Geological Fact of the Month - March

You can find any other Geological Fun Facts over at my website.

UFOP Annual Meeting

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but time has been extremely limited. But I did want to mention this.

The UFOP Annual Meeting is coming up in Price, UT.

College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum and Holiday Inn

April 14 - 16, 2011

Early is over, unfortunately, but you can still sign up. Materials are located over at the official site. Click on over and check it out.

Simplifying Earthquakes

Here is a great post from Matt over at Research at a Snail's Pace (boy that is how I feel right now) breaking down earthquakes into a simple brick and spring model. This might make it to my classroom someday (If I can figure out how to jury-rig something similar.)

GeoJeopardy! Fridays #39

Time for GeoJeopardy! Fridays, because it's SPRING BREAK, wahoo!!

- Minerals -

Talc is at one end of the Mohs scale of hardness & this is at the other
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This phosphate popular in the jewelry of the Southwest U.S. derives its name from a Eurasian country

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Minerals like pyrite, galena & sphalerite all contain this element, S, so they are grouped together

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The white sands of New Mexico's White Sands National Monument are this plaster material
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A form of magnetite that has natural magnetic polarity is known as this "stone"

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All the answers as well as any other previous GeoJeopardy! questions can be found over at my website by clicking the link.  

And if you enjoy this post as well as others, please consider subscribing to my blog via Google Reader or some other RSS feed so that way I better know my readership. Thank you.

Questions courtesy of j-archive.com

GeoJeopardy Fridays #38

Time for GeoJeopardy! Fridays, because we are sandwiched in between St Patty's Day and My Birthday, so why not party.

- Geology -

This molten volcanic rock was given its name by those who lived around Mount Vesuvius

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The oxbow type of this is formed when a meander or stream is cut off from the principal channel

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A sonar transducer is used by hydrographers to obtain knowledge about earthquake activity here

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This "old" scientist's 37-volume "Historia Naturalis" covered all Roman knowledge of rocks & minerals

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It's believed that a land mass called Pangaea later split into 2: Laurasia & this one

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All the answers as well as any other previous GeoJeopardy! questions can be found over at my website by clicking the link.  

And if you enjoy this post as well as others, please consider subscribing to my blog via Google Reader or some other RSS feed so that way I better know my readership. Thank you.

Questions courtesy of j-archive.com

GeoJeopardy Fridays #37

Time for GeoJeopardy! Fridays, because I'm done with my PhD Qualification Written Exams, just the orals to go.

- Prehistoric Times -

Scientists have identified over 4,000 species of these "3-lobed" sea creatures that lived during the Paleozoic era

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Scientists say that North America had 4 of these: Nebraskan, Kansan, Illinoian & Wisconsin

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The Stone Age lasted until this metal replaced stone as the primary tool-making material

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In 1868 Louis Lartet dug up the first skeletons of this prehistoric man in a cave in Les Eyzies in southwest France

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The name of this earliest human species is Latin for "skillful human being"

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All the answers as well as any other previous GeoJeopardy! questions can be found over at my website by clicking the link.  

And if you enjoy this post as well as others, please consider subscribing to my blog via Google Reader or some other RSS feed so that way I better know my readership. Thank you.

Questions courtesy of j-archive.com

News of the Day - 8.9 Earthquake!!!

Just a quick note that there was an 8.9 Earthquake that hit Japan today. Here is a video in which they won't let me embed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLtqrKea1Zg

Video from CNN

They have been hit by a tsunami as well. This is 5th largest earthquake in history and the largest to hit Japan in over a 100 years.

Pacific Coast Tsunami Alert!!!!

Here are some links to more info.

USGS

Mountain Beltway

Paleoseismicity

Geotripper

News of the Day - Color 1906 Earthquake Photos

So I just heard about this this morning but I thought it was really cool, and the pictures are phenomenal. They are the only known color photographs of the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake showing all of the destruction that took place. What makes this interesting is that not only are the pictures in color and they look like could have been taken recently, but they were designed to be viewed in 3D!!!!! (Although the photographer never got the 3D visuals to work). Here are a couple of links to some of the news out there.

Color photos of 1906 San Francisco quake aftermath found

Color pics of San Francisco after '06 quake found

And here are the pictures everyone is talking about today.

AW #32 - Now Posted

The most recent Accretionary Wedge (#32) is now posted over at Ann's Blog. It is broken up into 2 parts due to size constraints so here are the links to both of them:

WELCOME TO THE KREWE OF ACCRETIONARY WEDGE PARADE # 32 - Part 1

WELCOME TO THE KREWE OF ACCRETIONARY WEDGE PARADE # 32 - Part 2

News of the Day - ALIENS!!!!

ALIENS!!!! That's right folks, aliens have been found. They are green (or may have used to be) that are from outer space (maybe, kinda sorta, but probably not) and they have come to take over the human race (or maybe that was just V).

Has life been found in a meteorite?

AW #32 - Geology Picture Float

So Ann over at Ann's Musing on Geology and Other Things is hosting this month's Accretionary Wedge, which is due today, and asking for your favorite Geology Pictures.

The theme will be “Throw me your ‘favorite geologic picture’ mister” Lets have the floats (submissions) ready on March 4th so it can roll on March 8. Carnival time is all about having a good time and having some fun so lets get some colorful, fun pictures submitted. Laissez les bons temp rouler!! (Let the good times roll!)

Well since I have done this for a previous AW, I will switch up the picture I used and this time give you a couple of glimpses into the Gooseneck of the San Juan River.
 

GeoJeopardy! Fridays

Time for GeoJeopardy! Fridays, because my third PhD exam is today. Can't wait!

- Dinosaurs -

In 2006 a fossilized one of these containing 22 broken eggs sold at auction for $420,000

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In 2001 Chinese scientists said a group of these made by dinosaurs included one 1 1/2 yards long
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No one knows the purpose, but like modern birds, the stegosaurus has a small hole in its skull called a fenestra, from the Latin for this

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We grew up calling the alleged apatosaurus this; to us it'll always be this--so there!

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Known for long necks & small heads, dinosaurs like diplodocus belonged to this "lizard foot" group

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All the answers as well as any other previous GeoJeopardy! questions can be found over at my website by clicking the link.  

And if you enjoy this post as well as others, please consider subscribing to my blog via Google Reader or some other RSS feed so that way I better know my readership. Thank you.

Questions courtesy of j-archive.com

Geological Literature QotW

Another one from the same article as last weeks post. And rather timely I think.

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 "Ecology rather than St. Patrick was probably responsible for the absence of snakes in Ireland and the same consideration puts a minimum viable figure on the population density of monsters in Loch Ness"

Ager, D.V., 1976, The nature of the fossil record: Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, v. 87, p. 131-159.

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You can also check out all my other Quotes of the Week over at my newly created page for them by clicking this link.