Matthew’s WoGE #305 showed one of the rare sandstone outcrops in Georgia, the Broxton Rocks. The best hint was in the image source: “USDA Farm Service Agency” led me to search the US, and from the vegetation and the shape of the fields (and the E-W river!) it didn’t take too long to find it. But he was right – finding out about the geology wasn’t that easy.
For WoGE #306 I decided to choose a rather small area, but a beautiful one. To win this game, be the first to find the location of the image. Provide coordinates and a brief description of the geology. You will then have the honour to host the next WoGE on your (geo)blog. I will start my holidays soon, so no Schott rule invoked. All the rules can be found here.
Click on image to enlarge.
UPDATE:
Since it hasn’t been solved for a long time, here’s a hint:
The mountain is higher than 2,000 m and lower than 4,000 m. I am sure you’ve heard about it.
Have fun,
Christoph
Felix Bossert | 2011-08-22|07:15 (UTC)
Hi Christoph, I think most people are on vacation and mountain views always need some extra time to be solved.
Matthew | 2011-09-07|22:49 (UTC)
Mt. Olympus in Greece. About 40.06N 22.31E. The highest peaks are out of view at the top right. The road at bottom right leads to a ski area. No Gods visible at this resolution.
This was very difficult to find, considering what a famous mountain it is. The contrast between summer and winter photos does not become obvious until you zoom in to about 10km. Besides that, who thinks of looking for snow in Greece… in August?
I had some trouble finding simple information about the geology. If I have understood correctly, the mountains are composed of limestone that was subducted, overridden by other metamorphic and igneous rocks, then uplifted again and eroded by at least three periods of glaciation. The mountains appear to be continuing to uplift at a rate of about 1.3-1.6mm/yr.
(Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195109002911)
Christoph Grützner | 2011-09-08|04:33 (UTC)
Matthew, great! May Zeus bless you!
You are right, it’s a tectonic window; the limestones there used to be covered even by ophiolites due to the compression during the orogeny and were then exposed by erosion. Mt. Olympos gives agreat insight into the stratigraphy of the rather complex Greece nappes.
WoGE #307 is yours!
Felix Bossert | 2011-09-08|16:25 (UTC)
Very big congratulations to Matthew for finding this spot! This one was the most difficult spot I can remember of. Before I left for vacation I tried quite some time to solve the puzzle but I’ve been looking like always with a very large scale so I did not find the snowy patch.
Matthew | 2011-09-09|02:11 (UTC)
WOGE #307 is now posted at http://matthews-woge.blogspot.com/2011/09/woge-307.html