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Reposted by Vicky Veritas

Chris Rowan @allochthonous.bsky.social · 4h

Reading William Whewell's 1832 review of Lyell's Principles of Geology, Vol 2, in which he coined "uniformitarianism", and I just love this passage summarizing what in many modern geological textbooks would describe as the principle of uniformitarianism.

babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv...

Screenshot of part of a scanned page from a 19th century scientific journal. Text reads: "Now it appears that, in the present order of things, certain changes do go on, both in the position of portions of the earth, and in the forms of certain organised beings. The volcano and the earthquake are seldom long idle; the ocean is an unremitting assailant of the solid earth; the countless host of streams and showers second his attack, on the other side, by efforts formidable from their multitude and perseverance. The coast yields; the crest of the mountain descends; large tracts of the earth tremble and change their elevation: the volcanic island lifts its head above the waves. Here, at least, are some elements of mutations in the form of the earth and of the bed of the sea. The more we examine such causes, the more constant the more extensive, the more powerful, does their operation appear. In the course of progressive ages, what effects may they not produce? And what limit are were to place to the time during which their work has proceeded? We know that this past period must be long; we know not how long. Who shall prove to use that the forces which we ourselves witness are too weak, or unfit, to produce all the facts of position which the earth's crust exhibits? Such is the reasoning of the advocate of the geological adequacy of the existing dynamical laws of the world."

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Geology Johnson @geologyjohnson.bsky.social · 4h

I used to be highly sceptical of the Francevillian material. Then I dropped a bit of Proterozoic shale and found some weird structures on the surface... #geology #Paleontology

Asher Hellbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 8h

In 2010, a scientist argued that 2.1 billion-year-old African specimens showed complex life appearing 500 million years ahead of schedule. His critics say they are — literally — fool's gold. At stake? The question of when and how complex life arose at all.

My cover story (!) for @sciam.bsky.social!

These Enigmatic ‘Fossils’ Could Rewrite the History of Life on Earth

Controversial evidence hints that complex life might have emerged hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought—and possibly more than once

www.scientificamerican.com

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Alka Tripathy-Lang @dralkatrip.bsky.social · 4h

My latest for @earthscope.org combines Silurian reef systems with seismology! The highlighted research looks at how to parse noisy seismic data from a single station in the Chicago area. ⚒️🧪

www.earthscope.org/news/chicago...

Chicago’s seismicity captured by single seismic station | EarthScope Consortium

Model catalogs quarry blasts, heavy machinery noise, and other anthropogenic signals that can muddy seismic data.

www.earthscope.org

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Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · 20h

A large granite corestone once embedded in saprolite, now resting on or close to the intact bedrock surface at a granite quarry near Milbank, South Dakota. Glacial sediment behind and around it. Right: Close-up of some saprolite still attached to the boulder

A very large subrounded boulder partly embedded in glacial sediment. There is a person for scale running across the outcrop on the right.

Closeup of boulder surface with a rind of yellowish and dark-stained saprolite.

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Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 18h

Blerg... have not eaten yet today but job application submitted before deadline.

Yay.

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Seismological Society of America @seismosocam.bsky.social · 18h

Lahar early warning at Santiaguito volcano in Guatemala is moving toward operational use, according to a new #SRL paper. ⚒️

pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...

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Nadine, Haunter of Rocks 👻 @nadwgab.bsky.social · 11h

288 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Afghanite:
- A feldspathoid mineral
- Forms in altered limestone xenoliths or in veins cutting lazurite
- Named after Afghanistan, where it was first discovered in 1968 #minerals

Dark inky blue and pointy shaped afghanite crystal perched on white marble. From Badakhshan, Afghanistan.

Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.

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Erika Anderson @andersonmineral.bsky.social · 9h

The answer is tanzanite!! It’s a mineral only found in one area of Tanzania and it shows trichroism.
#GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Erika Anderson @andersonmineral.bsky.social · 1d

Another Guess the Gem for this week!! What mineral do you think these gems are? Hint: its colour depends on which side of the crystal you are looking at.
#GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Two gems in white plastic gem cases on white foam surrounded by the edges of other gem cases. The left gem is greyish blue oval-ish cut and the right is a dark purple blue rectangular-ish cut. At the Hunterian.

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Dave Petley @davepetley.bsky.social · 7h

Satellite images of the parts of #Mexico affected by heavy rainfall in recent days are being captured by @planet.com. This is the area around Conquextla, for example. There are many shallow landslides, some of which have combined to create channelised debris flows. This pattern is repeated widely.

Planet image of the area around Conquextla in Mexico, showing multiple shallow landslides.

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Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️) @cambriancam.bsky.social · 7h

Happy National Fossil Day! And happy Birthday to my mom. The one who encouraged me to stay curious and to never give up on my dreams. ❤️ ⚒️ 🪨 🎉

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Seismological Society of America @seismosocam.bsky.social · 6h

Illuminating Subsurface Structures Beneath Lake George Fault Zone, Southeast Australia with Traffic Noise #SRL ⚒️

How do you use traffic to map faults? A new #SRL paper explores this question in SE Australia.

pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...

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Dr. Wendy Bohon @drwendyrocks.bsky.social · 5h

Tomorrow is ShakeOut!

On October 16 you can join geologists from the @cageosurvey.bsky.social at Tech Interactive in San Jose and in the California Natural Resources Agency Building as we talk about earthquake science and how to be earthquake ready.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 6d

Love plane window geology! I “discovered” sand dunes in Nevada that I never knew were there!

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 9d

Wishing you a successful and speedy job hunt, Cian!

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 10d

Such a loss. She was a treasure.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 11d

Cool Storymap!

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13d

Me, too!

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13d

Such a tragic fire. Kudos for helping! Bonus: win for kyanite!

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River Cavy ♿️ @rivercavy.bsky.social · 13d

Finally it was Kyanite’s year!!

Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13d

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

www.mineralcup.org/2025

2025 — Mineral Cup

www.mineralcup.org

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13d

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

www.mineralcup.org/2025

2025 — Mineral Cup

www.mineralcup.org

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13d

#MtinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 13d

We have a #MinCup25 champion!!

Congratulations, #Kyanite!
www.mineralcup.org/2025

After eight years of competing, another few hours to verify votes was nothing, right?

Amazing first run, #Tugtupite, and better luck next year.

2025 — Mineral Cup

www.mineralcup.org

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Ted Brassfield @tedbrassfield.bsky.social · 13d

#CompleteTheCount!

#MinCup25 was hit by hundreds of votes in the final moments of the campaign and we won't know who won until every vote can be verified.

Hopefully they are all legit votes. If anyone voted by bot - they are the worst. This is a fun annual event and cheating would be a waste of

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 13d

And that’s time!

But, uh, who’s the winner?

With a surge of hundreds of votes in the final moments, our host is throttling access to the data we need to perform audits. It’s going to be at least a few hours. 🙃

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 14d

#MinCup25 Final: After a month of learning and laughter, we’re at the final match to determine the 2025 Mineral Cup Champion! We have blue blades of #kyanite up against optical magician #tugtupite.

Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r5...
Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

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Martin Hajovsky @martinhajovsky.bsky.social · 13d

The new Ore Cup will have entries of which Mineral Cup voters have mourned losses in the past, including copper! #MinCup25 #OreCup25

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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 13d

Volunteering is so worth it (although I did not have as much time as I would have liked this year). #MinCup behind the scenes is so much more exciting 😍

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 13d

Ever wonder about who makes Mineral Cup happen?

Here’s the #MinCup25 volunteer team! www.mineralcup.org/2025/volunte...

Want to join us? We’re always recruiting more volunteers!

Volunteers — Mineral Cup

www.mineralcup.org

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Mika McKinnon @mikamckinnon.bsky.social · 13d

Behind the scenes notes:
In honour of how ridiculous it was to untangle the literal last 13 minutes of #MinCup25, I’m making popcorn before writing the season finale!

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