GeoLog

Science Communication

Friedrich Mohs and the mineral scale of hardness

September 25, 2020
Friedrich Mohs and the mineral scale of hardness
Image credit: Hazel Gibson

One of the most famous identification methods in the study of mineralogy is the Mohs Scale of Hardness. A comparative scale, based on the hardness of each mineral, it is a way geoscientists can compare minerals to each other and organise them based upon an easily testable physical characteristic. Each level of hardness has a value, from 1 (the softest) to 10 (the hardest) and each number is associ ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: Nadine Gabriel, creator of #AreYouSiO2? and Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals.

September 11, 2020
GeoTalk: Nadine Gabriel, creator of #AreYouSiO2? and Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals.
Credit: Nadine Gabriel

Hi Nadine, thanks for speaking with us today, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got to where you are now? Thank you for inviting me! I’m a geologist and the Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals at the Natural History Museum, London. I studied MSci Geology at University College London and I absolutely enjoyed the subject. It was really interesting to learn about the geol ...[Read More]

Imaggeo On Monday: Condensation drop on sulphur

September 7, 2020
Imaggeo On Monday: Condensation drop on sulphur
Condensation drop on Sulphur. Credit: Ulrich Kueppers (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Mineralogy, as a subject, often has a hard time. Despite it’s place at the core of the traditional geological sciences, and its importance in a huge variety of other subjects, mineralogy sometimes has a reputation of being complicated and inaccessible and, well, some people have even called it boring. This is also related to the way that minerals are often hugely misunderstood by non-geoscie ...[Read More]