Geoscopy — Geology Made Clear

Me realizing I'm slowly running out of space for my rock collection and the only place I can store my Cinnbar and Chrysotile samples is next to my bed. #geology

These technofossils are the ultimate party crashers. They settle in reefs and mangroves, leaching toxic chemicals into corals and marine life. We’re not just changing the rocks; we’re poisoning the entire coastal infrastructure. And they are popping up everywhere.

Plasticrusts occur when plastic debris (like blue fishing crates) repeatedly bashes against rocky shorelines. Over time, the plastic physically bonds to the rock surface, creating a thin, colorful "crust" that looks like algae or lichen but is actually solid polyethylene.

Pyroclastics are a different type, these are pieces of plastic that have been burnt (through waste incineration or 🏖️ fires) and then weathered by the ocean. They look almost identical to natural gray or black pebbles, making them very hard to spot unless you notice they float or feel slightly "off."

They are heavy enough to stay put. Instead of washing away, they sink and get buried, becoming permanent fossils. Geologists think these plastic layers will be the official receipt for the Anthropocene—the literal mark we’re leaving on the Earth’s crust forever. They come in different shapes...

Geologists categorize them two ways: 'In situ'—where plastic fills cracks in the earth like synthetic veins. And 'clastic'—freestanding rocks where sand and wood are fused by a plastic matrix. It’s new, human-made geology.

How do they form? Pure accident. We light a bonfire on a trashy beach, and the coals turn plastic debris into a liquid glue that fuses with pebbles and shells. It’s basically a DIY fossil kit that nobody asked for.

Kamilo Beach in Hawaii is famous for being a plastic magnet, but it just got weirder. Back in 2013, scientists found hundreds of these hybrids—sand, shells, and volcanic rock literally glued together by melted trash. Nature didn't make this; we did.

Around 2013 a new rock type dropped, and it’s honestly cursed. Geologists are finding 'Frankenstein rocks'—melted plastic literally fused with beach sand and volcanic stone. Meet the plastiglomerate: humanity’s permanent, synthetic receipt for the Anthropocene." #geology

Coprolites aren’t my favorite fossil, but they’re a solid number two.

I'll see myself out. 🚶‍♂️

Happy Thanksgiving #geology

Dear algorithm, show this good morning post to all #geology enthusiasts out there, please!

Check your Halloween candy carefully. Someone tried to hide the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer in mine. #Geology

🔥 Recent thrill: Episode 35 (Oct 17–18) was jaw-dropping. Two vents in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater unleashed lava fountains ~1,500 ft and ~1,100 ft high – higher than a skyscraper! It was the highest twin fountain event of this eruption so far.

⏳ How it works: Magma pressure builds for days, then suddenly boom – a lava fountain bursts out, then pauses. The volcano’s summit inflates (swells) between bursts and deflates when lava erupts

🌋 Kīlauea is showing off again! This Hawaiian volcano – one of the world’s most active – has been erupting in an unusual stop-and-go style #Geology

Fluids can rewrite chemistry (metasomatism). Picture a French dip: juices move through and change flavor without turning the sandwich to soup. Classic result at magma–limestone boundaries: skarn.

Metamorphic is the panini. Take an existing rock, heat it, squeeze it, move fluids through it—but don’t melt it. Minerals recrystallize, align, or swap elements. Same ingredients, new texture and strength.

Bread matters: open, airy crumb (ciabatta) is like high‑porosity sandstone—fluids can move. Dense rye is shale—good seal, lousy flow. That’s aquifers and reservoirs in lunch form.

Grain size tracks energy:
• Sandstone: beach/river bar—like a well‑sorted turkey sub.
• Shale: quiet water mud—more like a smooth hummus wrap.
• Conglomerate: debris flow—think a Sloppy Joe with everything.

Texture tells the story. Big rounded chunks → conglomerate (imagine meatballs in a roll: high‑energy river moved them far). Angular chunks → breccia (more like chopped croutons dumped in—short, sudden drop).

Start with sedimentary—the deli sub. Bits of older rock, shells, or crystals settle out of water or air, get compacted, then “glued” by minerals like calcite or silica. That glue is the mayo/cheese that sets.

Let's explain rocks by sandwiches. Trust me. Earth builds rock three main ways: it stacks, it cools from melt, or it presses and reheats what it already made. #Geology 🧵

I love the name: Pythia was the oracle at Delphi, perched above a crack in the Earth breathing strange gases to “see” the future. Here, a literal crack is venting fluid that helps us see the state of a dangerous fault. Perfect.

The site is unlike any seep described on active margins: warm, high‑flux, water‑dominated, not methane‑dominated. Its chemistry + temperature point to fluids percolating up through fault‑controlled pathways—basically the fault exhaling.

Translation: if the fault bleeds out its lubricant, parts of Cascadia can clamp down more tightly. Locked patches are the ones that snap in great earthquakes. The discovery gives us a direct window into that hidden pressure system.

Why this matters: fluids at a megathrust aren’t just “wet.” They control friction. High fluid pressure can help plates creep; losing fluid can let the fault lock harder, storing more strain for a bigger quake later.

The water is ~9 °C warmer than the surrounding ocean and laced with elements (boron, lithium, etc.) that scream “deep origin.” Best evidence says it’s coming from ~4 km (~2.5 mi) below the seafloor—the actual plate boundary zone. That’s… wild.

Where? ~50 miles off Newport, Oregon. A research ship spotted weird bubble plumes on sonar during a weather delay, sent down a robot, and found water jetting from the seafloor. Not a typical hydrothermal vent; the fluid chemistry is totally different.

There’s a literal leak at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean—plugged straight into the Cascadia megathrust. Scientists call it Pythia’s Oasis. It’s a spring on the seafloor that shoots out warm, almost‑fresh water like a firehose. Yes, from right above the fault. #Geology🧵