• Friday-What'sUP June 25 - 05:24 pm

Today's Keweenaw shoreline photos come to us courtesy of Chris Anderson who was recently there snapping shots of not only the clear blue expanse of Lake Superior waters, but also up close pictures of the intricate rock formations that you can find all along her rocky shores. I'm going to have to defer to our Pasty Cam rockology (i.e. geology) experts, Capt. Paul and/or Dr. Nat, to tell us what exactly we're seeing here. Any other rock hounds out there that might know the type of rock, feel free to chime in, also.

While we're waiting for our "experts" to get here, I figured this would be a good time to remind everyone that Pasty Fest kicks off tonight with a Community Service Awards Ceremony at the Keweenaw Heritage Center/Saint Anne's Church, at 7:00 p.m. in Calumet. Then Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m., the festivities start up again with a parade and plenty of activities to follow, including the Pasty Judging at 1:00. For a complete listing of events, click here: Pasty Fest Schedule. And if you're new to making pasties or would just like to see how it's done, click on over to the MainStreetCalumet.com webpage and watch Jean Ellis' 5 minute video, demonstrating the art of making pasties on Fox2 News. Once you get to the MainStreetCalumet.com page, scroll down and the video is there on the right. Enjoy!

Nice photos! Have fun at the Pasty Fest, wish I could be there.

Party Down this weekend all you lucky Pasty Festers!

The third photo looks like a legless piggy, frozen in time.:) To all of you fortunate enough to attend the Pasty Fest....have a wonderful and delicious time! :9 I envy ya!

Wow, if I didn't have grandchildren's pictures on my desktop, that first picture would go there in a flash!

Capt Paul --

Can you explain to us the composition of the rock in the bottom photo, and how it forms? Whenever I find a small piece of this stuff that's been polished in the waves, the agate detector in my head starts hummin' until I realize it's not the McCoy. But I suspect there are similarities in formation processes. Can you provide some insight?

In the second picture the inset area reminded me of the UP. I have been wishing I was there to walk along the shore and look for pretty stones. I guess I will never stop missing the beauty.

Never get tired of looking at Superior's Keweenaw shores.

Party on Team Pasty!!! GO! GO! GO!

THE POWER OF THE PASTY....unfortunately, I can't go either...but have a great time EVERYONE!!!

Any one have info here on Hawes Island from in the 1800's

Experts??? sheesh I’m not sure about that........ I have been checking the pages all day, but have been swamped with work to get ahead before our trip to Labrador next month; hence, the reason I haven’t posted anything today. I’m back at our house now.

I’m actually going to start with the 3rd photo as it looks more interesting. How so you ask?? Well, I see what looks to be dimples or impressions in that rock. Granted, geology using photos is tricky, but I can’t help but wonder if those aren’t raindrop impressions?? The rock itself looks like basalt from the lakeshore traps, and the white “inlay” appears to be calcite or possibly quartz, but again from a photo, it’s hard to say.

The bottom photo is very pretty. The rock there appears to be rhyolite cobbles that have been cemented together with calcite. Mixed in the calcite looks to be some angular “chunks” of rhyolite that got entrained in the calcite (or whatever it is) rich fluids as it filled the pore spaces around the cobbles. They are similar, but different, to the way agates form. Usually, but not always, agates form in the vesicles of the upper most part of a basalt flow. There, silica rich fluids flowed through the basalt, depositing in the voids and then cooled to form an agate.

I forgot to mention in the 3rd photo that it could also be one of the sandstone interlayers within the Copper Harbor Conglomerate, which would even make more sense that the spots are raindrop impressions....... Ahh, the Law of Uniformitarianism at work!!

The Lake Superior region (in both the U.S. and Canada) is quite beautiful. Thanks 4 sharing.

Wow, beautiful photo...the first one...I can just picture myself sitting there looking out listening to the waves, wind and trees...its those kinda of pictures that are captivating. I'm not sure if its a medical condition or not but ever since we left the UP I have been ready to come back home :)