Baja California II

PTYS 594A: 
Planetary Geology Field Practicum

This semester the University of Arizona Planetary Geology field trip went to Baja California, stopping at sites on the east (Sea of Cortez) and west (Pacific) coasts to view shoreline processes, and also at a site in the interior which may show landslides triggered by the KT impact.

Web sites from other participants are at:

    Doug Archer
    Jason Barnes
    Nicole Baugh
    Mike Bland
    Curtis Cooper
    Zibi Turtle: part 1, and part 2
    Catherine Neish

Here are some of my pictures from the trip.
Click on any image for a full size version.

Route map and campsites.
Note:  The highways are right but some details on local street routes
are probably inaccurate.

Day 1:  Tucson to San Felipe:
                    The Cerro Prieto geothermal field and power plant
                    Climbing dunes
                    Sunset driving towards San Felipe

The Cerro Prieto geothermal field and power plant

  David Choi:  mudpots, fumaroles, and geysers.

The geothermal power plant at Cerror Prieto.

The Climbing Dunes

  A stop at the climbing dunes.

  Serina Diniega:  the climbing dunes.

  Sand ripples behind a rock.

  Another view of the ripples and the rock.

  Sunset the first evening, driving towards San Felipe.

Day 2:  San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez, west to Vicente Guerrero on the Pacific
                Vehicle problems
                Laguna Diablo

  Eric Palmer and Joe Spitale work on a very dead vehicle battery,
while Zibi and Jason worry.

  Eric Palmer:  evaporites at Laguna Diablo.

  A dust devil on the playa.

Day 3:  Vicente Guerrero to Cañon San Fernando
             

Algal mats near Vicente Guerrero

Near shore marshes.

  John Keller collects a sample of the algal mats.

  A closer look at the algal mat.

  An even closer look.

  A different type of algal mat.

And a closeup of it.  Note the different color algal layers.

A lunch stop farther south, on a marine terrace.

  Jade Bond:  coastal spits & bars.

  Conglomerate layers in the terraces.

  Chris Okuba:  marine terraces

  Oleg Abramov:  sedimentary deposition
and conglomerates

Searching for possible KT triggered landslide deposits in Cañon San Fernando

  A cardone

Day 4:  Cañon San Fernando to Punta San Jose

On the dirt road from San Tomas to Punta San Jose we ran into a few dozen motorcycles on a practice run for next week's Baja 1000 race, and pulled over to let them go by.

Ammonites at Punta San Jose

We arrived at Punta San Jose at relatively low tide, and went down to the beach to search for ammonite fossils eroding out of the cliffs.

The vehicles in the background are at our future campsite.

  The beach at relatively low tide.

Maki Hattori points out an ammonite.

  An (unfortunately out-of-focus) ammonite.

  A shark's head on the beach (at Eric's request).

  Sunset at Punta San Jose

Day 5:  The long drive from Punta San Jose back to Tucson

But first, sunrise at Punta San Jose, through the morning fog.

The campsite at Punta San Jose

High tide

The lighthouse at Punta San Jose

Back to Bob Howell's (Geology Dept.) home page.