Photograph by Matt W. Ford.
Photography contest, Honorable Mention.
Wind-carved tuff formations on
North Menan Butte, Snake River Plain, Idaho.
15 Comments
Karen S. · 30 April 2012
Wow, just wow!
ksplawn · 30 April 2012
Yep, she's a real beaut alright.
Karen S. · 30 April 2012
Big sky, big butte!
Frank J · 30 April 2012
Those of us who think the rainbow is more butte-ful when unweaved would like to know what geologic periods/epochs those layers represent. Any takers, or are you going to be like the "creationists" and play "don't ask, don't tell"?
Flint · 30 April 2012
Frank J said:
Those of us who think the rainbow is more butte-ful when unweaved would like to know what geologic periods/epochs those layers represent. Any takers, or are you going to be like the "creationists" and play "don't ask, don't tell"?
Tuff is volcanic ash, so there's at least some chance that it was all chuffed out at the same time, in a single volcanic event.
Gary_Hurd · 30 April 2012
Far far too grainy. Too bad as it looks like an interesting rock face.
Rumraket · 1 May 2012
Would it be possible to get a higher resolution version of that photograph somewhere? I like it a lot.
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Further to Frank J and Flint:
Google is your friend. Try googling North Menan Butte. On the first page there is an item from Oregon State Uni:
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/menan_buttes.html
with more photos and a bit of backgropund. The buttes are on the Snake River Plain. To quote the page:
The Menan Buttes formed when a dike intruded into a shallow aquifer. The water turned to steam and explosively fragmented the basaltic magma. The cones are late Pleistocene in age.
According to Wiki (?!) the North and South buttes are late Pleistocene, 10,000 YBP (IIRC, dated back from 1950). This is supported by:
http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/fo/upper_snake/recreation_sites_/north_menan_butte.html
The mixing of basaltic magma and water would have caused a violent phraetic explosion. The 2 cones, North and South, are amongst the largest in the world.
More info. at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=48097
also from the first page in the Google search. Again, this supports the figure of 10,000YBP.
Matt Young · 1 May 2012
Far far too grainy.
I think what you call grain is an artifact of the 600-pixel width; nothing we can do about that. Just sit back a little farther. I doubt that the original is grainy.
Would it be possible to get a higher resolution version of that photograph somewhere? I like it a lot.
I will forward your request to the photographer.
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Has my comment (around 8:45) got lost or is it in moderation?
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Sorry. It has just turned up!
Frank J · 1 May 2012
@alan bates.
Thanks. I guess that "proves" YEC. ;-)
Seriously, to my untrained eyes it looked like the layers of the Grand Canyon that sparked my interest in natural history, and soon after, evolution. So "naturally" I was hoping for Paleozoic or Mesozoic.
Henry J · 1 May 2012
Jurassic Park?
Ian Derthal · 4 May 2012
It's a wonder John Whitmore isn't doing research on this in order to prove it was a flood deposit.
15 Comments
Karen S. · 30 April 2012
Wow, just wow!
ksplawn · 30 April 2012
Yep, she's a real beaut alright.
Karen S. · 30 April 2012
Big sky, big butte!
Frank J · 30 April 2012
Those of us who think the rainbow is more butte-ful when unweaved would like to know what geologic periods/epochs those layers represent. Any takers, or are you going to be like the "creationists" and play "don't ask, don't tell"?
Flint · 30 April 2012
Gary_Hurd · 30 April 2012
Far far too grainy. Too bad as it looks like an interesting rock face.
Rumraket · 1 May 2012
Would it be possible to get a higher resolution version of that photograph somewhere? I like it a lot.
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Matt Young · 1 May 2012
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Has my comment (around 8:45) got lost or is it in moderation?
alan bates · 1 May 2012
Sorry. It has just turned up!
Frank J · 1 May 2012
@alan bates.
Thanks. I guess that "proves" YEC. ;-)
Seriously, to my untrained eyes it looked like the layers of the Grand Canyon that sparked my interest in natural history, and soon after, evolution. So "naturally" I was hoping for Paleozoic or Mesozoic.
Henry J · 1 May 2012
Jurassic Park?
Ian Derthal · 4 May 2012
It's a wonder John Whitmore isn't doing research on this in order to prove it was a flood deposit.
Henry J · 7 May 2012
Maybe its a flood withdrawal instead of deposit?