My contribution to Accretionary Wedge #32

Here's my favorite geological picture.

The Red River

    The reason I like this picture so much is because it shows the Red River being a mature river, with its meandering back and forth across the page. I like the way the fog is rising from it, making the river/water stand out more. 
     I love pretty sunrises and sunsets and you can see it captured the very end of a sunrise, right before the pink color leaves the sky.
    I like seeing pretty blue sky's with clouds and this picture has both (I must admit I did enhance the blue on this picture since it was kinda washed out).


    The Red River flows from the northwest corner of Louisiana to a southeast direction until it merges into the Mississippi.  This picture is taken from about 1,000 feet up in the air, and was looking in the direction that the water is flowing, (to the southeast).  You can see the river in the bottom left hand corner, meander back and forth a couple of times until it fades out in the right hand center side. You get a sense of how large the river's floodplain actually is.
  Above the left hand side you can see an oxbow lake, that formed when the river straighten its course to make the water flow faster during a flood.  You can see the sediments accumulating on the one bank, and get the sense of erosion where it cuts into its bank.  There is a small island that has formed in center part, and you can see a chute.

The Red River as seen from 1000 ft up in a balloon

    In our area the Red River is a vital part to our economy.  On the Red we have the port which helps bring in products, via riverboat transportation. Because of the oxbow lakes and the river itself, we have plenty of fresh water in our area which makes it a desirable place for people to settle and for industries to be able to manufacture stuff.   It is also a source of entertainment with bass tournaments and recreational boating.  Finally the casino's were able to locate in our area because of the Red too.  

  Finally the other reason I like it so much is because I had always wanted to go on a balloon ride and this picture was taken while I did that, thus it is from a time when I have very happy memories. - It is a feel good picture to me. 

   I use this picture now for my screen saver picture on the computer.  Every time I open my computer I see this.  I often study it as I wait for things to open up.  It amazes me all the things I can detect in it, and keep on discovering new things in it.