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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Mitchell in Wheeler County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)
 

Pieces of the Puzzle

 
 
Pieces of the Puzzle Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, September 9, 2010
1. Pieces of the Puzzle Marker
Inscription. The ground before you is like a puzzle. A long streak of color breaks off, then seems to continue in the next hill, but at a different level. To connect the pieces, look for similar color, thickness, and sequence in a series of layers.

Ash and pumice from the ancestral Cascades and local volcanoes buried this area layer by layer. The colorful layers before you were deposited 33 million years ago. Soil formation processes affected each layer differently. Clays were formed and deeply buried, turning to stone. Underground forces lifted and faulted the strata, interrupting the symmetry.

The red in the Painted Hills is from rusty iron minerals, oxidized by long exposure. The golden layers reveal a mix of oxidized magnesium and iron, metamorphic claystone minerals. Black hash marks are rich with manganese. Each of the colors represents a different geologic process.

This valley is a gently contoured theater of geologic change, with erosion from rain the latest sculptor.
 
Erected by National Park Service.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.
 
Location. 44° 38.991′ N, 120° 16′ W. Marker is near Mitchell, Oregon, in Wheeler County. Marker can
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be reached from Bear Creek Road, 1.2 miles west of Bridge Creek - Burnt Ranch Road. Marker is located in the Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument at the end of the road to the Painted Hills Overlook parking lot and trailhead; the above directions are to the intersection of Bear Creek Road and the Painted Hills Overlook road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mitchell OR 97750, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Deciphering the Forest (here, next to this marker); Painted Hills Overlook (here, next to this marker); A Matter of Survival (here, next to this marker); Painted by the Past (here, next to this marker); Who was John Day? (here, next to this marker); Fossils on the Frontier (approx. 0.8 miles away); Look Below the Surface (approx. 0.8 miles away); H.H. Wheeler (approx. 10.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mitchell.
 
Painted Hills image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, September 9, 2010
2. Painted Hills
View from marker
View from Painted Hills Overlook Trail image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, September 9, 2010
3. View from Painted Hills Overlook Trail
The black hash marks are rich in manganese
View from Painted Hills Overlook Trail image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, September 9, 2010
4. View from Painted Hills Overlook Trail
The red layer is from iron minerals oxidized by long exposure
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 20, 2020. It was originally submitted on February 12, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 608 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 12, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.

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Mar. 28, 2024