Like too many of us, I've seen too many unique sites desecrated over the years. A tectonic slide exposed on the west coast of Ireland springs to mind..
Its pretty clear when someone has crossed a line and caused permanent damage - but experience tells me that once the damage begins, it is continued by others. If the authorities stiffen their regulations on outcrop behaviour, that would effectively impose a code of conduct, with consequences for non-compliance - and theoretically, keep everyone honest. But there might be an opportunity here to strengthen our own community's moral fibre - by nominating a few key individuals to draft and establish through consensus, a code of conduct guideline that our community will recognise, teach and adhere to?
..and back to Bartlett: I was leading the fieldtrip in Utah mentioned by Bruce at start of this discussion; and the person who reported this to BLM when we got back to Moab. We happened across it on 29th. Such a classic outcrop, and to find it butchered this way exasperated all 20 of us. The leader of another trip running in the same area was staying in the same hotel. He said his group had found the damage previous day 28th and had a very similar reaction to it.
Not sure if this has bearing on the situation (for those tracking it), but one of our sedimentologists on the trip pointed out that the sampling is along a 'Stokes surface' between dune sets formed by a contemporary near surface water table (he mentioned that such surfaces are a focus of attention for aeolian sedimentologists). We found two fresh 'sample' pits, surrounded by rubble and dust along this surface, though we did not walk it out very far, so I don't know if there are more pits further along it.. Log distance(?) marks in pen nearby. See photos attached. If this was indeed a structural study, it could be that the samples were intended to compare deformed versus undeformed rock from the same/similar host rock?
Steve Jolley
Regional Lead - Structural Geology
Shell Upstream Americas
Shell Canada Energy, 400-4th Ave S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2H5, Canada
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