allochthonous - Network

And how about till deposited in the last ice age falling and being washed over this winter's snow?In these times especially, getting out...

And how about till deposited in the last ice age falling and being washed over this winter's snow?

In these times especially, getting out and connecting with the landscape is a blessing.

I also liked these sheet ice pinnacles, showing how the ice is interacting with more traditional sedimentary particles.

I also liked these sheet ice pinnacles, showing how the ice is interacting with more traditional sedimentary particles.

Took a nice walk yesterday along a mountain stream in Vermont. It's still not spring, but recent heavy rains and warm spells have...

Took a nice walk yesterday along a mountain stream in Vermont. It's still not spring, but recent heavy rains and warm spells have produced some interesting examples of ice acting as sediment, as sheet ice gets broken up and transported down stream.

#geology #vermont

US energy secretary: “Some of you may die: that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”A trade-off, yes: but who benefits, who suffers the...

US energy secretary: “Some of you may die: that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”

A trade-off, yes: but who benefits, who suffers the side effects, & who gets a say?

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ceraweek-us-energy-secretary-says-global-warming-side-effect-modern-economy-2025-03-10/

It also emphasises how hard it is to actually define a 'general intelligence', and how little we understand about how it actually...

It also emphasises how hard it is to actually define a 'general intelligence', and how little we understand about how it actually emerges from the activity in our own brains.

This isn't to say that an actual artificial intelligence cannot emerge from a different architecture, but if we don't understand how the thing these AI companies are trying to reproduce in silicon works, it does poor cold water on the claims that they are on the verge of doing it.

This is a really nice dig into how LLMs truly differ from the only thing we know that can produce a 'general intelligence': the...

This is a really nice dig into how LLMs truly differ from the only thing we know that can produce a 'general intelligence': the human brain.

Although inspired by them, coded neurons, and the neural networks underlying LLMs and many other machine learning applications, bear only a superficial resemblance to the state of affairs in a biological brain.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/03/ai-versus-the-brain-and-the-race-for-general-intelligence/

Likewise, touting the potential role of the oil and gas industry in finding and accessing deep groundwater is understandable from a...

Likewise, touting the potential role of the oil and gas industry in finding and accessing deep groundwater is understandable from a technological perspective, but rather undermines the argument for the prospect of sustainable use for anyone who has been paying a modicum of attention for the last few decades.

Hmmm. Arguing deep groundwater could be a *sustainable* water source requires a large amount of handwaving about the likely extremely low...

Hmmm. Arguing deep groundwater could be a *sustainable* water source requires a large amount of handwaving about the likely extremely low recharge rates, and ignores our extremely poor record of managing every other water source.

A potentially life-saving option for regions with a sustained water crisis? Sure. But truly sustainable long-term? Unlikely, and it seems reckless to argue otherwise.

http://eos.org/opinions/deep-groundwater-might-be-a-sustainable-solution-to-the-water-crisis

And of course, we get the hallmark contempt of this administration for anything resembling a coherent process:"we're not even sure...

And of course, we get the hallmark contempt of this administration for anything resembling a coherent process:

"we're not even sure what entities are responsible for paying the tariff and how that would be measured and how we would report and pay."

Did not consider installing solar panels as a hedge against a trade war with Canada, but here we are. "#Vermont's energy...

Did not consider installing solar panels as a hedge against a trade war with Canada, but here we are.

"#Vermont's energy sector...[purchases] about $775 million of electricity and $420 million of fossil fuels from Canada per year"

Most of Vermont's imported electricity comes from Quebec hydro, and I have yet to hear if they are following Ontario's lead on electricity tariffs, but still.

https://vtdigger.org/2025/03/03/as-trump-forges-ahead-with-tariff-policy-vermont-braces-for-a-trade-war/

When people search for ‘the principle of superposition’ and don’t specify ‘in geology…’ 😬

When people search for ‘the principle of superposition’ and don’t specify ‘in geology…’ 😬

#SilentSunday #Vermont

#SilentSunday #Vermont

Also thought-provoking: ideas that cities being drowned by human caused subsidence and sea level rise are prime fossilisation sites, and...

Also thought-provoking: ideas that cities being drowned by human caused subsidence and sea level rise are prime fossilisation sites, and that our geological record is - literally - not yet set in stone.

Based on a book co-authored by Jan Zalasiewicz, who was the leader of the (rejected) proposal to formalise the Anthropocene.

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/discarded-9780192869333

"As an eternal testament of humanity, plastic bags, cheap clothes and chicken bones are not a glorious legacy... [but] fast food and...

"As an eternal testament of humanity, plastic bags, cheap clothes and chicken bones are not a glorious legacy... [but] fast food and fast fashion will be our everlasting geological signature."

A really good article, with lots of fascinating speculations on the nature of the 'WTF?!' layer we are in the process of creating for future cockroach geologists.

#geology #Anthropocene

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/22/technofossils-how-plastic-bags-and-chicken-bones-will-become-our-eternal-legacy

Trace fossils and fossil fragments show animals similar to those seen in the Burgess Shale occupied intertidal mudflats in the middle...

Trace fossils and fossil fragments show animals similar to those seen in the Burgess Shale occupied intertidal mudflats in the middle Cambrian - no direct evidence that they did so when they were exposed, but a fairly harsh environment to tolerate nonetheless.

#geology #fossils

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.70001

Long but important quote from this fascinating article on ‘Political Geology’ - our field has a dark history many of us don’t like to...

Long but important quote from this fascinating article on ‘Political Geology’ - our field has a dark history many of us don’t like to reckon with.

#geology

https://miningbeyondhotair.org/2025/02/05/what-is-political-geology/

So the next trick for not complying with court orders against illegal impoundment of funds is to have no-one left capable of disbursing the...

So the next trick for not complying with court orders against illegal impoundment of funds is to have no-one left capable of disbursing the money?
https://www.wired.com/story/national-science-foundation-february-2025-firings/

I also learnt from this paper about glendonite - which is a calcite pseudomorph of ikaite, a hydrous calcium carbonate that only forms in...

I also learnt from this paper about glendonite - which is a calcite pseudomorph of ikaite, a hydrous calcium carbonate that only forms in very cold water and is dehydrated and turns to calcite when it warms up. It can therefore be used as an indicator of glaciation.

http://jsjgeology.net/Glendonite.htm

(I'm genuinely unsure if I never knew this, or forgot this from my carbonate lectures. It seems like something I'd remember, but it was also 25 years ago - I am getting old!)

It's pretty cool we're getting to the stage where we can run continuous Earth System models for the entire Phanerozoic, and we have...

It's pretty cool we're getting to the stage where we can run continuous Earth System models for the entire Phanerozoic, and we have complete enough proxy records to validate them.

caveat is that - as the authors acknowledge - there are considerable uncertainties in, e.g. paleogeographic reconstructions that mean you have to be cautious about drawing conclusions from a single reconstruction.

Permanent ice caps have been quite rare in geological history. This new study suggests that's because you need to right combination of...

Permanent ice caps have been quite rare in geological history. This new study suggests that's because you need to right combination of paleogeography (which affects weathering rates), exposed lithology (different rocks draw down more/less CO2 as they weather, and plate tectonic configuration (which affects volcanic degassing), all working in the same direction, to get into an icehouse.

#geology #earthscience #climate

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adm9798