Ancient lava flows
Posted by MysticAlpaca
03/24 at 01:30 PM
Here on Hells Half Acre Trail I explore an island of lava discovering the secrets of life’s survival in Idaho’s high desert while hiking along this 3/4 mile trail.
Molten rock forced upward for 30 to 50 miles through fissures in the Earth, has cooled into the hard lava found here.
Continued pressure from below has made great cracks in the contorted surface. This lava solidified only a few thousand years ago, and not very much soil covers it yet. But vegetation is getting a start, and unless new flows intervene, windblown soils will cover these rock layers.
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