Dykes Swarming In The Southwest
CREDIT: © Peter Turner/MaccCAM.co.uk
WHERE: South West USA. WHAT: big skies, deep canyons, and bright lights.
MAP: Kayenta and Shiprock. Thumbnail pops-up larger image.

The American travels of Peter Turner have featured [1][2] here on earlier occasions. Peter updates his Vistas travel section as his mood and his muse dictate: the format is something of a moveable feast, but just dropping in at any point and following the previous/next links at either end of the galleries is an enjoyable way to explore.

Rigorous potty training early in life has a lasting effect, however, so we felt compelled to give you the five [1][2][3][4][5] section links that Peter uses, giving access to ten parts. Our own selection for today's thumbnail is the last picture in Peter's last update, which shows a typically vast Arizona cloudscape near Kayenta, close to Monument Valley. Our pop-up version is about 25% smaller than the original to accommodate our small screen users; the images look better at the larger size when you visit Peter.

The whole of Peter's travelog eastward from Los Angeles gives a good idea of the features of the Southwest United States, on through Death Valley, Las Vegas, and into the canyons of the Colorado Plateaus. The most famous, and spectacular, of the volcanic intrusions such as those seen in today's picture, lies eastwards just across the state line into New Mexico. Shiprock, which has given its name to the nearby town, looms over the desert floor in a way that even at a distance makes one rub ones eyes in disbelief. Close up, it looks as though it is moving across an ocean!

The geological perspective on the Navajo Lava Field in the Four Corners region is available from UND [University of North Dakota], plus more volcanos worldwide than most of us might be able to name. From the air the associated volcanic dyke swarms are arresting in low sunshine, such as in this Earthguide picture from the University of California San Diego; or in the Paul Logsdon image in the New Mexico Tech Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources virtual tour.

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