Saturday, December 8, 2007

deciduous basalt?


Lava trees, at Lava Trees State park near Pahoa, an interesting formation of basalt lava, when it up and wraps itself around a ohia tree, then the bulk of the very fluid flow drains away, leaving the cooled remnant standing upright.

these are 'O'hia trees that are growing on a 1954 aa lava flow

sometimes, the contact and cooling is fast enough to preserve surface textures of the bark on the gnarled trees, in a chamber running up the middle of the lava tree (mold), but the light was failing me so I couldn't get a good picture of the inside tube/chamber to show this texture. The tree eventually burns/rots out of the mold cavity. Some of these geologic feature range from just holes in the ground to almost 20 feet tall.




my attempt at a stereo pair, good luck


EDIT: I've been trying to get back to the park and retake the stereo pair, unfortunately, its has rained pretty consistently and I haven't had the chance. My flight leaves in a few hours, and I may not have the chance to go back again until early next year (crosses fingers).

1 comment:

Andrew Alden, Oakland Geology blog said...

Ouch. The stereopair shots are too widely separated. A foot separation or less is best for close-up subjects like this.