Thrifty-Sorb

totototo@telus.net totototo@telus.net
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:26:24 PST
On 5 Jan 2009, at 19:19, Marilyn Pekasky wrote:

> And because Crater Lake is a National Park it is ILLEGAL to collect even one
> little pebble of pumice there no matter how much is in the Park.

Quite right! Besides, it's impractical to cart away a useful quantity of pumice 
unless you own a big pickup or dumptruck. A suitcase simply won't suffice. 
Those desirous of samples should keep their hands in their pockets until they 
are out of the park; at any rate there is probably more Mazama pumice outside 
the park than in.

It is interesting to note that on the road up Annie Creek, the various 
outbarfings from Mazama are mixed with quite coarse material. Down by Hwy 97 at 
some distance from the caldera, the pumice particles are smaller and more 
uniform, free of the hard bits of rock you see along Annie Creek. 
Understandable, given that the eruptive cloud was carried by the prevailing 
westerlies away from the caldera, the heavier and coarser particles reaching 
ground first.

Given President Bush's Christmastime changes to regulations about mining in 
National Parks, let none of us be surprised, however, if the Giant Humongous 
Unstoppable Pumice Extraction and Landscape Destruction Company, Inc. Pty. LLC 
announces that in cooperation with Walmart they'll be selling Mazama pumice for 
$10 a cubic yard as cat litter.

[The forgoing paragraph is tainted by bitter irony.]

I've had horticultural pumice from two sources, one in Washington State and one 
in the Vancouver area. The Washington material (quarried I know not where) is a 
lovely tawny-buff color; the Vancouver material (also quarried I know not 
where) is a rather ugly bone white. The geologists can distinguish pumice not 
only by its source, but also which eruption belched it forth. They've found 
Mazama ejecta over an astonishing area.

Best reference for those curious is "Fire Mountains of the West" by Stephen L. 
Harris.

Thank you all for your attention; now back to matters bulbous.


-- 
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island

http://maps.google.ca/maps/…


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