Cheers!
Posted on 03/25/2015 7:05:19 PM PDT by JimSEA
University of Colorado Boulder researchers propose a novel mechanism to explain the region’s high elevation No one really knows how the High Plains got so high. About 70 million years ago, eastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, western Kansas, and western Nebraska were near sea level. Since then, the region rose about 2 kilometers, leading to some head scratching at geology conferences.
Now researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder have proposed a new way to explain the uplift: water trapped deep below Earth’s crust may have flooded the lower crust, creating buoyancy and lift. The research appears online this week in the journal Geology and could represent a new mechanism for elevating broad regions of continental crust.
“The High Plains are perplexing because there is no deformation—such as major faults or volcanic activity—in the area to explain how this big, vast area got elevated,” said lead author Craig Jones, a CIRES Fellow and associate professor of geology at CU-Boulder. “What we suggest is that by hydrating the lower crust, it became more buoyant, and the whole thing came up.”
“It’s like flooding Colorado from below,” Jones said.
Jones and his colleagues propose the water came from the subducting Farallon oceanic plate under the Pacific Ocean 75 to 45 million years ago. This slab slid underneath the North American continental plate, bringing with it a tremendous amount of water bound in minerals. Trapped and under great pressure and heat, the water was released from the oceanic plate and moved up through the mantle and toward the lower crust. There, it hydrated lower crust minerals, converting dense ones, like garnet, into lighter ones, such as mica and amphibole.
(Excerpt) Read more at geosociety.org ...
Weed?
Medicinal Pot is legal there
Weed + Global Warming?
Ahhhhhhhhhhh. The fountains of the deep. I suppose if such vast water reserves were to break free they might even carve out the grand canyon in a surprisingly short amount of time. Perhaps these fountains of the deep might explain a great many things. I'm glad the geologists are finally coming around.
Recreational pot is legal there. Unfortunately
“It’s like flooding Colorado from below,” Jones said.
I still believe it was flooded from above.
Bush’s fault. And SUVs
Because it is...roughly.
Believe me. I know.
Because someone else already reserved the two mile high level.
When I lived in Western Kansas the elevation was around 2100 feet, probably a bit higher. That is as high as some of the smaller mountains in the East.
I bet the Eastern Colorado plains is a bit higher.
Dating of levels of volcanic ash overlaying sedimentary rocks.
Sounds as if the same hydration of the lower crust, making it lighter might well be at least one cause.
My home county in Florida is Walton County. It has a place near the Alabama line which is 345 feet. That is the highest point in Florida not counting buildings, towers etc.
It is surprisingly hilly in the area and in fact there are places near me also in Walton, county which are also very rolling.
Far more contour than the Kansas Plains which are far higher elevation wise.
Do they use climbing gear to get to the top?
Cheers!
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