Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

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geojed
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by geojed »

Monster5 wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 1:35 pm Solifluction meets general erosion.
Sounds like the pitch for a steamy geologic romance novel
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by cougar »

that sort of looks like the ripples on a gypsum slope or some clay or salt, like on badlands buttes and formations.
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by geojed »

I heard back from the Professor who literally "wrote the book" on block/rock streams & rock/stone stripes for the Encyclopedia of Quaternary Geology! A little about his research interests and his note is below. So cool! \:D/ I might have to head back! :-D

Dr Peter Wilson
Emeritus Reader in the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University

https://ulster-staging.pure.elsevier.co ... ter-wilson
”My research concerns the geomorphological expressions and timings of past environmental changes in upland areas of the Britain, Ireland and Norway. This involves recognising, mapping and dating landforms and sediments associated with glacial, periglacial and paraglacial processes”.

Great photos. I think you might have found a previously unrecorded talus form. Never seen anything like that myself. Glacier ice would, I think, destroy talus rather than create ridges like those. Unlikely to be blockstream related. So I'm at a loss. I seriously suggest that, if possible, you write a short note about these ridges for one of the journals or better still you go back and do a detailed study.
Last edited by geojed on Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by justiner »

Exciting stuff. If this was on flat ground I wouldn’t have ruled out tailing piles left by a dredge but this certainly isn’t on an ancient river bed (and not sure of the use of dredges in the san Juan’s - mostly hard rock there eh?)
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by HikerGuy »

I emailed a geology professor emeritus here at work and his reply was:
Stone stripes is what I’m familiar with from freeze/thaw on steep slopes, and these don’t look like stone stripes to me; but I don’t have another explanation. They don’t look familiar, especially if they are on loose talus.

I’ll pass these on to another Antarctic friend, see what he thinks, have a chat with him, and then I’ll get back to you.
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by Boggy B »

geojed wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 5:32 pm
I think you might have found a previously unrecorded talus form.
But does the world really need another form of talus?
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by HikerGuy »

There is a nearby talus field with similar waves, but these are aligned with the slope contour.

38.03711, -107.41421
Screen Shot 2022-09-28 at 7.24.07 PM.png
Screen Shot 2022-09-28 at 7.24.07 PM.png (840.54 KiB) Viewed 586 times
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by geojed »

Boggy B wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:42 pm
geojed wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 5:32 pm
I think you might have found a previously unrecorded talus form.
But does the world really need another form of talus?
:lol:
Spoken like a man who has spent much time becoming intimately familiar with the glories of talus.

Boggy in all your climbs do you have a “bottom 5” of talus you’ve encountered?
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by twhalm »

Scott P wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:19 pm It's probably an extinct rock glacier.

Inactive rock glaciers still look like rock glaciers, but movement has ceased. Once the ice core melts, the rock glacier becomes extinct (and looks a little less like a rock glacier) and becomes rippley to to the ice no longer supporting the talus and formerly embedded rocks.

I say "probably" because while extinct rock glaciers do often display lateral "ripples", there are usually transverse ones as well. I don't see any in the photo.
This was my guess as well. There is a ton of interesting literature out there on rock glaciers

https://sustainability.colostate.edu/hu ... -colorado/
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by Trotter »

I've definitely seen some weird talus features, and found all the stuff yall posted to be pretty interesting.

One form I've found several times is the weird raised walls of talus about a foot high on either side of a shallow ditch, going down a mountain vertically. I always thought it was an old miner built ditch or flume, but now I wonder if it was the same forces yall are talking about. Because sometimes they went to a nonsensical location for mining.
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by HikerGuy »

Trotter wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:13 am I've definitely seen some weird talus features, and found all the stuff yall posted to be pretty interesting.

One form I've found several times is the weird raised walls of talus about a foot high on either side of a shallow ditch, going down a mountain vertically. I always thought it was an old miner built ditch or flume, but now I wonder if it was the same forces yall are talking about. Because sometimes they went to a nonsensical location for mining.
I think those are called marginal levees which are created by a fast-moving debris flow event.
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Re: Vertical Talus "Ripples/Waves" near Wetterhorn?

Post by Trotter »

HikerGuy wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:02 am
Trotter wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:13 am I've definitely seen some weird talus features, and found all the stuff yall posted to be pretty interesting.

One form I've found several times is the weird raised walls of talus about a foot high on either side of a shallow ditch, going down a mountain vertically. I always thought it was an old miner built ditch or flume, but now I wonder if it was the same forces yall are talking about. Because sometimes they went to a nonsensical location for mining.
I think those are called marginal levees which are created by a fast-moving debris flow event.
Just googled it, you are correct. Thanks.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
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