Page 42 - 2003 DT 12 Issues
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Shifting Sands ○ studying cores in Canada and the Ne- ○ work-party and field operations, includ-
braska Sandhills find that dunes around ing all Scout projects. Scott may be
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eserts represent about a third of ○ Edmonton, Alberta were active between ○ reached at 515- 5371.
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the earths land surface, and sand ○ 11,000 and 8,000 years ago, driven by ○ ○
Ddunes cover 20 percent of the ○ ○ roaring winds off the towering ice sheets. ○ May Board Notes:
worlds deserts. That figure excludes the ○ Yet those further south near the U.S. ○ ○
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dunes we dont see, hidden under prairies, border, where the terrain was ice free ○ o A motion to provide $2,000 to
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plains, and forests. They appear on all con- for a longer period should be even older, ○ the BLM toward campground fencing
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tinents, even in Antarctica, a continent so but cores reveal an age of only 5,600 ○ to block off-highway vehicles was
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dry that most of it is considered desert. ○ years. The apparent paradox suggests ○ passed unanimously. These funds were
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The area that is now Red Rock Can- that dune activity may have been erased ○ reallocated from an earlier request for
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yon was once part of a Sahara-sized by a constant reworking of the sand. ○ additional gate funding. The camp-
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Jurassic sand sea, stretching into Ari- Numerous soil layers hint that the ○ ○ ground will close in June for the
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zona, New Mexico and Utah. If you look ○ ○ summer. The board will consider a
closely at the texture and composition ○ separate annual allocation for the
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of the sandstone in the Calico Hills, you ○ campground in the new budget.
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can learn something about climate at the ○ o A motion to provide $2,000 for
○ supplies and coordinator training to
time the sand was laid down. Even from ○ BLM for the environmental outreach
the parking overlooks, you can see the ○ ○ workshop program, Project Globe, tar-
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direction of the winds that produced ○ geting grades 6 through 12 was
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them. You notice the cross bedding, ○ passed unanimously.
patches of lines laid at angles to each ○
○ o A motion to fund eight addi-
other. Once the grains were cemented Greg Gnesios ○ ○ tional “dog potty” bag dispensers
by carbonates and water, the pattern was Calico Hills, Red Rock Canyon ○ requested by BLM at approximately
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frozen in time. With a magnifying glass, ○ ○ $80 per unit was passed unanimously.
you can puzzle out some interesting regions climate has shifted between ○ ○ o Friends will again offer a $1,000
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clues. Of course, it would help to have a ○ lengthy wet and dry periods for the last ○ ○ reward for information leading to the
geologist at your side. ○ 5,000 years. ○ arrest of an individual or individuals in
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Each layer of sand retains a history ○ ○ Extended droughts can re-mobilize ○ the killing of wild horses.
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of the conditions that created it. Dune sands as well, scouring away all evidence ○ o A proposal from the BLM to
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core samples can reveal the source of of earlier weather patterns. A long dry ○ fund a traveling kit on Mojave Max
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the sand, how far it traveled, the changes spell in the 1790s hampered westbound was tabled pending more specific
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in climate during its deposition, and how pioneers in the 1840s. The same ○ ○ information.
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active the dune was. Dunes are ex- ○ drought reactivated the fields in the ○ o The board will review bylaws
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tremely active structures, driven by wind ○ Great Sand Hills and parts of Wyoming ○ to revise specific wording, per a BLM
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to migrate great distances. The round- ○ and Canada. The climate records they ○ ○ request.
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ness and size of the grains, their mineral held are now gone, blown away to settle ○ o Friends will provide the offices
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○ ○ ○ of Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Jon Porter
composition, the creatures from which . . . who knows where.
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○ ○ with a calendar of events and a
their carbonate cement was derived, and ○ ○
the amount of fine debris and fossilized ○ ○ More Help for Volunteers ○ monthly Desert Trumpet, at their
○ request.
vegetation are clues to the geography ○ ○
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○ o Plaques recognizing the con-
and environment of vast areas. River ○ anger Scott Bahan has been as- ○
○ ○ tinued financial support of Sunrise
deltas, glaciers, plains, seabeds, and ○ signed as an Assistant Volunteer ○
○ ○ Colony Corporation and the Howard
mountaintops are all revealed in these ○RCoordinator under Ranger Jim ○ Hughes Corporation will be
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time capsules. ○ Cribbs. Scott will assume Visitor Cen- ○ ○ presented at an appropriate date.
Sometimes core samples can cre- ○ ○ ter operations and activities, such as ○ o The next board meeting will
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ate more questions than they solve. As ○ Volunteer training, scheduling, and ori- ○ be held at the Red Rock Canyon Visi-
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reported in Science News, geologists entation. Jim will continue to manage ○ ○ tor Center June 10, at 4:30 p.m.
Page 2 FORRC/June 2003
