Week 7 - Death Valley Field Trip

Hello, fellow travelers!

This week’s field trip brought me to Death Valley, a desert valley in California. I really enjoyed the trip and learned a lot about geology along the way. Out of the several stops we made, I found myself the most interested in Split Cinder Cone, Artist’s Drive, and Titus Canyon.

1. Split Cinder Cone

Aerial view of Split Cinder Cone, fault labeled

Photo by Tom Bean, National Parks Service

I was immediately curious about the geologic history of this cinder cone. It is a low, reddish hill in the southern part of Death Valley. What’s interesting about it is that it sits on top of the Death Valley Fault Zone. The volcano was not active for a very long time because the strike-slip fault caused it to split into two distinct pieces. The distance between the two formations is quite noticeable even from an aerial point of view. I would like to know how quickly this fault separates the two cinder cone pieces. To do so, I would measure the distance between the two formations and track their movements over time. I would also try to gather information from other geologists who have studied the fault activity in this area.

2. Artist’s Drive

Artist's Palette

Photo by Ray Nordeen, National Parks Service

The second stop that I wanted to know more about was Artist’s Drive. The photo of the scenic Artist’s Palette shows a sloping mountainside made up of the most colorful rocks in nature I’ve ever seen. The rocks were colored purple, pink, green, blue, brown, and black. My obvious question is: What geologic conditions caused rocks within the same general area end up with such a diverse set of colors? To gather information, I would carefully examine each different-colored rock and take samples of each if I could. After identifying the different minerals, I would like to learn more about the mineral oxidation process in order to better understand how the rocks obtained their colors.

3. Titus Canyon

Breccia at Titus Canyon mosaic

Photo by Tom Bean, National Parks Service

The last stop I was most interested in was the mosaic formation located in Titus Canyon. The photo of the stop depicts dark, angular rocks - some large, some small - enshrouded in a mass of lighter-colored rock. These sedimentary rocks are known as breccia. Looking at the sharp, angular nature of the rocks, it seems to me that these rocks were not transported far when they were deposited by some sort of flow event. I would like to know the size and composition of this breccia. I would investigate the rocks, noting any differences in texture, color, or size. I would also try to get ahold of a geologic map that could show me nearby rock formations that could be the source of the breccia.