Category Archives: rocks & minerals

New at Erratics: the mysterious iron ore of Bell Island, Conception Bay, Newfoundland

We’re pleased to welcome our latest contributer to Earth Science Erratics: Tim Sherry, a graduate student at McGill University. His first entry (cross-posted from Tim’s newly created geoblog, Up-Section), gives an account of a memorable stop on a recent field … Continue reading

Categories: links, outcrops, rocks & minerals

Scenic Saturday: Waterfalls need the right rocks as well as water

Earlier this year, I spent a pleasant day hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One of the places I visited was Grotto Falls; not the world’s tallest waterfall, but rather handsome all the same. Being an unabashed geonerd, … Continue reading

Categories: geomorphology, outcrops, photos, rocks & minerals

New at Erratics: Chalk is weird

The theme for the upcoming Accretionary Wedge is ‘weird geology’. In his contribution, Simon Wellings takes a look at what might superficially appear to be an unlikely subject: the chalk that forms the rolling hills of southern England: No texture, … Continue reading

Categories: links, rocks & minerals

New at Erratics: more adventures in copper mineralisation

Nina Fitzgerald, our latest Earth Science Erratics contributor, continues and concludes her run of guest posts with two more articles on copper mineralisation. In the first, she explains the role of hydrothermal sulphide mineralisation in forming copper ore: Still wondering … Continue reading

Categories: links, rocks & minerals

New at Erratics: from lahar to suevite

In his second post at Earth Science Erratics Simon Wellings reveals a rather interesting deskcrop, collected from Scotland in his youth: Since it was picked up, this rock has changed identities: what was once thought to be a mud flow … Continue reading

Categories: planets, Proterozoic, rocks & minerals