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Joshua Tree National Park and 29 Palms Marine Base
near Palm Springs,
08 Apr 06
Two deserts, two large ecosystems
whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation, come together
at Joshua Tree National Park. Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert
encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of
creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and
slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree.
Five fan palm oases also dot the park.
The weird 'fakey star-trek' rocks are only a million
years old and are plutonic intrusions called monzogranite. The
monzogranite developed a systems of rectangular joints. Another set of
joints is oriented vertically, roughly paralleling the contact of the
monzogranite with its surrounding rocks. The third set is also vertical
but cuts the second set at high angles. The resulting system of joints
tend to develop rectangular blocks.
As ground water percolated down through the
monzogranite's joint fractures, it began to transform some hard mineral
grains along the path into soft clay, while it loosened and freed grains
resistant to solution. Rectangular stones slowly weathered to spheres of
hard rock surrounded by soft clay containing loose mineral grains. Corners
round first, because that is the part most exposed to the force of the
water. After the arrival of the arid climate of recent times, flash floods
began washing away protective ground surface. As they were exposed, the
huge eroded boulders settled one on the top of another creating impressive
piles of rock that can be seen today. So there.
click on a picture to see a larger
image. hit arrows at either end of the slideshow for more pictures.
29 Palms Combat Barber. l actually want to have hair for the first time in my life so l can go in there and get a combat haircut. Jushua Tree National Park is thataways. aforementioned fakey rocks. you can actually see the fibreglass mould lines in them all-up-close-like. you can almost hear the phazer fire if you listen carefully enuf
29 Palms Combat Barber. l actually want to have hair for the first time in my life so l can go in there and get a combat haircut.
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