This is a fun book to have. We like to take it with us when we drive around to different state parks and through Texas. It is very easy to read and use, I only wish I could remember more of it! ( )

57. Roadside Geology of Texas by Darwin Spearing
published: 1991
format: 391-page paperback
acquired: 1999 ?
read: Nov 22 – Dec 3
time reading: 11 hr 17 min, 1.8 min/page
rating: 4

A little bit of driving lately got me through a lot of this book. From our Houston suburban home, a year ago we made it to Big Bend National Park. Then, in the covid world we found an isolated house near Fredericksburg, TX, in the Texas Hill Country, and did some driving around the ancient rocks exposed around Llano, TX. Then recently snuck off to Canyon, TX to hike Palo Duro Canyon state park. Suddenly I have read a lot, and learned a lot. What I imaged as a state of (Cretaceous) flat limestone running off into Tertiary hills and coastal flats has a chunk of the Paleozoic Ouachita fold belt (one-time mountain range) poking out in Marathon, where it intersects the younger Rocky Mountains trend that brings up Precambrian rocks outside El Paso. And all this is surrounded by massive basin and range volcanics centered on Fort David, Tx - the Davis Mountains. And that doesn't cover the Pennsylvanian and Permian plains and the step up to the Llano Estacado - preserved by the little river call the Pecos - the edge generating cliffs and one of the largest canyons in North America - Palo Duro Canyon. And there's that little hill southeast of Austin that was once explosive volcanic dome and island, or the Permian reef eroded almost back to it's original shape in the Guadalupe Mountings. If you can't follow all this, then maybe this is a good book for you. There is more to Texas than Hill Country and dinosaur footprints.

While I don't know anything about Darwin Spearing, I thought he did a nice job covering all this. He captures the big picture and local gems, and manages the balance of giving enough visuals and info to have a lot offer without getting bogged down into too much detail. Fun stuff, much of it I found surprising. It works best to read entire chapters instead of just individual highway sections.

2020
https://www.librarything.com/topic/322920#7335978 ( )