You are browsing the archive for December 2010 - Page 3 of 4 - Mountain Beltway.
10 December 2010
Friday fold: sketchy syncline
For the structural geology fans among AGU’s readership, enjoy the weekly installment of the Friday fold.
9 December 2010
Animated laminae
More of the new scientific medium* I showed you on Wednesday: animated GIFs of super-small stuff, to give a sense of depth. This time, I included a 1 mm scale bar: These are laminations of silt and clay in the rhythmites of the lower Konnarock Formation. If the above image moves too fast for your eye to keep up with, here’s another version of it, which is set to a …
Gravel and sand
Another image from Turkey… Tell me, fluvial folks and sedimentary soothsayers, what do you see here? Here’s a bigger version, if that helps.
8 December 2010
Focusing on S-C fabrics
An animated image showing changing focus on a microscope camera aimed at a sample of S-C fabric is shared. Readers are encouraged to brainstorm uses for animated GIF images in the geosciences.
6 December 2010
Housekeeping note
Hey there, If you’re a geoblogger or in charge of a geology website, please consider updating your blogrolls. There’s been a lot of turnover in URLs this year, and I notice that a lot of the “Mountain Beltway” links are out of date. Thanks, C
Gerede segment of the North Anatolian Fault
The author recounts a field trip in October along the section of Turkey’s North Anatolian Fault that last ruptured in 1944. The rock types on either side of the fault are compared, offset markers are illustrated, and several types of landforms particular to strike-slip faults are shown. The post concludes with an examination of the town of Gerede itself, which is built directly atop the fault.
5 December 2010
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
I just finished reading a book that I should have read fifteen years ago, when I first saw it in the library: Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Over the past couple of years, I’ve taken to listening to the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast, thanks to a recommendation from Bryan on a post I wrote about podcasts back on the first incarnation …
4 December 2010
Reduction rims?
Another look at Konnarock Formation diamictite, showing colorful reaction “halos” around some clasts.
3 December 2010
Friday fold: gneiss one!
One other thing that I noticed during my visit last weekend to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia, was this fold. As soon as I saw it, I squealed “Oooh! That’s going to be the Friday fold!” It says something about the crowd I was traveling with that everyone (a) knew what I was talking about and (b) knew before I did that I would photograph this …
Outcropedia edits
Outcropedia launched yesterday, and I think it has the potential to be a cool resource for geologists and amateur geology aficionados. I’m particularly excited about the strong structural flavor of the featured outcrops so far. (The site was initiated by three structural geologists.) However, there are some issues that will need to be resolved. Ron Schott pointed out one — misplacing outcrops. There’s also a functional issue of having to …
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.