Kyle House's Snapshots

sand on mud unconformity by Kyle House from the GigaPan Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada (detail) by Kyle House

Here is the base of a sandy paleochannel cut in bedded red mud.

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reworked river gravel in fan deposit by Kyle House from the GigaPan Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada (detail) by Kyle House

The underlying fan deposit contains some reworked river gravel from a previous aggradation.

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base of sequence by Kyle House from the GigaPan Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada (detail) by Kyle House

The base of the fine-grained sequence sits on paleotopography in moderately indurated fan deposits.

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sandy paleochannel base by Kyle House from the GigaPan Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada (detail) by Kyle House

There are numerous unconformities in this seemingly monotonous sequence. This is one of the really obvious ones.

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Locally derived boulder by Kyle House from the GigaPan Base of the Bullhead alluvium, Laughlin, Nevada by Kyle House

The locally derived clasts are from Miocene fanglomerate deposits into which this prominent channel is carved. The local seds are the coarsest clasts in the deposit. They are also generally less rounded.

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Intiguing bed near the base by Kyle House from the GigaPan Base of the Bullhead alluvium, Laughlin, Nevada by Kyle House

Matrix supported bed of gravel.

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Polymict 1 by Kyle House from the GigaPan Base of the Bullhead alluvium, Laughlin, Nevada by Kyle House

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Nearly flat-lying sandstone by Kyle House from the GigaPan Newberry Mountain area, Nevada by Kyle House

Bouse formation sandstone. Interpreted as nearshore deposit associated with late Miocene / early Pliocene lake in Mohave and Cottonwood Valleys. The presence of flat-lying to gently dipping sandstone in the midst of more typical / ubiquious east dipping fanglomerate is enigmatic. Other Bouse outcrops near this level include tufa and limestone.

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Quaternary river alluvium by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

Sharp unconformity between young Colorado River sediment (maybe 60 ka) and the Bullhead alluvium.

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sharp erosional contact by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

The contact between the Newberry gravels and the underlying fanglomerate is very sharp. Note the irregular base of the gravels and look for complex bedding patterns typical of channelized flow deposits.

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clasts of megacrystic granite by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

The granite clasts are purple-brown and have large feldspar crystals.

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Bullhead Alluvium by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

The Bullhead alluvium is the first (thus oldest) Colorado River deposit in the valley. It fills deeply gouged erosional topography that cuts across all older units. Exposures just down the gulch in this site show a spectacular paleochannel. The Bullhead unit is very compositionally limited in this part of the section. It contains many cobbles and boulders eroded from the underlying units and small cobbles and pebbles of far-traveled clasts that are diagnostic of the Colorado River. The Bullhead alluvium ultimately filled the valleys with nearly 800 feet of sand and gravel between 5.59 and 4.1 million years ago.

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The Newberry Gravel by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

The Newberry gravel occupies distinctive paleochannels that truncate the underlying fanglomerate, which has the same clast composition. The orientation of the paleochannels is roughly perpendicular to the orientation of bedding in the underlying unit. It is possible that the channels record leakage or spillover of the upstream divide immediately prior to divide failure. The divide breach deposit (the Pyramid Gravel) was deposited in and over the paleochannels containing the Newberry gravel.

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The Pyramid Gravel by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

The Pyramid Gravel is a nearly monomictic cobble-boulder conglomerate (a coarse gravel deposit dominated by clasts of a single composition) that records the catastrophic failure of a bedrock divide between Cottonwood Valley and Mohave Valley. The failure occurred at the site where Davis Dam currently sits. The dominant clast type is megacrystic granite (from the paleodivide) mixed with large clasts from the underlying fanglomerate.

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Bouse Formation by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

Calcareous, chalky mud of the Bouse Formation (the Bouse limestone or Bouse marl). This key unit marks the existence of a large lake that filled the valley immediately prior to the development of the through-going Colorado River.

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Pliocene river gravel lens by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

Interesting 'football' of cemented pea gravel. This is part of the Bullhead alluvium which dates to between 5.59 and 4.1 million years old.

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Bouse Formation by Kyle House from the GigaPan Birth of the lower Colorado River near Laughlin Nevada by Kyle House

Calcareous mudstone and sandstone of the Bouse Formation

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Bouse Formation sandstone. by Kyle House from the GigaPan Newberry Mountain area, Nevada by Kyle House

Highest unequivocal outcrop in this image.

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Bouse Formation sandstone by Kyle House from the GigaPan Newberry Mountain area, Nevada by Kyle House

flat-lying to slightly east-dipping sandstone beds of the Bouse Formation. Here they are at approximately 1760 feet.

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Nearly complete, intact section by Kyle House from the GigaPan Holocene Stratigraphy Detail. Truckee River, Sparks, NV by Kyle House

This interval shows a pristine section with only minor agric. disturbance. The thick sand bed over the prominent white bed is obvious, as the organic muck overlying the sand, etc.

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unconformity by Kyle House from the GigaPan Holocene Stratigraphy Detail. Truckee River, Sparks, NV by Kyle House

The stratified interval that comprises most of the base of the exposure is overlain by a thick bed of fluvial sand. That, in turn is overlain by an irregular interval of organic sed and roots that may be anthropogenic.

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sediment lens by Kyle House from the GigaPan Holocene Stratigraphy Detail. Truckee River, Sparks, NV by Kyle House

intriguing lens with tephra? overlain by organic mud...

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tephra? by Kyle House from the GigaPan Holocene Stratigraphy Detail. Truckee River, Sparks, NV by Kyle House

I am yet to sample this conspicuously white horizon that overlies a conspicuously dark gray horizon.

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