

Calcrete Growth in Alluvial Lowlands
I can't get any lower. Still I feel I'm sinking. -Soundgarden Repeated recharge and evaporation result in the development of calcrete. We know this from soil science in general and from focused study of calcic soils worldwide (Reeves, 1976; Machete, 1985; Wood et al., 1992). In Eastern Washington, a robust association exists between thick pedogenic calcretes (petrocalcic horizons) and non-calceous lowland alluvial deposits. That's a key finding of my recent work on Pliocene-P

Fracture Notes - In progress
What are cracks and fractures? How does hydraulic fracturing work? How does HF relate to sheeted clastic dikes? In this post, I reveal the process of drafting figures for future publication that explain fluid-driven fractures and crack propagation relevant to sheeted clastic dikes in the Columbia Basin, USA. These concepts (fracture mechanics)are common to engineers and petroleum geologists, but foreign to most geology majors and their professors. These concepts are not taugh


Post-glacial Rebound in the Okanogan Valley?
The Okanogan Valley runs 100km due north from Brewster, WA to the Canadian border; it provides a near perfect longitudinal profile through the Okanogan Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The "kame terrace" system preserved there is extensive and accessible. I call them kame terraces for simplicity; their origin is certainly more complicated. Kame terraces are accumulations of glaciofluvial sediment, glaciolacustrine sediment, and till along the margin of a glacier, between th


New Artwork - Winter 2023
BUCKEROO - 25" x 10" - Acrylic on Doug Fir panel - My own take on a Duke Beardsley composition. WEATHERED - 12" x 12" - Acrylic on canvas. BIG NOSE - 12" x 12" - Acrylic on canvas. Loose strokes and bold colors make the most sense to me. Keep the paint goppy. Work quick and spare like Cormac. Just a wonderful composition. Reminds me alot of 'Buckaroo Team' and others from the Great Basin series by the king of cowboy watercolor William Matthews. Didn't put much forethought int