Basalt
Basalt walls of the canyon carved by Henrys Fork of the Snake River
This is the volcanic rock wall of the canyon carved by the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. It is basalt and is hardened lava flow. The lava flow visible on this side of the river looks to me to be 60 to 80 feet thick.
Salmon River near Riggins, Idaho cutting through hard basalt
In areas like this near Riggins, Idaho the Salmon River has cut through extremely hard basalt leaving impressive vertical sides.
Crazed (horizontal jointing) on Basalt road cut on SR 64 west of Kemiah, Idaho
I wonder if this basalt got the funky "crazed" appearance when the basalt was blasted to make the roadcut?
Closeup of the same Idaho basalt seen in the picture above
We saw this in 2007 when driving on Idaho 64 less than 2-miles west of Kamiah.
Basalt a few miles west of Kamiah, Idaho on SR-64
Basalt near Kamiah, Idaho.
Columnar jointed Basalt along the Salmon River in Riggins, Idaho
These pictures show both the columnar (vertical) joints and the horizontal fractures on the top part of these columnar joints.
Basalt from ancient lava flow in Yellowstone National Park
This solid basalt cliff hugs Grand Loop Road in the northeastern part of Yellowstone National Park. This basalt was formed from an ancient lava flow. Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface.
Columnar jointed basalt from an old lava flow
This basalt wall from an ancient lava flow is on Texas SR-17 a few miles north of Fort Davis.
Pillow basalt in formation near Buhl, Idaho
To me this looks like the "pillow basalt" that was created when hot lava met water. Pillow basalt is the porous basalt that the water/aquifer emerging in the 1000-springs on the Snake River Aquifer flows through.
Basalt cliff & talus slope as seen from the Hagerman Valley
Joyce took this picture taken from the Hagerman Valley showcasing a beautiful talus slope of basalt from the basalt cliff face.
Joyce took this picture in 2007 from the 1000-springs area of the Hagerman Valley in Idaho
These are some of the Thousand Springs that emerge from a layer of pillow basalt midway up the basalt canyon wall here in the Hagerman Valley. Pillow basalt is formed when molten lava comes in contact with water and cools quickly. It forms "pillows" that water can flow through. The Snake River has cut the sharp canyon wall seen here. The water emerging from the pillow basalt falls a few more feet into the Snake River.
Basalt canyon wall and one or more of the Thousand Springs of the Hagerman Valley flowing into the Snake River
As you drive through the Hagerman Vally and look up at the Basalt wall it is easy to spot many of the Thousand Springs emerging from the pillow basalt.
Thousand springs waterfall in the Hagerman Valley of Idaho, flowing over basalt
This spring, in the Hagerman Valley of Idaho, created an immediate waterfall over hard basalt.
Talus slope of basalt in the Hagerman Valley, Snake River Canyon wall in Idaho
Talus slope of basalt that came from the basalt Canyon wall in the Hagerman Valley of Idaho. The Snake River has cut this canyon wall over eons of wear.
Basalt walls of Malad Gorge State Park near Hagerman, Idaho
This waterfall on the Malad River has created what is know as is the Devils Washbowl a distinct feature carved in this basalt canyon at the base of that waterfall.
How was the Devils Washbowl carved? The waterfall (retreating cataract) that you can see down in the gorge is a much diminished remnant of the great waterfalls that carved the 2 1/2 mile long, 250 food deep canyon now know as Malad Gorge. Can you imagine, looking at the current flow, what the waterfall that created Malad Gorge must have looked like?
The top 200' of basalt is the result of Shield Volcanos. Shield volcanos in this region poured hot molten lava onto the surrounding countryside for miles and miles around. In contrast to explosive volcanos like Mt. St. Helens in Washington shield volcanos ooze hot molten lava from vents in the earth's crust. The type of lava rock found here in southern Idaho is called basalt. Basaltic lava flows are very hot and fluid and flow much like a river until they cool. Over many years the depths of these lava flows increased and gradually the deposits built up in the Malad Gorge area to over 200'-deep.
Pillow basalt is found in the bottom 50-feet of the gorge. Pillow basalt is created when molten lava flows into water. When the hot lava flows into water steam erupts, and changes the usually solid basalt rock into rounded, more porous pillows. Pillow basalts, because of their less compact porous nature, allow spring water from the vast Snake River Aquifer to flow past them into the Malad River and into the Snake River in an area know as 1,000 springs around Hagerman.
Columnar basalt cools more slowly. Columnar basalt is a harder more dense rock. When it ages and weathers if forms cracks in the form of columns. Malad Gorge State Park
This picture is looking down into Malad Gorge with the very hard basalt canyon walls and talus slopes on either side.
Fallen rock, from the basalt cliff walls, forms the talus slopes that you can see lining both sides of this gorge. Joyce took this picture form Malad Gorge State Park in southern Idaho near Hagerman. The Malad River shown in this photo empties into the Snake River less than 2-miles from here.
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