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