Any readers have any idea what this strange rock is? It’s got wild patterns! These samples were in the garden of a local rockhound in Lerwick; I have zero idea what the mineralogy is; I was just stunned by the “scale-like” pattern of gray and pink. I’d be eager to hear your ideas what this … Read more
Over the past few weeks, there’s been a fun game playing out on Twitter, hosted by Jorge (@lithospheric), called The Fault Cup, or #FaultCup in Twitterspeak. There’s a bracket showing one-on-one match ups between different faults, and then a 24 hour Twitter poll is posted, where the audience can vote for which one they want … Read more
Which of you can you tell me what this green book is all about (three volumes)? I’ll follow up in 1 hour with a post about the place where I took this photo.
Fancy taking a guess? Answers tomorrow…
Lens cap for scale. Correctly tell me what’s going on here, and you get A Big Prize!
Yesterday I showed you two scenes, depicted in two photos each, that I saw on the beach at Machir Bay, Islay, last week. I suggested that it might be fun to compare and contrast them. Scene #1 was this: Scene #2 was this: Scene #1 is a place where aeolian (wind) currents were at work. … Read more
Here are two scenes, depicted in two photos each, that I saw on the beach at Machir Bay, Islay, last week. Compare and contrast them. Scene #1: Scene #2: What stories do these pebbles tell? Answers tomorrow…
There’s a formational contact in this photo, and for many years, I misplaced it completely. Let’s see how well you do: can you spot it? Submit your answers by downloading the photo (right click; ‘save as’), drawing on the contact, saving your annotated copy, and then posting your version in the comments. Need more data? … Read more
I have a mystery for you today: These are samples of Tonoloway Formation carbonate (not sure if it’s limestone or dolostone in retrospect), with bedding more or less horizontal in these images, and a few petite stylolites running orthogonal to that. The top sample has a gentle fold 2/5ths of the way across. All of … Read more
Yesterday, I posted a panorama and asked you what you saw. Responses offered as comments on the blog were modest, but there was more activity on Twitter: Here are those responses: @theAGU @callanbentley I see some really cool layering of rocks. I wish I knew more about geology. — Justin Shinohara (@JustinShinohara) August 11, 2015 … Read more
Click to enlarge Noodle on that for a minute. I’ll post my answer later. No hints for now. Just examine what you see in the outcrop.
Esteemed readership, I’ve got a mystery for you. What are these white lines, inclined consistently at a high angle to bedding? I picked up this sample below the “Wall of Death,” on the trail from Wapta Lake below Mount Wapta, en route to the Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale. The “zebra-striped” rock is of … Read more
What can you tell me about this new fold sample I recently acquired? Width of sample is 12.5 cm. The face you’re looking at was cut but not polished. Here’s a close up: With layering annotated, to highlight the disharmonic nature of these folds: Anyone have any guesses what’s going on here? ——————– UPDATE —————— … Read more
Callan hosts the 357th installment of the popular satellite imagery / geologic search game “Where on (Google) Earth?”
Take a crack at it. I’ll discuss it in full tomorrow later. The blue thing is the handle of a dry-erase marker, to give you a sense of scale.
Callan presents a mystery rock found in blocks of sedimentary rock on a talus slope near the Consolation Lakes in Banff National Park, Alberta. Are they orange oncolites? Or alien embryos? 🙂
Lily and I went out to look at houses last weekend, and I couldn’t help but take some photos of cool rocks I saw along the route. See if you can identify / name / interpret all four: And here’s a bonus: Can anyone tell me what kind of bird built this diminutive nest?
Searching for Peter Luffi’s latest Where On Google Earth? challenge, I found myself touring Iceland last week. While I didn’t find the strange comet-shaped feature he posted, I did find this: And zooming in a bit, to the high-contrast area in the center: This appears to be volcanic ash layers distorted by glacial flow and … Read more
Here’s a mystery rock that’s just aching to have its identity be crowdsourced: I got these photos from Rick Diecchio of George Mason Univerisity, who got them from a local fellow who dug it up in his yard in Dale City, Virginia. Rick says: I was stumped at first, but the more I look at … Read more
Yesterday, I showed you this picture and asked what you saw there: Today I’ll give you my impressions. This is an outcrop of sandstone of the Table Mountain Supergroup, seen on the beach in the idyllic village of Rooiels, on the eastern side of False Bay, north of Cape Hangklip, in South Africa.The field of … Read more