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Hi All. I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting day. A rancher friend of mine called me this morning and told me a spring on his property is running warm.
This spring is in a shallow canyon and has always had a odor of sulfur. The water has always been cold, so cold that you could only leave your hand in for less then a minute before it started hurting. The horse I always ride won't even go into the canyon. He doesn't like the odor of sulfur. The other horses don't seem to mind it.
I'm going to take a couple of bottles with me and collect some samples then I will take them out to the company I use to work and have them test the water for me so see what kind of chemicals it has in it. I know one of them is going to be sulfur, but have no idea as what other elements are in it.
Were not sure of the source but were pretty sure it is deep and it never goes dry regardless of how little rain we get in the area. At present I have no idea as to why it should be running warm now. Wished I had taken some samples years ago. That way I could see if there has been a change and if so, what kind.
A couple of the ranches in that area have some hot water springs, but as far as they know they have always been hot and smell like hell. One spring is so hot and smells so bad the wild boars won't even use it. Now that says something for it.
On a good day and when the wind is blowing just right you can smell it for about a half mile. It is at the base of some hills. The hills are extremely steep on the east side while the west side is an easy climb. They are so steep that a horse has trouble climbing them. The horse I ride will take one look at them, then looks at me as if to say you're crazy if you think I'm going to climb that. He won't either. Fortunately the spring is at the base so we don't have to do any mountain climbing, or this case hill climbing.
On some of the ridges we can find some basalt. What I find interesting though is a strip of gravel that was once a creek. It seems odd to see an ancient creek bottom turned up on its side about half way up the side of a hill. There is another creek on the property that flows from the north and then makes a sharp 90° turn to the east and flows south into it reaches the San Benito River. Where it makes the 90° there is a lay of shale about 6 to 8 feet thick where the creek use to run before it was turned up on its side. I suspect there are some thrust faults in the area, but there is no way to confirm that. There are some quakes in the area, but they are few and far between so they don't do much good for identifying anything.
While I'm down there I think I will take a short trip to a place that sells benitoite. I have some money that is burning a hole in my pocket and I have always wanted some. Don't what I would use it for. I would like to get gem quality, but doubt that I can afford that much.
Yep. This could be a very interesting day if I don't fall off my horse and break my fool neck. Take Care...Don
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benitoite
This spring is in a shallow canyon and has always had a odor of sulfur. The water has always been cold, so cold that you could only leave your hand in for less then a minute before it started hurting. The horse I always ride won't even go into the canyon. He doesn't like the odor of sulfur. The other horses don't seem to mind it.
I'm going to take a couple of bottles with me and collect some samples then I will take them out to the company I use to work and have them test the water for me so see what kind of chemicals it has in it. I know one of them is going to be sulfur, but have no idea as what other elements are in it.
Were not sure of the source but were pretty sure it is deep and it never goes dry regardless of how little rain we get in the area. At present I have no idea as to why it should be running warm now. Wished I had taken some samples years ago. That way I could see if there has been a change and if so, what kind.
A couple of the ranches in that area have some hot water springs, but as far as they know they have always been hot and smell like hell. One spring is so hot and smells so bad the wild boars won't even use it. Now that says something for it.
On a good day and when the wind is blowing just right you can smell it for about a half mile. It is at the base of some hills. The hills are extremely steep on the east side while the west side is an easy climb. They are so steep that a horse has trouble climbing them. The horse I ride will take one look at them, then looks at me as if to say you're crazy if you think I'm going to climb that. He won't either. Fortunately the spring is at the base so we don't have to do any mountain climbing, or this case hill climbing.
On some of the ridges we can find some basalt. What I find interesting though is a strip of gravel that was once a creek. It seems odd to see an ancient creek bottom turned up on its side about half way up the side of a hill. There is another creek on the property that flows from the north and then makes a sharp 90° turn to the east and flows south into it reaches the San Benito River. Where it makes the 90° there is a lay of shale about 6 to 8 feet thick where the creek use to run before it was turned up on its side. I suspect there are some thrust faults in the area, but there is no way to confirm that. There are some quakes in the area, but they are few and far between so they don't do much good for identifying anything.
While I'm down there I think I will take a short trip to a place that sells benitoite. I have some money that is burning a hole in my pocket and I have always wanted some. Don't what I would use it for. I would like to get gem quality, but doubt that I can afford that much.
Yep. This could be a very interesting day if I don't fall off my horse and break my fool neck. Take Care...Don
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benitoite
