Gigapan image of intracanyon lava flows, Owyhee River, OR.
Thanks to Ian for reminding me that I can embed gigapans on the new version of my blog. Thought that I would start with this one because we just sent some separates (holocrystalline groundmass) to New Mexico Tech for irradiation prior to Ar-Ar analysis. The sample from here comes from the conspicuous gray wedge of lava that you can see slightly below center on the left edge of the image...zoom in and you can see the Paleomag team and their sample holes. The paleomag sample locations here and elsewhere along the Owyhee have been sampled by our team's paleomagician in the interest of both paleomag analysis and Ar-Ar dating. Handy! The basalt flows in this image are early Pleistocene intracanyon lavas that occupy a paleochannel of the Owyhee River, Oregon. The base of the lowest flow of the three main flows is a couple of hundred feet above the modern river. We already know that the flows have reversed polarity, but we are dying to know their radiometric age.
If you find this type of image interesting, I have many more at Gigapan.org (http://www.gigapan.org/profiles/9168/). More importantly, however, go get yourself a gigapan robot. You will be pleased.
