Myanmar 7.7 Earthquake update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE8wF_A5IyA

#Geology #Earthquake #Myanmar

Excuse me, you *did* order your rocks neatly folded, right?

#rocks #geology #hiking

Desert sentinels.

#Desert #Geology #Wildflowers #BloomScrolling #Flowers #Landscape #Photography #Darktable

#goodnews #science #geology #Australia

Oldest-Known Asteroid Crater is Discovered in the Outback–Made More Than 3 Billion Years Ago

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/oldest-known-asteroid-crater-is-discovered-in-the-outback-made-more-than-3-billion-years-ago/

Could spooky floating lights in South Carolina be earthquake farts? Our @ScienceDesk shared this story from Science News about Earth’s gassy problem.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earthquake-lights-spooky-south-carolina

#Science #Geology #EarthSciences #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

What is the Moon made of? And how did it get here?

Researchers from our Uni & @mpsgoettingen analysed samples from the Moon. Their results suggest that the Moon could in fact be a chunk ejected from the Earth’s mantel following a massive collision: https://s.gwdg.de/woj1iB

Research #PNAS: https://doi.org/n22f
#Geochemistry #Isotopes #Geology #Geosciences

https://www.europesays.com/1776824/ Alarm Raised Over Iceland’s Second-Largest Volcano: Disruption Possible #AirTravel #earthquakes #geology #iceland #island #NaturalDisasters #VolcanicEruption #VOLCANICERUPTIONS #volcano

#Karstmas day 7

Sorry for the delay folks, today was quite busy with a callout with the K9 SAR team. Happy ending!

So this prompted me to write a bit about safety in caving today, in particular with vertical caves (pits). This is quite the famous pit in Alabama, it's on like every top 5 list to visit (best views, best hikes, best waterfalls, best cave...every clickbait list this cave is on). What is unique about it, is that there is a horizontal walk-in entrance as well, where you can get to this view. This is both good...and bad.

When I started caving many moons ago, this cave was privately owned. So only cavers knew about it, and got permission by directly asking to go. Now, it is owned by a cave conservancy, and is much more open to visitation, just requiring a permit which is free and easy to fill out online. This is good - it lets lots of people enjoy this amazing view you think you'd have to travel far away to see. This is also bad - despite having to check off many things when you get the permit, no one *actually reads*, and as a result...well.

See that nice round rock middle bottom? We all call that "The Pedestal". You can climb the rock down to it, the slippery wet rock over a 40+ foot drop. You aren't supposed to free-climb here, but *everyone* does for their Instagram photo.

I'll make this simple: Never be closer than 6 feet (2 meters) from an edge without being tied in to a safety line. If the edge is sloped to the drop-off, that edge starts at the *top of the slope* where if you fell, you could keep rolling. Great rule of thumb for any edge, whether cliff or cave.

In this case, once you are on the Pedestal, you're okay on a section of it. But if you are climbing the rock up to the right, or wanting to go further down, you need to be tied in. People also like to stand at the pit entrance and lean over to look - there's a small tree on the steep slope they hold onto to do so. Yikes!

Guess who has personally been on the team, not once, but TWICE, that has bagged & pulled bodies out of this pit? Yeah. Coroners do not rappel into caves, cave rescue takes the body bag in, documents & photographs, and pull it back out. So, be safe please, around edges. Don't turn yourself into chunky jelly.

It's not worth the photo.

Now this place has a bunch of signs, but, people do stupid shit they aren't supposed to anyway. So I don't go anymore. Not because of the bodies - I have medical background and am not phased doing that stuff - but because I don't want to *watch* people be stupid. It gives me too much anxiety, and ruins my day. Shame, as it really is gorgeous and it used to be an annual summer trip.

So. Be smart. Be safe. Pick living to see more wonderful things over a single moment's photo.

#cave #caves #caving #safety #rescue #recovery #geology #karst #cliff #climbing

#Karstmas day 22

I love cave pearls, they are one of my favourite formations. So when we found a bunch in a new cave we discovered, dug open, explored, and surveyed, I was quite excited!

Similar in a way to the pearls you may think of, they form often around a bit of sand or a teeny tiny rock, when the water hits it and precipitates out some calcite. They develop extremely slowly, and are a relatively rare formation due to the precise situations they require in order to form.

#cave #caves #caving #karst #geology #pearl #water #SilentSunday #photography #nature

Me: "I like going to mineral shows."

Person A: "I know! I use crystals for healing too!"

Person B: "Actually I don't believe in crystal healing."

Me: "... actually I like geology."

Persons A and B: *blank stare*

😅

#minerals #crystals #geology

Esther Richards Applin was the first person to propose that geological stratigraphy could be read using the fossilized remains of protozoa called Foraminiferida. Naturally, being a woman, she was derided before her insight gave rise to a whole new field in geology, and credit was later shifted from her and her female colleagues to a group of men.

#ScienceHistory #HistoryOfGeology #WomenInSTEM #science #geology

https://paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2021/09/10/forgotten-women-of-paleontology-esther-richards-applin/

This post blatantly stolen from the "History of Geology" account on mstdn.social, who responds with irrational anger to requests for accessibility and descriptive text.

Dead Sea ‘white smokers’ provide early sinkhole warning, say scientists https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/27/dead-sea-white-smokers-provide-early-sinkhole-warning-say-scientists #MiddleEastandnorthAfrica #Environment #Worldnews #WestBank #Geology #Science #Israel #Jordan

#history #geology #biology

From @LiveScience: Emerging evidence suggests that plate tectonics may have begun much earlier than previously thought — and may be a big reason that our planet harbors life. Some scientists are now arguing that plate tectonics emerged very soon after Earth's formation — perhaps predating life itself. Read more: https://flip.it/9nLsjW
#Science #Earth #Geology #Life #Aliens

The trail of color leading up to the #MinCup24 Grand Final...

#BlueMinerals #PinkMinerals #MineralsArrangedByColor #Minerals #Geology

Today in #MinCup24 Corundum gets the storytelling vote. I have recently done a whole two-hour program on just folktales and legends about corundum (sapphires and rubies).

You can find many of the stories on my blog:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/p/gemstone-folklore.html

#storytelling #geology #folklore #folktales

It’s Mineral Cup time! See below for the bracket. Who will be crowned king of the crystals this year? *You* might think this is low stakes, but if so you clearly haven’t met many geologists…

#geology #minerals #MinCup24

From: @MineralCup
https://mastodon.social/@MineralCup/113060694670741201

So, it's September, and it's time for the Mineral Cup! My favorite time on Mastodon 🥰

Incidentally, it's also the weeked of the Budapest Mineral Show. Where people can vote for Mineral of the Year 2025 and Fossil of the Year 2025 😊 3 candidates each. The geologists at the booth are lobbying hard for their favorites. I was won over by the opal lobby. And got a button!

(Also pictured is a pink opal bracelet. Because pebbles!)

#MinCup24 #minerals #geology #shiny #jewelry #image

How is it this late into August already?!

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR #MINCUP2024!!!

Suggest minerals for this year's competition before we put the bracket together: www.mineralcup.org/nominations

#science #geology #scicomm

#MinCup23 Calcite vs opal. Got to be calcite: an amazing mineral, which can crystallize directly from magmas, from almost every kind of fluid, and in living plants and animals.

And amazingly useful as a geochemical and isotopic tracer of processes and time.

And best of all, an almost unparalleled complexity in crystal forms. In Goldschmidt's Atlas der Krystallformen, plates 3 to155 *just cover calcite* - this is just one of them🤩 🤯 🥰
#Geology #Mineralogy #Calcite

I know many people are upset ice didn't make it into #MinCup23. Well, why not vote #TeamQuartz? The oldest name for quartz is the Greek word κρύσταλλος (kristallos) which was first used 300-325 BCE. Kristallos means cold - it was believed that crystals were a type of ice that couldn't melt because it was made by the gods ❄❄❄

Vote for quartz here! https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#geology #mineral #minerals @MineralCup 3/?

Honestly I don't even have strong allegiances for #MinCup23. I am just looking forward to geologists and mineral enthusiasts telling me cool stuff to convince me about the votes 😄 I love seeing people geek out about things.

#minerals #geology #CoolStuff

So the Mineral of the Year 2024 and Fossil of the Year 2024 vote in Hungary has started. It is one of my favorite things 😄 The campaign tends to get heated between geologists and crystal enthusiasts...

Contenders for MotY:

Zircon
Feldspar
Corundum

Contenders for FotY:

Aptychus
Quercus kubinyii
Woolly mammoth

I know which ones I'm voting for. Curious what you all think 😊

#fossils #minerals #geology #paleontology #vote #rocks

Dry streambed ripples, western #NorthDakota #geology