couple days ago.
I emailed the Colorado Geologic Survey and sent the photos, not really expecting to hear back because I only had the general e-ddress for them. To my delight, I got a reply today... and not just a form letter, but an actual reply from an actual geologist who gave me props! Whoo hoo!
Here is his answer (in my original email, I had mentioned my theory that the formation was a tertiary igneous dike):
[Pirate], good observation. That is a "radial dike," just like at the Spanish Peaks. Magma feeding a volcano filled in fissures that spread radially out from the throat of the volcano. The solidified rock is much more resistant to erosion than the surrounding material so becomes preserved. Those were some great photos, with the snow. I have photographed that feature several times and I never got a photo as good as those. Maybe I can use those sometime (with permission and with credit provided.)
Jim Burnell
Minerals Geologist
Colorado Geological Survey
Yee hah! I don't know if it means my life is so lame that getting a reply about a rock formation can make my day, but I'll take it.
And now I can rest easier know it's just a radial dike and not a portal to a fourth dimension kingdom run by flying monkeys. Because, you know, the thought had crossed my mind.
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1 comment:
that is actually really cool. I never would have figured that out, nor put the time or effort into it, but it definitely makes sense.
way to go sher-rock holmes. (i had to)
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