1.
Makhtesh Ramon
–
Makhtesh Ramon is a geological feature of Israels Negev desert. The crater is 40 km long, 2–10 km wide and 500 meters deep, the only settlement in the area is the small town of Mitzpe Ramon located on the northern edge of the crater. Today the crater and surrounding area forms Israels largest national park, hundreds of millions of years ago, the Negev desert was covered by an ocean. Slowly, this started to recede northwards leaving behind a hump-shaped hill, the hump was slowly flattened by water and climatic forces. Approximately five million years ago, the Arava Rift Valley was formed, with changing their courses. The crater bottom continued to deepen at a faster rate than the surrounding walls. As the crater deepened, more layers of ancient rock were exposed with rocks at the bottom of the crater being up to 200 million years old, Makhtesh Ramon contains a diversity of rocks including clay hills known for their fantastic red and yellow colors and forms. Limestone covered by basalt can also be found in smaller hills in the southern part of the makhtesh. Shen Ramon is a made of magma which hardened whilst underground. It later rose up through cracks in the Earths surface, and today stands in striking contrast with the nearby creamy coloured southern wall of the crater, as a black sharp-edged rock. In the centre of the makhtesh is HaMinsara, a low hill made up of columnar jointed sandstone - polygonal prismatic columns of quartzite, the pterioid bivalve Family Ramonalinidae is found in early Middle Triassic rocks of Makhtesh Ramon and was named after this feature. The Asian wild ass has been reintroduced to Makhtesh Ramon, in 1995 the population had increased to 40 adults in the area. The animals are hybrids of two different subspecies of the Asian Wild Ass and it is derived from the Turkmenian kulan and the Persian onager. The original subspecies, the Syrian wild ass, is completely extinct, other larger mammals of the area include Nubian ibexes, Dorcas gazelles, striped hyenas and few Arabian leopards. The ruins of a prehistoric stone structure known as Khan Saharonim are found in the makhtesh, as it lies along the ancient Incense Route. These ruins acted as a way station for the traders and their animals as they proceeded further westwards to the Mediterranean seaport city of Gaza, mazor, Emanuel and Krasnov, Boris, editors The Makhteshim Country - a Laboratory of Nature. Birds eye view of Ramon Crater
2.
Lamprophyre
–
Lamprophyres are uncommon, small volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks and small intrusions. They are alkaline silica-undersaturated mafic or ultramafic rocks with high magnesium oxide, >3% potassium oxide, high sodium oxide and high nickel, lamprophyres occur throughout all geologic eras. Archaean examples are commonly associated with gold deposits. Cenozoic examples include magnesian rocks in Mexico and South America, modern science treats lamprophyres as a catch-all term for ultrapotassic mafic igneous rocks which have primary mineralogy consisting of amphibole or biotite, and with feldspar in the groundmass. They are classified under the IUGS Nomenclature for Igneous Rocks separately, for example, the TAS scheme is inappropriate due to the control of mineralogy by potassium, not by calcium or sodium. Classification schemes which include information, may be required to properly describe lamprophyres. Rock considered lamprophyres are part of a clan of rocks, with similar mineralogy, textures, lamprophyres are similar to lamproites and kimberlites. While modern concepts see orangeites, lamproites and kimberlites as separate, Mitchell considered the lamprophyres as a facies of igneous rocks created by a set of conditions. Either scheme may apply to some, but not all, occurrences and variations of the group of rocks known as lamprophyres. Rock considered lamprophyres to be derived from deep, volatile-driven melting in a subduction zone setting, others such as Mitchell consider them to be late offshoots of plutons, etc. though this can be difficult to reconcile with their primitive melt chemistry and mineralogy. Lamprophyres are a group of rocks containing phenocrysts, usually of biotite and amphibole, and pyroxene and they are thus distinguished from the porphyries and porphyrites in which the feldspar has crystallized in two generations. They are essentially dike rocks, occurring as dikes and thin sills and they are usually dark in color, owing to the abundance of ferro-magnesian silicates, of high specific gravity and liable to decomposition. For these reasons they have defined as a melanocrate series. Biotite and amphibole are panidiomorphic, all are euhedral, well formed, feldspar is restricted to the ground mass. In many lamprophyres the pale quartz and felspathic ingredients tend to occur in rounded spots, or ocelli and these spots may consist of radiate or brush-like feldspars or of quartz and feldspar. A central area of quartz or of analcite probably represents an original miarolitic cavity infilled at a later period, the presence or absence of the four dominant minerals, orthoclase, plagioclase, biotite and hornblende, determines the species, Minette contains biotite and orthoclase. Each variety of lamprophyre may and often contain all four minerals but is named according to the two which predominate. These rocks contain iron oxides, apatite, sometimes sphene, augite
3.
Shiprock
–
Shiprock is a monadnock rising nearly 1,583 feet above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. Its peak elevation is 7,177 feet above sea level and it lies about 10.75 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, myth, and tradition. It is located in the center of the occupied by the Ancient Pueblo People. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has featured in several film productions. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico, the Navajo name for the peak, Tsé Bitʼaʼí, rock with wings or winged rock, refers to the legend of the great bird that brought the Navajo from the north to their present lands. The name Shiprock or Shiprock Peak or Ship Rock derives from the resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship. Americans first called the peak The Needle, a given to the topmost pinnacle by Captain J. F. McComb in 1860. United States Geological Survey maps indicate that the name Ship Rock dates from the 1870s, Shiprock is composed of fractured volcanic breccia and black dikes of igneous rock called minette. It is the remnant of the throat of a volcano. The rock probably was originally formed 2, 500–3,000 feet below the Earths surface, wall-like sheets of minette, known as dikes, radiate away from the central formation. Radiometric age determinations of the minette establish that these volcanic rocks solidified about 27 million years ago, Shiprock is in the northeastern part of the Navajo Volcanic Field—a field that includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks that formed about 25 million years ago. Agathla in Monument Valley is another prominent volcanic neck in this volcanic field, Shiprock and the surrounding land have religious and historical significance to the Navajo people. It is mentioned in many of their myths and legends, foremost is the peaks role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to one legend, after being transported from another place, one day, the peak was struck by lightning, obliterating the trail and leaving only a sheer cliff, and stranding the women and children on top to starve. The presence of people on the peak is forbidden for fear they might stir up the chį́įdii, Navajo legend puts the peak in a larger geographic context. Shiprock is said to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the Goods of Value Mountain, the Chuska Mountains comprise the body, Chuska Peak is the head, the Carrizo Mountains are the legs, and Beautiful Mountain is the feet. Navajo legend has it that Bird Monsters nested on the peak, after Monster Slayer, elder of the Warrior Twins, destroyed Déélééd at Red Mesa, he killed two adult Bird Monsters at Shiprock and changed two young ones into an eagle and an owl
4.
Volcanic plug
–
A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if rising volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, glacial erosion can lead to exposure of the plug on one side, while a long slope of material remains on the opposite side. Such landforms are called crag and tail, if a plug is preserved, erosion may remove the surrounding rock while the erosion-resistant plug remains, producing a distinctive upstanding landform. An example of two volcanic plugs can be found at the Pitons, in Saint Lucia, as they rise out of the eastern Caribbean Sea. Near the village of Rhumsiki in the Far North Province of Cameroon, spectacular volcanic plugs are present in the center of La Gomera island in the Canary Islands archipelago, within the Garajonay National Park. In New Zealands South Island, Ōnawe Peninsula on Banks Peninsula is a prominent volcanic plug, in Australia, the The Nut in Tasmania is a further example, along with Mount Warning. Borgarvirki is a volcanic plug located in north Iceland, a volcanic plug is situated in the town of Motta SantAnastasia in Italy. Saint Michel dAiguilhe chapel, whose construction started in 969, near Le Puy-en-Velay in France, the volcanic plug rises about 85 metres above the surroundings. Another building on a plug is the 14th century Trosky Castle in the Czech Republic. Rockall, a small, uninhabited, remote islet in the North Atlantic Ocean, is also a volcanic plug, in the United Kingdom, two examples of a building on a volcanic plug are the Castle Rock in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Deganwy Castle, Wales. The Law, Dundee, Ailsa Craig, Bass Rock, North Berwick Law, there are over 30 volcanic plugs in Northern Ireland, including Slemish in Ballymena, Tievebulliagh, Scawt Hill, Carrickarede, Scrabo and Slieve Gallion. Examples of volcanic plugs in the United States include Morro Rock, California and Laurel Hill, Devils Tower in Wyoming, as well as Little Devils Postpile located in Yosemite National Park, are also thought to be a volcanic plug by many geologists. Another example of a plug in the eastern USA is the highly eroded Starks Knob basaltic structure located along the Hudson River near Saratoga Springs. However, some geologists believe Starks Knob is not a plug at all, the origin of Devils Tower is not totally clear. Although it is admitted that it was formed by igneous intrusion, it is not necessarily a volcanic plug. In New Mexico, Shiprock is a further example, the Pitons of Saint Lucia, in the eastern Caribbean Sea are two volcanic plugs that rise abruptly out of the sea and are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The highest mountain plug rises to a height of nearly 760 metres, in Canada, the Castle Rock, located in British Columbia, is a volcanic plug that had volatile-charged magma still beneath it, leading to a Volcanic Explosivity Index 2 eruption
5.
New Mexico
–
New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
6.
Geology
–
Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also refer generally to the study of the features of any terrestrial planet. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth by providing the evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life. Geology also plays a role in engineering and is a major academic discipline. The majority of data comes from research on solid Earth materials. These typically fall into one of two categories, rock and unconsolidated material, the majority of research in geology is associated with the study of rock, as rock provides the primary record of the majority of the geologic history of the Earth. There are three types of rock, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The rock cycle is an important concept in geology which illustrates the relationships between three types of rock, and magma. When a rock crystallizes from melt, it is an igneous rock, the sedimentary rock can then be subsequently turned into a metamorphic rock due to heat and pressure and is then weathered, eroded, deposited, and lithified, ultimately becoming a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock may also be re-eroded and redeposited, and metamorphic rock may also undergo additional metamorphism, all three types of rocks may be re-melted, when this happens, a new magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once again crystallize. Geologists also study unlithified material which typically comes from more recent deposits and these materials are superficial deposits which lie above the bedrock. Because of this, the study of material is often known as Quaternary geology. This includes the study of sediment and soils, including studies in geomorphology, sedimentology and this theory is supported by several types of observations, including seafloor spreading, and the global distribution of mountain terrain and seismicity. This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the mantle is called plate tectonics. The development of plate tectonics provided a basis for many observations of the solid Earth. Long linear regions of geologic features could be explained as plate boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, high regions on the seafloor where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes exist, were explained as divergent boundaries, where two plates move apart. Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes were explained as convergent boundaries, where one plate subducts under another, transform boundaries, such as the San Andreas Fault system, resulted in widespread powerful earthquakes. Plate tectonics also provided a mechanism for Alfred Wegeners theory of continental drift and they also provided a driving force for crustal deformation, and a new setting for the observations of structural geology
