Even though I live in an area that reeks of geology, I go around my everyday life without noticing a lot of it, but the other day when we were walking on Horseshoe Lake Road, I noticed the Sun highlighting a grove of Aspen trees at the base of the slope just below Rainbow Falls. Suddenly from somewhere deep in my brain a bit of geology from university popped up, “Hey, it said, ‘That is an alluvial fan.”
As I looked at it I had to agree.
Creeks running down steep slopes carry a lot of rocks and sediments with them. When they get to the bottom of the slope their current slows down and the rocks, pebbles, and sediment drop. Over time all these dropped particles build up into a fan-shaped hill. That is what you are seeing in the yellow grove of trees at the end of the blue line that represents Rainbow Creek.
I have been driving up and over that alluvial fan for 40 years, and it never registered as to what it was. Having the Sun point it out and seeing it from a distance suddenly makes it pretty obvious.
You can take a look at my paintings: davidmarchant.ca
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