Friday fold: Dalradian kinks, crenulations, and folded crenulations on Arran

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For the Friday fold, let’s travel to the northern edge of the Isle of Arran in southwestern Scotland, where near the town of Lochranza, you can find Dalradian metagraywackes that display a lovely suite of folds. There are kink bands, like this one: And this one: And these en echelon kink bands: And these: But … Read more

Novels by Ernest Cline

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In the past couple of months I listened to the audiobook versions of Ernest Cline’s two novels. They are of a common piece, and so I opt to review them in tandem. There is a feeling I have that I am increasingly at odds with the students I teach in terms of cultural references and … Read more

“Drumsticks” of Islay tillite

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One fun thing about examining the Port Askaig Tillite in the field is to find odd-shaped exemplars of the unit lying on Islay’s beaches. My favorites were shaped like wands, or antennae, or perhaps the drumsticks freshly detached from a Thanksgiving turkey… a big clast at one end and then a thin septum of the … Read more

Scenes from the Wildlife Camera

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Here’s a look at some of the wild critters that have been visiting my yard this year: [youtube=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh8muzLOE54″] The video’s organized in alphabetical order, so it starts with bears, and ends with a walking stick insect. See how many you can identify! Plus, here’s a compilation of 125 still photos of black bears from June … Read more

U-turn

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Scotland was glaciated during the Pleistocene “Ice Ages:” The signatures of glaciation are manifold in a scene like this. Most prominent and easily recognizable is the broad, relatively flat-bottomed U-shaped valley. Now check this one out: That’s a U-turn in a U-shaped valley: the valley is first gouged to the right, then turning around and … Read more