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| High-Flow Experiment - Mar
2008 |
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Below Eminence Break on the last
day of the high-flow experiment. On Sunday morning the flow
is decreasing. At the sun line on the river a research boat
is working a laser sounding system, motoring a line across the
river to measure the surface level and river depth -- the flood
having shifted things around underwater. Not very visible unless
you know what to look for -- at the bottom center of the photo
is a laser reflector tripod on a rock for a reference point
-- there are 2 others covering the eddy being surveyed. The
big boat is at the research camp on the beach upriver, and the
route is in the Redwall cliff above. This ramp is the Eminence
Break fault with an offset about 200 feet. The lowest place
on the skyline is where the fault continues to the rim. It's
extremely steep and we all have to be careful not to bump a
rock loose and tumble down onto someone. The research group
had been stationed here the whole week doing about the same
thing every day, and welcomed visitors -- glad to share campfire
conversation, food, and beer. |
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| Eminence Break - Sep 2007 |
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This photo is from a weekend visit
to Eminence Break, about a half-day down and a half-day back
up with a few minor cliffs to negotiate and all very steep.
The fault is dramatic here because everything else on top is
so flat. The fault makes the "break" in the cliff
-- this photo is at the top couple-hundred feet in the Kaibab,
looking approximately southwest from the neck of Eminence Break/Tatahatso
plateau. The river is a little muddy -- it's just about 3,000
feet down from the rim. Just left of the river gorge the fault
continues and the top of the Redwall steps down to the west.
Landscape features visible include Point Hansboro on the inside
of the bend, Sase Nasket the near horizon, Boundary Ridge and
Saddle Mountain center-right far horizon. Some smoke shows from
a cluster of fires on Walhalla Plateau in the distance. |
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| Lava Creek Colors - Apr 2007 |
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The Lava, Chuar, and Carbon Creek
drainages form a large open space between the Butte Fault on
the east and the Walhalla Plateau to the west. Unusual Supergroup
geology makes this an interesting area to explore. Huge stranded
stromatolite boulders can be found all over the valley. In this
photo at a bend in Lava Creek, narrow brightly-colored layers
make an exceptionally striking image. Extensive mud/rock cemented
debris covers over the top of these stripes, and similar material
can be seen above either bank along nearly the entire length
of the stream. It's a geologic mystery. |
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| Monument to Water - Apr 2007 |
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This view is from far up Lava Canyon
looking onto a broad basin area where the stream flow emerges
from a rock rubble layer filling the bed. Naji Canyon joins
from the left of the view with the Walhalla Plateau rim on the
horizon. Near the middle-left of the photo an enormous slab
of Tapeats sandstone stands up out of the bed and makes what
I call the "Monument to Water" where the spring flows
from the base of this slab. Very nearby, an extensive Anasazi
dwelling site is located under a convenient sheltering overhang. |
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