Mark P Betts
Post Oak Savannah
I live in the Post Oak Savannah of East Central Texas. It divides the East Texas Piney Woods from the Blackland Prairie further west.
The land undulates over the hills left by periods of erosion and the lowest spot nearby is the brick red Brazos River ten miles to the west.
The late Eocene Manning Formation is exposed here. The Manning Formation is mostly fine grained deposits with most soils dominated by clay. The clay is altered from the large volcanic ash beds that blew in from West Texas and Mexico about 34.5 million of years ago. The ash landed on the coastal plain with swamps and meandering rivers. Some of the rivers left sandy point bars that were later cemented into sandstones by all of the silica released from the weathering ash.
This sets the stage for my special place that is only a block and a half from where I live. It used to be a nice 1/3 mile hike through the Post Oaks but a road was recently cut through the trees and is only 40 yards away behind my back.
We had just been doused with 4.5 inches of rain from a late May early June storm.
I know this is not an impressive waterfall but it is my special waterfall. The upper ledge is the cemented sandstone from a point bar and the soft material below it is the clays and silts from the weathered ash and coastal plain.
The creek has become flashier now that homes are being built upstream in its drainage. The rainwater runs off more quickly from the roofs, driveways, and streets. As a result, if you visited it today, you would see only a thin trickle dripping off the ledge into a shrunken pool.
The falls were still flowing raucously when I took this a day after the storm.
S0A8508
Post Oak Savannah
I live in the Post Oak Savannah of East Central Texas. It divides the East Texas Piney Woods from the Blackland Prairie further west.
The land undulates over the hills left by periods of erosion and the lowest spot nearby is the brick red Brazos River ten miles to the west.
The late Eocene Manning Formation is exposed here. The Manning Formation is mostly fine grained deposits with most soils dominated by clay. The clay is altered from the large volcanic ash beds that blew in from West Texas and Mexico about 34.5 million of years ago. The ash landed on the coastal plain with swamps and meandering rivers. Some of the rivers left sandy point bars that were later cemented into sandstones by all of the silica released from the weathering ash.
This sets the stage for my special place that is only a block and a half from where I live. It used to be a nice 1/3 mile hike through the Post Oaks but a road was recently cut through the trees and is only 40 yards away behind my back.
We had just been doused with 4.5 inches of rain from a late May early June storm.
I know this is not an impressive waterfall but it is my special waterfall. The upper ledge is the cemented sandstone from a point bar and the soft material below it is the clays and silts from the weathered ash and coastal plain.
The creek has become flashier now that homes are being built upstream in its drainage. The rainwater runs off more quickly from the roofs, driveways, and streets. As a result, if you visited it today, you would see only a thin trickle dripping off the ledge into a shrunken pool.
The falls were still flowing raucously when I took this a day after the storm.
S0A8508