Geo-sites meme: 101 American Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See

Callan Bentley from Mountain Beltway had the idea to list the 101 American Geo-Sites mentioned in Albert B. Dickas’ book and to mark those he has already visited. The whole thing became kind of popular in the geoblogosphere, and this KMZ by one of Callan’s readers allows to explore the 101 outcrops one definitely has to visit in the US. So now here’s my list, in bold the places I’ve visited (as you will see, there are far much still to be seen than I’ve already visited!):

  1. Wetumpka Crater, Alabama
  2. Exit Glacier, Alaska
  3. Antelope Canyon, Arizona
  4. Meteor Crater, Arizona
  5. Monument Valley, Arizona
  6. Prairie Creek Pipe, Arkansas
  7. Wallace Creek, California
  8. Racetrack Playa, California
  9. Devils Postpile, California
  10. Rancho La Brea, California
  11. El Capitan, California
  12. Boulder Flatirons, Colorado
  13. Interstate 70 Roadcut, Colorado
  14. Florissant Fossil Beds, Colorado
  15. Dinosaur Trackway, Connecticut
  16. Wilmington Blue Rocks, Delaware
  17. Devil’s Millhopper, Florida
  18. Stone Mountain, Georgia
  19. Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
  20. Borah Peak, Idaho
  21. Menan Buttes, Idaho
  22. Great Rift, Idaho
  23. Valmeyer Anticline, Illinois
  24. Hanging Rock Klint, Indiana
  25. Fort Dodge Gypsum, Iowa
  26. Monument Rocks, Kansas
  27. Ohio Black Shale, Kentucky
  28. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
  29. Four Corners Roadcut, Kentucky
  30. Avery Island, Louisiana
  31. Schoodic Point, Maine
  32. Calvert Cliffs, Maryland
  33. Purgatory Chasm, Massachusetts
  34. Nonesuch Potholes, Michigan
  35. Quincy Mine, Michigan
  36. Grand River Ledges, Michigan
  37. Sioux Quartzite, Minnesota
  38. Thomson Dikes, Minnesota
  39. Soudan Mine, Minnesota
  40. Petrified Forest, Mississippi
  41. Elephant Rocks, Missouri
  42. Grassy Mountain Nonconformity, Missouri
  43. Chief Mountain, Montana
  44. Madison Slide, Montana
  45. Butte Pluton, Montana
  46. Quad Creek Quartzite, Montana
  47. Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska
  48. Scotts Bluff, Nebraska
  49. Crow Creek Marlstone, Nebraska
  50. Sand Mountain, Nevada
  51. Great Unconformity, Nevada
  52. Flume Gorge, New Hampshire
  53. Palisades Sill, New Jersey
  54. White Sands, New Mexico
  55. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
  56. Shiprock Peak, New Mexico
  57. State Line Outcrop, New Mexico
  58. American Falls, New York
  59. Taconic Unconformity, New York
  60. Gilboa Forest, New York
  61. Pilot Mountain, North Carolina
  62. South Killdeer Mountain, North Dakota
  63. Hueston Woods, Ohio
  64. Big Rock, Ohio
  65. Kelleys Island, Ohio
  66. Interstate 35 Roadcut, Oklahoma
  67. Mount Mazama, Oregon
  68. Lava River Cave, Oregon
  69. Drake’s Folly, Pennsylvania
  70. Hickory Run, Pennsylvania
  71. Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania
  72. Beavertail Point, Rhode Island
  73. Crowburg Basin, South Carolina
  74. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
  75. Mammoth Site, South Dakota
  76. Pinnacles Overlook, South Dakota
  77. Reelfoot Scarp, Tennessee
  78. Enchanted Rock, Texas
  79. Capitan Reef, Texas
  80. Paluxy River Tracks, Texas
  81. Upheaval Dome, Utah
  82. Checkerboard Mesa, Utah
  83. San Juan Goosenecks, Utah
  84. Salina Canyon Unconformity, Utah
  85. Bingham Stock, Utah
  86. Whipstock Hill, Vermont
  87. Great Falls, Virginia
  88. Natural Bridge, Virginia
  89. Millbrig Ashfall, Virginia
  90. Catoctin Greenstone, Virginia
  91. Mount St. Helens, Washington
  92. Dry Falls, Washington
  93. Seneca Rocks, West Virginia
  94. Roche-A-Cri Mound, Wisconsin
  95. Van Hise Rock, Wisconsin
  96. Amnicon Falls, Wisconsin
  97. Green River, Wyoming
  98. Devils Tower, Wyoming
  99. Fossil Butte, Wyoming
  100. Steamboat Geyser, Wyoming
  101. Specimen Ridge, Wyoming

Upheaval Dome, Utah.

Where did you go already?

Felix Bossert had the idea to set up a similar list for Germany. A first brain storm resulted in:

  • Meteor Crater Nördlinger Ries (incl. Steinheimer Becken)
  • Fossils Holzmaden
  • Rheintal Graben
  • Bayrischer Pfahl
  • Riffmuseum Gerstetten
  • Caves with speleothems in the Schwabian Alb
  • Grube Messel Fossils
  • Basalt columns Scheibenberg
  • Solnhofen Fossils
  • Donauversickerung
  • Bohlenwand
  • Rügen Chalk Cliffs
  • Lange Anna on Heligoland
  • Laacher See
  • Elbsandstein
  • Frankenjura

Of course, there are many many more to be mentioned. Any suggestion which sites to include in our list? See also this voting by the Heinz Sielmann Stiftung on Germany’s most beautiful natural wonder.

 

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Christoph Grützner

Christoph Grützner

works at the Institute of Geological Sciences, Jena University. He likes Central Asia and the Mediterranean and looks for ancient earthquakes.

See all posts Christoph Grützner

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