Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 615 Location: somewhere on 130 miles of beach
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:10 pm Post subject: PINS 2/6-2/12 Part 2
Clay! Louis used to find this...some of it had bird tracks and even ripples in it. What you're seeing is the old Pleistocene era sediment from the bottom from offshore. Storms are so special on Isla Blanca....
And after a full day of driving and hiking back in to various locations truly far south, I made the call to roll back to the house.
And that was a wrap. Not a lot to tell I suppose. I've been to a fair amount of the "structure" locations on Island, so now it's just a search for what a man CAN'T see. But like everything else on the Isla de Malaguitas, when you step into a place that will never be understood or tamed-you're body will let you know, and sometimes it's just goosebumps you'll feel, and sometimes as in Billy's case, and mine...you may hear something even though you're alone. Doubt everything but preconceive nothing, eh? One thing I DO know for sure though. A man will NEVER learn Isla Blanca doing donuts with their 2015 truck's pedal on the floorboard. Every last one of you take care, be safe, and never let ANYONE tell you that there aren't mysteries in this life. There's room for every one of you to jump aboard that train, and let it take you where it may. As for the GLO land turned Nueces County-I suppose we'll see that go the way of the rest of the old Corpus Pass. Gone.
Well, unless they can put some kinda "street-grassflats user fee" on it. I leave you all with these pictures from yesteryear.
This was the Don's old causeway to the beach. 2 miles long, it led from the present day JFK get run-over causeway to present day Bob Hall pier. It's dunes lining it hid the Confederates as they ambushed the Union soldiers when they slipped into the pass during the Civil War.
This? This is the base of the JFK causeway, ya know-where everyone floors it to go up the bridge at 90 and run over anyone in the way. Yesteryear...
Be safe everyone and tight lines.
--Colin _________________ Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:30 pm Post subject: Mini geo lesson
From what I can tell, if it can be unearthed by a storm then that is most likely clay from the Beaumont formation.
These deltaic sediments formed in the Pleistocene epoch during the last glaciation period. When the sea level was falling do to water being trapped in glaciers, deltas prograded out into the gulf- almost to the edge of the shelf. This led to deltaic marine deposits that are massive in nature.
Post ice-age, the sea level rose and left these deposited sediments behind. Near shore, these sediments are generally less than 30m thick, but near the shelf can be up to 150m thick.
With a little over 10,000 years since these sediments were left behind, it is easy to see how they would be unearthed given a storm in the gulf.
The properties of clay make this interesting- one wouldn't think a chunk of sediment could wash up to shore, but clay minerals will actually swell and stick together when in contact with water.
I saw that book in one of your other posts Towboat, figured I could help a little. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken! _________________ "Deep inside, you know the fish isn't the only one that's hooked"
I went back and looked at the pics of your book- says "Beaumont". Guess I looked up the right stuff. Should've looked at that first! Haha! _________________ "Deep inside, you know the fish isn't the only one that's hooked"
Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 615 Location: somewhere on 130 miles of beach
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:44 am Post subject:
Mason wrote:
I went back and looked at the pics of your book- says "Beaumont". Guess I looked up the right stuff. Should've looked at that first! Haha!
Thankyou for sharing! The sediments are truly fascinating, especially as related to understanding Padre and our other coastal barriers' origins, history, and...Yep you guessed it, the best places to look for shells and fossils! _________________ Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.
Believe it or not, I got into the geology a bit myself. It appears that most of the potassium feldspar and quartz (the pink and white "crystals," respectively) in the sand at PINS is actually from Enchanted Rock (or at least the Llano Uplift granite that forms the dome); most of it makes it into the bays from the Colorado and Nueces rivers-- pretty cool when you think about it. Another cool part about he geology of PINS and most of the barrier islands on the Texas coast is that the dune migration to the back of the island actually provides the bays with fresh sand to actually continue the "filter" effect that they serve so well. It takes thousands to tens of thousands of years for the sequence to complete itself (weathering from the granite to the front side of the surf and back into the bays through dune migration), but freakin cool when you know what you are looking at and walking on. All the more reason to keep the idiots out of the dunes!!! Thanks for another great report!!!!
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