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The Rocks
#41036 11/20/14 04:55 PM
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+ @ti2d Offline OP
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I have always wondered where did those rocks all around on the summit came from. You know, the one that has the summit marker on it that everyone has their picture taken.

They are also on top of the other summits in the Sierra Nevada.

They weren't placed there and they sure didn't crawl up there.

Long Valley caldera explosion of 60 million years ago?

They say the rocks on the summit of Whitney are about that age...

Just throwing that out there.

Seriously.

Already ruled out any alien spacecraft or ancient race.


Journey well...
Re: The Rocks
+ @ti2d #41037 11/20/14 05:16 PM
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Rock Giants

Sorry.. I couldn't figure out how to put a video up! ;-)

Re: The Rocks
+ @ti2d #41038 11/20/14 07:37 PM
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Didn't they simply form there? The summit is very broad and flat, so as it weathers and crumbles, a lot of the pieces just stay where they are.


Wherever you go, there you are.
SPOTMe!
Re: The Rocks
saltydog #41040 11/21/14 01:15 AM
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Hundreds of millions of years... Pacific plate sliding under and down underneath the North American plate. Sliding down, mashing minerals together, heating them with tremendous pressure and heat from far below. All that pressure and very slow movement ...over millions of years... caused granite to form below, then to rise slowly, creating the Sierra Nevada range.

That granite was formed some miles from where it is now... straight down below its current spot. The Lone Pine earthquake of 1872 saw the eastern face of the Sierra rupture as the rocks to the west rose and the Owens valley to the east fell by a few feet.

Measurements show the Sierra range continues to rise -- by millimeters each year. (Not the reason they changed the elevation numbers for Whitney.)

Here's a geologist giving a talk in the Sierra:
Ron Wolf - Sierra Nevada Geology: http://youtu.be/2Ym7cf44cCg

The huge granite blocks on the summits have likely sat there relatively unchanged for millions of years. And they will likely be there in yet a million more.

Here's another short and sweet explanation from a young woman backpacker/science teacher: http://youtu.be/rnaA84zepLk

Re: The Rocks
Steve C #41043 11/21/14 09:10 AM
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I have also noticed the huge granite boulders sitting on the summit appear to me to be not the same granite comprising the Needles nor the Alabama Hills. I already know that the AH are older and were higher than Mt. Whitney millions of years ago.

When my wife and I, along with Steve C, Bob R and Jay, hiked to the top of Thor Peak in June 2010, I notice the same types of granite boulders on Thor's summit.

Afterwards, I told my wife that at one time Thor and Whitney were maybe were one. Just look at Thor's west (three "needles") and compare to the Needles that now exist along Whitney's flank.

Steve, there was also a picture you took of the Sierras as you flew over them. What intrigued me was the concentric "breaks" that appear as if there was an impact or collapse in the granite block that comprises of the Sierras. I have that picture on my desktop. I wish I knew how to post that picture and you can see what I mean. You may have it stored somewhere. I will send you an email with the picture as an attahment.

That's why I am intrigued by all of this.

Steve, aren't you a geologist?

I haven't seen the links (we get "bluecoated" at work)...Will look when I get home.

I have visited the escarpment just west and outside the city limits of Lone Pine. There exist the escarpment of a heighth of more than 40 feet. You can also see the escarpment along 395 just south of Lone Pine. I am sure if you Google Earth, you can see it from above. Wow!

I just find this stuff fascinating.


Journey well...
Re: The Rocks
+ @ti2d #41047 11/21/14 10:28 AM
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Well, here's that picture:


You say I took it? I can't seem to find my copy. Exif data says it was taken May 11, 2012 8:03:44AM

Yes I have a degree in Geology, but that was from 40 years ago. I haven't worked in that field for ...38 years! Unused knowledge evaporates. frown

Just understand: As the processes are pushing mountain ranges up, equal processes of erosion are tearing away at everything. Erosion works faster in areas of lesser resistance, so sometimes "bowls" are just places where the composition of the rock was different enough that it eroded more quickly. In addition, throughout the Sierra there are areas where the granite varies in composition. The block wasn't all pushed up as a single chunk. Think of it more as a semi-fluid pile of many pieces.

Yes, the stuff is truly fascinating. My biggest take-away is how miniscule we are in both time span and size in the universe over time.

Re: The Rocks
Steve C #41048 11/21/14 10:36 AM
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Here's something to ponder, too: Look at the Google terrain view of the Sierra, and note the north-south line that forms between Lake Isabella and the Kern river just west of Whitney.

As the Sierra was lifting, a fault developed in the block that enabled faster erosion. The Kern follows that for many miles, but then hopped out of it farther south. But the line goes for nearly 100 miles.

Re: The Rocks
Steve C #41049 11/21/14 07:51 PM
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Geology? Just remember. There are three types of rocks: metamorphic, ingenius, and sentimentary.

grin

Re: The Rocks
Whitney Fan #41050 11/22/14 06:59 AM
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Originally Posted By: Whitney Fan
Geology? Just remember. There are three types of rocks: metamorphic, ingenius, and sentimentary.

grin

My sediments exactly.


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