|
Volume VII No. 3 - September, 1934
Hemlocks
(In the Crater Wall)
By Ernest G. Moll, Ranger-Naturalist
Serene where death once pitched his camp, they lift
Green spires against blue water far below;
And the scarred slopes where their slow shadows drift
Drink the cool peace that only trees bestow.
Speculation On Specularite
By Carl R. Swartzlow, Ranger-Naturalist
On the walk to Sinnott Memorial, about halfway down the last flight
of steps, there is a boulder showing mineralization. The boulder is on
the outside retaining wall, and along its top surface are streaks of
specularite (ferric iron oxide) and small quantities of some other
mineral. A high power microscope would be necessary to determine their
identity. The presence of these materials proves the presence of
mineralized waters or gases emanating from fissures on Mt. Mazama. Very
few secondary minerals have been reported from the rocks of Crater Lake
and each new discovery may help unravel the story of the type of magma
that supplied the lavas of this region.
The Phantom Ship Loses A Sail
By Hugh H. Waesche, Ranger-Naturalist
The Phantom Ship is one of the most popular of Crater Lake's many
novel objects of beauty. Geologically, the Phantom Ship is a remnant of
a projecting promontory of the Lake rim, left by natural erosional
forces. It is separated from the mainland by a shallow channel of
several hundred feet. As is the case with all earth features produced
by the erosive action of water, wind, and ice, the Phantom Ship is
doomed eventually to disappear from view.
The lava rocks of this "Ship" are like the others of the Crater Lake
region in that they are much fractured by jointing. The joints give
ready access to plants, rain, and ice, and promote unequal expansion of
the rocks caused by changes of temperature. At the "bow" (southwest)
end of the Phantom Ship are several comparatively small spires of rock,
succeeded towards the "stern" by the tall pinnacles which rise high
above the water, simulating the masts of a sailing ship. On July 25,
1934, between two and four o'clock in the afternoon the second of the
smaller spires fell from its place into the lake carrying tons of rock
from the side of the "Ship" with it. The evidence of this is shown by
the absence of the spire and by a clean gray area of exposed new
accumulation of talus at the water's edge. It may have been caused by
unequal expansion of the rock during the warm weather of the week of
July 25.
A Water Ouzel Inside The Rim
By Berry Campbell, Ranger-Naturalist
The Water Ouzel (Cinclus mexicanus) is fairly common in the
streams which flow off the sides of the old Mt. Mazama. It was the
writers good fortune to discover a bird of this species at the shore of
the lake at the foot of Dyar Rock late in the afternoon of July 25,
1934. I was traveling along the shore by rowboat, and saw the bird at
the foot of one of the numerous spring-fed streams which cascade into
the lake in that vicinity. This species has a predilection for water
falls and the small trickle down the cliff walls seems to have been the
attraction. I rowed up in the boat to get a better view of it and it
flew around the next point. Sure enough, when I followed it around the
point, I found that it had settled on a rock at the next waterfall, and
there it stood, bobbing up and down, watching me as I rowed slowly off
down the lake.
|
