Tony Tellier “El Chinero”
One of a series
TECTONISM
– ON DISPLAY
After
a short hike from Ruben’s one can see mute testimony
to the power and violence of the tectonic forces that
sheared the Baja peninsula from the mainland of Mexico.
To
find it, walk up the beach, north, past the huge glass-walled
house on the bluff into the cove lined with pale-orange
reduced-iron beds, then turn back towards town and look
into the cliff face. (The cobble beach further up the
coast has many small buried clams.)
These
twisted and bent beds were once flat! But now you can
see bands that are folded over themselves, several times,
up to 135°. Note how many major folds there are, at
least three! Most obvious is the thick light-gray bed,
which is mirrored below by another thick, but somewhat
darker, band. However, above them are many thin light-and-dark
alternating “lines” – fine-grained shales. The light
colored rocks to the right (i.e., south) are decomposing
granites, stained by the iron and manganese oxides,
leached out by the waters of the Sea of Cortez. These
are the rocks that are the core of Baja, the Sierras.
Convoluted Bedding
The
sea floor spreading that pulled San Felipe away from
Rocky Point – Cardón cacti (Pachycereus
pringlei) are found ONLY in Baja AND along the coast
of Sonora -- also squeezed these beds endwise,
forcing them into loops just like pushing on a rug!
Terrestrial sediments were buried, eventually becoming
shale and then the confining pressures allowed them
to bend without breaking: this would not be possible
at the surface of the Earth, where these rocks are brittle
and would shatter.
SITE CHECK LIST
OVERTURNED
BEDDING
| |
Name |
Overturned & Folded Bedding |
| |
District |
Kiki’s RV / Restaurant “El Marino” |
| |
Address |
North end of Avenida Golfo de
California |
| |
Hours |
Daylight |
| |
Ambiance |
Totally striking |
| |
Cost |
Free |
| |
Photo Op |
A lot of shots |
| |
Condition |
Wave-washed |
| |
Significance |
Tectonism at its finest |
| |
Time |
30 minutes |
| |
Workout |
Short hike w/ easy bouldering |
| |
Conclusion |
Worth a trip, then a “Coco Loco”! |
| |
www |
N/A |
| |
GPS Coords: |
Lat: N 31°02.179'
Lon: W 114°49.577' |
| |
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