Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Olympic Mountains to Alaska Earth Movements


EARTH SCIENCE postings from www.googleearth.com are reported in blogsites in: www.PorOgle.blogspot.com for other locations.
This is an abstract of previous analyses, which used Google
Earth photos and field observations to determine the direction and rate of Coriolis and Mantle drag rotations and thrusts- laterally, of the Crust of the Earth.
with NW USA as an example. Below is a map of the region of the NW USA and British Columbia, Canada to the Panhandle of Alaska:
The discerning eye can see that there are river valleys and fossil traces having circular patterns. These are mostly round in configuration, but occasionally there is an ellipse. I have investigated these in the field, and found that along-side the arcuate features occur slickensides with lateral striations. The lateral striations may have CAT STEPS, OR CLAW MARKS, OR PLUCKINGS, which indicate the direction of movement, relatively. These scrapings and grooves are partly vertical, and Geologists investigating them have chosen to ignore the lateral part- categorizing the part that they find familiar. However, the most significant (for understanding Structural Geology)- the lateral part- tells the greater story. Moving at velocities (relative to the MANTLE of the earth) near 1 mm/year, the lateral movement records the direction and tilt of the Crust as it rotates in response to Coriolis Force. This is a continual effect, showing moving Crust which initially was subject to independent slicing from separate movements. For example, when there is a termination of the Equatorial Bulge, at 40N or 40S latitude, there is an independent movement due to slowing of EB, relative to non-bulge parts of the Crust. EB contrasting movements across this slight change of the DIAMETER OF THE EARTH, EB, HAVE NO RELATION TO CORIOLIS FORCE (WHICH DEPENDS UPON THE SPHERICAL GEOMETRY OF THE EARTH, YIELDING VARIABLE VELOCITIES OF THE CRUST AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES FROM THE MAXIMUM VELOCITY AT THE EQUATOR). This movement has one side moving relatively slower than the opposite side, and this side causes a rotation in the direction of the greater velocity. For a left-lateral fault, the north side moves faster, and the result is that there is counter-clock-wise, CCW, rotation around the moving linear fault or displacement (DUE TO THE INDEPENDANT CORIOLIS FORCE).
Olympic Mountains are at the center of an inflection of the Pacific coast (NW USA-Washington State)
The larger view of the Olympic Peninsula is that of a turning point in the north-trending coastline from Mendocino, CA to Vancouver Island, Canada.
This is the zone where vulcanism of the Cascades also trends northward, from Mt. Lassen to the Canadian border volcano and Harrison hot springs. This is not a coincidence, and would be called the SUBDUCTION ZONE FOR DIVING OF THE CRUST UNTIL MELTING OCCURS, BY GEOLOGISTS. I have found that it is the zone where the mantle is dragging the base of the crust eastward (due to its slightly faster movement- being further from the Moon’s tidal influence). A portion of the crust is rotating horizontally- similar to a horizontal rod of rock, oriented N-S- and the evidence is that the eastern portion is emerging along sections of the Snake and Bitterroot Rivers. These two river sections are mirror-images of the rifts found to the west in the Eastern Pacific, which are actively moving openings in the offshore crust. The lowest line of the diving crust exists under the Willamette Valley and Puget Sound, where both are sinks, and where active shearing, rotating, sinking and faulting occur. This entity occurs from the Siskiyou Mountains in the south to Vancouver Island, Canada; there is sinking all along this trend parallel to the Pacific coast until the E-W mountains block it.


THE MOST GENERAL DIAGRAM OF CRUST MOVING EASTWARD, DUE TO MANTLE DRAG (NAMED SUBDUCTION BY THE GEOLOGY CULTURE), IS SHOWN BELOW:
The Olympic Mountains and Peninsula appears to be the rotation point, about which the Pacific coastline veers to the NW, and which trends southward towards Oregon and CA. The Columbia River is the low point of this SAG, and the valleys rise to the south along the Willamette and north along the Cowlitz in WA. The sink in WA is irregular, however, and should not be used for orientation. This is shown in a model I concocted for understanding the dynamics of the rhyolitic extrusions and movement of the Yellowstone track in ID, OR, and NV:


VANCOUVER ISLAND IS SHOWN BELOW, TO SHOW HOW IT FITS INTO THE REGIONAL DYNAMICS AND MOVEMENTS OF THE CRUST:


Significance of the Coastal inflection at the Olympic Peninsula
It appears that the Pacific coastline made an oblique turn north of the Juan de Fuca Strait.
The entire island of Vancouver, as well as the inland passage to Alaska, orients NW-SE- a 45 degree turn. That this continued, hints that there was a shift in the dynamics of the region north of the Olympic Mountains. Further, the fact of the sphericity of the mountains- which is rare in the world of mountain ranges- indicates that there was a rotation due to wobble of the Earth’s Poles (alignment of the axis, with regard to the Ecliptic). We have found that the Aleutian spiral indicated that the Earth was perturbed by the KT strike, later at 41 m.y. moving the trace of the feature southward, and finally absorbing an ICE AGE, WHERE THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WAS DEPRESSED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE ICE (ROTATING IT CW), AND LATER RECOVERED BY MOVING THE ROTATION TO THE WEST ALONG THE ALEUTIANS.

HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT GOOGLE EARTH SHOWS THAT THE NW, TO ALASKA, HAS BEEN ROTATED AT LEAST 45 DEGREES- FORMING THE PANHANDLE: BELOW IS THE "BIG PICTURE" OF THE SINKING AND LATER UPLIFTING BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS, FROM THE PACIFIC TO 1000 KM EASTWARD:



Now, the region is rising, as shown in my studies of Whidbey Island, causing a CCW movement (left-lateral faulting) with rebound or uplift. This is probably happening on the Aleutian chain also, but I need to see field evidence fort this. We can do this by proxy, measuring striations on rocks closer at had, where there has been GLACIAN, AND NOW REBOUND (as on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula). This is shown elsewhere in the PorOgle blog.
More pertinent to this analysis, we must find evidence of a 41 m.y. strike causing the anomalies which occurred in the northern hemisphere:
1. Fractionization of islands near Alaska, Canada, and Greenland;
2. Circular arrangement of coastlines or bays and inland sinks;
3. “Jerks” in the traces of regional faulting and fracturing; and,
4. Shifts in the linear arrangement of coastlines, thrusts, mountain ranges, and bulges on the Earth’s surface.
All of the above 4 factors occur in the NW USA and Canada: many islands east of Vancouver Island, north of Canada; Hudson Bay, rotation of the Great Lakes in a circular pattern; shifts of the MAR trace near Iceland, Greenland, and the Arctic Ocean (Lomonotov to Gakkel ridges); and the occurrence of the circular Olympics, and shift of the coastline of the region:



The most recent finding of results of the Coriolis Rotations on Whidbey Island is portrayed in the cliffs. Whenever there is sinking, as with previous loading of glacial ice, the rotation is CW, and a depression is formed. Later, as the ice melted, the load was removed, and the sink rebounded, creating a rise and CCW rotation. Hence, for just a period of 10k years or so, there occurs a reversal of faulting- called fault-reversal by Geologists. This is not synonymous with reverse faulting- which is a compressional entity- SINCE extension may occur at the top of the uplift. This case of rebound and fault reversal is shown for the Admiralty Bay, where siltation lines (indicating disturbed sea bottom, due to the changing stress) supersede previous lines of disturbance:
Once it was found that this short-time feature could be isolated, the case of Double Bluff cliffs was investigated. This is shown below, where there occurs a feature between two circular beaches and bays- Mutiny and Useless Bays, Whidbey Island. Notice that the two bays had CW rotation during the ice age (which is being offset by rebound), and this creates brittle friction and geothermal heat, should there NOT occur an intermediate cell preventing the grinding of two CW movements against each other. The end result is a portrait of three gears meshing with each other, in synchronization. FIRST LOOK AT A WEDGE (INDICATING COMPRESSION) OF PRE-STONE OF PLEISTOCENE AGE, WHICH SHOWS THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT:
The intermediate cell must have opposite CCW rotation to the surrounding cells, or else there would occur warm springs or other disturbance. Notice that the intermediate coast is circular, and it rotates CCW (uplift, with shear cliffs and compression at the edges):

BELOW IS A PRELIMINARY DIAGRAM, WHICH WILL BE REPAIRED, LATER, TO SHOW BETTER PROGRESSION OF THE ROTATIONS AND SINKS-UPLIFTS:
This is an idealized model, and a more appropriate one for Double Bluff cliffs and Bays is shown below:

This can be extrapolated for a more general case, where BAYS ARE CREATED BY ROTATION OF THE COASTLINE, CW, WHILE SINKING. The reverse is true, as shown on Whidbey Island, where Heads and Points are created at the outer extremity of Bays, with reversal of rotation occuring at the adjoining rocky shoreline. This case is created by the opposite direction of two bays, where both rotate CW, with sinking. The shear between the two Bay edges creates a reverse-rotating cell between the two bay edges (see the above diagram to visualize the various movements- which are all created by faulting which initiates the rotation by independent slicing of a section of CRUST, WHERE ONE SIDE IS MOVING RELATIVELY OPPOSITELY COMPARED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FAULT).
Whidbey island and part of the Olympic peninsula provide the basis to illustrate that FAULT REVERSAL CAN BE SEEN FOR THE ICE AGE. There has been only 10k years or so since the melting of the ice, and this creates fault reversal with REBOUND, AS OPPOSED TO EARLIER SINKING- DUE TO WEIGHT OF ICE DURING THE PLEISTOCENE. Exploring this further, cases are presented below for other bay pairs- specifically for Oak and Crescent Harbors:

ANALYZING AND ADDING OTHER FEATURES:
FORMATION OF TOMBOLOS, DUE TO FAULTING ALONG LATERAL FAULTING:
POLNELL TOMBOLO EAST OF CRESCENT BAY SINK (NOW RISING WITH REBOUND)
BELOW ARE PARKED PHOTOS OF THE POLNELL TOMBOLO, WHICH STRADDLES THE LEFT LATERAL FAULT MAPPED BY THE USGS, AS A SPLAY OF THE UPSALADA FAULT TRACING PARALLEL TO SILVER CREEK. THIS TRACES ABOUT N110E ALONG AN ARCUATE CONVEX-EASTWARD SET OF CLIFFS (INDICATING A RISING AREA) NEXT TO THE SINK OF CRESCENT BAY- ROTATNG CCW, AND THIS WOULD FIT WITH THE NORTH SIDE MOVING WESTWARD, AND THE SOUTH SIDE MOVING EASTWARD. THIS IS CREATING A CCW ROTATION ABOUT THE CENTERLINE FAULT WHICH IS SHOWN IN THE CLIFFS AS A CAVE WITH IRON-FACED SLICKENSIDES ON A CALCAREOUS VERTICAL PLANE:



A TOMBOLO WHICH HAS ATROPHIED TO AN UPLIFTED ISLAND, WITH A LARGER CONNECTION TO THE MAIN ISLAND (OAK HARBOR AND CRESCENT SEPARATION BY A ROTATING PENINSULLA AND FAULT SYSTEM).
A CAVE HAS FORMED AT A WEAK PLANE IN THE UPLIFT. THIS COULD BE CALLED AN INFLECTION, WHEN VIEWING GOOGLE EARTH (IN PLAN VIEW):





THE HOUSING AREA SOUTH OF THE NAVAL COMMISSARY (ABOVE AND BELOW) IS AN UPLIFT WHICH WAS FORMERLY A TOMBOLO, FORMED BY DOUBLE-FAULTING AT THE SWALE AND SOUTH OF THE COMMISSARY. FAULTS ARE SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING DIGITAL PHOTOS AND GOOGLE EARTH VIEWS: THIS IS VIEWED IN DETAIL, AND BY REFERENCE TO A SMALL BAY TO THE SOUTH OF THE FAULT SYSTEM:
THE FAULT SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED DIPS OF SEDIMENTARTY BEDDING, THE TILT OF THE FAULT PLANE, AND THE NEXT BAY AND ROTATION TO THE SOUTH MAY BE REFERENCED BELOW: BELOW IS THE CLLOSEST VIEW SOUTH OF THE FAULTING AND DOG POUND:
Google photos of the various bays and faulting indicate that the presentationn is much more complex than I have shown in the model. There are many smaller cells and siltation channels shown in the bays, and the pattern of cliffs and lakes introduces other projected movements. Sorting this all out requires a knowledge of rebound and the delay between sinking and rebound. We will attempt to solve all this, but it requires a cross-examination of several cases to find the commonality of movements. We will slowly accrue these comparisons, and return to a better model and diagram afterwards.

THIS ABSTRACT WILL BE CONTINUED, IN AN ATTEMPT TO FORM A GENERALIZATION ABOUT FORMATION OF BAYS, HEADS, POINTS, AND OTHER CORIOLIS-INFLUENCED FEATURES OF WORLD-WIDE PRESENTATION.

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