Geology Picture of the Week, April 26-May 2, 2009: Where (and What) is This?

Not going to make this easy

[cogitator]

Not the greatest image, but there aren't very many of this place. Nonetheless, it is both geologically and geographically significant. So: where is it, and why is it noteworthy? (After guesses, answer will likely be posted Friday evening 05/01 or Saturday 05/02).

I've scattered a couple of nebulous clues in this text. Super great cudos if you can name this place.

Good luck! (Click for full size, if that helps.)

[cogitator]

Hope you'll enjoy this little challenge.

[cogitator]

** ping **

[rdl6989]

Arrigetch peaks in Alaska maybe?

[kc8ukw]

Does this look like a picture from the other side?

[cfrels]

Kuai, Hawaii. I can’t remember the name of the rock,,,it’s where the Menehune little people live......Obama link?

[kc8ukw]

My wife says no.

[IrishCatholic]

It’s where Captain Kirk fought the lizard captain and defeated him by making gunpowder. Don’t remember the star coordinates.

[blackpacific]

Krakatoa?

[kc8ukw]

So from skimming your profile, it seems you believe in man-caused global warming. Are you also then in favor of the many various methods intended to control it? (From little things like banning incandescent bulbs to cap & trade?)

[abigailsmybaby]

Galapagos Islands.

[rintense]

Question for any geologists here:

Are there maps of area water tables? I live in Michigan, in an area where there has been a lot of flooding, for the first time ever. County officials are saying the water tables are at fault, being over saturated due to high rates of snow melt off and rain. I don’t buy it since we’ve had worse than this. The flooding also seems to be in a specific line, from north to south along the same street (probably a 12 mile line) and around a mile wide. The waters have been so high, people can use canoes and kayaks. Many homes have been flooded. Also, these homes are around a mile from Lake Michigan, yet, no homes near the Lake, nor to the east of that line had reported issues.

I totally believe this is a man made problem- that someone somewhere forgot to do proper drainage. So I’m looking for some sort of way to prove water tables are not the culprit. Until a solution is found, several homes will continually flood throughout the summer.

The only major construction has been a golf course four years ago, that is around a half mile east of the affected area. The course builders said they found a natural aqua spring underground to use for watering, yet neighbors insist since the golf course was built, their water pressure has severely decline.

[dr_lew]

I recognized it instantly. What kind of sick point are you trying to make?

[stormer]

Hmmm... tropical, may be basalt, important geologically and interestingly geographically... two wild guesses - Juan Fernandez Islands or Cape Verde.

[grey_whiskers]

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING !

NO more calls, please.

Scotty, beam me up.

[stormer]

http://www.egr.msu.edu/igw/GWIM%20Figure%20Webpage/Webpages%20-%20Links/Figure7.html

[rintense]

That’s what gets me. If it were indeed the water table, then the flooding would be more wide spread.

[21twelve]

The mountain doesn’t look like it, at least from the vantage point that I had, but the surrounding terrain does - Carstensweide (sp?) peak in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. I’m thinking the mountain may have another name too (more Indonesian rather than the original Dutch). The closer rocks with the anticline look like the limestone in the region.

[stormer]

Hydrology can get complicated, and unintended consequences arise as a result of construction. Roads and footings can redirect shallow ground water flow and create flooding in places where it hadn't been a problem in the past. Water tables also can move up and down seasonally and can shift laterally due to draw-down from wells, so identifying problems gets tricky. Your state no doubt has an agency that maintains well records (date, depth, pressure, geologic strata drilled through, etc.), in my state it's the Department of Ecology, don't know about Michigan, but I'd start there. Good luck.

[dr_lew]

... instantly, I say!

[EQAndyBuzz]

It’s from the Bob Hope Islands.

The natives there built this as a tribute to Bob Hope. Just look at it from left to right. You see the trademark ski slope nose and protruding jawline.

[21twelve]

What? You think I'm right!? If so, then perhaps it is a view from the northwest? And is that an old WW II bomber that I see smashed headlong into the cliff?

As far as geographically of interest - Carstenz Peak has a large (yet shrinking) glacier - and it is just 2 degrees south (?) of the Equator. Oh - I remembered the other name for it - Punjak Jaya or something like that. And if it ISN'T that mountain ..... it should be! (With regards to the clues.)

[dr_lew]

This is Siccar Point in Scotland, famous as an inspiration to Hutton, as I assumed cogitator was alluding to.
Sure looks like it, but I'm not sure where that view angle would be. Somewhere off to the left in this picture.
So, I could be wrong! as always. Note though, that in cogitator's image, the scale is modest, as you can see
by the structure of the "hump" on the right. ( left in this image, if it is indeed a match. )

[dr_lew]

Heh. I should have looked at the magnified image. The scale seems to be considerably larger than Siccar Point. Plus, the shape doesn’t quite match up, although the resemblance is quite seductive. Plus, the vegetation does appear tropical, as was remarked. Ah, me!

[JoeProBono]

[fnord]

southern France, outside of Marseille

[21twelve]

I did a fly over of Carstenzs Peak in google. There is no viewpoint that would give such a nice, sharp mountain peak. Oh well - fun to go do a little sight-seeing. Thanks for the diversion!

[rdl6989]

It sure does look like the other side.

[cogitator]

ANSWER: This was a toughie, because not many people have seen this place, and as I noted, that's because it's pretty remote. The name of the feature is Pico da Neblina, and it's the highest point in Brazil. It's on the Guyana Shield which also hosts the "tepui", which are the sandstone mesas in southern Venezuela and Guyana, the most famous of which is probably Mount Roraima, "The Lost World", and the second-most famous is likely Auyantepui, from whence stemmeth Angel Falls. However, Pico da Neblina isn't truly a tepui because it's a peak, not a mesa. Accordig to Wikipedia, "Pico da Neblina is a glaciated tor composed of a tilted block of sandstone overlying Precambrian metamorphic rocks."

Here's a truly "Lost World" image of Roraima:

The name "Pico da Neblina" means "Peak of the Mists"; I used the word "nebulous" in the actual post, as a clue. Told you it wasn't going to be easy.

[JoeProBono]

Who didn't know that? Used to camp there all the time;-}

[Boiling Pots]

First thought that came to mind was King Kong, Kauai.

[GregB]

It is where Obama came from the heavens.....

[Steve Van Doorn]

that was Vasquez rocks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasquez_Rocks