Working With Rocks

Lower Falls (by Glenn Fillmore)

this Japanese restaurant closes at 27:00. Last order is 26:45

#geology #geologyrocks #ulexite #TVRock #SpecimenSpotlight (at Museum of Geology, SDSM&T)

Size:  0.5 × 0.5 × 0.4 cm

via reddit

We had an absolutely brilliant time in Kagoshima and hope to return to Kyushu to explore further.

Sandia Mountains at Sunset Albuquerque NM - February 2018 http://michael-massa-micon.tumblr.com Sandia means “Watermelon.” The Spanish who settled Albuquerque called the mountains to the east of the city The Watermelon Mountains. There are a couple interesting aspects of geology and geography which causes this. One, the Sandia Mountains are relatively reflective. There is a lot of granite and other reflective rock in addition to the snow cap which is visible on the mountain during the winter months. Secondly, there is another set of mountains - actually a volcanic ridge flow - on the west side of the valley. This means that the sunlight is obstructed by the western ridge before sunset. If you stand in the valley near the western ridge and look over at the Sandias near sunset, you can watch the shadow of the western mountain ridge slowly flow across the valley toward the eastern (Sandia) mountains. Just as it reaches the base of the mountain, the Sandias turn a deep shade of red. That color, and their long shape, make them look like a giant slice of watermelon sitting on the desert floor. This effect is caused by the fact that red light bends slightly over an obstacle. This is what causes many of our splendid red sunsets. There is a thin band where most of the light is already blocked by the mountain ridge, but the red light is just enough to illuminate the Sandias and give them their watermelon color. Obviously, it takes a lot of patience and a bit of luck to actually capture this watermelon effect. It is also much more impressive in person than can be captured in any image, but this image does show the watermelon color fairly well. MWM

Kīlauea volcano, February 2017

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Reminiscing about studying for mineralogy…so glad it’s summer!