Dehler Family Trip

My wife and I have always enjoyed nature, particularly when the origin of a location is mysterious. I remember our first trip to Stonehenge, which seems pedestrian now, but was fascinating back then. Back in 2014, my wife told me she wanted to see the Columbia River Basalt Group up in Washington. I knew that basalts form from flowing lava, so I was perplexed at her decision. She then told me about how large the basalt group is, and there are no volcanoes in that area that could cause such a formation. When we got there, we saw evidence of cracks in the earth's surface. This lead me to conclude that the only way that this volume of lava could arrive here would be via these cracks in the earth's surface. Upon further inspection of the basalt, I could tell that it was theolettic, based off of the fine grain and origin of the rock, as throlettic basalts form on top of tectonic subduction zones. Overall, our trip was very enlightening and insightful.