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13 January 2014
Samples from Austin: Stretched pebble conglomerate
While at the University of Texas at Austin, where the Jackson School of Geosciences was hosting the Summit on the Future of Geoscience Education this past weekend, my friend and colleague Pete Berquist snapped this image of a stretched pebble conglomerate in the structure teaching lab: Some nice examples of pressure solution evidence in there – fused pebbles; strong clasts impinging on their weaker neighbors’ boundaries… Thanks for sharing, Pete!
10 January 2014
Friday fold: Kinked playa limestones
Another guest submission for the Friday fold. This one comes to us from Christie Rowe, and it shows a tiny kink fold in the Bitter Ridge formation (playa limestones):
7 January 2014
Ice in the ‘hood
Some ice seen this morning, the coldest we’ve yet experienced at our home in the Fort Valley… 4° F when we got up this morning, with windchill around -15° F. Frost nucleated on a “petal” from a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera): Frost on grass (note the different habit of the ice crystals here): Frost on some netting: Frost on some plant stems near a little creek on our land: Ice …
6 January 2014
Stop conflating weather and climate
Please. Please. Please. Please stop conflating weather and climate. It is cold today, yes, and that’s a big deal. But it doesn’t influence any scientific conclusion about climate change, one way or the other. Today’s cold temperatures are a weather event. It’s distinctive, but short-lived. Climate is a long-term trend: many years of weather events. It’s not something you can point to on a single day, and say “ha!” Climate …
3 January 2014
Friday fold: Disharmonic folding in Irish metamorphics
My former student Aaron Barth sent me a few photos of disharmonic folding in metamorphic rocks in Ireland for a guest Friday fold…. Awesome! Thanks Aaron!
1 January 2014
2013 Yard List
Here’s our birding yard list (species seen in/from our yard) for the past year. You can compare it with 2012’s list here. Canada geese Goldfinch Tufted titmouse Dark-eyed junco Mourning dove Black-capped chickadee White-breasted nuthatch Downy woodpecker Hairy woodpecker Blue jay Brown creeper American crow Red-bellied woodpecker Pileated woodpecker Red-shouldered hawk Carolina wren Turkey vulture Eastern phoebe Turkey Purple finch Red-tailed hawk Northern flicker Barred owl American robin Eastern bluebird …
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.