Gravel and sand
Another image from Turkey… Tell me, fluvial folks and sedimentary soothsayers, what do you see here? Here’s a bigger version, if that helps.
Callan Bentley
Focusing on S-C fabrics
An animated image showing changing focus on a microscope camera aimed at a sample of S-C fabric is shared. Readers are encouraged to brainstorm uses for animated GIF images in the geosciences.
Housekeeping note
Hey there, If you’re a geoblogger or in charge of a geology website, please consider updating your blogrolls. There’s been a lot of turnover in URLs this year, and I notice that a lot of the “Mountain Beltway” links are out of date. Thanks, C
Gerede segment of the North Anatolian Fault
The author recounts a field trip in October along the section of Turkey’s North Anatolian Fault that last ruptured in 1944. The rock types on either side of the fault are compared, offset markers are illustrated, and several types of landforms particular to strike-slip faults are shown. The post concludes with an examination of the town of Gerede itself, which is built directly atop the fault.
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
I just finished reading a book that I should have read fifteen years ago, when I first saw it in the library: Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Over the past couple of years, I’ve taken to listening to the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast, thanks to a … Read more
Reduction rims?
Another look at Konnarock Formation diamictite, showing colorful reaction “halos” around some clasts.
Friday fold: gneiss one!
One other thing that I noticed during my visit last weekend to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia, was this fold. As soon as I saw it, I squealed “Oooh! That’s going to be the Friday fold!” It says something about the crowd I was traveling with that everyone (a) knew what … Read more
Outcropedia edits
Outcropedia launched yesterday, and I think it has the potential to be a cool resource for geologists and amateur geology aficionados. I’m particularly excited about the strong structural flavor of the featured outcrops so far. (The site was initiated by three structural geologists.) However, there are some issues that will need to be resolved. Ron … Read more
How to make a Grand Canyon in seven easy steps
This series of cartoon images ended up on the board yesterday in Historical Geology lab… E = erosion D = deposition Yes, oversimplified: I didn’t include the newest thinking about the subtleties involved in putting together the Brahma and Vishnu Schists and Zoroaster Granite, and I didn’t include mention of faulting (either ancient or more … Read more
Suspicious email
Geobloggers, Anyone else ever get notes like this in their email? Hello, I was reading http://mountainbeltway.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/rocks-of-glacier-national-park/ and had a comment from the piece. The image of the Belt rocks of the Altyn and Appekunny formations was really helpful in understanding how the cliffs are formed. This piece had a lot of really interesting and indepth … Read more
The Konnarock Formation
A detailed description of one of the Virginia Blue Ridge’s most intriguing geologic formations: a maroon sedimentary sequence showing the advance of “Snowball Earth” glaciers in the Neoproterozoic.
Scenes from the Virginia Museum of Natural History
The author describes a quick visit to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia, on his way back to DC from Thanksgiving travel. Highlights: a dinosaur, a giant stromatolite, encrusting crinoids (they do that?) and a giant ground sloth.
Tavşanlı Zone field trip, part 7
Part 6 of the Tavşanlı Zone field trip had us looking at some blueschists and eclogites. Today we conclude the terrific field trip with a brief look at a couple more stops.
Friday fold: the Scottish coast
Whilst searching the coastline of the U.K. for Where On Google Earth? #226, I found these lovely folds exposed in wave-cut platforms on the east coast of Scotland. I missed the actual location of the Google Earth screenshot (It was in Wales, and Anne Jefferson found it), but I’m happy enough to have found some sweet folds exposed in map view.
How many structures I saw here
Yesterday, I asked for you to evaluate this rock sample of the Belt supergroup and tell me how many structures (both primary and tectonic) that you could identify in it. Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion. Here’s my annotated copy of that photo for comparison:
How many structures can you see here?
Last summer, in Bonner, Montana on my Rockies field course, I took the students to see some nice exposures of Belt Supergroup strata on the side of the road. We were keeping our eyes peeled for both primary structures (i.e., patterns in the sediment that formed at the time of their deposition) and secondary, or … Read more
Is this an angular unconformity on Mars?
Jason Buchheim, one of the people I met last week in Pittsburgh, just posted a Gigapan of images stitched together from the Mars Observer MER HiRise. Part of it jumped out at me as being similar to the map pattern we see on Earth where an angular unconformity outcrops: Here, I’ve highlighted the pattern which … Read more
Friday fold: Belcher Islands, Canada
The Friday fold this week is the sinuous shape of the Belcher Islands, Canada.
Fall at NOVA Annandale
Just to share the autumn color wonder that the east coast can be… here’s a shot of our “lake” on campus from the week before last.
Extended tomb
This summer, strolling atop the massive travertine terraces of Pamukkale, Turkey, I checked out the necropolis (graveyard) of Hierapolis, an ancient city founded around 200 BCE and abandoned after an earthquake in 1534. One thing that caught my eye there was this tomb, built of travertine blocks.