Category: EARTH SCIENCES
Tiny bubble theory of Lake Superior agate formation (Part 2): Results from other laboratories and inclusions in Lake Superior agates
Wayne Sukow (USA) In Part 1 of this article, I showed how agate begins to form. Starting with tiny bubbles on the surface of a cavity in basalt, a husk forms showing their imprints. These bubbles are implicated in the creation of amorphous silica aggregates. There is also a steady … Read More
Lake Superior agates and the fossils of the Carpathians
Today (14 December 2024), we start a four-part series on the geology and chemistry of Lake Superior agates, by Dr Wayne Sukow (USA), who these days is a retired physicist from the National Science Foundation in the USA. Wayner wrote these articles a while ago for us, and provided some … Read More
Book review: Lunar: A History of the Moon in Myths, Maps + Matter, by Matthew Shindell (consultant editor)
Last week, I published a book review of The Trilobite Collector’s Guide, by Andy Secher, in which I suggested that it was a great choice for a Christmas present for those who like geology. I think the same could be said for this (but it’s not all geology). Once again, it has a coffee table book feel, but once again, it is much, much more.
Book review: The Trilobite Collector’s Guide, by Andy Secher
It’s that time of year again, with Christmas hurrying upon us, that our thoughts turn to presents for that fossil-loving friend, relative, and certainly the reader him or herself. And what better than a sumptuously illustrated coffee table book, with forwards by some high class palaeontologists, namely, the good and the great Richard Fortey and NHM aficionado, Melanie Hopkins? Well, this is it – look no further.
They were thought to be long extinct
Deborah Painter (USA) It’s all about time, rocks and living things. When humans make attempts to record the distant past, there will be gaps in our knowledge. Historians and archaeologists have the luxury of the written word and of the preservation of culture in the form of fences and aqueducts, … Read More
An early specimen of ‘AMMONITES Walcotii’ and Sowerby’s ‘Mineral Conchology’
Ru D A Smith (Malaysia) A fascinating aspect of palaeontology is the history of early descriptions and the process of assigning and revising the scientific names of fossils. A recently discovered nineteenth century ammonite specimen discussed here provides a vivid illustration of the sometimes tortuous process and can be connected … Read More
Băile Herculane: Field notes of a geologist in Romania
Marta Pino Larrío (Spain) In July 2023, I travelled with fellow geologists to Băile Herculane, an ancient Romanian town in the Western Carpathians, situated between the Danube and the Serbian border. Our mission was to analyse the site for a new railway tunnel that will replace the existing one. Băile … Read More
The hand-beast of Blackwaterfoot, Isle of Arran
Neil D L Clark (UK) In about 1999, a single, fossilised footprint was discovered on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland (Fig. 1). It was known of before this, but kept secret in case it was vandalised. At that time, it was the first, and only … Read More
Geological anomalies: Chalcedony breccia in a cinnabar matrix and the disappearance of Michigan’s geology professor
Steven Wade Veatch (USA) Hidden among geological marvels at a mineral show was a cinnabar-bearing chalcedony breccia-specimen (Fig. 1). The term “breccia” refers to a rock composed of angular fragments, while “chalcedony” describes a type of cryptocrystalline quartz. Adding “cinnabar” specifies the presence of mercury sulphide, which creates a distinctive … Read More