Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Drunk on Volcanology - Old Faithful Ale


The next Drunk on Geology is for the Old Faithful Ale from Grand Teton Brewing out of Victor, ID. 

To fully describe the geology of Old Faithful, and why it falls into the "Drunk on Volcanology" group, there is a bit of background geology that is needed. Old Faithful is located towards the center of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone itself is the volcano of which Old Faithful not only sits on, but is powered by. While I am going to give a summary overview of the geology of Yellowstone here, you can find I had done a much more in-depth look at the Geology of Yellowstone National Park here.   

Yellowstone's magma plume below the surface of the Earth. Image courtesy of National Geographic.

As you can see in the image above, Yellowstone National Park is a volcano with a rather large magma chamber located below it. This magma chamber also extends significantly across the surrounding areas as well. The Yellowstone volcano is a type of volcano known as a hotspot. A hotspot is a volcano that starts off as a plume of magma that emanates from deep within the Earth, in the mantle. This plume of magma then rises through the crust and heats up the rocks on the surface. What makes a hotspot truly unique is that the plume of magma is fairly stationary as the crustal plates then move over it, creating a string of volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are a good example of this hotspot string of volcanoes. 

Movement of the North American plate across the Yellowstone Hotspot. Image courtesy of NPS.gov.

You can see this movement of the Yellowstone Hotspot by a trail of eruptions that move across the northwestern United States in the map above, specifically creating the topographic feature known as the Snake River Plain. And if you didn't already figure it out, the currently location of the Yellowstone Hotspot, is ... Yellowstone National Park. 



Within Yellowstone National Park there are many geological features that are tied to the Yellowstone Hotspot volcano. We are going to focus on Old Faithful here. Named in 1870, Old Faithful is what is known as a geyser. By definition, a geyser is:
A type of hot spring that intermittently erupts jets of hot water and steam, the result of ground water coming into contact with rock hot enough to create steam under conditions preventing circulation. 
Dictionary of Geological Terms 3rd Ed.   
Old Faithful erupting. View is facing south towards the Old Faithful Lodge.  

Below the surface of a geyser there are a series of cracks and fractures in the ground. These are typically referred to as the "plumbing" of the geyser. Geysers work when rain and snow percolate into the ground, creating ground water. This groundwater is heated up by the presence of a heat source, the Yellowstone magma chamber in this instance. This heated water then rises through these cracks and fissures in the ground. As the hydrothermal waters heat up and rise, they slowly dissolves the surrounding silica within the rhyolite rocks. 

Plumbing beneath Old Faithful. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine.

For Old Faithful, the majority of the cracks and fractures that make up its plumbing lie within glacial sands and gravels, not within historic lava flows that cover much of the surrounding country side. The dissolved silica within the super heated waters starts to precipitate out of the hydrothermal fluids, stabilizing, and slowly constricting the cracks and fissures that make up the network. As the water is heated up, it also expands. However, since the cracks keep the heated water contained, the water is not allowed to expand, resulting in water that has become "super heated" (a phenomenon where water can surpass the boiling point but remain as water and not turn into steam). 

Eruption of Old Faithful. View is facing north, away from the Old Faithful Lodge.

As the water moves upwards through the plumbing network, eventually the water reaches near the surface where there is no more overriding pressure from the surrounding rocks and the water is allowed to expand. Since it is super heated, the expansion immediately causes the water to turn to steam. It is this sudden expansion and steam production that produces the semi-regular geyser eruptions. The regularity of the eruptions is due to the complexity of the fracture network, the ground water inflow, and how many external vents there are. The more vents connected to a system the less regular the system is likely to be. Since Old Faithful's plumbing network is not connected to any other geysers, this isolation is likely what leads to the regularity of eruptions. 

Old Faithful eruption. View from the Visitor's Center.

Within the Old Faithful system, the cracks and fissure plumbing network expands over 650 feet and holds more than 79 million gallons of water leading to ~8,000 gallons of water released per eruption shooting over 100 feet in the air. Although known for the regularity of the eruptions, the interval between eruptions is actually fairly variable, with eruptions occurring every 60 to 110 minutes. This variability is due to several factors including earthquakes altering the geyser "plumbing", seasonality of water supply, and continuous changes to the cracks and fissures due to mineral precipitation and collapse. 

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Thursday, October 17, 2024

Drunk on Geomorphology - Monument Red

 

The next Drunk on Geology is for the Castle Creek Winery Monument Red out of Moab, UT. 

Along with the previous post about the Castle Creek Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, the Monument Red is also from the Castle Creek Winery, a winery that appears to no longer be open. However, the geology on the bottle was way too good to pass up a chance to talk about. 

The bottle itself displays several artistic representations of rock structures from the nearby region. The first rock structure on the front of the bottle is from Arches National Park, also in Moab, Utah. This is the iconic Balanced Rock, towards the entrance of the park. 


This particular structure is created by more resistant rocks, the Entrada Sandstone, overly softer rocks, the Carmel Formation. The Entrada Sandstone, a Jurassic age (~150 million years old) sandstone, formed from a coastal dune environment and is the most dominant rock formation within Arches National Park. The underlying Carmel Formation is a slightly older, Jurassic age, series of mudstones, siltstones, and sandstones, formed in a tidal flat environment. Having a much higher percentage of mud in the rocks, makes these rocks much softer and therefore easier to erode than the overlying Entrada Sandstone. 


The next picture on the bottle actually takes us to Monument Valley Tribal Park, one of the Navajo Nation Tribal Parks, with this particular formation also in Utah. 


Here is a view of Monument Valley from the north, looking south. This also happens to be the spot where Forest Gump ran by. 

Image from Joseph C. Filer Fine Art Photography, Artist Point, Monument Valley. 

The above image perfectly captures the rock formations as used for the artistic rendering on the bottle. These rock formations are known as (from left to right) The Castle, Bear & Rabbit, and the Stagecoach. This view is from the south looking north from Artist Point, looking past the more well known Mittens. 

The Utah Geological Survey has a nice mark up (below) of the different rock formations within Monument Valley with the rock units outlined. The rocks associated with the formations within Monument Valley, from youngest to oldest, are the Shinarump, the Moenkopi, the De Chelly Sandstone, and the Organ Rock Shale. 

Monument Valley geology. Image courtesy of the UGS.

The Shinarump, is part of the Chinle Formation, a Late Triassic (~225 million years old) yellow-grey river-deposited sandstone and conglomerate. 

Below the Shinarump is the Moenkopi formation. The Moenkopi Formation is an Early to Middle Triassic formation (~245 million years old) that is is predominantly made up of the reddish-brown shale. The Moenkopi was deposited within an intertidal environment, with alternating sea levels producing thinly bedded layers of mud (shale) and sand (sandstone). 

Below the Shinarump is the De Chelly Sandstone. The De Chelly Sandstone is a Permian age (~200 million years old) aeolian sandstone. Aeolian means that it is formed by blowing wind, in particular sand dunes, or a desert environment. When sand dunes are frozen in time, such as when they become rocks, and eroded you can see features termed cross-bedding. These rock preserve an ancient sand sea desert, known as an erg, that used to be located here. Sandstones are also frequently extremely hard rocks that are resistant to weathering. When they weather, they fracture into regular joints. Those are the vertical line patterns of the rocks as seen in the image above. It is also what produces the shear-walled rock mesas as we know them today. 

Below the De Chelly Sandstone, is the more erodible Organ Rock Shale. You can tell it erodes much more easily by the smooth slope that forms from the edge of the overlying sandstone. If the sandstone wasn't there to protect the shale, the shale would have eroded long ago. The Organ Rock Shale is another Permian formation (~270 million years old), that mainly comprised of mudstone (shale) and siltstones. They were deposited by streams within a tidal flat environment. The Organ Rock Shale then underlies much of the surrounding landscape which is then covered over with much, much younger (Quaternary) sediment (known as alluvium) transported in by winds and water from these and other surrounding rock formation.


Text from the bottle:
Created in the heartland of the American Southwest, Monument Red is a tribute to the beauty of this landscape and all those who come to enjoy the open air, big skies, and amazing red cliffs that make the landscape to stunning. Whenever out west come visit our spectacular view of the mighty Colorado River and the Monoliths that surround us.

Elephant Butte in Arches National Park. Image courtesy of Alamy. 

The final picture on the bottle here I am uncertain of. I feel like it might be Elephant Butte in Arches National Park (pictured above), but it is different enough that I can't be certain. Elephant Butte, like Balanced Rock above, is also formed from the Entrada Sandstone.

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Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Drunk on Geomorphology - Castle Creek Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

 

The next Drunk on Geology is for the Castle Creek Winery Cabernet Sauvignon out of Moab, UT. 

Located in the heart of the red rock region of Utah, Moab is spectacular place to catch some gorgeous scenery. We picked up this bottle just prior to moving away from Utah in 2021 and it does not appear that the winery is not open anymore but we will celebrate it nonetheless. 

The front label offers a lovely artistic rendering of the red rock cliffs surrounding the town of Moab. The rocks cliffs surrounding Moab are made up of several rock units including the Navajo Sandstone. The Navajo Sandstone is Jurassic in age, ~180 million years old, and is a preserved prehistoric desert that used to cover large parts of the American west. Although it can be red in color, it is generally a tan to light brown color. The Navajo Sandstone can be found in abundance in the nearby Canyonlands National Park. 

The area known as Park Avenue in Arches National Park

The rocks on the label though look more like the ones seen in another neighboring National Park, Arches National Park. The rocks structures in Arches NP are composed of arches and tall pinnacles called hoodoos. It is this hoodoo and other cliffs that appear to be the focus of the artwork. The rock structures in Arches NP are comprised of the Entrada Sandstone. The Entrada Sandstone, overlies the Navajo Sandstone and is therefore a bit younger. It is a Jurassic age (~150 million years old) sandstone, formed from a coastal dune environment. 

The reason that the Entrada Sandstone forms these fantastic structures is because of a variety of regions. There being that this is the desert. It is very dry here and not enough precipitation falls to erode away the rock structures. Another reason is that the Entrada is very porous, allowing for the rain water to easily soak into the rock. As the water filters its way down into the sandstone it eventually reaches the base of the sandstone at the contact with the lower rock unit, the Carmel Formation. The Carmel Formation is a slightly older, Jurassic age, series of mudstones, siltstones, and sandstones, formed in a tidal flat environment. The much higher percentage of mud prevents water from flowing through it, so as the water flows through the Entrada, it eventually pools at the base of the sandstone on top of the Carmel Formation.

The third feature is the cement in the Entrada Sandstone. Many sandstones are cemented by silica, which is basically a dissolved type of quartz, a very hard mineral. Those types of sandstones are incredibly difficult to erode. The Entrada Sandstone, however, is cemented with calcite, a mineral that easily dissolves in slightly acidic water, such as the calcite in caves. As the water sits at the base of the Entrada, it slowly dissolves away the calcite cement. Then as the water freezes and thaws over the winter months, the expansion and contraction of the water breaks apart the rocks and carries away the sand. Leaving an ever widening hole at the base of the rock formation.


The text on the back of the bottle:
Castle Creek Winery overlooks the mighty Colorado River at the foot of dramatic red rock cliffs. It's a classic, rugged Western landscape. Our lush, green vineyards are a standout among the sapphire sky, red rocks and mesas. A combination of hot summer days, cool evenings, and Moab's dry climate are optimum for growing many of the best varietals. Using locally grown grapes, the winery has produced over 30 award-winning wines.
There are many rocks units in the region and not only these two rock units, but many of the other rock units within the Moab area, are also red in color, producing the name the "Red Rocks Region". The red coloring comes from differing amounts of iron oxide in the rocks, also known as rust. Varying amounts of iron oxide can tint a rock from a light yellow/tan color to a very deep-dark red. And it doesn't take much iron oxide at all to produce this effect. The iron oxide within these rocks is from when the rocks were originally deposited as sandstones and mudstones millions of years ago, forever staining them for all time.

References
 
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Sunday, April 7, 2024

Drunk on Geomorphology - Waterpocket Distillery


The next Drunk on Geology is for the Waterpocket Distillery out of Salt Lake City, UT. 

Before leaving Utah I made it a mission to visit the Waterpocket Distillery because there are few alcohols that more encompass the geology than this one. The distillery is named after the characteristic fold in the rocks that encompasses Capitol Reef National Park. According to the distillery's website:
The Waterpocket Fold gives form to the Capitol Reef and the national park that bears this name, and now gives its name to Waterpocket® Distillery.
Some of the offerings from the Waterpocket Distillery

Not only is the Waterpocket Distillery named after a geological feature, they also have geologically themed alcohols within their collection including the Temple of the Moon Gin, the image on the Waterpocket Cocoa & Rum, and the Toadstool Notom Amaro No. 1. 

Entrance sign to Capitol Reef National Park

The most characteristic features of Capitol Reef is the way that the rocks have been folded across the park. With an axis running nearly 100 miles north to south, is a feature called the Waterpocket Fold. There are several different types of folds when we look at rocks. When rocks are folded in a "U" shape, this is called an syncline. When rocks are folded the opposite way, essentially an "A" shape, this is called an anticline. However, when you have a stair-step fold, where one side of the fold is generally horizonal, then its comes down to another horizonal layer, you have what is called a monocline, and that is what the Waterpocket Fold is. You can essentially see this fold in the way that the rocks dip towards the east through much of the park, such as in the image above looking towards the south.
Cross section of the Waterpocket Fold by Ron Blakey. Image courtesy of the NPS. 


Looking west off the Cohab Canyon Overlook  you can see the dip of the beds towards the east as well as most of the rock units we talked about.

Google Earth view of the Water Pocket Fold (VE = 3)

As you can see in the profile above of the Waterpocket Fold, there are several rock formations that make up the rocks in Capitol Reef NP. Folded approximately 50 to 70 million years ago, the rocks within the park mainly range in age from the Early Permian age White Rim Sandstone (~280 million years old) to the Late Jurassic Age Morrison Formation (~150 million years old). Because of the Waterpocket Fold, the older rocks are easier to see in the western portion of the park and the younger rocks are more exposed in the eastern portion of the park. 

Let us focus in on the liquors from the Waterpocket Distillery. In the north part of Capitol Reef National Park is Cathedral Valley, where you can find the Temple of the Moon. The Temple of the Moon is pictured on both The Temple of the Moon Gin, from which the gin was named, and a more stylized version on the Waterpocket Cocoa & Rum. 

The text on the back of the Waterpocket Cocoa & Rum
We take our turbinado sugar & blackstrap molasses rum (fermented & distilled in-house, then aged in used whiskey barrels), and combine it with fermented and sun-dried Caribbean cocoa custom-roasted at the distillery. Open Wild for a decadent rum sipping experience, rich in cacao, spice, and rum flavor. 
The text on the back of the Temple of the Moon Gin
We dedicate this gin to the sacred Temple of the Moon in Capitol Reef's Cathedral Valley. Inspired by the juniper and pinion forests of Utah's high desert country, we crafted a gin of uncompromising artistry and beauty. Made with: Coriander, Lemon Peel, Lavender, Angelica, Ginger, and 10 other botanicals. 
Temples of the Sun and Moon. Image courtesy of William Belvin from thewave.info.

The monoliths of the Temples of the Sun (in the background) and Moon (foreground) are composed of the Entrada Sandstone. Looking at the cross section above, the Entrada sandstone is exposed along the eastern portions of the park and is one of the youngest rocks exposed in the park. The Entrada Sandstone is a buff-pink colored sandstone deposited during the Jurassic age (~150 million years old), formed from a coastal dune environment. The Entrada Sandstone is the same formation that is more well known as the rock that the arches are comprised of in Arches National Park, located to the east of Capitol Reef National Park.

South Window Arch in Arches National Park

The cement in the Entrada Sandstone is one of the key ingredients. Many sandstones are cemented by silica, which is basically a dissolved type of quartz, a very hard mineral. Those types of sandstones are incredibly difficult to erode. The Entrada Sandstone, however, is cemented with calcite, a mineral that easily dissolves in slightly acidic water, such as the calcite in caves. This means that it crumbles fairly easily and is removed rapidly by flowing water. 

Capping the Entrada Sandstone in these parts is the Curtis Sandstone. A grayish-green sandstone and siltstone that is more more resistant to erosion than the Entrada and protects the monoliths from complete erosion. 


The last bottle pictured above is the Toadstool Notom Amaro No. 1. From the Waterpocket Distillery's website:
Like the toadstools of Escalante's Grand Staircase, the great artistry of these liqueurs and bitters is the delicate balancing act of bitterness, aromatics, and other natural flavors. A warming of the throat and stomach highlights the traditional consumption of this type of spirit as a digestive or digestif, or after-dinner liqueur. We think this also make them perfect for after-ski, after-hike, or as an intense flask-filler for your next adventure into the wilderness.
Toadstools in Grand Staircase Escalante. Image courtesy of Visit Utah.

The Toadstool is named after geological features not in Capitol Reef this time but those a little further to the south in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. These features are known as the Toadstool Hoodoos. Hoodoos are:
 A column, pinnacle, or pillar of rock produced in a region of sporadic heavy rainfall by differential weathering or erosion of horizontal strata, facilitated by joints and by layers of varying hardness, and occurring in varied and often eccentric or grotesque forms. (Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed.)
View of some of the equipment in the distillery. 

Even though these toadstools are much further south than the Temple of the Moon, these are also formed from the Entrada Sandstone, however here instead of being capped by the Curtis Sandstone, they are capped by the Dakota Sandstone. As the Entrada Sandstone erodes away, the much more resistant Dakota Sandstone protects the smaller column in the middle, much like the Temples of the Moon and the Sun. 

The Dakota Sandstone is Early Cretaceous in age, ~100 million years old, and represents the western shore of the very large Cretaceous Interior Seaway. The Dakota is made up of yellow to grey sandstones, mudstones, and a few thin beds of coal. These were deposited within a wide range of coastal environments including deltas, alluvial fans, and coastal deposits.

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Thursday, April 4, 2024

Drunk on Volcanology - Lava Lake Wit

 


The next Drunk on Geology is for Lava Lake Wit from the Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, out of Denver, CO. 

To start off, a "lava lake" is just what it sounds like, a lake of lava, or to be more technical per the NPS:
A lava lake is a pool of molten lava that persists in a vent or crater of a volcano...
Of which the only lava lake in the United States is found on the Big Island of Hawaii in the caldera of Mount Kilauea.

View of the lava lake within Mount Kilauea's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Lava lakes, at over 2300 degrees Fahrenheit, are not very common across the planet at all, for obvious reasons. There must be a specific set of circumstances to maintain that liquid lava and not to eventually cool down forming igneous rocks. The lakes are maintained by the stream of volcanic gasses including sulfur within the caldera of the volcano that prevents the lava from cooling enough to solidify. 


Although the lava lakes are essentially "permanent" they do frequently drain and refill depending on the plumbing going on beneath the surface of the volcano as earthquakes and other forces redistribute the magma paths. 

Mount Nyiragongo in Congo. image courtesy of National Geographic. 

There are currently eight known lava lakes on Earth. Besides Mount Kilauea in Hawai'i, there are lava lakes in Ethiopia (Erte Ale), Antarctica (Mount Erebus), Vanuatu (Mount Yasure and Ambrym) and Nicaragua (Mount Masaya), with the largest known lava lake located in Congo (Mount Nyiragongo) measuring 820 feet in diameter and up to 2000 feet deep.

Looking at the back of the can, it says:
Slow down and take in the scenery with Byamba, one of the brighter creatures on Crazy Mountain. She boils the water for brewing with a zest for life that is contagious. Her personality is lively, refreshing and a little complicated. So pause for a moment and join her for an afternoon amid the blooming chamomile on Lava Lake. 

The text on the can made me wonder if that indeed we weren't only referring to a lava lake, as in a boiling lake of lava, but an actual place called Lava Lake. And it turns out that there is indeed a lake located kind of near Vail, CO called Lava Lake in White River National Forest. 

Lava Lake, CO

Which looks just like a cute little mountain lake on Lava Creek, although I'd prefer to take an afternoon next to an actual lava lake. 
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