This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Women in Geoblogging Week continues with some brilliant posts from old friends and new. Settle in for moar great earth science writing!
Letters from Gondwana by Fernanda Castano
Fernanda Castano's a paleontology student at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentena. If you want to know what Earth was like in deep time, start here!
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There are three basic states for Earth climate: Icehouse, Greenhouse (subdivided into Cool and Warm states), and Hothouse (Kidder & Worsley, 2010). The “Hothouse” condition is relatively short-lived and is consequence from the release of anomalously large inputs of CO2 into the atmosphere during the formation of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), when atmospheric CO2 concentrations may rise above 16 times (4,800 ppmv), while the “Icehouse” is characterized by polar ice, with alternating glacial–interglacial episodes in response to orbital forcing. The ‘Cool Greenhouse” displays some polar ice and alpine glaciers, with global average temperatures between 21° and 24°C. Finally, the ‘Warm Greenhouse’ lacked of any polar ice, and global average temperatures might have ranged from 24° to 30°C.
The plant fossil record and the extinction events.
Mass extinctions has shaped the global diversity of our planet several times during the geological ages. They were originally identified in the marine fossil record and have been interpreted as a result of catastrophic events or major environmental changes that occurred too rapidly for organisms to adapt.
Looking for Detachment by Silver Fox
A minerals exploration geologist, Silver Fox explores the geology of our western states, illustrating her posts with her own wonderful photos. You'll fall completely in love with Nevada geology, and learn more than you think is possible.
First Trip into the Ruby Mountains of Nevada
Would you believe...a geologist living mostly in Nevada since 1975, who had never been into the Ruby Mountains until two weeks ago? One who had been over Secret Pass several times and down Ruby Valley once, but never into the mountains?One reason to go to Lamoille Canyon, if you've never been there, is the excellent scenery. Another reason would be the excellent geology...including geology related to the metamorphic core complex that makes up the Ruby Mountains — along with several, and more than one type, of low-angle faults — and also geology related to the Pleistocene glaciation of the mountains.
Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: Mt. Gilbert
The glacially carved cliffs around Camp Lamoille are truly spectacular — and while we were, now nearly a month ago — they provided us with constant fascination and wonderment amid the ever-changing light and cloud effects. To the south of us, besides Ruby Spire and the Wolf's Ear (seen in this earlier post), Mt. Gilbert towered over us at 11,120 feet.
Magma Cum Laude by Jessica Ball
Jessica Ball works for the USGS and blogs volcanoes, mostly, though I've included two not-quite-volcanic selections here. She does a fabulous job making sense of it all, and she includes many delicious photos which illustrate everything perfectly, so anyone who loves them some volcanoes should be reading her blog all the time.
No, that’s not a typo – it’s the topic of a discussion I prompted on Twitter a few weeks ago and then immediately forgot to post about. Fortunately, through the wonder of Storify, I can recap it for everyone. The backstory is that I had a request from a reader for movies he could show that featured geologically interesting places, but weren’t necessarily about geology or disasters. He also requested that they be fairly popular (things that had done well at the box office and might be expected to have been seen by a wide audience) and that they be things that intro students would recognize, either because they were recent or widely re-watched.
Getting sketchy (when it comes to geology)
I was inspired to think about the topic of drawing (and markerboards) by the great post by Miles Traer on using stick figure animations to explain complex science concepts. I don’t know if geoscientists are a special breed in that they often default toward drawing out their ideas and thoughts, but I’ve always found it to be an invaluable part of my research process.
Maitri's VatulBlog by Maitri Erwin
This intriguingly-named blog ("Vatul" is Maitri Erwin's South Indian clan) contains a wealth of information on science education and open access, plus other interesting subjects. She knows all the super-cool things!
Starting today, “using existing geostationary satellites, Outernet will broadcast a signal that will contain, in this early test phase, Project Gutenberg literature, Wikipedia articles, and news from Deutsche Welle. In a world where only 35.5% of humanity has access to the information on the Internet, this marks an enormous step towards universal information access.
A Better Class Of Garbage: Open, Accessible Science
All my life, I have been a great lover of science, gadgets and books. Little did I fathom as a kid that these things would be controlled one day not by scientists, authors and creators, but by corporate attorneys, publishing houses, for-profit scientific societies, government representatives in the pay of narrow interests and shareholders.
Previously:
Maps, Science Education, and Geology in Space
Zombies! Plus Kittehs, Water, and Plants!