Minneopa Falls (and gigapan?)

Minneopa State Park - Minnesota DNR

Last summer, I was able to acquire a GigaPan EPIC 100.  My primary goal was/is to take as many gigapixel panoramas featuring the geology of the state of Minnesota and other places as possible.  The long-term goal is to use these images in my Earth Science classroom, giving students opportunities to visit places virtually that they have not visited physically.

After learning the system and getting a total of four completed gigapans, Minnesota's winter set in, meaning individuals tend to be more housebound than normal.  There are numerous travel plans around the region this spring, summer and fall, the GigaPan EPIC will be in tow.

A week ago, my kids and I visited Minneopa State Park the day after a 5+ inch snowfall looking for a morning outside and even a little practice imaging as well.  The temperature was between 20-25 degrees and the trails were covered in the fresh snow.  We were heading to the highlight of the park, Minneopa Falls.

Lower Minneopa Falls

Minneopa Creek flows over the Cambrian-aged Jordan Sandstone, because of differential cementation within areas of the sandstone, two waterfalls are formed.  The upper falls consist of a six or seven foot drop before the creek continues to flow another seventy feet to the lower falls.  The creek falls 39 feet at the lower falls.  Minneopa Creek flows into the Minnesota river nearby.  The falls were formed as Glacial River Warren catastrophically discharged from Glacial Lake Agassiz approximately 9,700 years before present.  A knickpoint was formed and the waterfall has migrated upstream approximately 0.75 miles since then.

GigaPan EPIC 100 

I was only planning on taking the one gigapan, so I brought two sets of batteries for the day (thinking that this would be more than enough).  The first two times the panorama was setup and pictures were being taken, I noticed that the camera was missing about every other picture.  Turns out that the button pusher was not pushing far enough down -- I had not correctly aligned it while wearing the heavy gloves.  Finally, on the third try everything was working well and the system was ready to take 218 images.  Two-thirds of the way through, the batteries were dying (good thing I brought the extra pair) so they were replaced, it was then that I noticed the focus was off.  I now have a gigapan that consists of most of the image off focus, but the far right side looking completely fantastic.  I did not upload it to the gigapan website.

My three kids and Minneopa Falls

Turns out my focus was off a little, I was trying to get the image and keep track of my three kids (ages 6, 4, and 2).  Simple mistakes were made, but at least I was able to get some still pictures and the waterfall will still be there for a later time.

Minnesota Geology Monday - Dry Waterfalls

At the beginning of August, 1,584 counties in 32 states had been declared disaster areas due to the ongoing drought affecting the United States.  Southern Minnesota has recently received enough rain to move to from the status of 'Drought - Severe' to 'Drought - Moderate' or even 'Abnormally Dry'.  The dry summer months has caused numerous problems, least of which is the drying of the regions waterfalls.

Minnemishinona Falls and the nearby Minneopa Falls are dry, or nearly so.  Both falls occur as water falls over the late Cambrian-aged Jordan Sandstone.  Differential cementation in the sandstone forms the falls, better cemented areas form the top of the falls while while weaker cementation areas are easily eroded at the bottom of the falls.

The picture below shows Minnemishona Falls on June 2, 2012.  Not a high flow rate, but still flowing.

The picture taken on August 4, 2012 shows the falls dry after two months of very little rain.  It is apparently not unusual for this particular waterfall to go dry during late summer months due to the creek's small watershed.

Minneopa Falls is a regional tourist attraction for the beauty of the falls.  The picture below was also taken on June 2, 2012.

Two months later and there is hardly a trickle of water flowing over the falls.

Minnesota Geology Monday - Minneopa Falls

Minneopa Falls is a highlight of the Minneopa State Park run by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/minneopa/index.html).

Minneopa is a Dakota word meaning 'water falling twice' representing the two falls within the state park.  Minneopa State Park is a short drive from Mankato (for a little bit of United States history, Mankato is the site of the largest mass execution in the U.S., but that's for another story).
The falls formed when Minneopa creek flows over the Cambrian-aged Jordan Sandstone.  Because of differential cementation of the sandstone, areas with more cement form the top level of the double waterfall.

The upper falls is small, falling six or seven feet.  Once over these first falls, Minneopa creek flows approximately seventy feet before reaching the lower falls.

At the lower falls, the creek falls 40 feet.  This particular waterfall on the creek is the second highest waterfall in southern Minnesota.  The highest waterfall in the region is only slightly higher and is also found nearby.

Minneopa Falls was formed when Glacial Lake Agassiz discharged catastrophically via Glacial River Warren.  Glacial River Warren carved a large valley (250 feet deep and up to 5 miles wide in places) that created various knickpoints that caused rivers or creeks to adjust their gradients to reach this new baselevel.  Glacial River Warren created this new knickpoint at Minneopa Creek approximately 9,700 years before present and during that time, the falls have migrated upstream almost 0.75 miles.

Beneath the lower falls, if the waterlevel in the creek is low enough, you are able to walk quite near falls themselves and examine large sandstone blocks that have fallen from overhead.