The photo of the week this week is of a very special place in Canada. Yes, predictably, it is the Yukon. However, this part of the Yukon is unique. It is a special region known as Beringia, which extends into Alaska and Siberia and it is the only part of Canada that was not covered by kilometers of ice during the last glaciation. Beringia is a special place because it is believed that that first h ...[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #32 – Name that squid!
This edition of the photo of the week highlights another piece from my personal collection. This is a cephalopod. More specifically it is a member of the Order Endocerida and the Family Endoceratidae. This creature, which hopefully you can see was pretty large (golf tee for scale) was the largest of the Ordovician cephalopods found in Ontario and this is a particularly fine/large example mainly be ...[Read More]
Guest Post: Dr. Sam Illingworth – To Boldy Go
Satellites are now so ubiquitous in our lives that there is something of a precedent to take them for granted. A normal daily routine for may people across the world may include watching television (satellite) as you check your twitter account (satellite) and have a look at the weather (satellite), all before you’ve even eaten your breakfast (not a satellite); whilst for those of us in the remote ...[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #31/Science Travels
Sorry for the brief hiatus from blogging. This past week I was in Kenora and Dryden, Ontario getting into some great science outreach with an organization from uOttawa called Science Travels. Science Travels is a science outreach organization that sends science graduate students from the University of Ottawa and Carleton to northern communities to give presentations about a variety of science topi ...[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #30
The photo for this week was taken in Quebec near the town of Thetford. These are a really beautiful example of pillow basalts. Pillow basalts form during underwater volcanic eruptions and have the unusual quality of appearing bulbous and rounded. The ones pictured below have had their tops shorn off and are therefore visible in plane view. e.g. You’re looking down at them from above after th ...[Read More]
The Great Fracking Debate
Yesterday the “Great Fracking Debate” took place at EGU2013 and I tuned in via webstream for the royal rumble of good vs. evil that was sure to take place. I have to say I was a little disappointed (not really) because the tone of the debate was very respectful and sophisticated. I guess if I want to see a good verbal sparring match I’ll have to head over to Parliament and take i ...[Read More]
My EGU2013 (Tuesday)
Firstly, I am not actually attending EGU 2013 this year. However, that does not mean I can’t participate. In fact, it has been incredibly easy for to me join in, although I have had to wake up very early in the morning to make up for the time difference between Vienna and Ottawa. I took part in two press conferences on Tuesday. The first called: The consequences of nuclear accidents: Fukushi ...[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #29
The photo this week is of another self collected beauty. I collected this piece below at the Marmoraton Iron Mine in Marmora, Ontario a few years ago. When I found it none of the garnet crystals you see were visible. They were all covered by a thick layer of calcite. I could just make out the edge of a broken crystal at the side. However, I have been collecting at Marmora a lot and I knew that thi ...[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #28
Happy April Fools/Easter everyone! I know that I am a day late, but yesterday was a holiday in Canada. Spring is also in the air, not today actually since it is -7 currently, but we have no more snow, and we had a few nice days over the Easter weekend. It is therefore appropriate for the photo of the week to be something eggy. This photo is of a fragment of Pleistocene age emu egg shell that was f ...[Read More]
It’s rainin’ isotopes…
This post is kind of a continuation of Laura Roberts excellent guest post on the Solar Storms and the Earth’s Magnetic field. However, this is a bit of a different spin on it. I am not writing about what get’s kept out, but rather what slips by the shield and gets in. Of course, I am speaking about cosmic rays and the wonderfully useful isotopes they produce that rain down upon us. Yes ...[Read More]