Category Archives: geology

Geological maps: still interesting even when there’s only one rock type

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Chris Rowan

The USGS, in collaboration with NASA, have just released a geological map of Jupiter’s ultra-volcanically active moon Io, based on images from the Voyager and Galileo probes. It is a thing of beauty. The sheer variety of different geological units … Continue reading →

Categories: geology, planets, volcanoes

Wisdom from the Geoblogosphere School of Learning & Doing (Accretionary Wedge #38)

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

Welcome to the Geoblogosphere School of Learning & Doing. Let’s begin with a story by one of our students, Michael Klaas of Uncovered Earth. He writes… “On a warm evening in May of 2008 I sat upon a cinder cone … Continue reading →

Categories: academic life, geology, science education

Scenic Saturday: the remnants of volcanism past

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Chris Rowan

When you live in Edinburgh, you can’t ignore geology even if you were foolish enough to want to: the summit of Arthur’s Seat is visible from virtually every decent vantage point in the city. The guidebooks will tell you that … Continue reading →

Categories: geology, outcrops, photos, volcanoes

Stay broad! Why you should fight the intellectual narrows

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Chris Rowan

For this month’s Accretionary wedge, my co-blogger Anne is asking us to mark the beginning of a new teaching year by pondering the nature of education in the geoscience. As a post-doc, I may not be in the best position … Continue reading →

Categories: academic life, geology, ranting, science education

Scenic Saturday: Pinnacle in the Piedmont

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

The peak of Big Pinnacle at Pilot Mountain State Park rises more than 450 m above the surrounding North Carolina Piedmont. Big Pinnacle is just the most eye-catching of series of peaks, called the Sauratown Mountains, that are a tectonic … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geology, hydrology

The far-travelled ground

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Be honest: when Evelyn asked the geoblogosphere, ‘what’s your favourite geology word?’, you all knew which word I was going to pick, didn’t you? Allochthonous. Allochthonous, the word that no-one can spell. Allochthonous, the word no-one can pronounce, it seems, … Continue reading →

Categories: basics, geology, hydrology, tectonics

Not to scale

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Like all geologists, I’m a great fan of scale bars. Except, it seems, on some of my figures… Continue reading →

Categories: geology, public science, science education

New at Erratics: What’s up with Cu?

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Our goal in starting Earth Science Erratics was to promote and encourage new voices to take there first steps into the geoblogosphere. But we also want to make sure that people who have taken those first steps already, but have … Continue reading →

Categories: geology, links

The making of an angular unconformity: Hutton’s unconformity at Siccar Point

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Photos and video from a geo-pilgrimage: an in-depth look at Hutton’s Unconformity, and the geological history that it represents. Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, geology, outcrops, Palaeozoic, photos, structures

Geology is destiny: globally mapping permeability by rock type

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

The first maps of the global distribution of the ease of subsurface water flow have been produced, and they are based on maps of rock type. Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geology, hydrology, paper reviews