Colorado River near Lake Havasu
                       a photographic tour
Cochise College         

Virtual Geology Field Trips
Virtual Geology Museum
Geology Home Page

Roger Weller, geology instructor  

wellerr@cochise.edu    copyright 2007-R.Weller

Arizona

The following geology field trip along the Colorado River and Lake Havasu was
conducted as part of the Arizona Geology Articulation Task Force (ATF) meeting
on October 5, 2002.
The geology ATF thanks Doyle Wilson of Mohave Community College for
organizing and conducting the field trip.

Brief Summary of the Geology:
Between 12 and 20 million years ago heat rising from below the crust caused large
gneissic domes to form.  Overlying rock layers slid away from the domes as much
as 4 miles, creating megabreccias.

1. Trip starts out at London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona

2. jet boat on the Colorado River

3. geology conference on the jet boat
4. leaving behind the city of Lake Havasu

5. heading up the river
6. megabreccias or Tertiary volcanics

7. Devils Elbow in Topock Gorge
8. Tertiary conglomerate and sedimentary breccias
9. volcanics and sedimentary breccias

10. jagged peaks

11. megabreccias and Tertiary volcanics
12. megabreccia
13. Late Cretaceous granite with veins
14. megabreccia
15. close up of megabreccia
16. megabreccia clasts

17. sand dunes
18. veins within a Late Cretaceous granitic body
19. distorted Tertiary volcanic unit
20. faulted Tertiary unit
21. Devils Elbow detachment fault area
22. fault in megabreccia
23. Bouse formation-a freshwater limestone
24. Bouse formation

25. Colorado River water

Photos are copyright free for non-commercial educational uses. 
Just credit photos to R.Weller/Cochise College.