KSircombe

And amazingly written. I read it years ago, but there are still parts that randomly float into my awareness from time to time.

Image of a book cover 'Annals of the Former World' by John McPhee showing an antique geological map and cross section in predominately beige colours with copperpoint labelling.

Annals of the Former World by John McPhee is a great read. It brings together descriptions of field trips (and the geologists!) plus local history to weave a story how the geology of North America has shaped its people and history, and how the story of geology itself has grown.

The greatest advance of the 21st century has been inflight WiFi because it has enabled having live geological maps on hand to more thoroughly investigate the ⚒️🧪 geology you are flying over. Window seats forever!

Linocut portrait of Mary Golda Ross looking over her shoulder in a gradient of green (at bottom) to gold (at top) surrounded by vehicles important to her career including P-38 Lighting fighter plane, and Agena rocket, important to Apollo missions in grey.

For #spacetober_challenge day 8 prompt propulsion, my portrait of #mathematician, aeronautical #engineer, philanthropist & Cherokee ‘hidden figure’ of the space race: Mary Golda Ross (1908-2008).⁠ 🧪🐡🧮🔭👩🏻‍🔬 #histsci
⁠
Great-great-granddaughter of Chief John Ross, who was forced to lead his people on the

My sedimentology contrariness would ask 'why is the specimen rounded?' 😀

I forgot to say, for more Mineral Cup fun, pin the feed below, & use the #MinCup25 hashtag when posting. There are no wrong answers, just lots of fun, & sometimes you learn something cool! Join us! See the comment for the vote link.

#MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

... and winner of #MinCup 2023. Just saying... 😁

Nice! Molybdenite was one of the first metal ore minerals I saw 'in the wild' and I was also rather chuffed at spotting it.

This is an excellent piece of ⚒️🧪 work, and will be a deep rabbit hole to explore. Already learnt: that 'analysis' is plural and 'analysin' is the singular; that Captain Cook introduced the word lagoon into English; and the term 'mantle' for the layer below the crust didn't appear until the 1940's.

Stibnite, Wolfsberg, Stolberg, Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Attractive cluster of acicular, iridescent needles of stibnite from the Wolfsberg locality in Germany. This blocky piece is composed of what seems like thousands of slender stibnite crystals. The luster on the faces is quite high, and the flashes of iridescence add a lot of visual interest with its blues, greens, and purples accenting the silver. https://www.irocks.com/minerals/specimen/47303

It is not clear where Gutenberg sourced his stibnite, but it is clear that his invention created mass-produced books that revolutionised information transmission and set the stage for the Renaissance, Reformation, and humanist movements that underpin our modern world. Thanks #Stibnite! /4

1698 illustration of a German typefounder preparing type-metal. The picture shows two people in a workshop with workbenches, tools and materials. One person, possibly a woman in a dress, in the left foreground is sitting and appears to be polishing or rubbing a large slab on a table. The second person is standing toward the back behind a workbench covered in several tools. There is a round cylinder, possibly a furnace, underneath the workbench and the second person appears to be adding or tipping something into it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_metal#/media/File:Fotothek_df_tg_0008535_St%C3%A4ndebuch_%5E_Beruf_%5E_Handwerk_%5E_Gie%C3%9Fer_%5E_Letter.jpg

Antimony hardens the lead and prevents shrinkage and deformation when the alloy cools from a melt in a mould to make the moveable type. It meant that high quality clear text could be repeatably printed on mass unlike previous printing that used carved wood blocks that deteriorated quickly /3

A historical black and white illustration of Johannes Gutenberg from the shoulders up, facing to the left and looking directly at the viewer. He is wearing a fur hat, a ruffled collar and a one heck of a beard. That beard must have been an OHS hazard around a printing press. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gutenberg.jpg

You may recognise this fine fellow as Johann Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, owner of an awesome beard and renowned inventor of the movable type printing press. One of his key innovations in printing was adding antimony (and tin) to lead to make type metal. /2

Vote in Round 1 Match 2 — Mineral Cup Click here to vote in Stibnite vs Okenite

Vote #Stibnite (Sb₂S₃) for #Mincup25 ⚒️🧪 because it was the likely source of antimony that literally wrote history. The chemical symbol for antimony is ‘Sb’ from ‘stibium’ the Latin for, you guessed it, #stibnite. Let's revisit a 🧵 from last year /1
buff.ly/md0dreE

Research Fellow - Canberra / ACT, ACT, Australia Classification: Academic Level B Salary package: $118,632 - $134,507 per annum plus 17% superannuation Terms: Full time, Fixed term (up to 3 years) The Position This postdoc will explore the geochemic...

We're hiring
Three year postdoc on geochemistry and petrology of ore-forming systems.
jobs.anu.edu.au/jobs/researc...

Fibrous, radiating mineral specimen of Pectolite in light beige to white tones, displayed on a clear circular stand with a label reading 'R24875 PECTOLITE Prospect Quarry NSW'

⚒️🧪 #Mincup25 begins! Let's start with a PSA:
• Please don't take a handful of fluffy stuff into a laboratory to ask for a microscope to see if it is asbestos. That tends to get people excited for all the wrong reasons. True story.
• Vote #pectolite because it isn't trying to kill you.

Vote in Round 1 Match 1 — Mineral Cup Click here to vote in Chrysotile vs Pectolite

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 1: Hazardous (but useful!) #Chrysotile faces off against stunning gem #Pectolite. Do you pick the forbidden cotton candy, or the anti-pulverization beauty?

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1...

Check RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

⚒️🧪🌪️💎🌪️💎🌪️💎🌪️💎🌪️💎😆

This ⚒️🧪 repository looks amazing! I am especially geeking out over the continental rift animation s-ink.org/continental-...

Thanks for the link @callanbentley.bsky.social !

I tried the single hair brush for my zircon picking, but personally found a dental pick to be more effective.

Also seen it very skillfully done with a trimmed cat whisker in a pin vice. (Whisker had been naturally shed, no cats harmed in the making of this zircon mount...).

I was thinking more about what the heat of a basaltic lava flow would do to chalk, or was it already a deep soil profile when the basalt arrived?

Must be one heck of an unconformity between those two units!

Only two weeks to go until Spetember. Best time of the year on social media since #MinCup25 is about to start!

Have ideas for minerals to compete in #MinCup2025? Nominate them now! 👉 www.mineralcup.org/nominations

Want to be part of this year’s organizing team? 👉 www.mineralcup.org/volunteer

Kelvin, Perry and the Age of the Earth Had scientists better appreciated one of Kelvin's contemporary critics, the theory of continental drift might have been accepted decades earlier

There is a fascinating article that nuances the classic 'Lord Kelvin vs. The Geologists' legend about the age of the Earth with another 'ghost', John Perry, who suggested the mantle could convect in 1895.

Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity – the first 10 years Join us online, Tuesday 26 August, 11:30am – 1:00pm AEST, to hear more about what's planned under the 4 components for the first 10 years of Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity.

Want to know more about #GeoscienceAustralia 's multi-generational initiative Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity to better understand the ⚒️🧪 geology and 💧 hydrology of Australia to support our net zero transition? Sign up for the 26 August seminar and Q&A here!

Ideas for minerals to compete in #MinCup2025? Nominate them now! www.mineralcup.org/nominations

Want to be part of this year’s organizing team? We love volunteers! www.mineralcup.org/volunteer

A large stick insect with spread wings being held by a man with bare arms. The insect length is approximately the same length from the man's forearm. The newly discovered Acrophylla alta species with its wings spread. Photograph: Angus Emmott/James Cook University. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/31/big-stick-insect-acrophylla-alta-found-north-queensland-trees

Meanwhile, back in 🇦🇺 Australia... another addition to the already chonky list of Things That Will F**k You Up.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Very ooh!

💯 I recall when every geological sequence attributed to subduction suddenly had obvious, yet hitherto unnoticed, signs of slab rollback... 😁

My recollection is of a citrusy, tart, raspberryish taste. Difficult to describe, also varied with the time of the season. Someone told me that any berries left in the late season could be quite spicy.

I remember these from ⚒️🧪 field work on the tundra north of Yellowknife. A yummy treat on long traverses. I was conscious that these are a major and time-restricted food source for many creatures including bears, but we had lost a cantaloupe to a bear 'visiting' our camp so I considered it a trade...