geo hakiu meme

metamorphism
exchange of cations; new growth
story recorded.







(meme's origin)

rainbows

The geo-blog sphere meme du jour is "Rainbows", so I thought I'd share this one. This was taken in 1995 from somewhere along the Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska, not far from Galbrith Lake, as I was returning from my field area. As much as I loved my two months in the Brooks Range, it was a joy to be heading home at the end of the season, looking forward to a mosquito-free winter.

trees in our field areas

eThe theme that is currently spreading its branches across the geoblog sphere is “trees”. My field area for my Master’s project was in the Brooks Range, Alaska, where there was 97% outcrop, but no trees. However, I was more than a bit amused by this sign, posted along the Dalton Highway, which runs between Fairbanks and the North Slope of Alaska, pointing out that this is the furthest north tree along that route, and admonishing us to not cut it down. It has been more than a decade since I was up that way, I wonder if the tree and its sign are still there?

50+ minerals meme

I've used the adaptations to this meme suggested by Kim

Use bold to indicate minerals you’ve seen in the wild. Italics is for those seen in laboratories, museums, stores, or other non field locations. And Underline for those you’ve analysed with a microprobe.

50+ minerals everyone should see:

Andalusite

Apatite

Barite

Beryl

Biotite

Calcite

Chromite

Chrysotile

Copper (native)

Cordierite

Corundum

Diamond

Dolomite

Florencite

Galena

Garnet

Glaucophane

Gold (native)

Graphite

Gypsum

Halite

Hematite

Hornblende

Illite

Illmenite

Kaolinite

Kyanite

Lepidolite

Limonite

Magnetite

Molybdenite

Monazite

Muscovite

Nepheline

Olivine

Omphacite

Opal

Perovskite

Plagioclase

Pyrite

Quartz (oops, that wasn’t what I meant to probe!)

Rhodochrosite

Rutile

Sanidine

Sillimanite

Silver (native)

Sphalerite

Staurolite

Sulphur (native)

Talc

Tourmaline

Tremolite

Turquoise

Vermiculite

Willemite

Zeolite

Zircon

(by my count that is five without a formatting change, and then only because I didn't look them up to see if I should have recognized the name...)