#sciennce

The Deadly Maroon Bells

The Maroon Bells are a pair of peaks in the Rocky Mountains that rank among the most photographed in the world, and are also among the most deceptively dangerous. The Bells are fourteeners, meaning that both peaks exceed 14,000 feet, or in metric terms, more than 4,200 meters. The peaks’ distinctive maroon hues gives a hint to its composition; the Bells are actually made up slightly metamorphosed layers of iron-enriched mudstone that can be easily weathered, unlike many other peaks in the Rockies that are made up of more durable granite and marble. It is these unstable sedimentary layers that gives the Maroon Bells their notoriety — most of the hiking trails are littered with loose rubble that has killed a number of hikers in separate accidents during the 1970s.

To anyone who has taken an introductory geology course, this may raise some questions. Mudstone is a type of sedimentary rock, a class of rocks that is most prone to weathering and erosion, so how is it possible that flaky mudstones make up two of the tallest peaks in the Rocky Mountains?

Two regional tectonic events, which occurred tens of millions of years apart, are the main reasons for this geological anomaly. About 300 million years ago, colliding plates pushed together to form mountains that rose in what would become modern Colorado. Over time, these sierras were weathered and eroded away, depositing sediments in valleys that were slowly oxidized to today’s rusty maroon. About 200 million years after the collapse of these peaks, the same colliding plates built up another series of ridges underneath the resting maroon sediment. This second mountain-building event would eventually form the modern Rocky Mountains, but only the Maroon Bells retain the maroon sedimentary layers that are visible today.

-DC

References and further reading: http://bit.ly/1boK5VI

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Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1GpghmB

Vacation and hiking trail ideas: http://bit.ly/1JkJ3so

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Researchers in Brazil say they are facing increasing threats since the election of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro as the country’s president in October 2018. In an unprecedented development since the country regained democracy in 1985, scientists and academics who work in Brazil are feel less safe, and some have even started to leave the country. Female researchers especially appear to be targeted.

The trend is directly related to Brazil’s current political climate, according to the charity Scholars at Risk (SAR), which promotes academic freedom. Pleas from Brazilian scientists for the organisation’s help have grown from a single case in 2017 to at least 18 since the beginning of the presidential campaign last July, according to an interview with a member of the NGO published by Brazilian outlet Agência Pública.

Débora Medeiros, who monitors Brazil for SAR, says there’s a qualitative change in these cases. ‘Even though attacks on academic freedom are not new in Brazil, the cases we saw before didn’t lead professors to take to exile – we’re seeing that now,’ she tells Chemistry World.

Bolsonaro affiliates have primarily targeted public universities, which are the largest contributors to research and development in Brazil. The most visible effort to shut down debate has come from Escola Sem Partido, a conservative political initiative supported by education minister Ricardo Vélez that aims to restrict perceived ideological indoctrination in academia by limiting the freedom of teachers and professors to express their views on topics like gender or politics.

Because female researchers work more often than their male colleagues in fields that are perceived as ideological by the government and its supporters, observers say they are more likely to be targeted. Those who study issues related to gender, indigenous rights, feminism and race equality in Brazil have been singled out, but there is growing concern among researchers in the sciences including chemistry.