Keepin’ then comin’! This weeks photo is brought to you by Immageo as per usual. It can be found: here The image was taken by Dmitry Tonkacheev, IGEM RAS, Moscow, Russian Federation. Dmitry writes, “This is Co-bearing sphalerite, synthesised using gas transport method at 850C looks like the Christmas Tree. Although presented intergrowth of crystals was made in the laboratory, the ...[Read More]
This amazing picture above was taken by Mikhail Varentsov, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. It can be found here. Mikhail writes “Melting summer sea ice is separated to pieces by the net of cracks, and their edges have amazing light-blue color, which is in contrast with white ice surface and deep blue sea water. Photo made during NABOS-2015 expedition.” What this phot ...[Read More]
The photo posted below is a really cool one. Interestingly, enough I have been getting into podcasts lately. They are great during my bus ride to and from work every day. One of the podcasts that I like is Neil de Grasse Tyson’s Star Talk Radio. Anyway, the other week Star Talk had a pretty good discussion about salt and the role it has played in developing human history. Check out the episo ...[Read More]
The truly insane photo above shows “Different generations of calcite cements in Late Miocene seep carbonates (Piedmont, Italy; cathodoluminescence microphotograph)”. It was taken by Marcello Natalicchio, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germania – Source. This photo was taken using a cathodoluminescence microscope which is both a standalone tool or can be an adaptation to a scann ...[Read More]
This weeks photo is a beautiful yet sad reminder that Arctic research and work is still a dangerous undertaking just as it was for the early Arctic explorers. The following text is by Vladislav Petrusvich: Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen by Beechey Island in 2013 after tragic event when a researcher (Klaus Hocheim), captain and a helicopter pilot were killed in a tragic helicopter crash ...[Read More]
I’m getting back in the bog saddle. After a brief hiatus as I was adjusting to the life of a real, productive member of the PGS (post grad school) world I am good to go for blogging again. Enjoy the photo of the week! The text that follows is a technical description of the photo by the photographer, Dmitry Tonkacheev. Presented intergrowths of the infinite number of dark-brown sphaleriteR ...[Read More]
This week’s photo is brought to you from outer space! Indeed, this a beautiful cut section of a meteorite that fell in northwest Australia and was found in 1892 (ignore the label behind it). It is an iron-nickel meteorite and is composed entirely of metal. This crazy cross-hatching, which is most commonly found in such iron-nickel meteorites, is called a Widmanstätten pattern. Widmanstätten ...[Read More]
This edition of the photo of the approximate week (plus or minus 1 – sorry for my tardiness) is very cool in that it shows when earth processes that are invisible suddenly become very visible. In this case the submarine volcano, El Hierro, is erupting and instead of the usual bursting lava and fireworks display the only evidence of the turmoil going on is this discolouration at the oceanR ...[Read More]
This week’s photo is another mineralogy themed one. This photo shows beautiful, yet also flattened crystals of the mineral natrolite that has grown in an acicular habit from a central point making them look sort of like little snowflakes. Natrolite is a relatively common hydrated sodium, aluminum silicate mineral (Na2Al2Si3O10 · 2H2O) that often forms within the void spaces of igneous rocks ...[Read More]
This week’s photo brings us back to the world of geochemistry. I don’t have much information on this photo beyond that it was taken in Italy. However, if I may speculate a little it looks like these crystals may possibly be volcanic in origin and the fact that it was taken in Italy, which is famous for its volcanic sulphur deposits. I say this because such crystals are often found nea ...[Read More]