#ventifact — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ventifact, aggregated by home.social.
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Ventifact (Petrology 💎)
A ventifact is a rock that has been abraded, pitted, etched, grooved, or polished by wind-driven sand or ice crystals. The word "Ventifact" is derived from the Latin word "Ventus" meaning 'wind'. These geomorphic features are most typically found in arid environments where there is little vegetation to interfere with aeolian particle transport, where there are frequently strong wi...
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TIL there's a certain type of rocks called #ventifact Made by wind and blown sand, the very best conditions for this being in the dry valleys of Antarctica.
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TIL there's a certain type of rocks called #ventifact Made by wind and blown sand, the very best conditions for this being in the dry valleys of Antarctica.
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Mushroom Rock below is an example of a ventifact, rock sculpted by wind-borne particles. Wind blown sand has carved the basalt. It does so by “saltation,” or the bouncing movement of the sand along the ground. In Death Valley, the wind can gust up to 35 mph. The abrasion impacts the base of the rock, because wind can only raise the medium size particles 1 to 1.5 meters off the ground. This has given the rock its unique mushroom shape.
Mushroom Rock is located off of California State Road 190 just south of Furnace Creek Junction in Death Valley National Park. Rock is about 6’ tall. Sorry, should have gotten husband in the picture for scale :)
Sadly, Mushroom Rock has been vandalized. Below is how it looked in the 50s - much more mushroomy.
https://deathvalleyjournal.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/mushroom-rock/
#MushroomRock #ventifact #DeathValley #geology #ScienceMastodon
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Mushroom Rock below is an example of a ventifact, rock sculpted by wind-borne particles. Wind blown sand has carved the basalt. It does so by “saltation,” or the bouncing movement of the sand along the ground. In Death Valley, the wind can gust up to 35 mph. The abrasion impacts the base of the rock, because wind can only raise the medium size particles 1 to 1.5 meters off the ground. This has given the rock its unique mushroom shape.
Mushroom Rock is located off of California State Road 190 just south of Furnace Creek Junction in Death Valley National Park. Rock is about 6’ tall. Sorry, should have gotten husband in the picture for scale :)
Sadly, Mushroom Rock has been vandalized. Below is how it looked in the 50s - much more mushroomy.
https://deathvalleyjournal.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/mushroom-rock/
#MushroomRock #ventifact #DeathValley #geology #ScienceMastodon