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Tunnel to Marin Headlands Closed
The tunnel on Bunker Road from Alexander Avenue in Sausalito towards the Marin Headlands is closed for construction. Please follow the detour signs to Conzelman Road (just above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge) to go up over the hill. More »
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Muir Beach (but not nearby Muir Woods) parking lot closed June-November 2013
Muir Beach parking lot will be closed from June-November 2013 due to construction. Restrooms or nearby parking will not be available at Muir Beach during this period. Pacific Way is closed except to residents. Check back for updates or call (415)561-3054 More »
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CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail
The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »
Diabase FAQ
Diabase hand specimen Where does diabase form? Diabase is an intrusive igneous rock with the same mineral composition as basalt. It cools under basaltic volcanoes, like those at mid-ocean ridges. Diabase cools moderately quickly when magma moves up into fractures and weak zones below a volcano. There, it forms dikes (tabular igneous rock bodies that cut across pre-existing rock layers or bodies) or sills (tabular igneous rock bodies that form parallel to pre-existing rock layers). The moderate cooling rate allows small visible crystals to form in the rock.
Why does the diabase have large and small crystals? Igneous rock with some large crystals among the smaller crystals is called a porphyry. The different crystal sizes are the result of different rates of cooling as the magma body moved upward. The large crystals, called phenocrysts, in diabase are feldspar crystals that grew as the magma cooled slowly deep in a magma chamber. Later the magma with the large phenocrysts moved upward quickly, causing more rapid cooling of the rest of the magma and the formation of the small crystals that make up the rest of the rock. 
Diabase exposure at Point Bonita
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Did You Know?
Geologists sometimes call Franciscan pillow basalt “greenstone” because it contains green minerals formed in an interaction between the basalt and hot, mineral-rich seawater.