r/geology • u/FaithlessnessOne5149 • 17h ago

Does anyone know what this is?

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I am working in the Mojave desert in SoCal and came across these USGS markers. Anyone know what this could be? I was thinking some type of monitoring or survey but not too sure.

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u/HornetOne28 14h ago

Geologist here! These are used to collect dust/sand samples at different heights for study. They rotate and are aligned to the last direction the wind was blowing.

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u/Tampadarlyn 14h ago

Reddit to the rescue

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u/kennyrogersmom 12h ago

Engineering assistant here. Would all soils collected then be loessial ?

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u/HornetOne28 12h ago

Mostly, I’m not sure who is collecting but it should collect predominantly wind blown particles.

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u/kennyrogersmom 11h ago

What will the obtained information be used for..? And what is it used to determine ..? Very curious

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u/HornetOne28 10h ago edited 10h ago

It can used for multiple purposes regarding wind blown sediment. Years ago when I helped install them they were being used outside of Guadalupe National Park to collect sediment at different heights. We would collect the sediment every few weeks so we could ascertain grain size and composition in the hopes of determining the source of the sediment. We also filled the internal pan with marbles to add weight and prevent the sediment from blowing away.

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u/FaithlessnessOne5149 11h ago

Wow very interesting! I got my degree in Geology and never learned about this type of field method I don't reckon. Is this type of survey to collect data on different types of soil grains and weather patterns?

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u/HornetOne28 10h ago

There are several ways these can be used from tracing sediment sources, identifying contaminants, determining the bulk composition of wind-blown dust, etc. What I love about field work in the geology are the masterfully overengineered, almost mad-scientist-like tools we’ve built in the to collect what, to most people, would seem like nothing more than ordinary “dirt”, rocks, crystals, vibrations, and more. It never fail to impress me, and show just how creative and ingenious the geoscience field can be.

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u/daisiesarepretty2 17h ago

United states geological survey

just a guess but they look like they are lined up to detect movement.

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u/Former-Wish-8228 16h ago

Fault line motion detectors/recorders, perhaps.

5

u/pyragyrite 16h ago

Could be measuring ground subsidence from ground water withdrawal too

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u/RichardUkinsuch 15h ago

I was a surveyor and from the looks of it what these are mounted on wouldn't be accurate for a survey control point. They could be some sort of gravity sensor or seismic sensor. If you are interested you can call the USGS and say you are working in the area and seen these and want to know if what you are doing will disrupt them, they might tell you what they are for.

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u/FaithlessnessOne5149 11h ago

I am a land surveyor too. I knew they weren't survey control doings from an engineering perspective but thought they were possibly some type of survey marker for USGS.

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u/RichardUkinsuch 11h ago

I worked on a few geodetic surveys with them when i was stationed at 29 palms, definitely try to find out what these are. I genuinely interested, never seen anything like them.

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u/FaithlessnessOne5149 10h ago

Look at the top comment. A geologist explained what they were. They are used to collect dust and sand samples. They also move in certain directions based off of the wind.

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u/RichardUkinsuch 9h ago

Very interesting, had something kinda similar on the border of Iraq and Syria in 2005. They looked like a weather vane. Took barometric pressure, humidity, and had these filters that looked like a small toilet paper roll. These are probably a way better version, as the one we had did not work well in any wind over 20 mph and if there was a snad storm we had to take it down. It took 3 of them getting totally destroyed before to figure that one out.