Erik Haroldson

It’s going to be time to dust off @mineralcup.bsky.social soon, start soliciting nominations and prep the backend for voting.

It seems like such a silly and small thing to do while fear is so heavy.

But joy is resistance.

I would follow this person on twitter (X), but would love to see them make the move to bluesky

Trump White House budget proposal eviscerates science funding at NASA “This would decimate American leadership in space.”…

This is absolutely brutal. A +50% proposed cut to NASA Earth Sciences would decimate essential programs and tools needed to understand and monitor Earths ice, climate, hazards, oceans, forests and more. Crushing. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

New mines? In *this* economy?

This 👇

Bowen’s Reaction Series explains how magmas differentiate

A view of the southern side of White Pocket. Polygonal weathering of the homogeneous sandstone layer at the top. In situ aeolian cross bedding is visible at the bottom.

Polygonal weathering from the top. White sandstone fractured and eroded into intricate shapes

Two domes covered with polygonal patterns on the left; soft sediment deformation (a swirly pattern of layered red sandstone) on the right

Several red-colored foresets of the Navajo Sandstone are deformed to create beautiful shapes by the liquefaction of the wind-blown sand

Spent the day at White Pocket, an area in northern Arizona with some of the most spectacular examples (1) of soft-sediment deformation in the Navajo Sandstone and (2) of the polygonal weathering that affects the resulting homogenous rock. These photos were taken with a drone (which is OK to use)

a cartoon dinosaur in a suit and tie Alt: a cartoon dinosaur in a suit and tie

Oil came from dinosaurs.

Somehow this is still a thing.

The mantle is orange/red.

Rare earth elements are rare

Fault "lines". Faults are planes or more likely complicated 3D surfaces.

an illustration of the inside of the earth shows the inner core . Alt: an illustration of the inside of the earth shows the inner core and other layers .

Name a common misconception about the Earth.
I'll start: The mantle is molten.
⚒️🧪

I have not heard this term before, and Google is not helping much. What is a kernstone?

Callan holds his hands above his head in front of an outcrop up jointed and spheroidally weathered granite. A prominent round unweathered portion is just above and to the right of Callan's left hand.

Arm-waving in front of a proper kernstone in Sierran granite adjacent to Crater Mountain in Owens Valley. ⚒️

⚒️

Grad student Joey Scrivner showing the gold panning method.

Sac State undergrad students teaching about gold panning.

Today some Sac State geology students and I went to a local K-8 school STEM event to teach about gold panning and the history of gold mining in the region.

I’ve come to learn many people don’t know this!

Ugh... A lot of sad/alarming posts today from friends and colleagues at NSF, USGS, USFS etc.

My favorite (/s) is when a search finds a page with all the metadata, but not the actual data.

Same. I know to watch out for reporting bias, but gee whiz there seem to be a lot of incidents lately.

Topobuilder app has a message at the top that says the maps will now reflect the Gulf of America name change.

On changes to #NIH indirect rates, there is a law in place that prohibits NIH from making such changes without the approval of Congress. See Division D, Title II Section 224 of The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law No: 118-47) grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

A graph of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at the Mauna Loa observatory, Hawaii, from 1958 to 4th February 2025. It shows carbon dioxide levels rising at an accelerating rate over the decades. This is known to be due to emissions of carbon dioxide from human activity, mainly fossil fuel burning but also deforestation. The first CO2 concentration value in March 1958 was 315 parts per million (ppm). The latest daily value is 426 ppm. The graph also shows a seasonal cycle of a few ppm within each year, which is known to be linked to the growing season in the northern hemisphere causing a temporary uptake of carbon in spring and summer and release in autumn. The graph is produced routinely by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

Although NOAA's page on atmospheric CO2 levels has vanished, you can still get this vital information from Ralph Keeling's team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego keelingcurve.ucsd.edu

Please follow bsky.app/profile/keel... for updates and share

Don't let science be hidden

list of banned keywords

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Plagioclase feldspar with zoned labradorescence

Zoned microcline (Alkali feldspar)

In case you need a timeline cleanse, here are two GORGEOUSLY zoned feldspars for your mineralogical pleasure!!

Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders The US National Science Foundation has unfrozen grant funding, but it continues to scrutinize research projects, sowing turmoil.

NEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Took a few days after the NIH, but here we are. So much science and the lives and careers of students and postdocs depends on timely funding (and just timely communication). These delays will have an adverse impact.

Upon arrival at an awesome roadcut my PhD advisor would say: "Come and gawk at the Gow."

Hey, university friends, please don't focus your messaging on how the NIH funding pause affects *you* and the university.

That will never resonate with others.

Instead, focus on how this hurts important medical research and finding life-saving cures for all Americans.