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3 January 2018
An odd mystery rock from Shetland
Any readers have any idea what this strange rock is? It’s got wild patterns! These samples were in the garden of a local rockhound in Lerwick; I have zero idea what the mineralogy is; I was just stunned by the “scale-like” pattern of gray and pink. I’d be eager to hear your ideas what this might be. Thanks very much in advance!
22 December 2017
The #FaultCup semifinals
Over the past few weeks, there’s been a fun game playing out on Twitter, hosted by Jorge (@lithospheric), called The Fault Cup, or #FaultCup in Twitterspeak. There’s a bracket showing one-on-one match ups between different faults, and then a 24 hour Twitter poll is posted, where the audience can vote for which one they want to advance to the next round. Click through to embiggen. If you’ve missed the fast …
27 November 2017
Pre-post contest: What is this book?
Which of you can you tell me what this green book is all about (three volumes)? I’ll follow up in 1 hour with a post about the place where I took this photo.
6 November 2016
Contest: interpret this outcrop
Lens cap for scale. Correctly tell me what’s going on here, and you get A Big Prize!
28 July 2016
Currents of air and water, deposition and erosion
Yesterday I showed you two scenes, depicted in two photos each, that I saw on the beach at Machir Bay, Islay, last week. I suggested that it might be fun to compare and contrast them. Scene #1 was this: Scene #2 was this: Scene #1 is a place where aeolian (wind) currents were at work. They appear to have stripped away some of the sand protecting these pebbles, and then …
27 July 2016
Compare and contrast: pebbles on a beach
Here are two scenes, depicted in two photos each, that I saw on the beach at Machir Bay, Islay, last week. Compare and contrast them. Scene #1: Scene #2: What stories do these pebbles tell? Answers tomorrow…
6 October 2015
Can you spot the contact?
There’s a formational contact in this photo, and for many years, I misplaced it completely. Let’s see how well you do: can you spot it? Submit your answers by downloading the photo (right click; ‘save as’), drawing on the contact, saving your annotated copy, and then posting your version in the comments. Need more data? Try exploring this GigaPan of the site: Answers tomorrow.
29 August 2015
Mystery structure: please help identify / interpret
I have a mystery for you today: These are samples of Tonoloway Formation carbonate (not sure if it’s limestone or dolostone in retrospect), with bedding more or less horizontal in these images, and a few petite stylolites running orthogonal to that. The top sample has a gentle fold 2/5ths of the way across. All of the samples are from the same site in West Virginia, along Corridor H. I’m wondering …
12 August 2015
Guesses, hints, and annotations
Yesterday, I posted a panorama and asked you what you saw. Responses offered as comments on the blog were modest, but there was more activity on Twitter: Here are those responses: @theAGU @callanbentley I see some really cool layering of rocks. I wish I knew more about geology. — Justin Shinohara (@JustinShinohara) August 11, 2015 @theAGU @callanbentley @AGU_Eos An angular unconfornity. — Mr. Cesaire (@sedrock79) August 11, 2015 @callanbentley Maybe …