You are browsing the archive for agu Archives - Mountain Beltway.
5 March 2020
The Future of Another Timeline, by Annalee Newitz
What if geologists studied more than just Earth processes and history, but also how to go back in time and manipulate that history? That’s the job of the “cultural geologist” who is the flawed protagonist of Annalee Newitz‘s novel The Future of Another Timeline. (I’ve previously read her book Autonomous, and enjoyed it. I see her as a leading thinker about futurism’s intersection with feminism.) In TFOATL, the main character, …
10 December 2019
‘Streetcar 2 Subduction’ is live!
This week marks the launch of a new digital revision of a field guide to the geology of San Francisco, “Streetcar 2 Subduction.” Learn more here!
27 September 2019
Friday folds: O’Shaughnessy Boulevard, Glen Canyon Park, San Francisco
The western edge of O’Shaughnessy Boulevard, near Glen Canyon Park in San Francisco shows beautiful examples of crumpled cherts. Here are a few dozen photos of these glorious outcrops, and instructions on how to visit.
13 September 2019
Friday fold: crinkled schist from Italy
AGU’s Chief Digital Officer Jay Brodsky offers up a fresh European fold for you today — and this one is on rather a smaller scale than Jay’s last Friday fold contribution… Click through for a bigger version. These are lovely crinkly folds in highly foliated rocks. I love boxy little crenulations like these. Jay tells me that this is from Graines, Italy, in one of the valleys of the Val …
29 March 2019
Friday fold: Plunging Purisima
AGU’s Centennial year is also the 35th anniversary of the publication of Clyde Wahrhaftig’s unique field guide to the geology of San Francisco. A team of geologists is updating “A Streetcar to Subduction” for a modern digital audience, and recently did some California field work to visit key sites. Check out one of them here with the Friday fold, as we visit a plunging syncline in the Purisima Formation on the coast near San Mateo.
7 December 2018
Welcome to D.C. for #AGU2018
A summary of resources to learn about the geology of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding region, in anticipation of AGU’s Fall Meeting being held in the nation’s capital city.
8 December 2016
Silent samples, holey samples
Two very different samples tell stories that are full of holes. What’s going on with this weathered sandstone? What’s going on with this fossil scallop shell?
28 December 2015
Corona Heights Fault, San Francisco
At the end of the AGU Fall meeting, Callan visits the Corona Heights “mirror” fault, renowned for its gorgeous slickensides. Explore the site in photos in GigaPans.
4 September 2015
Faults aren’t lines
A new post on GeoSpace, a sister blog here at the AGU Blogosphere, calls attention to a new study by Simon Lamb and colleagues on the plate-boundary fault running through New Zealand’s South Island, the Alpine Fault. The post is apparently taken and lightly adapted from a press release on the Victoria University of Wellington website, where it was authored by a “communications adviser.” I call your attention to it …
6 December 2011
AGU 2011, day 2
In the interest of conveying a sense of the sort of stuff that goes on a large science conference like the AGU Fall Meeting, I’ll resume my narrative where I left off with yesterday’s description. I began by swinging by the press room where I grabbed a complimentary breakfast, then headed down to the “early earth” session where I got a review on zircons of Hadean and Archean age. Then …
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.