What/How Many Types of Rock Have You Climbed On?

Here's a thread for the geo-geeks on mountainproject. Today (lazy rest day) I thought about listing and counting the number of rock types I've climbed on, and also what types of rock I haven't gotten a chance to yet.

So what types of rock (and how many) have you climbed on? What types are you still missing out on?

For consistency, lets say that the different types of granitic rocks count separately (granite and quartz monzonite count separately), but that different formations of sed. rocks don't count separately (Wingate and Cutler, despite their differences, still both count as sandstone).

Here's my list, in no particular order. I have climbed on:

Granite
Sandstone
Limestone
Dolomite
Schist
Gneiss
Quartz Monzonite
Quartzite
Tuff/Welded Tuff/Rhyolite
Diabase (A rare one to get a full pitch of; on the Black Dike in Squamish)
Diorite and Granodiorite (I'll count these together since it is such a gradational boundary)
Anorthosite (Dacks!)
Cobble Conglomerate

That adds up to a lucky 13.

I've also had to scramble on, but fortunately have not roped up on, various forms for choss including mudstone, shale, gypsum, bentonite and other clays, etc.

Rock types that I have not climbed on but would like to:

Basalt
Whatever the weird volcanic rock that makes up Devil's Tower is
The weird iron-rock at hueco
Slate
Marble
Pure gold

Jon,

Devils Tower is Columnar Basalt. And somehow on your list you skipped Gritstone? I should say to add it....it's fantastic!

Jon Moen wrote: Anorthosite (Dacks!)

Interesting how you had to clarify with the Daks, as opposed to the Moon?

Jon-
Hueco is Syenite Porphry. It's awesome. Don't forget Argillite Shale, for all the Ralph Stover kids out there. Diabase is also found in the outstanding East Coast bouldering at Cradlerock (RIP), Haycock Mtn, Governor's Stable and a dozen other obscure venues in that same belt. I don't know about not differentiating between sandstones though... Just because you've climbed on Nuttall doesn't mean you know enough to be on Navajo or Cutler or Cedar Mesa. Just sayin'. Good list, though.

susan peplow wrote:Jon, Devils Tower is Columnar Basalt. And somehow on your list you skipped Gritstone? I should say to add it....it's fantastic!

It's something different; I think some sort of phonolite. A different composition than basalt, and probably a more viscous magma to create that sort of plug. Not everything columnar is basalt.

Oh, and you're right- gritstone. A major omission to what I haven't been on.

Anyone else care to count their rock types?

I'm going for the simplified answer....
metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous for me. Covers about all I've been on.

Our local crag, Bishop Peak, is dacite. Haven't seen that rock listed yet!

Granite, sandstone, limestone, phonolite porphyry, gabbro, anorthosite (northern Minnesota), rhyolite, gneiss, columnar basalt, conglomerate. And whatever the Tetons are made of.

The hard type mostly.

flynn wrote:Granite, sandstone, limestone, phonolite porphyry, gabbro, anorthosite (northern Minnesota), rhyolite, gneiss, columnar basalt, conglomerate. And whatever the Tetons are made of.

Tetons are mostly a really old gneiss , with some chunks of granite mixed in (like on guide's wall), and a few diabase dikes.

Which areas have the oldest rock?

basalt - crawdad canyon
sandstone - joe's valley, st.george
limestone - af canyon
cobblestone - maple canyon
quartz monzonite - little cottonwood
quartzite - big cottonwood
welded tuff - smith rock

Granite
Gneiss
Limestone
Dolomite
Welded Tuft
Quartzite
Quarts Monzonite
Sandstone
Basalt
Conglomerate
does different types of sandstone and limestone count?

JJNS wrote:Which areas have the oldest rock?

The anorthosite in the 'dacks is about 1 billion years old.

I have climbed on almost every type of rock, but not shale or gritstone. One of these days I am gonna have to get on some grit!

I feel lucky. Within a 3 hours we have technical rock climbing on:

Several types of sandstone, from choss to bomber
several types of granite, from course to smooth
dacite
gneiss
limestone, including tufas
rhyolite
basalt
Other sedimentary (basically petrified mud with cobblestones)
buildering
andesite
volcanic tuff
And probably something else I'm forgetting.

Jon Moen wrote:For consistency, lets say that the different types of granitic rocks count separately (granite and quartz monzonite count separately), but that different formations of sed. rocks don't count separately (Wingate and Cutler, despite their differences, still both count as sandstone).

You have obviously not climbed on many types of sandstone. Fisher Towers, Castle Valley, Mill Creek, ldorado Canyon, New River Gorge, Red River Gorge... all have sandstone and none of them resemble each other... at all.

Every climbing area is different. The limestone in Spain is different that the limestone in Thailand, the quartzite at Moore's Wall, NC is different that the quartzite in BCC, Utah, and the granite at Looking Glass is different that the granite at the Needles. If I wanted to list all the types of stone I've climbed on I'd have to list every area that I've been to.

I've climbed on Roxbury Puddingstone, which is, arguably, the the most fun you can have saying the name of " rock you've climbed on".

Since I really like Sandstone, I'm going to subdivide it.

Sandstones:
Wingate (Indian Creek)
Chinle (chossy starts to the Creek, and the first pitch of Primrose Dihedrals)
Navajo (Red Rocks)
White Rim
Dakota (Durango area)
Entrada (Arches)
Kayenta
Corbin (RRG)
Nuttal (NRG)
Savannah (Arkansas)
Whatever the stuff in Mill Creek, Moab, is. Some hard substrata of Chinle?

Others:
Limestone (Tensleep, Wild Iris, CenTex, Mexico, Logan Canyon)
Granite (Sierras, S.Platte, Little Cottonwood, Looking Glass)
Quartz Monzonite (City of Rocks, Jtree, Enchanted Rock, TX)
Basalt (both columnar, as in Smith's lower gorge or Massacre Rocks, ID, and the more pocketed stuff around Flagstaff, AZ)
Welded Tuff (Smith Rock, Enchanted Tower?)
Conglomerate Cobble (Maple)
Quartzite (Big Cottonwood, Gunks)
Schist (Central Park, NYC)

Still on the to-do list:
English Gritstone
Euro Limestone
Rumney Schist

JJNS wrote:Which areas have the oldest rock?

Have climbed in the depths of the Grand Canyon on the Vishnu Schist and granites that are supposed to be near 4 billion yrs old.