Hi Rob.

 

How are things in sunny Puerto Rico?  I’d be happy to send some of this cool weather your way in exchange for some sun.

 

A friend who participates in social tourism showed me pictures of last summer’s mission project, just east of Proteccion, Santa Barbara, near the Copan line (access road is near La Entrada).

One aldea sends its sewage (water-bucket-flush toilets) into a sinkhole.  The Geological Map of Honduras shows the whole area as Valle de Angeles but clearly there is a lot of Altima (big gray rocks, caves, I’d wager my tenure against promotion that these rocks would fizz in response to a drop of acid) as well as V de A (redbeds, one of his photos even shows what looks to be a basal conglomerate similar to exposures I’ve seen near Santa Barbara) and probably Padre Miguel on top of everything (some big rocks are very light in color).  Locals have plugged cave openings to keep kids from getting lost inside, they told my pal that someone from Nebraska was there looking at the caves last year but did not know why (archaeologists have found some Maya burial caves in this area, according to Honduran newspaper stories).  You can see some sinkhole patterns on topo maps.

 

I don’t know what kind of major scientific question your students would solve by mapping this area but there is certainly a lot more complexity than currently shown on the map. 

 

I’ve never been able to extract the geological map from your thesis to insert into a GIS – I’m still waiting for the technician from Geography & Planning to install ArcGIS on my desktop, they want to maintain a GIS monopoly on campus.

 

Since we’ve new geophysical instruments I’ve been very busy using them locally, haven’t given much thought to Honduras while planning research lately.  The student working up Comayagua gravity gravitated to another project before completing her MS thesis, we just read her the riot act and should have that article ready before spring.

 

Saludos –

 

Don Stierman