Friday, April 5, 2013

Rocking in Texas

Rock Layers, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Geology always intrigues me. It was the subject I first studied in college until I realized I was better at taking pictures of rocks than analyzing their chemistry. 

 Colorful outcrops such as these in Palo Duro Canyon rocked my eyes everywhere we explored. Very thin layers of white gypsum can be seen threading through this section of orange sedimentary stone, which dates from roughly 200 million years ago.

 I am still a bit of a rockhound, collecting interesting specimens here and there. Consequently our yard is full of rocks from many places around the country.



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17 comments:

  1. dukeApril 5, 2013 at 1:37 AM

    Paysage typiquement américain... Oh, c'est vraiment très beau !

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  2. GinnieApril 5, 2013 at 3:43 AM

    HA! You'll have to show us a picture of your yard one of these days, Doug. :D

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  3. FocalesApril 5, 2013 at 4:52 AM

    Fantastic colors !

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  4. JoeApril 5, 2013 at 5:06 AM

    The colour of that sedimentary rock suggests a high iron content to me Doug. Nice perspective. I can imagine you with a pick and a bucket searching for interesting specimens.

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  5. ArndApril 5, 2013 at 8:16 AM

    Fascinating illustrative material for a geology class. The layer structure of sediments is really striking here!

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  6. KateApril 5, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    I believe that a geologist would love this photo.

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  7. ScottApril 5, 2013 at 9:43 AM

    When my wife and I moved from Florida to Pennsylvania, we packed-up all our rocks--collected from many locations around the country--in a cardboard box labeled "rocks." When we arrived at our new house, I stored the box in the garage, a garage I share with my employer's staff for equipment storage. Periodically, the garage gets filled with "stuff" that the staff is too lazy to put away. Then, intermittently and summoning tremendous spurts of energy, the staff will clear away all the accumulated crap. Out went my box of rocks in one of those cleaning frenzies--including some really neat shark's teeth that I had collected in Florida's phosphate mines.

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  8. GigaApril 5, 2013 at 10:04 AM

    Kolor skał jest wspaniały i pieknie to zostało na zdjęciu pokazane. Pozdrawiam.
    Rock color is gorgeous and it was beautifully shown in the picture. Yours.

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  9. UnknownApril 5, 2013 at 1:41 PM

    In Mother Earth's unique colors, beautiful photo, I like your composition.
    greetings.

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  10. Traveling HawkApril 6, 2013 at 1:55 PM

    Wonderful profile, Doug!

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  11. yzApril 7, 2013 at 6:24 AM

    love this stone color, never seen it in person

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  12. FriedaApril 7, 2013 at 4:47 PM

    That's a great picture. I didn't know the expression "rockhound" but I seem to be, one too, as I like to collect stones/ rocks, too :)

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  13. franzApril 7, 2013 at 5:01 PM

    and a rocking picture it is, too ... says one rockhound to another ;-)
    love the natural layers and textures and the earthen hues that only the desert can come up with !!!

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  14. georgeApril 8, 2013 at 6:58 AM

    For a moment, I thought it was going to be an image of "ZZ Top" in a hot rod - maybe next time! Meanwhile, a note for all you Rockhounds, look out for "Within the Stone" by Bill Atkinson, it's like a technicolor geological bible.





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  15. Andrew Graeme GouldApril 8, 2013 at 9:22 PM

    Amazing textures of nature, nicely shown here!

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  16. rianApril 22, 2013 at 11:42 PM

    i like how the compressed scene enhanced the view.. great catch! :)

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  17. DomLOrthaMay 20, 2013 at 1:19 PM

    Unique colors of the American canyons! Nice point of view.
    Have a nice day.

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