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21 January 2024
Swan song
A few reflections on the AGU Blogosphere’s long, strong run, and a vision for Callan’s future online outreach.
1 December 2023
Friday fold: a Massanutten cross-section from a century ago
The Friday fold digs deep into the historical archives for a near-century old illustration of the geology of the Massanutten mountain system in Virginia’s Valley & Ridge geologic province.
9 November 2023
Glacial geology of Discovery Park, Seattle
A field trip to examine the glacial geology of Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington, leads Callan to contemplate the nature of expertise — and especially his steep learning curve on an oceanographic cruise.
7 November 2023
Near-empty seas, near-empty air
Callan is currently at sea aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson, crossing the North Pacific Ocean from Seattle to Honolulu. In this post, he explores a fascinating aspect of life on the high seas: there is shockingly little life! Explore the scant copepods and albatrosses and reflect on life in the oligotrophic open ocean.
3 November 2023
Friday fold: Neoproterozoic rhyolite (of the Konnarock Formation?)
The Friday fold returns!
Today we join the Virginia Geological Field Conference to look at primary volcanic flow banding in a Neoproterozoic rhyolite, and consider what it might have to tell us about the ancient Snowball Earth glaciations.
28 July 2023
Friday fold/fauxld duet from Glacier National Park
When is an apparent anticline not an fold? Find out on this week’s edition of the Friday Fold…
7 June 2023
Seeing spots thanks to Canadian wildfires
The eastern United States is being choked by thick wafts of Canadian wildfire smoke, and that has resulted in a rare opportunity to observe detailed features on the surface of the Sun.
The unconformity gets its portrait taken
Callan recounts a little lesson in taking a photograph of an outcrop that expresses itself more readily to the novice eye.
7 December 2022
The coastal section at Esterillos Oeste, Costa Rica
Callan documents a geological stroll along the coast of Esterillos Oeste, in central southern Costa Rica, investigating the sequence of sediment in the Punta Judas Formation (Mid-Miocene) exposed there. Fossils, sedimentary structure, diagenetic features, structural deformation, and modern weathering all make prominent appearances.
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.