THE SHORELINES of Lake Ouachita show the complex structures of the geological formations of the Ouachita Mountains. This area has been studied intensively by geologists, and also in a more relaxed manner by sightseers from boats taking the Geo Float trip. The photos here are from Project GO (Geology Orientation), a summer field camp of outstanding students, as they toured the lake.

Geologist Charlie Stone explains some of the contacts and bedding features that are found at the different bouy markers along the Geo Float.

Left, folds in the Mazarn unit. Right, the contact of the Mazarn and the Blakely formations.

Left, Whirlpool rock, where a whirlpool churned in the current of the Ouachita river before it was dammed to form Lake Ouachita; right, our geologist guide points out the beauty of the structure, and to quote, he says, "Any dern fool can see the bedding".

Left, graded beds near the submarine slide; right, folds showing how plastic the rock was.

Zebra rock. White quartz veins in the rock show up dramatically. Although crystals can be found on the shoreline of the lake, digging, or destruction of property, will result in a citation from the ranger.

Checkerboard Point. The cracks in the sandstone formed much in the same way as if you bent metal near its breaking point. When this area was being pushed up into mountains, the harder rock layers were fractured. While these hard sandstone layers were cracking under compression, the other softer layers nearby flowed with the pressure and eventually folded.

Looking for fossil graptolites, and some examples of what they found.

Collecting Amber      Buffalo River Geo float      Lake Ouachita Geo float      Gypsum Mine

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