YAY! I'm learning!
On our little tours of these parks I've become enthusiastically geeky about reading all the signs.
Over many years, life slowly returns to land once rendered barren by lava.
Sunset Crater
This has been my favorite park so far. The gorgeous volcanic landscape was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Learning about the geological workings of volcanos was really fascinating.
Oooh check out the lichens on this a'a lava
We learned that a'a lava is lava flow that that emerged from the volcano partially cooled and this gives it a clumpy, jagged shape. Pahoehoe lava is the hot magma that eventually cools like the smooth curves of Jabba the Hut's fat rolls. We didn't see pahoehoe here but will later at another site. Also, the lichens are the lovely organisms that break down the rock into soil so that plants can eventually live here. yay lichens!
Ponderosa pine- my new favorite tree
The ponderosa pine is cool because it's core spirals around from the roots to the top. This allow moisture at one root to curl around through the entire tree. The ponderosa is adept at living in dry climates and soils that don't hold moisture well, such as basalt or pumice lava rocks, because of this rockin feature!
Link: http://www.nps.gov/sucr/
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