I came across a good posting on Carbon Brief that gives a succinct historical background for designating the new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, and thought I’d pass it on. As defined by the English Oxford Living Dictionaries, the Anthropocene is:
Relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
The Anthropocene is not a formal geologic time unit yet within the geologic time scale – that label will take awhile. But the Working Group on the Anthropocene (a part of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy) gave their recommendation to formalize this time unit to the 35th International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa on August 29, 2016, so there is some progress. The working group suggested that there are options for marking the beginning of the epoch, such as c. 1800 CE, around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Europe or about 1950, where the boundary
…was likely to be defined by the radioactive elements dispersed across the planet by nuclear bomb tests, although an array of other signals, including plastic pollution, soot from power stations, concrete, and even the bones left by the global proliferation of the domestic chicken were now under consideration. From The Guardian, 8/29/2016.
Anyways, it’s worth reading the posting on Carbon Brief by Sophie Yeo about the Anthropocene, and I’ve included one of the posting’s infographics below to peak a reader’s interest.
The Laramie Mountains are part of the central Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming. Archean and Proterozoic rocks form the bulk of the mountain range due to late Cretaceous–early Eocene (Laramide) basement-involved uplift. Hogbacks made of Paleozoic to Mesozoic age rocks flank much of the
The Laramie Mountains of southeastern Wyoming contain Proterozoic and Archean rocks that are now exposed by a late Cretaceous–early Eocene (Laramide) basement-involved uplift. The Precambrian rocks are flanked by hogbacks of Paleozoic to Mesozoic age rocks as seen in the above photo.
Precambrian cored mountain areas. But what sets the Laramie Mountains apart from the adjoining Colorado Front Range and even the western Great Plains is that upper Eocene to Miocene strata are preserved within the Laramie Mountains and on its sides as paleovalley fill. The reasons for this unusual paleovalley fill preservation can probably be tied to the Laramie Mountains being much lower in elevation than the adjoining Colorado Front Range and that they were not glaciated during the Pleistocene.
I went on a field trip a few days ago specifically to look at the Laramie Mountains Tertiary paleovalleys. It was a really good trip. Emmett Evanoff led the trip and because he’s spent so much time working in the area, he had much info and insight on the paleovalleys. What follows are a few photos from the trip:
High Plains escarpment of Tertiary rocks on the eastern flank of the Laramie Mountains near Chugwater Creek. Eocene White River mudstone and siltstone beds are capped by coarse sandstone beds. An overlying gravelly sandstone unit, probably of the upper Oligocene Arikaree Formation lies above the White River beds. The Miocene Ogallala Formation containing stacked conglomerate sheets caps the entire section.The walls to the Tertiary paleovalleys near Chugwater Creek are hogbacks of overturned rocks ranging in age from Pennsylvanian to Cretaceous.We found a Daemonelix burrow in Arikareean strata. The burrow is corkscrew shaped and was probably made by the ground beaver Palaeocastor.Pat’s food truck was a welcome sight during the field trip. As she said – good food and good rocks – what’s better than that?
Large boulders occur at the base of the White River Formation in the Toltec Tertiary paleovalley. The Toltec paleovalley is on the west side of the Laramie Mountains where basal Tertiary strata are exposed at and close to the range margins.Polished boulders of Precambrian granite are found in the Garrett paleovalley which now lies in the drainage area of the North Laramie River. Wyoming is well known for wind and these boulders certainly attest to that.
My field season is in full swing. I recently spent time with students from the Webb Schools in Claremont, CA, during their annual sojourn to southwestern Montana. We prospected a few Tertiary localities, with the students making some good fossil mammal and fossil invertebrate finds. We were also extremely lucky to have a southwest Montana landowner give us a tour of a buffalo jump that is on his land. The following photos are from our various fossil site and buffalo jump field adventures.
Tertiary fossil snails (about 25 My in age) at one locality captured the interest of students. Once one snail was found, everyone was intent on finding more.Bob Haseman talks about a buffalo jump in the Toston Valley of southwestern Montana. He is standing by one of the many tepee rings associated with the jump site. The small boulders on the surface between Bob and the students are part of a tepee ring.Webb School students hiked up to the “Looking-Out” site associated with the buffalo jump. A eagle catchment area is immediately below the highest point of the “Looking-Out” site.The eagle catchment area is a shallow depression where a person would hide beneath brush awaiting the approach of an eagle. A nearby animal carcass would aid the quest to capture a eagle which was then used for its feathers.Chadronian (about 36 My in age) rocks near Three Forks, Montana yielded a few brontothere teeth and bone fragments for the curious students.Chadronian strata in this area consist of brown to reddish popcorn-textured floodplain deposits that contain paleosols and whitish-colored fine-sand channel deposits.
Caldera boundaries of Yellowstone area eruptions over the past 2.1 million years (U.S. Geological Survey – http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3024/)
Volcanic stratigraphy is hard to ignore when touring through the Teton to Yellowstone National Parks (YNP) area. Three major volcanic eruption cycles occurred during the last 2.1 million years and resulted in hundreds of feet of volcanic rock. The eruption cycles make a good basis for separating the volcanic rock units and consequently there are three major volcanic stratigraphic units. These major units consist of ash-flow tuffs that erupted at the peak of each cycle and include the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff with an age of 2.1 million years, the Mesa Falls Tuff with an age of 1.3 million years, and the Lava Creek Tuff with an age of 0.64 million years.
The type section of the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff is at the head of a landslide scarp on the Flagg Ranch, about 1 mile northeast of a bridge across the Snake River.
The type sections of the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and the Mesa Falls Tuff are fairly accessible. The Huckleberry Ridge Tuff type section sits at the head of a large landslide about 1.5 miles south of the YNP’s south gate and 1 mile northeast of the Snake River Bridge. It’s a big landslide, so it’s easy to spot from the highway. The type section mainly contains welded rhyolitic ash-flow tuff. This huge eruptive event (one of the five largest individual volcanic eruptions worldwide) associated with the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff formed a caldera more than 60 miles across.
The type section of the Mesa Falls Tuff is a road cut along Highway 20, about 3 miles north of Ashton, Idaho.
The Mesa Falls Tuff type section is really accessible as it is alongside Highway 20, about 3 miles north of Ashton, Idaho. The type section consists of airfall tuff, partially welded tuff that has an agglomeratic base. The eruption associated with the Mesa Falls Tuff formed the Henrys Fork Caldera which is in the Island Park area west of YNP.
A more detailed view of the Mesa Falls Tuff with its airfall ash overlain by partially welded rhyolitic tuff that has an agglomeratic base.Roaring Mountain lies within the Lava Creek Tuff outcropping area in YNP (photo from NPS/Peaco – https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/norrisplan.htm).
The Lava Creek Tuff type section is much more difficult to access as its type section in the upper canyon of Lava Creek, about 8 miles into the backcountry of YNP. There are a couple reference sections that are easier to reach, and one is in Sheepeater’s Canyon, about 0.5 miles northeast of Osprey Falls. The Lava Creek Tuff is also readily seen in the south-facing cliffs along much of the Gibbon River. The eruption associated with the Lava Creek Tuff created the Yellowstone Caldera, the 35-mile-wide, 50-mile-long volcanic depression that dominates the present YNP landscape.
There are many more volcanic units associated with the three major eruptive cycles. But spending time looking at the major ash-flow tuff units is a good way to begin to delve into Yellowstone geology.
A pine needle-sand trail in the Sandhills at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
My first trek into the Carolina Sandhills began with a visit a couple days ago to Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Weymouth Woods is a great place not only to hike through part of the Sandhills, but to also see the longleaf pine forest that readily grows on the sands. The land for the preserve was donated to the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation in 1963 by Mrs. James Boyd. Her father bought the land in 1903 so that a part of the region’s original longleaf pine forest would survive. In fact, there are old-growth 400 to 500 year-old longleaf pines still flourishing near the Weymouth Center.
Pileated woodpeckers are a common sight on hikes through the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve. The woods are also home to the red-cockaded woodpecker – an endangered species that is an indicator species for the overall health of the longleaf pine ecosystem. This pileated woodpecker was at the feeders in back of the visitor center. I did see 2 red-cockaded woodpeckers at the same feeders, but, unfortunately, I didn’t get any photos of them.
Back to Sandhills geology – the Sandhills are a Quaternary aeolian blanket of sands and dunes that cover part of the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. That the sands exist in the Coastal Plains uplands of the Carolinas has been known for some time, but recently Moore and Brooks used LIDAR data to show an extensive Upper and Middle Coastal Plain upland aeolian landscape. Moore and Brooks describe their findings as:
“Although primarily an Upper Coastal Plain/Sandhills phenomena, these large-scale eolian features are also present in parts of the dissected uplands in the Middle Coastal Plain immediately east of the Orangeburg Scarp in South Carolina and in the Middle Coastal Plain portions of North Carolina. While the timing is likely related to riverine source-bordering eolian dunes, the sand source for many of these upland eolian deposits appears to be derived from upland incisement and erosion by primarily 1st order streams. In fact, many sources appear to originate from the incised borders of broad dissected coastal uplands with numerous small feeder streams and streamhead sources. In other words, the downcutting and incisement events appear correlated with dune and eolian sand-sheet formation in the uplands where extensive erosion would have provided a plentiful sand source for remobilization as eolian dunes. Although the timing of upland incisement is not clear, it likely occurred most recently during or sometime just after the last glacial maximum when large river systems in the Southeast were transitioning from braided to meandering and incised fluvial systems.”
In the Southern Pines area, the aeolian deposits that comprise the Sandhills are a part of the Upper Coastal Plain Pinehurst Formation as redefined by Bartlett (1967: Geology of the Southern Pines Quadrangle, North Carolina, [M.S. thesis]: Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, 101 p).This is defintely different geology from the Montana Cenozoic continental basins than I’m used to. So it was a great change and fun geology to think about. And – if a hike through Sandhills country is on your list, a visit to Weymouth Woods is in order. I used the trails at both the main Weymouth Woods acreage that are by the visitor’s center and also hiked the Paint Hill trails that are also on State Park lands. The Paint Hill trails are a part of the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, but are located about a mile southwest of the main woods. Both areas are amazing!
Machu Picchu is located in the central Peruvian Andes at an elevation of about 8,000 feet. Huayna Picchu, the closest peak to the ruins, is a favorite hiking area for many visitors.
Much has been written about Machu Picchu since its rediscovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham and his expedition crew. And although I was truly amazed at the ruins of Machu Picchu when I hiked around it a few months ago, I was mesmerized by the area geology as soon as I got off the train at Aguas Calientes – the town at the base of Machu Picchu. Consequently, it’s the geology of Machu Picchu that I’ll talk about in this blog rather than the ruins. But – for those who would still like to read more background information on Machu Picchu, the Library of Congress has a good online bibliography site for a starting point- Machu Picchu: A Brief Bibliography.
Machu Picchu lies in the south-central Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes, known as the Cordillera de Vilcambamba. Cusco, the nearest major city, lies about 50 miles southeast of Machu Picchu. Most sojourners like myself access Machu Picchu via the Sacred Valley either by train or by walking the Inca Trail, and stay in Aguas Calientes during their time exploring Machu Picchu.
The geologic setting of Machu Picchu –
Remnant exfoliation sheets are developed in the granitoid rocks of Piticusi Mountain. Piticusi lies about 0.75 miles east of Machu Picchu and about 0.6 miles southwest of Aguas Calientes.
As soon as I got off the train at Aguas Calientes, I could see that it was a granitic dominated geology. Large remnant exfoliation sheets, typical features of granitic landscapes, cling to the mountainsides in every direction that I looked. Canitu and others (2009, p.250) describe the geology of the the Machu Picchu site as:
“The bedrock of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is mainly composed by granite and subordinately granodiorite. This is mainly located in the lower part of the slopes (magmatic layering at the top). Locally, dikes of serpentine and peridotite are outcropping in two main levels; the former is located along the Inca trail, near Cerro Machu Picchu (vertically dipping), the latter is located along the path toward ‘‘Templo de la Luna’’ in Huayna Picchu relief.”
Bedrock geology, mass movement areas, and anthropic fill/andenes (agricultural terraces) of Machu Picchu (from Canitu and others, 2009).
The granitoid pluton of Machu Picchu is part of the larger “Quillabamba granite”, which is a magmatic complex now exposed in the eastern Cordillera of central Peru. The Machu Picchu pluton, along with numerous other areal plutons of this magmatic complex, were intruded into an axial zone of a Permo-early Jurassic rift system. Isotopic age data that more tightly constrain this magmatic activity include a (U–Pb) age of 257 +3 My for the Quillabamba granite and a biotite Rb-Sr age of 246 + 10 My for the Machu Picchu pluton (from Lancelot and others, 1978: U/Pb radiochronology of two granitic plutons from the eastern Cordillera (Peru) — Extent of Permian magmatic activity and consequences. Int. Journal of Earth Sciences, 67(1), 236–243). The current exposure of the Machu Picchu pluton at such a high elevation is due to a tectonic inversion of the rift system’s axial zone. The inversion is a result of Andean convergent deformation that occurred largely during the Eocene (Sempere and others (2002) cited in: Mazzoli and others, 2009).
The Machu Picchu citadel ruins sit within a graben (base image from Google Earth, extracted 6/13/2016).
The site-specific geologic structural setting of Machu Picchu is that the citadel ruins lie within a northeast-trending graben. The graben is delineated by two normal faults with the upthrown side on the northwest including Huayna Picchu and the upthrown side on the southeast being the block that contains Machu Picchu Cerro. As an aside, there are great 1-3 hour hikes that can be done, both to Huayna Picchu and to Machu Picchu Cerro. I did the hike to
The hike up Huayna Picchu is well worth the effort – especially if it’s done with a group of people from the University of Montana.
Huayna Picchu with a great group of people, so it was a fun hike made even better by spectacular views from the top of Huayna Picchu.
Building stone of Machu Picchu –
Machu Picchu stone-work construction also incorporated in-place granitoid rock.
Lastly, because the ashlar method of stone block construction (a method where stone blocks are dry fit together so well that it is impossible to slide a piece of paper between the blocks) used in Inca architecture is so fascinating, I’ll include a few words about the stone used in this method at Machu Picchu.
The Temple of Three Windows well illustrates the ashlar building technique used by Inca builders – precisely cut stone blocks (in this case granitoid blocks) that fit so well with adjoining blocks that no mortar is needed.
The building stone of the Machu Picchu citadel ruins was quarried from the area granitoid rocks. Canuti and others (2009, p. 256) in their study of Machu Picchu slope instability note that:
“As historical consideration, the data collected suggest the possibility that the site of Machu Picchu could have been selected by Incas also because of the availability of two large block deposits, useful for constructions: one on the so called ‘‘cantera’’ and the second in the paleo-landslide recently discovered.”
The on-site rock quarry used during the building of Machu Picchu lies near the Sacred Plaza. It is probably often overlooked by visitors because it looks more like just a rocky, chaotic space rather than a worked quarry.
The “cantera” mentioned above is the quarry that was used during the original construction of Machu Picchu. It is located between the Sacred Plaza and the Temple of the Sun at Machu Picchu. It looks like just a chaotic pile of rocks, so is probably not a point of interest for most visitors. The paleo-landslide also mentioned above as a potential source for granitic building material is an area located on the northeast flank of the Machu Picchu citadel ruins. Canuti and others (2009) suggest that it is probably some tens of meters thick and luckily their deformation monitoring did not detect mass movement.
And so ends my 5-part blog series on my adventures in Peru. All I can say is – go there if you get a chance. It is an amazing place!
The town of Urubamba is nestled in the Sacred Valley, about 33 miles northwest of Cusco.
Most people traverse Peru’s Sacred Valley quickly on their way from Cusco to Machu Picchu. But this stretch of countryside is an area well worth staying around in for awhile, both for getting to know Andean culture and understanding some of its history.
Farming methods in the Sacred Valley are still non-mechanized. Eight varieties of corn are grown in the Sacred Valley, several of which are shown above, on the drying tarps.
The Sacred Valley is considered the heartland of the Inca Empire (1438 to 1533 CE), linking Cusco, the once capital of the Inca Empire, to the world renowned ruins of Machu Picchu. The rich history of this area is evidenced by numerous archaeological sites and a multitude of agricultural terraces that date back to the Inca era. But the region is also a place where contemporary culture mixes with tradition. Quechua-speaking people still farm using non-mechanized techniques and Quecha is often overheard at the numerous markets in the valley’s villages. Yet it is not unusual to see a market vendor using a cell phone or hear someone talking about cable TV.
Hats are a good seller at the Pisac market.
Sacred Valley Markets and the Chinchero Weaving Co-op
– Pisac
Village markets in the Sacred Valley are really a treat. One of the largest markets is in downtown Pisac. It is a daily market, with the busier days typically being Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The market vendors sell all kinds of items ranging from handmade goods to traditional Peruvian foods.
My guides, Teddy and Ayul, and even I couldn’t pass up buying a hat at the Pisac market!Textile colors at the Pisac market are amazing.
Chinchero Market and Textile Center
The Chinchero market, with a vendor selling produce and flowers.
The market at Chinchero is smaller that the Pisac market, but it is still worth a visit. Although it is typically a daily market, the busiest day is Sunday. But by far the most interesting place to visit in Chinchero is the Textile Center where traditional weaving demonstrations are on-going throughout the day. The weavers use alpaca and sheep wool in their textiles. The demonstrations include much of the textile-making process from wool dyeing to the actual weaving.
Several local, natural ingredients are used for dyeing wools at the Chincheros weaving co-op.The preservation of traditional weaving using alpaca and sheep wool is the focus of the Chinchero weaving co-op.
Ruins and Their Geologic Context
The archaeological sites in the Sacred Valley are so numerous (and many are so well known) that I’ll just highlight a few that have some interesting geologic context.
The Maras salt pans have been used for salt production since at least the Inca era.
— Maras Salt Pans
The Maras salt pans are located less than a mile west of the town of Maras (Maras itself is about 25 miles north of Cusco). The salt pans have been used for salt production since at least Inca times. Maturrano and others (2006) note:
“Maras salterns are located over the Maras Formation in the Cusco Department (13°18′10″S, 72°09′21″W) in southern Peru at an altitude of 3,380 m in the Andes, and they are 1,000 km from the coast. These salterns have been used for salt production since the time of the Incas. Salt is produced mostly during the dry season from May to November. The salterns consist of more than 3,000 small shallow ponds which are not interconnected, so there is no spatial salinity gradient as there is in multipond marine solar salterns. Each pond is filled with hypersaline water from a spring feeding the saltern and empties after salt precipitation, so the ponds act directly as crystallizers. …The origin could be related to the presence in the Maras Formation of underground halite deposits dating to 110 million years ago.”
The salt pans are available to anyone from the community to use for salt production. Once salt is collected, it is physically packed up-slope several hundred feet where it then is distributed to market.
— Moray
Moray is comprised of concentric agricultural terraces that are built in a carbonate sink hole (doline).
The concentric terraces at the Moray archaeological site are of Inca construction. The terraces are thought to have been built as an agricultural experiment site with each level corresponding to a different microclimate. The hottest microclimate occurs in the deepest part of the terrace construction and temperatures on the terraces decrease upwards. Interestingly, the agricultural terraces are built in a sink hole (doline) that developed in the area’s carbonate rocks. Satukunas and others (2002) say:
“…where the rings of Inca and pre-Inca terraces (the Incas agricultural experiment) are constructed in a karstic doline of some 150 m depth. Active landslide destroyed rings of the 7th-8th terraces and these are currently under reconstruction. The site demonstrates excellent Inca knowledge of management of dolines. ”
— Ollantaytambo
Terraces and stairways that climb the ruins of Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo (located about 37 miles northwest of Cusco) is both an archaeological ruins site and a town. The area was a royal estate of Inca Pachacuti and is also a ceremonial site where Incas resisted Spanish conquest. Of interest to me is that Ollantaytambo contains stone from multiple quarries (Protzen, 1985; Hunt, 1990; Tipcevich, N and Vaughn, K.J., eds., 2012, Mining and Quarrying in the Ancient Andes). It appears that the various successions of builders had their own stone preference ranging from biotite andesite, to granitoid rocks, to the youngest construction phase by Inca Pachacuti of arkose from the nearby Ollantaytambo Formation.
In summary, the Sacred Valley is an area not to be skipped through quickly on the way to Machu Picchu!
The entrance to the smokejumper ready room at the McCall, ID, smokejumper base. The tower for hanging parachutes is the tall structure attached to the ready room.
The McCall Smokejumper Base, in west-central Idaho, has 70 wildland firefighters on staff. McCall’s Smokejumper program was established in 1943, and since then has continually providing fire management personnel to wildland fires throughout the nation. As noted on the McCall Smokejumper website:
“Today, the McCall Smokejumper Unit is an interagency resource providing highly trained, experienced firefighters and leadership for quick, wide-ranging, self-sufficient initial attack, extended attack, Incident Command System (ICS) fire teams, and prescribed fire operations throughout the country. Three Twin Otters comprise the fixed-wing aircraft fleet which enables this unit to provide firefighters, paracargo, and supplies to literally anywhere in the country.”
McCall smokejumpers doing a refresher jump from a Sherpa aircraft.Almost down and ready for the ground roll. Note the yellow and pink crepe streamers in the trees in the background. Typically 2 sets of streamers are dropped prior to the jumps so that the pilot and spotter can determine wind speed and direction.
I visited the McCall Smokejumper Base a few days ago and was lucky enough to not only have a detailed base tour, but to watch some of the refresher jump training for the experienced smokejumpers. The jumps that I saw were made both from a Shorts Sherpa C-23 (which flew down from the Missoula, Montana smokejumper base for the refresher training) and from a Twin Otter, which is an aircraft in the McCall base fleet. The ground crew for the jumps gave me a detailed explanation of the drop procedures as they monitored the jumps via radio and video. The refresher jumps are critiqued for each person. The exit door on each plane has a video device to capture aircraft exiting procedures and the ground crew video parachute maneuvering, parachute landing rolls and talk with each stick of two jumpers to make sure jump communications were good. I even was able to watch a couple cargo drops and a drill of emergency medical procedures.
The parachute tower where chutes are dried and inspected for damage.
The base tour included being able to see the parachute loft tower (where parachutes are hoisted up in order to dry them and inspect them), the sewing repair room, the parachute folding room, and the ready room. Because this is the start of the season and the refresher jump training time, it was a very busy place.
The parachute folding room. It takes experienced folders from 45 minutes to an hour to fold a chute.Smokejumpers hang their jumpsuit gear on speed racks in the ready room so they can quickly suit up for fire deployment.
To get a better idea of what it’s like to be a smokejumper at the McCall Base, watch the following Youtube video that was done by a group of McCall smokejumpers:
During the 14th century, the Inca ruler Inca Pachacuteq (Tito Cusi Inca Yupanqui) transformed the central Andean area of present-day Cusco, Peru into a major urban center. The city became the capital of the Inca empire, containing religious and administrative areas that were surrounded by fertile agricultural expanses. In the 16th century, the Spanish conquered Cusco, building their Baroque churches and palaces atop the remnants of the Inca city. Today about half a million people live in Cusco. The city is now known for its amazing indigenous population and as a mecca for tourists that travel on to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.
The Plaza de Armas in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cusco. Our guide told me that there is a celebration in the square 360 days of each year! I actually saw three different events there during my first afternoon in Cusco, so needless to say, the Plaza de Armas is a busy place.
Cusco Historic District
Cusco was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 and the boundary for the site is mostly what is known as the Historic District (link here for a map of the UNESCO inscribed property). I did tour some of the buildings within the Historic District, my favorite being the Convent of Santo Domingo. The Spanish built this church on the remains of Qurikancha, a revered Incan temple for the Sun God Inti. The Inca stonework is the foundation for the cathedral and it is truly enthralling to see. Interestingly, numerous earthquakes have extensively damaged the cathedral, but the Inca stone walls still stand largely undamaged.
Convent of Santo Domingo built over the Qurikancha.My guide, Ayul Acuna Cardenas, explaining the Incan stonework that was part of Qurikancha and now forms the foundation for the Convent of Santo Domingo.The trapezoidal windows that are characteristic of Inca architecture.
All kinds of goods are sold at the Vino Canchón market!The chili selection at Vino Canchón is simply superb.Vino Canchón’s fruit aisle is paradise for fruit lovers.What a selection of cheese!Many hotels get their fresh flowers daily from the Vino Canchón market.The prepared food at Vino Canchón is a must to try!The many varieties of Peruvian potatoes are overwhelming.
The Vino Canchón Market
The markets of Cusco – now they are an experience that can’t be missed. If you love food, Vino Canchón in the district of San Geronimo, is the place to go. This is the largest market in Cusco, supplying families as well as businesses with all kinds of produce, hardware, flowers, and many other items. It is also a market where the traditional Quechua language dominates the conversations. The Vino Canchón market is open daily and vendors are happy to talk with customers and the inquiring tourist.
Saqsaywaman and Its Geologic Puzzle
Saqsaywaman is the ruins of a fortified complex located at the northern edge of Cusco, on a hilltop that overlooks the city. As briefly summarized by Lake and others (2012):
“Most of the complex was demolished by Spanish settlers, who used the Incan stone to rebuild Cusco into a Spanish colonial town. What remains of the Saqsaywaman complex are large limestone blocks along with some shales, plasters and limonites which were too large for the Spanish settlers to easily remove. Some of these blocks are over 125 tonnes. Chroniclers state, that the construction ofSaqsaywaman was initiated by the ninth Inca, Pachacutec and was continued by his son Tupac Yupanqui Inca, between 1431 and 1508. The construction of Saqsaywaman is testament to the stonework engineering ability of its builder architects: Huallpa Rimachi Inca, the first and main Builder, followed by Maricachi Inca, Acahuanca Inca and Calla Cunchuy Inca. The remaining walls lean inward, which according to current theory allowed the Inca to create a more earthquake resistant structure, and are comprised of mortar-less joints so closely interlocked that even a single sheet of paper cannot fit between the blocks.”
Remnants of fortress walls at Saqsaywaman include large limestone slabs, some weighing over 125 tons.A close view of the rock slabs at Saqsaywaman showing indentations at slab bottoms which may have been used in a leverage process during fortress construction.
The Geologic Puzzle at Saqsaywaman
On the north side of the Saqsaywaman Archeological Park is a strange outcrop. The outcrop is andesite, but it is marked with north-east trending grooves. It is so deeply grooved in fact, that it’s known as “El Rodadero” – the roller coaster.
Close-up view of “El Rodadero” grooves in andesite.
In a quick scan of the geologic literature, it appears that ideas for groove formation have ranged from glacial grooves, to faulting, and to the andesite being plastic to partially molten as it was extruded and basically corrugated due to the overlying wallrock. The consensus on groove formation appears to be that of the viscous flow model, but here are links to the references I found, so decide for yourself:
This is one of the best visualizations for global temperature change that I’ve seen. It’s created by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading. As noted by Ed Hawkins:
“The animated spiral presents global temperature change in a visually appealing and straightforward way. The pace of change is immediately obvious, especially over the past few decades. The relationship between current global temperatures and the internationally discussed target limits are also clear without much complex interpretation needed.” – Ed Hawkins, Climate Lab Book
