Latest Posts
Alps photos posted
Photos from a recent Smithsonian Journeys trip to the Swiss and Austrian Alps, with a brief traipse through Italy and lunch in Liechtenstein.
Analysis of Columnar Jointing at Devils Postpile, California
Columnar-joint patterns in lavas, and their defects, geometrically resemble honeycombs, graphene, animal territories, and other phenomena.
Discharge of Rivers on the Colorado Plateau During the El Niño Winter of 2026-2027
Flow of the Colorado River depends in part on how much moisture the Colorado drainage gets this winter.
A spreadsheet to model magma crystallization
In this post I describe a simple spreadsheet designed to show how compositions change as various minerals are crystallized from a magma.
Yosemite overflight photos posted
Photos from a low-altitude (legal) research flight over Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows.
Patagonia photos posted
Photos from a two-week trip to Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Paine.
Torres del Paine vs. Split Mountain — 3 — Comparison
Torres del Paine and Split Mountain share strong similarities, but the latter lies along the faulted eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada and was thus resistant to glaciation.
Torres del Paine vs. Split Mountain — 2 — Split Mountain
Split Mountain in California bears a strong resemblance to Torres del Paine. It is also much more accessible.
Torres del Paine vs. Split Mountain — 1 — Cuernos del Paine
Remarkable similarities between the iconic granite complex in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, and Split Mountain in eastern California.
A spreadsheet to help teach the rudiments of seismic tomography
This post describes a spreadsheet that can be used to understand the rudiments of how seismic tomography works, and to help get across the idea of ambiguity in interpretation.
Badwater Road is Really Screwed Up
When Death Valley experiences bad weather, Badwater Road gets hammered by floods caused by the diversion of Furnace Creek Wash—a fully predictable problem
Death Valley Flooding 2022: The Futile Diversion Attempt at Gower Gulch
Eighty years ago a bulldozer and a little dynamite were used to divert Furnace Creek into little Gower Gulch. Did it work?
Death Valley Flooding 2022: Trying to Tame Furnace Creek Wash
The mouth of Furnace Creek Wash has a beautiful view, but it is a terrible place to build stuff, especially when it rains.
