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Post by 1dave on Mar 12, 2021 22:33:37 GMT -5
What created this great depression?
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Post by greig on Mar 13, 2021 11:26:22 GMT -5
If you cannot explain it: Aliens.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 13, 2021 13:01:22 GMT -5
The hint is in the name.. yellowstone CALDERA
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Post by 1dave on Mar 13, 2021 13:26:40 GMT -5
Curious. I'm getting lots of responses on facebook, almost none here. This was so spectacular that it ended Jurassic Time 140 Mya.
You won't find anything about it in books because it hasn't been written yet. This was so tiny even in the enlarged PDF I had to re-do parts to make it legible. 140 million years ago the soil in this depression was removed right down to (gray) Precambrian rocks,
Mesa Verde rocks 81-75 Mya (green) and younger started filling in as the seaway began filling mid USA. Tertiary volcanics 65 Mya (orange) appeared to the west long before Yellowstone.
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Post by 1dave on Mar 13, 2021 13:29:43 GMT -5
The hint is in the name.. yellowstone CALDERA Nope. This is the Bighorn Basin. That is far to the west, and this happened 130 Mya prior to Yellowstone.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,212
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Post by RWA3006 on Mar 13, 2021 13:42:27 GMT -5
1dave that's the general area I'm from and the better question might be "what caused the surrounding high elevations." To the northeast you have the Bighorn range, to the southwest the mighty Windrivers and then to the West several mountain complexes that the Yellowstone hot spot has plowed into. These mountain systems have punched up through what we call the High Plains and I think the spot you're looking at is probably one of the many low places of the High Plains. Try running your elevation graph from that spot straight East all the way to the Black Hills and you might see more similar features.
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Post by 1dave on Mar 13, 2021 14:19:25 GMT -5
1dave that's the general area I'm from and the better question might be "what caused the surrounding high elevations." To the northeast you have the Bighorn range, to the southwest the mighty Windrivers and then to the West several mountain complexes that the Yellowstone hot spot has plowed into. These mountain systems have punched up through what we call the High Plains and I think the spot you're looking at is probably one of the many low places of the High Plains. Try running your elevation graph from that spot straight East all the way to the Black Hills and you might see more similar features. Terrain 5,000 feet deep disappeared from some areas.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,212
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Post by RWA3006 on Mar 13, 2021 15:19:17 GMT -5
Well, it's not my fault. I didn't have any heavy rock piles stacked on my place back when I lived there.
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Post by stephan on Mar 14, 2021 23:28:20 GMT -5
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Post by 1dave on Mar 15, 2021 6:55:33 GMT -5
Agreed ! If we don't stop carrying rocks home, soon we won't have a planet to stand on!
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Post by fernwood on Mar 15, 2021 8:29:37 GMT -5
This area is so geologically unique. Remember going to some more obscure locations in the 1990's. I was in awe with everything around me. Especially the various smells from the chemicals that were popping on the surfaces of the ponds. Then started observing the elevation changes. I could have stayed and observed some locations for hours, but Husband and Child needed to go to a different area for ice cream and a bathroom, lol.
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fishnpinball
Cave Dweller
So much to learn, so little time
Member since March 2017
Posts: 1,491
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Post by fishnpinball on Mar 15, 2021 9:51:08 GMT -5
If you cannot explain it: Aliens. I was thinking the same thing, after they evacuated, they collapsed the base.
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standles
spending too much on rocks
Well all I got was a rock ... Cool!
Member since February 2021
Posts: 325
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Post by standles on Mar 15, 2021 9:52:48 GMT -5
If you cannot explain it: Aliens. I was thinking the same thing, after they evacuated, they colla0psed the base. Wasn't there a 6 million dollar man episode with alien big-foots that did something like that?
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Post by greig on Mar 15, 2021 11:31:59 GMT -5
Paraphrase: Thoughtlessly skip a stone across the water ... and then it's gone. hahahaha
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Post by stephan on Mar 15, 2021 15:37:06 GMT -5
It'll be a pain to put all my rocks back where they were found -- especially ones from the estate sale.
I wonder what the rangers would say if someone actually tried to bring back a rock that was legally collected "back in the day," but is closed now. Rough would be one thing, but especially amusing to try to return some slabs to nature.
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