Tag
geology
26 Porch Notes tagged “geology,” from counties across Colorado.
Water and land - La Plata County
In La Plata County, groundwater is not the same everywhere
Whether a La Plata County property can rely on a domestic well depends heavily on the local geology, which varies a lot across the county.
Read note ->Home and property - El Paso County
In Colorado Springs and Black Forest, the ground can lift a foundation
Expansive clay and dipping bedrock around Colorado Springs and Black Forest can lift a foundation, so a soils report is normal homework before you buy.
Read note ->Home and property - Pueblo County
Expansive clay soils are a real Pueblo-area home question
Parts of the Front Range piedmont around Pueblo have clay-rich soils that swell when wet and shrink when dry, which is worth understanding before buying or building.
Read note ->Water and land - Gunnison County
Black Canyon's dark walls are nearly two-billion-year-old rock
The steep, dark walls of Black Canyon of the Gunnison are ancient Precambrian gneiss and schist laced with pink pegmatite dikes, cut into a narrow gorge by the Gunnison River.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Boulder County
Rabbit Mountain marks the foothills reaching out onto the plains
At Ron Stewart Preserve, Rabbit Mountain marks the easternmost point of Boulder County's foothills, where rock meets the open plains.
Read note ->Water and land - Boulder County
The Flatirons are tilted slabs of an old sandy plain
Boulder's signature Flatirons are slabs of Fountain Formation sandstone that were laid down flat, then tipped on edge when the Rocky Mountains rose.
Read note ->Water and land - Douglas County
The rock that named Castle Rock was hardened by volcanic silica
The flat-topped butte over Castle Rock is capped by erosion-resistant Castle Rock Conglomerate, bound by silica cement that formed from ancient volcanic ash.
Read note ->History and culture - Jefferson County
The free Golden museum with a moon rock and a room of glowing stone
On the Colorado School of Mines campus, a free earth-science museum holds an Apollo 17 moon rock, a cave of glowing minerals, and tens of thousands of specimens that explain why Golden became a mining town.
Read note ->Water and land - Mineral County
An ancient supervolcano helped shape Mineral County's mountains
Much of the rock around Creede formed during enormous volcanic eruptions tens of millions of years ago, including the La Garita supervolcano's blast, and that origin still shapes today's peaks, cliffs, and rock shapes.
Read note ->Water and land - Chaffee County
The Chalk Cliffs below Mount Princeton are not made of chalk
The pale Chalk Cliffs on the flank of Mount Princeton are altered granite, tied to the same underground heat that feeds the area's hot springs along Chalk Creek.
Read note ->History and culture - Huerfano County
The Spanish Peaks and their stone dikes are the county's landmark
The twin Spanish Peaks and the long stone walls radiating from them are a well-known geologic feature in Huerfano County, and the Highway of Legends byway runs through the country around them.
Read note ->History and culture - Mineral County
Walk Inside an 1891 Silver Mine on Creede's Amethyst Vein
The Last Chance Mine near Creede lets you walk inside a real 1891 silver mine and see purple amethyst still in the rock wall.
Read note ->Water and land - Moffat County
Irish Canyon: a short drive through deep time on the way to Browns Park
A narrow red, green, and gray canyon off Highway 318 packs layered rock and Fremont-era petroglyphs into one easy stop before Browns Park.
Read note ->History and culture - Prowers County
Lamar's gas station built from petrified wood
On Main Street in Lamar, a 1932 service station built from local petrified wood makes a free, two-minute stop where the walls themselves are a geology lesson.
Read note ->History and culture - Jefferson County
The long red ridge along the foothills is the Dakota Hogback
The steep, tilted ridge that runs north-south at the edge of the foothills is the Dakota Hogback, and creeks cut narrow gaps through it where roads now pass.
Read note ->Water and land - Saguache County
The whole La Garita country was shaped by one enormous eruption
Wheeler's pale spires, Penitente Canyon's walls, and much of western Saguache County's rock come from a huge ancient volcanic eruption.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Saguache County
La Garita Wilderness and the Wheeler Geologic Area are hard to reach on purpose
The La Garita Wilderness in the Rio Grande National Forest holds the volcanic spires of the Wheeler Geologic Area, which you reach only by a long hike or a rough four-wheel-drive road.
Read note ->Water and land - Huerfano County
Lone rock towers near La Veta are old volcanic plugs
Isolated rock towers like Goemmer Butte near La Veta are the hardened cores of old volcanic vents, left standing after softer ground wore away.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Larimer County
Red Mountain Open Space closes in winter for wildlife and bans dogs
Red Mountain Open Space, a large area of red rock and grassland near the Wyoming line, is open only part of the year to protect wintering wildlife, and it does not allow dogs.
Read note ->Water and land - Montrose County
The Black Canyon's walls are some of the oldest rock in Colorado
The dark, striped cliffs of Black Canyon of the Gunnison near Montrose are nearly two-billion-year-old Precambrian rock, laced with pink pegmatite that gives the Painted Wall its name.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Larimer County
The Devil's Backbone is a tilted rock fin west of Loveland
Devil's Backbone Open Space protects a hogback, a wall of sedimentary rock that the same forces that built the Rockies tipped on edge, and it is a popular trail area close to town.
Read note ->Water and land - Las Animas County
The stone walls radiating from the Spanish Peaks are famous volcanic dikes
The long rock ridges that fan out from the base of the Spanish Peaks are radial dikes, hardened sheets of igneous rock left when molten material filled cracks and the softer ground around them wore away.
Read note ->Water and land - Mineral County
Wagon Wheel Gap is a narrow rock gateway with its own geology story
Wagon Wheel Gap, where the Rio Grande squeezes through a rock narrows southeast of Creede, sits on the edge of an ancient volcanic caldera and has an interpretive site explaining its geology and old fluorspar mining.
Read note ->Water and land - Grand County
The Never Summer Mountains are the young volcanic edge of the park
The Never Summer Range west of Grand Lake is made of volcanic rock far younger than the ancient granite that forms most of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Read note ->Water and land - La Plata County
Warm springs north of Durango come from faults in the Animas Valley
The thermal springs along the Animas Valley north of Durango, including the Pinkerton and Trimble springs, are fault-controlled geothermal features studied by the Colorado Geological Survey.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Park County
Eleven Mile Canyon cuts through Pikes Peak granite below the dam
Below Eleven Mile Reservoir near Lake George, the South Platte carved a steep canyon through Pikes Peak granite, now a forest recreation area on an old railroad grade with a day-use fee.
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