Friday fold: A cold one
The Friday fold is glimpsed from Google Earth. Atop a valley glacier in south-central Alaska’s Kenai mountain range, a fold of “transverse moraine” displays parasitic folds.
The Friday fold is glimpsed from Google Earth. Atop a valley glacier in south-central Alaska’s Kenai mountain range, a fold of “transverse moraine” displays parasitic folds.
Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill to attend a briefing arranged by the American Meteorological Society on the topic of geoengineering as a response to climate change. The two speakers, Ken Caldeira and David Keith, argued that the U.S. should invest heavily in geoengineering research, so we can … Read more
A week ago Saturday, my three Honors students and I went on a field trip led by Gary Fleeger of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, to examine some cool glacial features in western Pennsylvania. The trip was associated with the joint meeting of the northeastern & north-central sections of the Geological Society of America, held in … Read more
I was sent a review copy of a new book about the Earth’s magnetism, and I finished reading it last week. It’s called North Pole, South Pole: The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism, and the author is Gillian Turner, a senior lecturer in physics and geophysics at Victoria University in … Read more
A new resource for the Japanese earthquake is online this morning, a “supersite” similar to the ones that exist for other huge events. Checking it out this morning, I found some interesting stuff. Over night, there have been more aftershocks, and here’s the most recent 600 or so events in the area, taken from IRIS’s … Read more
I’m not usually the “report on current events” type of geoblogger, but someone needs to throw a few details up ASAP for those who are interested in the details of the big Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami that is currently crossing the Pacific Ocean. First off: links to other geoblogs already reporting on the event: … Read more
Callan assesses the quality of the information design displayed in a graphic accompanying a recent article in Science. See if you agree with his critique! Being conscious of our graphic design is important for good science to be unencumbered by gimmicks, propaganda, and layout that obscures meaning.
Lamprophyre dikes on the Billy Goat Trail (Potomac, Maryland): are they offset because of a fault? Or not? Inquiring minds want to know!
Callan joins some students from George Mason University on a field trip to the rock exposures at Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia, where meta-sedimentary rocks are exposed in the eastern Blue Ridge province.
Callan begins a new series on the geology of Mount Washington, New Hampshire with a look at a roadside outcrop of metamorphic rock bearing enigmatic inclusions. Tourmaline-bearing pegmatites are also spotted.
Here’s your Friday fold, straight from the canyon of the Jefferson River, near Cardwell, Montana. Perspective is to the south. East is on the left; west is on the right. Bigger version This is right next to the outcrops of LaHood Conglomerate that I mentioned earlier this week. My Rockies course co-instructor Pete Berquist and … Read more
The Friday fold takes us to some high-grade metamorphic rocks in the Piedmont of northern Virginia.
Callan shares some more images from last summer’s trip to Capadoccia, Turkey. Eroded turrets of ignimbrite served as dwellings for Byzantine-era Christians, who decorated them with distinctive art.
The 30th edition of the “Accretionary Wedge” blog carnival is hosted at Mountain Beltway. A delectable array of foods, mainly dessert, are displayed. The treats demonstrate a wide array of geologic processes. Eat, drink, and be geologic!
The Friday fold is a series of strata underwater near California’s famed “Mavericks” surf break.
Callan showcases his contribution to this month’s Accretionary Wedge blog carnival. The theme of the Wedge is “Bake Sale,” and Callan shows a cake he “discovered,” describing its geologic origin in detail. This would be tongue in cheek, except that his mouth is already full of dessert.
This week’s edition of the “Friday fold” takes us to Route 55 in West Virginia, to deformed Appalachian strata of the Valley and Ridge province. A few bonus structures are also shown — some ripple marks, slickensides, and pencil cleavage.
Norwegian structural geologist Haaken Fossen contributes two incredible images for this week’s Friday fold: a pavement of drastically-shortened banded iron formation from Minnesota, and a trio of three white granitoid dikes, buckled within a gneiss from the Jotun Nappe, in the Norwegian Caledonides. Gorgeous images of gorgeous folds, with links to the rest of Fossen’s collection.
A diagram on “how science works” betrays an “experimentalist” bias. This sets Callan off on a rumination on the much-maligned validity of historical science, and that leads to a discussion of the Big Experiment, which is humanity’s influence on the Earth system.
A mystery rock is presented. Can you puzzle out what this beautiful thing is, and how it formed?