Tecopa

[abraxas]

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[LaFoto]

Good as always. Awesome colours and long shadows at that time of the day!
What is the white in the middle ground? Salt?

 

[abraxas]

The middle ground is, from what litle I understand of it, is tuff- basically a volcanic ash. Now what is very strange, is, what I've heard is that this ash came from a volcanic erruption/explosion around 4 million years ago that occured in the Yosemite National Park area, probably in the Mono Basin a couple hundred miles away (near Mono Lake where Woody's excellent Mono Lake photos- and my ~okie-dokie~ ones come from).

The excessive white-noise in the shot is actually chunks of mineral-salts from the numerous hot springs in the area lying on basalt from closer volcanoes. So you got part of it.

About 10 miles from this spot, there are fossil tracks from large mammals that were imprinted before the tuff hardened.

And to complicate matters, an underground river runs through the middle of the valley. The Amargosa River never reaches the ocean, it just sort of flakes off into the salt-sink and sands of Death Valley.

The Earth is very mixed up here.

Should of just said ash, huh?

-edit-

Here's a shot of one of the tracks. I think it is a baby mammoth footprint. I was told this by a leading Mojave Desert Paleontologist on a field trip last spring, I've just been working too long to think straight. :er:

 

[LaFoto]

No!
Tell me all!
I find this very interesting!
Maybe, one day - but certainly only after we'll have met in Germany in May 2008 - I will make it out there and see all this with my own eyes. Who knows? I certainly would like to!!!!

 

[abraxas]

You replied before I finished my edit.

The knife, for scale indicates that it was large enough that I would have had to use several implements to eat the animal. The print is about 8" wide.

 

[Jeremy Z]

Very nice shot abraxas! This should be a good demonstrator for the rule of thirds.

 

[lostprophet]

great shot

 

[abraxas]

Thanks Jeremy and Andy. It'll be a few weeks before I can get to a shoot out in the desert so I'm digging through last February's junk. Hopefuilly I can do some better shots by studying them- That, and I miss the place horribly when my hands are glued to the keyboard and ankle chained to the desk.

 

[JTHphoto]

You replied before I finished my edit.

The knife, for scale indicates that it was large enough that I would have had to use several implements to eat the animal. The print is about 8" wide.

nice shot :thumbup:

 

[abraxas]

nice shot :thumbup:

A short note before this falls and fades;

I have a grand-daughter, age 4, who is very much into dinosauers (paleontology- she can say the word) and previous creatures of the Earth; She hangs on every word (Her sister, age 12, does likewise for archaeology Not that this has anything to do with anything, just I'm proud). Anyway, the little girl's favorite mammoth/mastodon/paleo-joke is;

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Q. What is gray and has chunks in it?

A. Cream of Elephant soup.
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& Thanks.