Not all that is golden, glitters.
Submitted by PriceRip on Sun, 04/17/2016 - 1:59am
The geology of the Pacific NorthWest is endlessly fascinating. The golden yellow smudge
on the 250 m basalt cap of Abert Rim is biological rather than geological.
As I know very little Biology except for knowing that I often found lichen on the basalt caps near my home: I lifted the following from Wikipedia:
- A lichen is made up of a simple photosynthesizing organism (algae for example) surrounded by filaments of a fungus.
- The top layer, where the lichen contacts the environment, is called a cortex.
- Moisture makes the cortex become more transparent and the algae shows more clearly.
Comments
So there must be some "type" of lichen
that is yellow, and loves to eat basalt. That is actually very cool. There is probably a lichenologist who could identify the type(s). Does the color change after a rain? That would be a neat comparison photo.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Recent rains
We had rain (and snow at higher elevations) the day before in Medford. As we drove through the Cascades saw the snow line much lower on Mount McLoughlin, Mount Shasta, and the Steens than it was a week earlier. So, we think this storm dropped some precipitation as far east as Abert Rim.
The water induced color change would be hidden during the normally dry summers when this route is most traveled.
It takes a lichen to keep on tickin?
STOP? NO CAFFEINE YET. ARGHGHGHGHGHGH!
The photo is ambiguous . . .
but I suspect hoof (foot? or paw‽) in mouth disease.
'Twas me hand. But baby Pyre grew out of eating human.
He actually was smaller than our Golden Pup, who hit the scales at 150, but was tall, elegant, and lived til he was 15. The Pyre only lived for 7.
Our current rescue puppy manages to chase frisbee, tennis ball, skwarl, and wabbit. She likes to share the parts of the last two with us, and brings us headless wabbit, or the head and shoulders. Luckily the white striped skwarls are not around this season.
I figured
you just couldn't understand Timmy fell down a well.
There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.
Likin' lichens
There are many different algaes. Usually classified by color. The alga in the orange lichen contains a different type than grey or green lichens.
Pretty interesting organisms - two lifeforms living cooperatively. The fungus breaking down the rock for nutrients and the alga making sugar by photosynthesis. So wound together to act as a single organism.
Visit http://www.lichen.com/ to ID the one in question. All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Yes!
As I pointed out, I do not know much Biology. I hoped someone on this forum would or would know of a reasonable source of some information.
more info
I remembered these photos from Alberta.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”