Category: 2019 Events

2019-06-22 Jim Aldrich — Field Trip to Hurricane Ridge

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Field Trip June 22, 2019:  Geology of Hurricane Ridge and the Olympic Mountains; Jim Aldrich—Leader

On this one-day field trip we explored the geology of Hurricane Ridge, the Crescent basalt (which holds up the ridge); additional aspects of glaciation, volcanism, metamorphism, etc.,were discussed in addition to the tectonism associated with the Olympics. Our leader was Jim Aldrich, a structural geologist formerly with Los Alamos National Lab in NM, who has been working in the park for several years, pursuing his passion to understand more about his fascinating area inboard of the Cascadia subduction zone.

This trip was road-based with a bit of walking on the road, but nothing strenuous. We meet at the National Park Visitors Center (3002 Mt Angeles Rd, Port Angeles) at 9 am, when it opened.  We’ll formed carpools to minimize the number of cars (5) at roadside stops.  From there, we’ll traveled up to Hurricane Ridge, visited a number of roadcuts to see the Crescent basalt.  Lunch was had on the deck of the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center.  From there, we drovee to see geologic features along Hurricane Ridge and overview the evolving landscape of this region. We saw how tectonic forces of uplift driven by the subduction zone are balanced by the erosive forces of precipitation (Mt. Olympus gets 260″ annually).

Afterwards, about 10 of the field trippers went to Camaraderie Winery on the west side of Port Angeles, where the owner Don Corson (trained as a geographer) provided a free wine tasting and tour of the winery.  A good time was had by those who came along.

A fee of $10 per person covered printed quidebook materiasl. (Amount reduced at request of Jim Aldrich; he said this was adequate to break even.) We reached our limit of 25 persons, which is controlled my limited parking along the road to Hurricane Ridge. The field trip guide is available by clicking here.

 

07-01-2019 Quimper Geological Society (Note new name)

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We have a new name:
Quimper Geological Society

In the eight years we have been operating under the Jefferson Land Trust, our group has grown to more than 725 members. Last year we hosted 11 events and about 800 people at lectures and on field trips. We’ve outgrown several venues and occasionally need to use bigger ones, such as Chimacum High School for the recent “Nick on the Rocks” talk (265 attended). The upshot is that, with all the changes we’ve undergone, it seems like a good time to change our name: to one that reflects our size, relevance, and professional standing in the community. We’ll continue to do the same things that have made our group and our association with Jefferson Land Trust a valued resource on the Quimper Peninsula. Read on if you’d like to know more about the “Quimper” name and other Geological Societies.

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The Quimper Peninsula forms the most northeastern extent of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.  Port Townsend sits at the north end of the peninsula.  The peninsula is named after the Peruvian-born Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper who, in command of the Princesa Real, charted the north and south coasts of the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the summer of 1790. He was the first European to report seeing Mount Baker, which he named La Gran Montagna Carmelita.  On the Olympic Peninsula, he traded with and observed the customs of indigenous people near Dungeness (which he named Bahia de Quimper) and near the Elwha River. These people were most likely members of the S’Klallam tribe and Quimper may have been the first European they had seen. The Ozette potato is likely an artifact of Quimper overwintering in the area.  Most of his discoveries along the strait were renamed by British Captain George Vancouver, who entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca on 29 April 1792.  Those features that retained at least a semblance of Quimper’s Spanish names include Port Angeles, Rosario Strait, Fidalgo Island, and Quimper Peninsula

Geological Societies. There are hundreds around the world, but here are some of significance to us:

  • 1807 Geological Society of London (first established)
  • 1888 Geological Society of America (first in USA)
  • 1893 Geological Society of Washington (D.C.) (first local/regional)
  • 1987 Northwest Geological Society (first in WA)
  • 2019 Quimper Geological Society (formerly Jefferson Land Trust’s Geology Group)

(Modified from Wikipedia, April 15, 2019)

 

 

06-08-2019 Nick Zentner: Nick on the Rocks in Eastern WA

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On Saturday, June 8th we had local TV celebrity Nick Zentner of Central Washington State University over to talk about his local PBS series entitled “Nick on the Rocks.”  These popular 5-minute videos highlight geologic features and processes in Washington.  The videos and slides focused on Eastern Washington, playground of the Missoula Floods and the Channeled Scablands they produced.  Because we’re expected a large crowd, the lecture was at the Chimacum HS Auditorium and we were pleased that 265 members showed up.  The lecture was wildly popular with lots of good feedback.

For more videos of Nick’s On the Rocks series, go to his PBS website. He is in this third season now, and hunting around to find more topics to decipher for the geologic layman (and women).