T.S. Thursday:
2.8 Ga Granodiorite from the Beartooth Mtns, MT in crossed polars and cathodoluminescence. In CL the red zone between microcline and plagioclase is a fine-grained myrmekite (plagioclase and quartz intergrowths). Contributed by Darrell Henry.
#thinsectionthursday
Close-up of a textured surface showing concentric circular patterns with fine ridges and grooves in grayscale.
HiRISE 4K: Weird Crater Features
In a Context Camera image of this area, the crater floor has hollows and a high density of pits.
Full cutout on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2rYiTR6
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
3D image shows a part of an eroded impact crater with incised gullies on the wall and folded terrain at the bottom of the slope. The scene is less than 5 km, or 3 miles, across.
HiRISE 3D: A Crater in Utopia Planitia
This 3D image shows us the eastern part of an old impact crater with incised gullies and a deformed floor. The entire crater is about 10 km across.
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_037646_2290_ESP_028719_2290_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
HiPOD: Knobs in East Candor Chasma
This features an interesting area of possible deformation of lacustrine sediment. This observation was requested to support geologic mapping. Candor Chasma is one of the largest canyons that make up Valles Marineris.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076713_1730
A cut fact of a basaltic pillow with the quenched pillow rind on the left (swiss army knife for scale).
A transmitted light photo of a thin section spanning the pillow rind on the left to the pillow interior. Gas bubbles show as round white patches within the pillow interior. Horizontal field of view 3.5 cm
Hand sample and thin section of a pillow rind and interior from Palaeogene lavas of eastern Baffin island. The solidifying melt continued to exsolve gas bubbles, trapped in the pillow interior by the rind.
#ThinsectionThursday #BaffinIsland #Basalt #Geology
And through the looking glass; here is a lake on an island in a lake on an island. Lake Taal caldera and volcanic island (with crater lake) on Luzon, Philippines.🌋⚒️🧪
26.02.2026 13:33 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Image cutout shows a long and curvy ridge that is separated in section on the floor of a large canyon on the surface of Mars.
HiPOD: A Sinuous Ridge in Mareotis Fossae
The sinuous ridge is approximately 10 meters wide and several kilometers long. The floor surrounding this ridge has been eroding laterally, forming pits and circular features.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_088990_2150
#Mars #NASA #science
Image cutout shows a pedestal crater on the surface of Mars. The ejecta blanket from the original impact is still visible around the crater, because it was more resistant to erosion than the surrounding terrain.
A closeup of the impact crater. The crater rim is very eroded and there are numerous large boulders around the crater.
HiPOD: About a Pedestal Crater
The objective of this observation is to examine a pedestal crater here in Deuteronilus Mensae. A pedestal crater is when the ejecta from an impact settles and is more erosion-resistant than the surrounding terrain.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076643_2260
#Mars
HiPOD: Possible Chloride-Rich Terrain
Most suspected chloride deposits in the Eridania Basin are high-albedo and found in flattish areas. Around the eastern rim of the basin, some of these chlorides are distinctively low-albedo, and found in channels.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076638_1505
HiPOD: Ridges in Arabia
The objective of this observation is to determine the nature of narrow ridges. They may be from faults produced during old impacts. If so, recent research suggests they may be related to clay deposits.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076616_2085
#Mars #NASA #science
Schematic summary of the eruptive history of Kolumbo Volcano.
🚨Check out our new IODP paper on Kolumbo Volcano in Greece. Despite being one of Europe's most dangerous volcanoes not much is known about its eruptive history. The paper led by @abigaillily.bsky.social adds important insight into the Kolumbo-Santorini system
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Fractured glassy breccia meets bubbly microcrystalline basalt in a hyaloclastite from Iceland (or is it Greenland, I can never remember...).
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks #microscope #microscopy
Thin Section Thursday!
Julian schist: Mica schist in XPL from the Julian Schist at Julian, California USA. Contributed by Paolo Sanchez.
You can contribute too! Send image(s) and short caption to akoziol1 (at) udayton dot edu. #thinsectionthursday
3D image shows a long, light-toned inverted channel extending from the upper left of the picture down past the center. There is an impact crater that likely formed after the channel that still connects both sections. The scene is less than 5 km, or 3 miles, across.
HiRISE 3D: An Inverted Channel in Flammarion Crater
This image shows a spectacular inverted channel and marginal deposits in Flammarion Crater in Arabia Terra. Is it an exhumed channel belt deposit?
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_090330_2065_ESP_089631_2065_RED
#Mars #NASA #science
Can you guess what the editorial on the latest volume of @wearetektonika.bsky.social is about from the cover I designed for it? 🤖✨
(Yes, It's about AI in science - what is acceptable...and what maybe isn't)
Read it for free at tektonika.online/index.php/ho...
#SciArt #EarthScience #DOAJ
1/2 *Call for Abstracts*! GAC-MAC 2026 will be held in St. John’s, NL. Consider submitting an abstract to SS22: Exploring the Magmatic Framework of Continental Large Igneous Provinces and their Ni-Cu-PGE Prospectivity.
01.01.2026 16:36 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
2/2 This Special Session celebrates the contributions of W.R.A. (Bob) Baragar in the fields of igneous petrology and geochemistry. Co-convened with @bodriscollearth.bsky.social and @thejow.bsky.social on behalf of the #MackenzieLIP project team.
01.01.2026 16:12 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Pyrope and minor kyanite in matrix of phengite and palisade-textured quartz from Dora Maira. Section is slightly above standard thickness.
Pyrope and minor kyanite in matrix of phengite and palisade-textured quartz from the Dora Maira massif, N. Italy. Section is slightly above standard thickness.
#thinsectionthursday
#thinsectionthursday
22.01.2026 13:23 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
An image of a rock thin section viewed under the microscope in cross polarised light. The sample is dominated by large olivine and clinopyroxene crystals which are exhibiting bright second order interference colours. They are set in a much finer groundmass which contains abundant plagioclase crystals, recognisable through their first order grey interference colours and long, thin crystal shapes. Large vesicles are scattered through the sample, appearing rounded and black.
Olivine and clinopyroxene phenocrysts in a plagioclase-rich groundmass - Vesicular basalt lava flow, Azores
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks #microscope #microscopy
HiPOD: Faulting Mars
This region of Xanthe Terra has mostly been contracted due to thrust faulting, but this local region shows evidence of extensional faulting, also called normal faulting.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_045497_1800
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
Image cutout shows large exposures of bright-toned bedrock in several areas on the wall of a basin the Melas Chasma on Mars.
Enhanced color cutout shows a closeup of the exposed, light-toned bedrock. Some of the scene has dark terrain, and there are numerous boulders throughout the image.
HiPOD: Valleys and Inverted Channels
This observation features a series of interstratified valleys and inverted channels at the western end of the southwestern basin in Melas Chasma. Melas is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076621_1710
New in GRL Petrogenesis of Very-Low-Ti Basalts Returned by Chang'e-6 From the Lunar Farside By Wu et al 2025
In Geophysical Research Letters, scientists analyze the geochemistry and petrogenesis of basalt samples brought back by China's CE6 mission from the lunar farside. 🌘
🔗 Here's what they found: buff.ly/kOvp1b0
#AGUPubs #Moon #Geochemistry #Petrology #SpaceScience #PlanetaryScience
3D image shows several ridges that could be inverted channels on the surface of Mars. The scene is less than 5 km, or 3 miles, across.
HiRISE 3D: Inverted Channels or Possible Eskers
These ridges could be either inverted channels or eskers in a basin in northwest Arabia Terra.
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_090437_2150_ESP_090371_2150_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
Our latest research on the #AlphaRidge has just been published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment:
rdcu.be/eYkKm
HiRISE 3D: Ridged Terrain
This observation shows mottled, varied terrain with ridges, showing some indications of layering. There are patches of both bright and dark toned material.
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_090688_1840_ESP_090266_1840_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars
Image shows a series of small mud volcanoes and a several large ridges on the surface of Mars.
Closeup image shows some detail of the one of the large ridges in this observation. There are small depressions on one side of the ridge, that extends from the upper left to the lower right.
HiPOD: Ridges in Acidalia Planitia
The purpose of this observation is to investigate the structure of these ridges as well as their superposition and crosscutting relationships with adjacent geologic units and landforms.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_076579_2175
#Mars #science #NASA
« Observation des glaciers en hiver antarctique », par Michael Meredith. Prise lors d'une expédition hivernale dans la baie de Börgen, la photo montre les projecteurs du navire mettant en évidence les caractéristiques du glacier William.
Le prix #SciencesDeLaTerre et #Climatologie du concours photo #RSPPhotoComp 2025 a été décerné à Michael Meredith @oceanandice.bsky.social pour sa photo prise lors d'une expédition hivernale dans la baie de Börgen en Antarctique, montrant les projecteurs du navire qui éclairent le glacier William.
07.01.2026 16:22 — 👍 43 🔁 8 💬 2 📌 0
A macro photograph of an abalone shell under ultraviolet light
Abalone Shell Under Ultraviolet Light
#1133 taken 6:39 pm
#art
#photography
#macro
#abstract
