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27 January 2014
Monday Geology Picture: An Early Map of Arabia
Back in September 2013 I visited Dubai for one day during a layover when I was flying from Alaska back to South Africa. I was fortunate enough to be able to sleep on the flight from New York to Dubai, so when I arrived in Dubai I took a quick shower at the hotel then headed out to explore for a few hours. I spent some time at the Dubai …
4 November 2013
Monday Geology Picture: Rock of Raouché, Beirut, Lebanon
This week’s Monday Geology Picture features the Rock of Raouché (aka Pigeon’s Rock) in the Raouché area of Beirut, Lebanon. The rock features some lovely sedimentary bedding and, when viewed from another angle, a beautiful arch. This week’s picture is courtesy of Diana Abouali, who was one of my Arabic professors at Dartmouth College. Thanks very much for sharing this lovely picture, Diana!
24 June 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): Views from the World’s Tallest Building, Dubai
I’m continuing this week with sharing pictures from my January 2012 trip to visit my friend Karima in the United Arab Emirates. I mostly stayed with Karima and her family in Abu Dhabi, but one day we took a drive over to Dubai. While there, we visited the impressive Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. Here on Georneys I often like to post Plane Views or …
17 June 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): Gold Vending Machine, Dubai
This week I’m continuing with sharing some pictures from my January 2012 trip to visit my friend Karima in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. One day we drove over to Dubai for some sightseeing. We drove around, did some shopping, and visited the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. When we were at the Burj Khalifa, I noticed a strange vending machine: one that sells gold! Specifically, the vending machine …
10 June 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): A Geologist’s Dream Bathroom, Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi
This week I’m continuing with sharing some pictures from my January 2012 trip to visit my friend Karima in Abu Dhabi. During our fancy lunch at the Emirates Palace Hotel, we went to the women’s bathroom, which I immediately referred to as “a geologist’s dream bathroom” because of all of the beautiful decorative stones. Geologists, what types of stones would you put in your dream bathroom?
3 June 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): Golden Dessert at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi
For this week’s “Monday Geology Picture” post, I’m continuing with sharing some pictures from my trip to the United Arab Emirates in January 2012. I’ve already shared some pictures of kayaking in Abu Dhabi and of the stunning decorative stones of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. One day while I was in Abu Dhabi, my friend Karima and I went to the impressive and opulent Emirates Palace Hotel. According to …
29 May 2013
Decorative Stones of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi – Part II
After putting up my recent blog post Decorative Stones of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – Part I, I decided to write to the mosque to inquire about the lithologies and origins of the various decorative stones. I promptly received this reply from Michelle Sabti, the Chief Tour Guide for the mosque: Greetings to you Evelyn from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center! Thank you for your email, we are …
28 May 2013
Decorative Stones of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi – Part I
UPDATE: See Part II for some more information on the decorative stones used in the mosque. After sharing my mangrove kayaking pictures for this week’s “Monday Geology Picture” post, I thought I would share some more pictures from my January 2012 trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The day after kayaking, my friend Karima and I visited the stunningly beautiful and elaborate Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This impressive mosque …
27 May 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): Kayaking Amongst the Mangroves in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Over the next few weeks, I thought I would share some pictures from my trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates back in January 2012. I spend a few days in Abu Dhabi after attending a geology conference in the Sultanate of Oman. I went to Abu Dhabi to visit Karima, a good friend of mine from college, and her family. I had a wonderful trip. It was great catching …
7 February 2012
More Crabs in the Sand at Barr Al-Hikman, Sultanate of Oman
My post yesterday about the crab houses in the sand at Barr Al-Hikman turned out to be quite popular, so I thought I’d share some more pictures of crabs and crab houses and other crab life traces which I observed at Barr Al-Hikman. In addition to the Ocypode saratan “ghost” crab (thanks for the identification help, Tony Martin!), I observed at least two other species of crab at Barr Al-Hikman. …
6 February 2012
Monday Geology Picture: Crab Houses in the Sand at Barr Al-Hikman, Sultanate of Oman
Last month I participated in a three-day geology field trip to Barr Al-Hikman, a peninsula in Oman. On the peninsula there are numerous beautiful beaches and interesting geological features such as sabkhas and paleolagoons. We visited the peninsula to look at some recent carbonate deposits and also to investigate some modern beach features, such as the coral reefs located just off shore and the traces left on the beach by …
25 January 2012
Accretionary Wedge #42: Countertop Geology
Ian Saginor of the blog Volcanoclast is hosting this month’s accretionary wedge, and this month’s theme is countertop geology! Here’s the call for posts: Have you seen a great countertop out there? Sure, everyone says it’s “granite”, but you know better. Take a picture, post it on your own blog or send it to me and I’ll post it for you. Do you think you know what it is or …
18 January 2012
Mantle Peridotite in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman
Over the past couple of weeks, I posted pictures of pillow basalts and sheeted dikes in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman. To round out the crustal ophiolite sequence, I thought I would post a couple of pictures of mantle peridotite in the Samail Ophiolite. As you can see in the below pictures, mantle peridotite in the Samail Ophiolite is generally highly-weathered and a dullish brown color. Harzburgite tends to be a …
17 January 2012
Sheeted Dikes in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman
Last week I posted a picture of pillow basalts in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman. I recently visited Oman for a geology conference, and I was fortunate enough to see pillow basalts and many other wonderful geological sights in the Oman mountains and beyond. When I posted the picture of pillow basalts, geoblogger Ron Schott asked if I also had some pictures of sheeted dikes with chill margins. Good news, Ron. …
16 January 2012
Monday Geology Picture: A Gneiss Staircase in Abu Dhabi
I am currently spending the long weekend in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I’m visiting some good friends after spending about ten days in Oman to attend the International Conference on the Geology of the Arabian Plate and the Oman Mountains. Yesterday my friend Karima and I visited the luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel here in Abu Dhabi. We paid far too much money for a deliciously gaudy lunch, which included …
9 January 2012
Monday Geology Picture: Pillow Basalts in the Oman Ophiolite
I’m currently in Oman for a geology conference, so today’s geology picture is one I recently took here in the Samail Ophiolite. The picture shows some weathered and fractured pillow basalts with a pencil for scale. These are not the best-looking pillow basalts in the ophiolite. The freshest ones are found in the Geotimes sequence up in the northern part of the ophiolite whereas these weathered ones are the best …
15 December 2011
Thursday Geology Picture: Sandstone Statues in the Petra Siq
Geology picture-a-day week continues here at Georneys. Today’s geology picture comes from one of my favorite places on Earth: Petra, Jordan. Petra is an ancient Nabatean city nestled in a broad valley that is protected by steep sandstone terrain. Petra is accessed by the Siq, a narrow canyon through the sandstone. The geology of the Siq is impressive enough: the walls of the canyon reveal beautiful, red rose colored sandstone …
25 July 2011
Blast from the Past: Desert Chants
For those of you who are not familiar, in my “Blast from the Past” posts I share– for better or for worse– interesting tidbits from my past (pictures, childhood drawings, old school essays, etc.). Below is a Chapel Speech that I gave at Westover School (the wonderful all-girls’ boarding school I attended… yes, I went to fancy shmancy boarding school) back in April 2000 when I was sixteen years old. …
22 July 2011
The Village of Beer Jam, Oman
Back in undergrad I double majored in Earth Science and Arabic Language & Literature. I am far from fluent in Arabic, especially since I haven’t formally studied the language for the past 5 years. However, I crack open my old Arabic vocabulary and grammar textbooks when time permits, and I try to learn more Arabic during my field seasons in Oman. During my last Oman field season in January 2010, …
2 February 2011
Wadi Rum in Pictures
Lunch in the shade of a rock arch, Jordan, August 2007. The Middle East is near and dear to my heart. When I was fifteen, I lived with a Palestinian refugee family in Jordan for five months as an exchange student. The experience opened my eyes to the wider world and no doubt changed the course of my life. Ever since, I have been drawn to the Arabic language, the …
