Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Scars: Grove Karl Gilbert: Hydraulic Mining, Nevada County


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Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Compare 2734-2737. Nevada County, California, n.d.

Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California: photo by G.K. Gilbert, 1905 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Compare 273-2737. Nevada County, California, n.d.

Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1905 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Compare 273-2737. Nevada County, California, n.d.

Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1905 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Compare 273-2737. Nevada County, California, n.d.

Badland topography, North San Juan. Altitude 1,800 feet. The material is decomposed granite, in situ, exposed by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1905 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)
 

Smoke stratum, valley of Deer Creek at Nevada City. In the foreground is a pit from hydraulic mining. The smooth skyline marks a dissected plateau of andesitic lava. Nevada County, California. 8 a.m., October 28, 1905.

Smoke stratum, valley of Deer Creek at Nevada City. In the foreground is a pit from hydraulic mining. The smooth skyline marks a dissected plateau of andesitic lava. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 8 a.m., 28 October 1905 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Hydraulic mining pits at North Columbia, The pit in the foreground is known as

Hydraulic mining pits at North Columbia, The pit in the foreground is known as "The Consolidated"; in the distance, at left, is the "Union Diggings"; at right the "Sailor Flat" nine. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, n.d. (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California. 1909.

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California. 1909.

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)
 

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California. 1909.

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)


Earthflow at Blue Tent, A field, supposed to have been previously smooth, is thrown into undulation by a general flow of underlying gravels, the flow being occasioned by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California. 1909

Earthflow at Blue Tent, A field, supposed to have been previously smooth, is thrown into undulation by a general flow of underlying gravels, the flow being occasioned by hydraulic mining. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior)
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6 comments:

  1. STEPHEN RATCLIFFE15 May 2012 at 08:18

    Tom,

    the silence of these is deafening.

    "Scars" / "remains"

    5.15

    light coming into fog against invisible
    ridge, song sparrow calling from branch
    in foreground, wave sounding in channel

    human figure, that painting
    something became more

    like approximation, remains,
    stages between bodies

    grey white of fog against top of ridge,
    shadowed green pine on tip of sandspit

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous15 May 2012 at 09:30

    when watching this I can´t help thinking about my post on the water refering Mia Couto´s "Ángeles borrachos" (Natural del agua)

    http://www.thetrackofabook.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15 May 2012 at 09:32

    ....in these lines:
    "Los hombres hieren la tierra, cubren de golpes el suelo. Pero hasta ahora nadie fue capaz de herir al río ni dejar escrita en él una cicatriz."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hazen15 May 2012 at 10:52

    Tom, This hits close to home. Less than two hours from here, at Kayford Mountain in West Virginia, there’s a ‘mountain-top removal’ site. In fact, the whole mountain is being removed, using ‘earth-moving equipment’ that scoops away the ‘over burden’ one Greyhound-bus-sized-bite at a time to expose the coal seam. (The parentheses seem necessary to call into question what is unreal, euphemistic, and a lie). For years, my wife has taken her Appalachian Studies classes to observe the desecration up close and in progress, from the property of a neighboring landowner who, allied with many others, remains helpless to stop what is happening.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TC15 May 2012 at 11:33

    Steve,

    Yes. I hear you, and it.

    (By the by, have you ever seen those 1906 quake photos of the displaced fault line up on Bolinas/Inverness ridge? The great geological photographer Grove Karl Gilbert took those.)



    Hazen,

    Well then, you'll have no trouble recognizing this.



    Sandra,

    This is beautiful, and quite apt:

    Pero el agua solo desnuda está completa. De esta forma, se distingue de la tierra. La tierra exige cobertura, requiere construcciones. Mientras que el agua se cobija en su propia piel. En tal desnudez, nunca se abrió surco alguno, ninguna arruga se dibujó. Los hombres hieren la tierra, cubren de golpes el suelo. Pero hasta ahora nadie fue capaz de herir al río ni dejar escrita en él una cicatriz.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Susan Kay Anderson15 May 2012 at 15:29

    Wait moon. We're coming to mirror you.

    ReplyDelete