Globeville Landscapes

GlobeVille is located just west of the South Platte River and sits in a 100 year flood plane. If there were to be a major flood today it would be disasterous to the whole community. Massive amounts of water, mud, and debris from all of the dead trees would be carried into the housing community and damage could be unmeasurable.

Right now however, the river is very low and full of debris that has been carried from the west. Fed by the rocky mountains the water in the river has come a long way to reach GlobeVille. The Platte and the Cherry creek are both classified as straight rivers. Made by man the rivers have been attempted to be contained by walls as it runs straight through the city, into GlobeVille, and north to Thornton.

Above: River walls created by humans contain the river and allow neighborhoods to develop  with out worry of  braided streams from light flooding. All though this is not fool proof, it has built confidence in the city of Denver to develop a neighborhood right around the river.

Landscape architects have also created little dams in the river to slow down the flow, making excellent obstacles for Kayaking. These rock features also catch debris from the rivers load and there is a heavy bedload of smaller round rocks at the bottom of these chutes.

Above: Just southwest of GlobeVille, confluence park is a playground for kayakers that want to practice their sport in a controlled environment. The river on viewers left is the Cherry Creek which runs through the City of denver contained by concrete walls. Both streams feed the South Platte River. As you can see where the two rivers meet, a load is deposited creating a sand bar.

Why the trash flies in Globeville

GlobeVille is a rather safe place when it comes to tropical and subtropical storms. This is because we are in a landlocked state thousands of miles away from any ocean and far from the equator. Denver is also protected from tornados and heavy windstorms by the Rocky Mountains. This winter I noticed that I had the most morning ice on my car ever. This is a result of the dew point reaching 100 percent, causing condensation on my windows and other surfaces. With freezing temperatures the water drops on my vehicle freeze forming frost.

above: Frost on a car's windshied can be annoying. Caused by water in the air condensating then freezing on the surface of the windshield.

Although we are in a "WindShield" from air masses that move down the Rocky Mountains and skip over us we still experience extreme weather like Blizzards caused by gulf moisture building up and dumping after passing the mountains on its route from west to east.

Above: A blizzard in Thornton, just north of GlobeVille. Freezing temperatures, Moisture, and colliding masses of warm and cold air masses cause this phenomena so common to us in the Winter Months.


Picture sources: Ice Scraper

Video : Link
                          

Tearing down GlobeVille

       Globeville Landing park is up on a hill and slopes down into the South Platte River. The River comes from the west and flows north east at the GlobeVille Park. As you can see from the picture below, there are buildings on either side of the river and it is rather low compared to the rest of the land. This is evidence of a low water table that is fed from the river. The buildings are build on relatively safe land when it comes to soil.

Above: View of the Platte River from downstream at the city of Denver. GlobeVille is a very industrial neighborhood. Those buildings are steel warehouses, with oil, steel, and dogfood nearby.  You can also see in this picture the way that the river has shaped the land over years and depending on its fullness the landscape looks different.

       To the west are The Rocky Mountains. On my drive snowboarding last week I noticed lots of evidence for mass wasting and weathering. From connecting fallen rocks to their source, to streams, to avalanches, it was an interesting drive.

Above: A very small avalanche slide on I-70. This steep grade caused by the cutting of the road made an un stable slope
for the snow to sit on and one day it slid out. Gravity can cause events like this, mudslides, rockfalls, and floods. 

        Globeville has a dry climate but with the river next door there is evidence on the sidewalk of salt weathering where it has changed colors. Oxidization on the bridges shows itself in rust and some of the round rocks near buy have a hard weather rind. 

Above: Rocks like this can be found near GlobeVille Landing Park. Notice the small holes  on the rock caused by salt weathering. Also the discoloration is evidence of the rock's weather rind also known as the weather ring. 

Forming the land of Globeville's close by neighbors.

       Globeville itself isn't a very interesting zone when it comes to plates and volcanos, but not too far way we can see evidence of action.

To the northwest of Globeville, a short ten hour drive according to google maps, is the Yellowstone national Park. Click on THIS LINK to see an outline of the sunk in ground caused by an ancient super volcano. When it erupted hundreds of thousands of years ago the ground underneath was weakened by lava chambers and molten rock. The top of the volcano collapsed on itself creating a gigantic Caldera, a dip in the ground sometimes confused for a crater. Craters are cause by the explosion of a volcano, not collapse. In the Caldera there are basalt rhyolite deposits at the surface. We call these deposits Plutons. Exposed by erosion, we can now see these former chambers of molten rock. One might also find a Rhyolite dome in the Yellowstone Caldera where viscous magma is again building up inside.

Above: The rim of the Yellowstone Caldera. Rocky mountains in the background.

      To the direct west of Globeville are the Rocky Mountains. Near them are some beautiful normal faults. We can see triangular facets where the earth "snapped" and rose up creating fault scarps.

Above: Triangular Facets near Highway 8 in Nevada.

Photo references:
Triangular Facets Pic.
Caldera Rim Pic
Caldera Map

Introduction

      My name is Alex Anderson and I chose to center my geography blog around the GlobeVille landing park in north Denver, Co. The park is set on a hill which slopes down to the south platte river. The rolling hills in the park make it a great place for disc golf. The river has many sandbars with debris that has built up over time. I Chose this park because I ride my bike through it each day on my way to school and work via the Platte River Trail. I am excited to learn why the park is shaped the way it is and to be able to explain to people why the river looks so barren in this segment. GlobeVille is a very industrial neighborhood and I find this park interesting as it is a little out of place.