Saturday, March 6, 2010

CORIOLIS TECTONICS DISCOVERY AT Hf: Spiraling Magmas, Reverse faulting for rising vs. cooling volcanoes, & rotating Crustal cells with lateral faults

EARTH SCIENCE postings from www.googleearth.com are reported in blogsites in: www.PorOgle.blogspot.com for other locations.

CORIOLIS TECTONICS DISCOVERY at Hurricane fault: Spiraling Magma Chambers, Reverse faulting for rising versus cooling volcanoes, rotating Crustal Cells, Regional Lateral Faulting, Uplift of Colorado Plateau vs. Sinking of Basin and Range, Heat of Brittle Friction in shearing Crust (hot springs), Arcuate River Patterns, and Fracture-dominated subsurface fluid paths.

I WILL PRESENT THE FIELD INVESTIGATIONS, MADE BY MYSELF, WHICH LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF CORIOLIS TECTONICS. I HAD FEW INITIAL IDEAS OF MY OWN AND GENERALLY HAD ONLY THE IMPRESSION THAT THE HURRICANE FAULT REGION WAS AN AREA WHERE DYNAMICS OF THE EARTH WERE PRESENTLY BEING EXHIBITED; THE THESES FORMULATED WERE REALLY ONLY ENUNCIATED AFTER REFERRING TO GOOGLE EARTH AND THE VAST INFORMATION IT PRESENTS. THERE IS STILL A NUMBER OF UNSOLVED PROBLEMS, AND I HAVE FOUND ERRORS OF MY OWN WHICH HAVE TO BE CORRECTED AFTER SOME PRESENTATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. I AM FITTING EVERYTHING INTO A UNITED FABRIC, AS I AMASS MORE CASE HISTORIES. YOU MAY STILL FIND ERRORS IN PREVIOUS BLOGS, AND IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF CONMENTS WERE MADE BY THE READERS.


Above is a classic example of a rotating spiral forming in response to two movements: CCW rotation of the 500 km diameter Colorado Plateau, CP, and the CW rotation of the 30 km diameter Grass Valley cell- which forms a circular pattern from the WA fault in Washington City, under the Virgin River to Virgin Town, to Gooseberry Mesa, and finally to Ft. Pierce wash. This rotation makes arcuate canyons, lateral faulting, horizontal striations on slickensides, side-wise shear of concrete slabs, and HEAT FROM BRITTLE FRICTION, as in the PAH TEMPE HOT SPRINGS.
NOTICE THAT THE CELL IS NOT AN ELLIPSE, BUT A REGULAR CIRCLE. WHEN THE MOVEMENT IS FASTER ALONG ONE VECTOR THAN A SECONDARY ONE, THE CELL WILL BE DISTORTED TO FORM AN ELLIPSE. THIS LATTER CASE IS DEMONSTRATED AT GOULD'S CANYON, WHERE THERE IS LITTLE ROTATION FROM THE EAST; THE DRAG OCCURS MOSTLY FROM THE CP CCW ROTATION. BEFORE THIS IS SHOWN, BELOW ARE SOME CLASSIC PHOTOS, MADE BY ME, WHICH SHOW THE STRIATIONS ON SLICKENSIDES, SO THAT ONE CAN FIND THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT- WHETHER LATERAL OR VERTICAL, OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN (AS FOR TWO STRESS VECTORS):
MY PROOF FOR A LOT OF THE CONCLUSIONS LIES WITH THE DIRECTION OF STRIATIONS FOR LATERAL SLICKENSIDES (WHICH SHOWS EITHER CW OR CCW ROTATION), AS SHOWN IN THE BELOW IMAGE FROM HONEYMOON CANYON; KEEP IN MIND THAT A ROTATION CW, FOR A PARTICULAR CELL WILL HAVE THE ADJOINING CELL ROTATING IN THE OPPOSITE MODE- CCW, IF THERE IS NO HEAT GENERATED:


THE SPIRAL CANYON HAS SLICKENSIDES, EVEN THOUGH ITS DIAMETER IS LESS THAN A KILOMETER. THE AGE OF THE SPIRAL WOULD BE THE SAME AS FOR THE GRASS VALLEY CELL- ON THE ORDER OF A MILLION YEARS OR LESS (SINCE THE KOLOB 1 M.Y. BASALT HAS SHOWN THAT THERE WAS NO Hf SCARP AT THAT BASALT AGE- THAT PINE VALLEY BOULDERS FROM THE MIOCENE INTRUSION ROLLED DOWN THE WASH, WHICH IS NOW UNDER THE BASALT MESA JUST NORTH OF VIRGIN TOWN).
GOULD'S CANYON ELLIPSE:
AN ELLIPSE FOR A REACTIONARY CELL ALSO IS SHOWN FOR THE FROG HOLLOW CANYON NEAR THE HURRICANE AIRPORT:
I followed the circular pattern from the original discovery graben above Laverkin to features near the Verde River- not realizing that there was a lateral fault lying along the track of the river. There were a number of anomalous features- which GEOLOGISTS explain away by classification- but which I saw didn’t fit into the normal terminology. The HOGBACK west of the Ash Creek, near the Virgin river on the north side, was unstable as noticed by open fissures orienting N-S and making right-angle turns. These fissures were in loose soil, but the erosion filling them didn’t keep up with the enlargement of the foot-deep cracks. This told me that something was very active about the hogback- that it was tilting up to the west now.

Compare this photo with those above the Virgin River, near the town of Virgin (THESE COULD BE EXPLAINED BY GRAVITY-SLUMPING INTO THE RIVER, EXCEPT FOR THE OBVIOUS ORTHOGONAL ONES- BUT NOT THE ONES IMPRESSED IN THE LAVERKIN HOGBACK):


BELOW IS SHOWN THE LARGER VIEW OF THE LAVERKIN SINK, WITH THE HOGBACK ON THE LEFT SIDE, AND PVM ON THE HORIZON- THIS AREA IS UNDER EXTENSION, INCLUDING PINE VALLEY MOUNTAINS- WHICH IS AN INTRUSION-LACCOLITH: EXPANDED VIEWS OF THE LAVERKIN HOGBACK ARE SHOWN BELOW; NOTE THAT THE TOWN OF LAVERKIN SITS IN A LOW AREA OF THE LAVERKIN AND ASH CREEKS- NAMED THE LAVERKIN SINK:


Everything so far was puzzling to someone looking at the details; the literature has a vast terminology, and I still used it mainly to guide me. This proved to be frustrating, since one not only has to have a prodigious memory, but there was little order in the classification process. Geologists prefer to subdivide and classify, rather than resort to analysis. This method is valuable for fields such as entomology or stamp collecting, but does not result in an understanding of the processes involved. I gradually realized that one must start over- particularly after finding that the Plate Tectonic Theory did not apply to CRUSTAL LANDMASSES. Rather, the crust investigated seemed to portray circular features of various diameters, particularly for river paths. In the Hurricane fault region, this was very noticeable, and I now see that there are many Coriolis cells, wherever the crust is segmented by linears (straight line slices, or faulting, when viewed on a local to regional scale- but not on a scale of more than 100 km).

I began to broaden my investigation, to determine if the small Coriolis rotations were part of something larger. I was influenced by the observation that for weather cells in meteorology, that a local storm was part of the great jet stream which guided it. Both of these are circular in nature, and are determined by Coriolis Force over the oceans, and additionally by thermal (heat) and frictional (protrusions of hills and mountains) influences over landmasses.
I viewed the larger features of the Pine Valley Mountains, PVM, and found them to exhibit large and small cells, and that the entire range seem to be not only linearly arranged, but indicate sheared and rotated crust from circular river valleys and lateral displacement.

I NOTICED THAT THE DRAINAGES FROM PVM WERE ARCUATE- THE LIGHT WAS BEGINNING TO FLICKER IN MY OVERALL ASSESSMENT, SINCE I HAD STUDIED CORIOLIS FORCE IN MY METEOROLOGY TRAINING WITH THE USAF NAVIGATION PROGRAM, SOME 50 YEARS PREVIOUSLY:
FROM MY PREVIOUS WORK WITH NASA, AND HAVING BEEN IN THE BOWELS OF 2 SALT DOMES, I KNEW THAT THESE LOW DENSITY NaCl-CaSO4 SALTS WOULD ONLY RISE IN THE CRUST (AND NOT SINK, BECAUSE OF THE SURROUNDING HEAVIER ROCKS); HENCE I LOOKED AT A DOME I HAD ENTERED TO FIND THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION. IF IT SHOULD BE CCW, MY PREVIOUS CONCLUSIONS WOULD BE CORRECT ON THIS SCORE: NOTICE THAT THE ROTATION, AS SHOWN BY THE LEADING EDGE OF THE MOVEMENT IS CCW; I GAINED SOME CONFIDENCE, ENOUGH TO LOOK AT AN ACTIVELY RISING VOLCANO- MT. ST. HELENS:
NOTICE THAT A SMALL STREAM, ENTERING A LARGER ONE, LIES ON A CIRCULAR PATH. THIS PATH DIVERTS THE LARGER STREAM TO THE WEST. THIS WOULD BE A CCW ROTATION OF THE CRUST TO THE NORTH- RISING:


THE NEXT TEST I GAVE MYSELF CONCERNS THE LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE B&R, CW, AROUND THE PVM FROM THE WASATCH LINE TO THE THRUSTS ALREADY MAPPED AT THE VALLEY OF FIRE, NV. SHOULD THIS BE A CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT, THEN THIS WOULD INDICATE THAT LARGER CORIOLIS ROTATIONS WERE OCCURRING CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT TIME, AND I COULD THEN CALCULATE AN APPROXIMATE ROTATION RATE FROM PVM TO NV- ALONG THE VIRGIN RIVER (I AM STILL USING 1 MM/YEAR, WHENEVER I HAVE NO BETTER INFORMATION). THE OVERTON ARM, MUDDY CREEK, AND VIRGIN RIVER CONSTITUTE A TRIPLE JUNCTION. THESE OCCUR WHEREVER THERE IS A JUNCTION OF WATERWAYS- SUCH AS FOR THE RED SEA, DEAD SEA SINK, AND GULF OF AQABA AND SUEZ
THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS FOR LARGE AND SMALL STREAM JUNCTIONS, AND I LATER FOUND THAT IT PRODUCED REPLICATED ANALYSES FOR LITTLEFIELD, SANTA CLARA, AND FT. PIERCE JUNCTIONS WITH THE VIRGIN RIVER. CONTINUING TO LARGER GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS, THE WESTERN USA HAS SEVERAL OBVIOUS LARGE ROTATIONS- SUCH AS THE B&R-CP COUPLET, THE SIERRAS ELLIPSE, AND THE ROCKY MT CHAIN ALONG THE INTERIOR OF THE USA:
WHEN THE LARGER VIEW IS TAKEN OF THE USA, THE MOUNTAIN RANGES, OLD AND YOUNG, CAN BE SEEN TO HAVE CURVATURE (AND NOT JUST DUE TO A TWO-DIMENSIONAL PRESENTATION OF A 3-DIMENSIONAL EARTH):
ANOTHER TEST FOR MYSELF WAS TO FIND TWO EXTINCT VOLCANOES, SIDE-BY-SIDE, AND TO FIND WHETHER THERE WAS A GEOTHERMAL EXPRESSION BETWEEN THE TWO- A CONFIRMATION OF BRITTLE-FRICTION HEATING (THIS PRODUCES CW ROTATION FOR BOTH SINKING VOLCANOES). I SELECTED THE ISLAND OF MAUI, WHERE THE "HOTSPOT" HAS MOVED ON TO THE ISLAND OF HAWAII. INDEED, HALEAKALA AND ITS WEST MAUI NEIGHBOR ARE BELIEVED TO BE OF AGES .75 AND 1.76 M.Y., AND THE WAIKAPU VENT HAS ARISEN SINCE THEIR DEMISE. IT NOW IS A TROPICAL NURSERY, AND CAN BE SEEN NEAR THE DRAINAGE BETWEEN THE TWO OLDER FEATURES BELOW (HOT SPRINGS, GEOTHERMAL EXPRESSIONS, AND REJUVENATION VENTS OCCUR AT WATERWAYS OR AT THE BEACHES- WHERE THEY INCUR BRITTLE FRICTION WITH ADJOINING CRUST,WHICH IS MORE STAGNANT:

I NOW HAD ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO "ATTACK" LARGER PUZZLES, WHICH GEOLOGISTS HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO UNDERSTAND: THE PROGRESSION OF ISLANDS AND SEAMOUNTS KNOWN AS THE HAWAIIAN-EMPEROR CHAIN, AND THE PUZZLE OF YELLOWSTONE RHYOLITIC EXTRUSIONS. I FOUND RATHER RAPIDLY THAT THE TECTONIC PLATE THEORY DIDN'T APPLY TO THE PACIFIC BASIN EITHER. THERE WAS NO STATIONARY "HOTSPOT" OR MANTLE PLUME. RATHER THE FOLLOWING GOOGLE PHOTO SHOWS THAT THERE IS A ROTATION OF OCEANIC CRUST FORMING AN "HOURGLASS" OVER MOST OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC,AND THAT THE SYMMETRY OF THE FIGURE IS DUE TO ROTATION AND NOT TO MOVING RECTANGULAR "PLATES".
SOLVING THE YELLOWSTONE PUZZLE REQUIRED THAT I ANALYZE THE ENTIRE WESTERN USA, WHERE THE SIERRAS WESTWARD MOVEMENT AND ROTATION HAVE CREATED THE DEATH VALLEY ELLIPSE, THE EXTENSION OF THE BASIN AND RANGE, B&R, AND THE SHEAR BETWEEN THE TOP OF THE EQUATORIAL BULGE AT ROUGHLY 40N LATITUDE AND THE ZONE TO THE NORTH WHERE THERE IS NO EB, AND WHERE THE CRUST IS MOVING RELATIVELY EASTWARD COMPARED TO B&R:

AT THIS JUNCTURE, I BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT A PICTURE WAS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, AND THAT MODELS AND DIAGRAMS WERE NECESSARY TO SHOW THE IMPORTANT FEATURES- WHICH WOULD ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY DETAILS- WHICH WERE THE STOCK AND TRADE OF THOSE "LOST IN THE FOREST, LOOKING AT TOO MANY TREES":
FURTHER, I FOUND THAT THERE WERE TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF A CORIOLIS CELL:
1. AN INDEPENDENTLY-MOVING LINEAR, SUCH AS THE NORTHERN BORDER OF EB, AT 40N, ACTUATES CORIOLIS ROTATION; AND,
2. THE CELL WILL ROTATE CW ON THE SINKING SIDE, AND CCW ON THE RISING SIDE, WHERE THE LINEAR IS SEEN TO DIVIDE THE CELL IN TWO PARTS (NOTED BY THE CENTERLINE,c/l):

I REDUCED THE WESTERN USA, OF CA TO WA, TO A SET OF DIAGRAMS:



AND I REDUCED THE "MANTLE PLUMES, HOTSPOTS, AND RECTANGULAR PLATES" FOR THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS TO A SET OF ROTATING CORIOLIS CELLS, FOR NOT ONLY HI, BUT ALSO THE ENTIRE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN: IN THE NORTH PACIFIC, THERE ARE E-W TRANSFORMS (DUE TO CONTRASTING MOVEMENTS OF THE NORTH AMERICA CRUST) WHICH SHEAR THE BASIN FLOOR AND CRUST. MOUNTAIN RANGES CAUSE WESTWARD SHEAR, DUE TO TIDAL SHOVE, AND RELATIVELY LOW ELEVATION PARTS OF THE CONTINENTS HAVE RELATIVE EASTWARD MOVEMENT:
NOTICE THAT THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS A DIVIDER FOR THE CONTINENT- NOT ONLY IS THERE A SHEAR ZONE FOR WEATHER (THE PILOTS TELL ME), BUT THE APPALACHIAN OROGENY SEEMS TO BE ISOLATED FROM THE CENTRAL USA BY THE RIVERS; IT SEEMS THAT WE HAVE ANOTHER ELLIPSE, FORMED BY INTERFERENCE FROM TWO FEATURES- THE 41N EB BOUNDARY AND THE WESTWARD SHOVE OF THE APPALACHIANS, DUE TO TIDAL FORCES. ALSO NOTE THAT LONG ISLAND IS ORIENTED ALMOST E-W, DUE TO THE SHEAR AT THE NORTHERN BORDER OF EB:
SHOWN BELOW IS THE NORTH PACIFIC, WHERE THE CORIOLIS ROTATION IS MORE OBVIOUS THAN IN THE SOUTH (WHERE OTHER BULGES, IN THE PEAR-SHAPED EARTH CAUSE INTERFERENCE), THAN FOR THE NORTH PACIFIC:
THEN I REDUCED THE WESTERN USA, FOR B&R AND CP, TO A SIMPLE DIAGRAM, WHERE THE WASATCH LINE COULD BE EXPLAINED (THE LINEAR CENTERLINE), AND THE E-W ORIENTATION OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS COULD BE UNDERSTOOD:
THE RHYOLITIC TRACK OF THE YELLOWSTONE EXTRUSIONS IS SHOWN BELOW, AND IT IS CREATED BY THE EXPANSION OF THE B&R, AS THE SIERRAS ARE SHOVED WESTWARD BY TIDAL DRAG, AND EACH MAJOR VALLEY (AN EXTENSION OR OPENING FROM WHICH MAGMA CAN BE EXTRUDED) OF B&R IS CONCOMITANT WITH AN ERUPTION OF THESE VIOLENT EXTRUSIONS (13-14 EXTRUSIONS WITH 14 MAJOR VALLEYS IN NV AND UT, TO IDAHO):
HOW THIS ALL FITS INT THE "BIG PICTURE" IS SHOWN IN THE DIAGRAM BELOW:

THE YELLOWSTONE REGION IS A VIOLENT ONE, AND HAS ERUPTED 13 TIMES, ACCORDING TO RHYOLITE SITES, BUT IT CAN PROCEED EASTWARD NO FURTHER, BEING SHOVED WESTWARD AT THE SAME RATE BY THE ROCKIES AS THE SIERRAS ARE SHOVED (BECAUSE OF HIGH MOUNTAIN PEAKS, WHICH INCREASE TIDAL DRAG). IT IS NOW REDUCED TO SHOVING AGAINST THE ROCKIES, WHICH SHOVE BACK, AND ONLY VENTS WILL OCCUR HENCEFORWARD (NOTICE HOW THE PATH OF THE SNAKE RIVER RESULTS FROM THE INTERFERENCE AT THE 40N+ LATITUDES):
THE YELLOWSTONE EXTRUSIONS ARE NOW "BATTERING AGAINST" THE WALL OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, AND THE ROCKIES ARE SHOVING BACK, DUE TO TIDAL DRAG OF THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. THEY PROHIBIT THE YELLOWSTONE VIOLENT ERUPTIONS FROM PROCEEDING EASTWARD, AND THE ERUPTIONS WILL BE CONFINED TO SMALLER VENTS- NOT BEING ABLE TO PENETRATE THE ROCKY BARRIER (HEAT WILL STILL BE GENERATED, SO LONG AS THE SIERRAS PUSH WESTWARD FASTER THAN THE ROCKIES, BUT THE WEDGE OPENED BY THE B&R FAULTING HAS NOW TERMINATED):
BELOW ARE GOOGLE EARTH PHOTOS, SHOWING THE CIRCULAR FEATURES OF ROTATING CELLS, PRESUMABLY CCW IN DIRECTION FOR YELLOWSTONE:


Development and Value of a Diagram, or Model
Above is a diagram, made by referring to a Google Earth photo, which allows the fashioner (accent on FASHION) to insert features- later to be modified when more information is amassed.
In this case, I have worked and lived in the Central USA, storing data and anomalies from the various oil basins- in which I have been stimulated to remember odd features. I looked at features on a MACROSCOPIC TO MEGASCOPIC SCALE, using county-wide appraisals from well logs and water analyses, while doing field work with geological techniques. I noticed that the odds of getting a prediction to success were very low- 1/11 for wildcats. Sometimes, the target was poor, while the log analyst would find oil in a completely separate horizon or depth than anticipated for the exploration geologist. Chance played a great role, and the geologist who drilled more wells was successful because luck assists you whenever you are persistent.
It struck me in those days that the EARTH was portraying features, in which the operating geologist was uninterested. I mapped entities such as the top of the high pressure zone (shown by the calcite cap on well logs), abnormal temperature from springs, high concentration of TDS in shallow well water, unusual salinity gradients from logs, and gradients of HCO3- as seen by the conductivity of shales above expected oil sands. These features had continuous variations- not abrupt changes, as expected for unconformities and faulting (these could be noticed also). A map could be made on the top of abnormal pressure (Gp> .5 psi./ft) for an entire county, and the feature would isolate a large cell of high pressure. I formed the opinion that the earth was exhibiting cells of activity, which had definite boundaries and lineations. I named these borders linears, and they could be found with the simple technique of measuring conductivity with a meter in the field or by scanning well logs for a whole county- just for the calcite cap, or decrease with depth of the SP curve in well logs. This led me to investigate fracture patterns, which were noticed whenever there was a linear along which I found anomalous spring water. There is quite a regularity in fracture patterns, and I now see that they are responding to stress direction and changes at cell boundaries.
I investigated many features which could be measured or mapped in the field, and one which I still value is the REDOX POTENTIAL, measured by using platinum electrodes with drill cuttings or slurries made from them. These show anomalous sulfur, uranium, or black oil (which has adsorbed unstable ions on its surface).
Keeping these anomalies in mind, one can now look at the earth surface to correlate chemical and pressure or stress oddities with abnormal shear and Coriolis cell changes. Google Earth shows only the results of mechanical forces on the Crust, and one must use other hints to find THERMAL ANOMALIES.
Keeping these features in mind, look at my initial diagram, and look for features on Google Earth, which can augment the picture. This procedure will start with an over-simplified drawing, which can be improved as information is found to improve it. This is a technique which analysts can easily develop.
Testing the model on an area known to me (I lived in Eagle Nest, NM for 18 years- doing field trips and geology hikes weekly; rainbow fishing was also the greatest, with several hundred caught yearly), but as yet unincorporated.
Here is the sequence known to me, and which we will attempt to fit into the aabove model for the 4 state Colorado Plateau and its surroundings:
1. After the KT strike and the Laramide progeny, the San Juan Mountains begin to rise on the east side of CP;
2. This rise initiates a CCW rotation of CP, and the shear develops in the Rio Grande rift, at about 41 m.y. (as seen by extrusions in the Llano Quemado area, near Taos, NM;
3. This vulcanism, in the form of vents, propagates along the present Rio Grande river, influenced by the CCW-moving shear zone;
4. The shear zone turns west at Albuquerque, NM and proceeds westward to the Mogollon rim. Major extrusions occur at the White Mountains and San Francisco peaks, near Flagstaff, due to the shear and rotation of CP;
5. Meanwhile, the Rocky mountains are sheared off in the Madrid area of NM, and now there is a separation between the Sandias and the main chain at Santa Fe. The chain continues to the south, but is now separate from the CP;
6. The Sandias are shoved westward by tidal forces, and the Estancia Basin forms on the east side of the mountains;
7. CP rotates rather than moves westward, but there is still a small westward movement, as seem at the Hurricane Cliffs of about 1 mm/year. This is at the ground surface, and the Mantle beneath is dragging the base eastward, so that vulcanism develops along Hf; and,
8. Heat of brittle friction still occurs along the Rio Grand rift, because of shear and rotation along the southern part of the Rockies.
There are some unknowns in this sequence, such as:
a. Why does a rift valley (Rio Grande) exist on the west side of the Sandias, if the chain is shoved to the west by tidal forces?
b. Why does the Rio Grande continue southward, if the CCW shear develops westward at Albuquerque?
c. How has the Arkansas River penetrated the Rocky chain in Colorado, when the Rockies should be compressing that region: and,
d. How is the Capulin and the extrusive salient to the east connected to the Arkansas and eastward rotations in southern CO?

The Arkansas River enters the Rockies, below Colorado Springs, evidently due to circular breach in the mountain chain. This is shown on a LARGER VIEW, SO THAT THERE EXISTS A CORIOLIS ROTATION IN THIS AREA. We will enter this domain with geological information to determine what the source of the shear is- there must be a determination of the direction of rotation as indicated by the drag on the surrounding rocks:
THE PUZZLE OF THE ARKANSAS RIVER BREACHING THE ROCKY MTN. IS SOLVED WHEN WE NOTICE THAT THE CORIOLIS ROTATION SURROUNDS THE LINEAR AT 40N LATITUDE. AT THIS TOP OF THE EQUATORIAL BULGE, EB (ACTUALLY MOST OF THE DATA SHOWS THE BULGE IS SOMEWHAT HIGHER IN LATITUDE), THE MOUNTAINS AND EB INCUR TIDAL WEST SHOVE, RELATIVE TO THAT NORTH OF 40N. HENCE THE 40+ ZONE MOVES EASTWARD RELATIVE TO 40-, AND WE CAN NOW BE CERTAIN OF THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION FOR THIS RARE CASE. MOST OF THE TIME, THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION MUST BE DETERMINED BY STRIATIONS ON SLICKENSIDES, IN WRENCHING OF CONCRETE SLABS, OR BY COMPARING THE DRAG ON THE BANKS OF RIVERS. THIS CW MOVEMENT FITS WITH THE NORMAL ROTATION OF SINKS, BASINS, OR LOW ELEVATION FEATURES, WHERE THERE IS LITTLE TIDAL DRAG FOR THE THINNER CRUST:
Now the rotation rate of the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Arkansas River (about the centerline of 40N )can be calculated: 34 km/65 m.y. = .52 mm/year. It could be that the age of the start could be diminished to 41 m.y., in which case the rotation rate would be .83 mm/year:


THIS WILL BE CONTINUED.