Types of rock

Anybody have any favorite geology books or references describing rock formation, types, etc?

I don't own very many, but is this sort of information usually included in guidebooks (and maybe more importantly for this forum, what to watch out for while climbing various types)?

Thought this might be a fun thread for y'all - let's see how many types of rock we can name, how it formed and why it's fun to climb/bad to climb...?

I've gone the way of the internet on information but my favorite book for this area is The Conservancy Guide to the N. GA Mountains. It tells you how many of the Cumberland Plateau spots were formed.

It is included in some guidebooks. I know the RRG one talks about the corbit sandstone and Watts Smith Rock guide talks about xenoliths and the tufha.

As far as types -> Porphyritic(sp?) granite. Fun to climb because it's solid. Bad to climb when it's polished.

There are too many to name, going from very simplistic to in depth crystalline and chemical constituent analysis. I would suggest taking a begining geology class at any local college, your mind will be opened and then you may follow your path of interest.

Scott Mossman - Geophysicist

For me, a geologically illiterate commoner, the "roadside Geology" series was always interesting. They are published by state and give geological descriptions for the terrain along major roads through the state. They seemed well written and were interesting.

If you are climbing in land owned by the NPS (National Park, Reserve, historic site, etc.), they have detailed Geologic maps for many of these areas available for free online.

I used to work as a cartographer for the Geologic Resources Division of the National Park Service and it was my job to make these maps.

Using these detailed maps (digital data also available), you can easily determine the specifics of the rock formation you are climbing on.

I stopped working for them over a year ago, so I can't remember the link off the top of my head. PM me if you are interested.

My favorite Geology book is a book written by Don Mellor, the previous author of the Rocking Climbing in the Adirondack's. It is called "American Rock", and it does a great job of documenting a great range of climbing areas from the Gunks to Yosemite to Cochise Stronghold. The one thing that makes this book stand apart from others, is that it relates the climbing ethic, the history of the area and the general personality of the locals to the type of rock(s) in the region. A great read!

Chris Duca wrote:My favorite Geology book is a book written by Don Mellor, the previous author of the Rocking Climbing in the Adirondack's. It is called "American Rock", and it does a great job of documenting a great range of climbing areas from the Gunks to Yosemite to Cochise Stronghold. The one thing that makes this book stand apart from others, is that it relates the climbing ethic, the history of the area and the general personality of the locals to the type of rock(s) in the region. A great read!

SPlatte is the wildest.

The most thought provoking is Fremont Canyon, how can the rock be so climber-oriented after soooo long.

Then the Wood, how does is it all stay together and climb so well??? for as popular as you get with the Gods, the Wood is head and shoulders above.

I have the geologic map for the state of Colorado.
I've used it to identify where depositions and orogenys appear at the surface. By using the geologic map in conjunction with the contour intervals of a USGS topo map, I've actually been able to predict exposures of climbable rock.
For example; I have located Castlewood Conglomerate Sandstone on the geo map and then I've looked for tightly clustered contour intervals on the topos and in the places where they correlate I've actually found cliffs similar to Castlewood Canyon.
I've done the same with the granite exposures from the Pikes Peak Orogeny/Batholith.
Pretty cool really.