Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A Really Big Rock


Distance and Light (or lack of sometimes) can really play
tricks on your mind of how big something is or how far away
things are down here. Our friend Brody took this photo of
Castle Rock the other day and the photo's depth and scale
do a good justice of how big it really is. Surprisingly,
I had never been to Castle Rock until this winter and I was
pretty amazed by its size...especially since it practically
springs from the glacier it's located on and is the only non
snow or ice object for quite a distance. It was formed about
1.2 million years ago as a volcanic vent (plug) and is one of
a dozen or so of these vents that extend all the way down the
Hut Point Peninsula from Mt. Erebus to Observation Hill. At
1355 feet tall, it is theorized that it actually formed under
the Ross Ice Shelf when the shelf was 1350 feet higher than
it is today. So at one time, I would have been taller above
the surrounding terrain than Castle Rock was. However, time
changes, Ice Shelves erode and Volcanic Plugs tend to remain.
In many ways, it's similar to one of my favorite places,
Shiprock, in New Mexico. I'm looking forward to visiting both
again in the near future.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our "friend" Brody already has a show off site he maintains which I avoid like a diseased hooker. Instead of duplicate material show us something cool like him encased in ice.

Tom said...

wow...

Anonymous said...

2 slams in one punch...that's talent!

Tom said...

I'm sorry, but I really don't think that's fair. I almost took off this comment, but everyone has a right to their opinion. I asked Brody if I could use several of his photos in my blog postings and he said yes...I was grateful. If you have a problem with someone I mentioned on this blog, please don't choose my blog to vent your feelings. I like to post something nearly every day and you know what? It's really not always that exciting down here...especially in the winter when you're limited to where you can go and what you can do. As a result, I occasionally will ask people if I can use their photos and then write about experiences I may have had with the subject matter. I don't think ... I don't appreciate this blog being used as a forum for being rude to other people. You are entitled to YOUR opinion. That's MY opinion. I'd like to keep this blog fun.