The Lost Geologist

Flowstone, cut and polished

2009-07-10T23:02:00.003+02:00

Another of the samples I cut and polished: This flowstone originates from an exposed karst cavity. The sample is taken from the floor of the former cave that is now infilled with flowstone and other sediments. These deposits form where water flows over rock walls or floors. Looks pretty cool, no?

Flowstone deposit. Upside is down.

Two polished carbonate slabs

2009-07-09T18:38:00.004+02:00

There is no time to write great posts these days because of my continued work on my diploma mapping report. Though I can share some stuff. Today I cut and polished a number of samples to enhance the illustration of my report. I didn't manage to polish them all but a few samples are done and I want to share two of the more spectacular ones.

First, I cut and polished a sample I already discussed here. Back then I thought it to be a carbonate tempestive with an erosive base. Right now I am not that sure. Either way the cement is entirely sparitic from the shells upward. Below one can also find micritic and sparitic cement. Very few ooids are cut and truncated by shells. So maybe it is still a storm layer or a very proximal debris flow of carbonate sand. You can find a wild mixture of grains from shells, snails, foraminifera even, ooids, coated grains, aggregate grains, etc.

Event layer? The upside is up in the image.

Second is a cut sample of an oncoid bed that I also discussed earlier. These wonderful and easy to recognise oncoids show a great, irregular laminae, one as a gastropod as a nucleus and two of them are obviously bored with internal boring sediment. I am not so sure how to interpret the contacts between the oncoids. First I thought them to be slightly deformed by each other. Meaning they would have been still soft enough for that to happen. Some partial laminae seem to have broken off. But then some contacts look a little like pressure solution seams and the laminae are abrubtly truncated. The matrix is a carbonate mud with shells, snails and other stuff that I didn't bother to check out, yet.

(My excuses, I accidentally messed-up the scale. The scale in the oncoid image is suppossed to be 4 cm not 6 cm.)

Bored oncoids with snail nucleus

Finally some pages...

2009-07-06T23:09:00.002+02:00

I don't quite know what changed but today I finally managed to overcome my week-long writing blockade and succeeded in writing 3 and a half pages of outcrop descriptions. That's six outcrops described in detail - without images and rose diagramms, yet. Cross your fingers for me that I manage to keep up this daily routine and perhaps even increase it a little. Once I caught-up on my writing some good ideas to blog about will most likely return, too.

Why it is so quiet here...

2009-07-02T14:31:00.003+02:00

Studying at an under-funded university that abandoned their department of economic geology just when I got here is highly unsatisfactory. Sadly changing places again is out of the option - I do not want to lose another semester or two or three. I don't even want to think of the financial problems that would come with that.

The recent lack of posting is somehow related to that. I am fighting with my motivation to get the diploma mapping report done. Gladly I do not have problems with the material itself but working without having any goal to work for is a fairly demotivating task. Unfortunately the only professor interested in and willing to help me with a thesis in economic geology (something with ore!) has no funds to work with. Remember we don't have a department anymore, thus no funds, no research, etc. I applied in the industry but only got two offers that are even worth considering as a thesis. None of them will bring me any closer to what I really want. Actually they'll be leading me right in the other direction. Limestones are nice and it's a resource but, well, where is my ore?

Please excuse the current lack of posting. It might continue for a while until I find something worthwhile to do.

What's your daily writing pensum?

2009-06-21T16:02:00.002+02:00

For all those of you who have to write papers, reports, thesis or your PhD. You may know I am currently writing my Diploma Mapping Report. The maps are done and with my supervisor (who liked them very much) since early June. Since then I should have been writing the report. But I didn't have much progress. Gladly I am still out of problems reach concerning my supervisors and I would like to keep it that way.

I want to set myself some strict goals, i.e. a numer of words or pages I must write every day no matter how stupid it looks like. This is mainly to get some content down and would probably be a good morale boost to see that there is something, even if quality may, yet, be lacking.

So I am curious about how you do it:

How do you get yourself to write that paper or report that you really don't feel like writing?

What is the average span of words or pages a day that you consider good?

I believe the trouble is that it is the first time I am working completely alone. Before I always had at least one fellow student or friend as co-worker. Telling your friend that you will be done with chapter X by monday makes quite a difference for writing. No one wants to disappoint his friends, right?

Also I was unlucky in terms of writing location. I didn't manage to get a room at university to work in. We simply don't have enough for every student. The library came to mind but offers too much distraction both in terms of other people looking for books and in the form of said interesting books. Additionally I don't feel like carrying all my books, papers, samples and notebook to it every day.

There is no other location at my university that I could use. So I am stuck in my own, small room at home.

What is your advice?

Geology Rocks! A true rock song!

2009-06-16T15:16:00.002+02:00

Thanks to cottontree from the Geoversum geology forum for posting a link to this incredible rock music video! Geology Rocks! :-)

Geology Rocks Video on Youtube

Accretionary Wedge #17 is up!!!

2009-06-15T11:45:00.002+02:00

The Accretionary Wedge #17: Let's do a Time Warp is up on Outside the Interzone from Lockwood! In this geologic web carneval we will be actively travelling though time to investigate some of the most intriguing events of Earth, otherworldly and pre-univers history. It promised to be an exiting trip with a reasonable chance I suppose to meet Jurassic critters (don't feed them!) and other strange forms of life and more importantly - rocks! So now head over to Lockwood before there are no more free seats! There are plenty of participants!

The Accretionary Wedge #17: The Time Warp!

2009-06-13T13:17:00.006+02:00

One of the main problems in ore geology just like in most other subdivisions of geology is that we always and only see the final result. We are never there watching it from start to end. A very displeasing obstacle to really understand what happened.

But now - thanks to Lockwoord from Outside the Interzone - I have the tool I need to solve what bothers me: A Time Warp generated by the lastest edition of the Accretionary Wedge!

There are plenty of places, events and processes that would be fantastic to watch with my own eyes as they unfold. I'd really love to see if Snowball Earth really was a snowball or sample the very first living cell to probably roam the oceans. Also a small detour to early Mars while it was still warm and wet and friendly to life would sound like a great destination.

But actually I want to go elsewhere. I want to watch an ore deposit form. I want to see it from start to end. To narrow it down I want to be there while the Silesian Mississippi Valley Type district forms. This is not only the largest MVT Pb-Zn district of the planet with 730 Mt of ore but also there is evidence that the largest district of its kind was formed in an increadibly short amount of time! In the hypogenic karst cavities of the Silesian deposits you can find speleothems (see image) growing up and downwards. The point is they don't grow vertically up and down - they show indication of growing into the direction of fluid flow! You heard it right. These dripstones are made from Galenit, Spalerite and other ore minerals growing inside a pipe that the hydrothermal fluid must have been rushing through. There are estimates that the entire ore district formed in less than 50.000 years with some investigators arguing the time of formation could be as little as 5.000 years or less. Certain parts must have literally formed in the course of days and hours with giant streams of hydrothermal metal-rich fluids moving through the cracks and fissures of the host-rocks.

Sulfide speleothem from the Olkuze mine
(Source: Scanned from Conference handout SEG workshop on the Geology of Pb-Zn Ore Deposits, Lima, Peru, 2008. Image from chapters of David Leach)

That would be so cool. To sit right in those caves in a dry spot and literally watch galenite and sphalerite stalacties and stalagmites grow over night.

Not to forget I also want to take a look above ground. You may know there is a relationship between the palaeogeographic position, the palaeoclimate, mountain building processes and the formation of large carbonate-hosted MVT deposits. A hydrological test with tracers would be cool. Seeing where does the water really come from. What is the real flowpath? How are the precipating ores replacing the surrounding carbonates? I want to see and feel it first hand on.

Thats why I want a time warp.

200th Post!

2009-06-12T13:02:00.003+02:00

Woohohohooo!!! This is the 200th post since I began blogging one and a half years ago! Time moves so fast, doesn't it? I should have planed this ahead to have a fascinating celebration post ready - as you can see I didn't. Shame on me....

However, instead I can tell you that I am planing to continue blogging for at least another 200 posts (thats probably sometime around the new year of 2010/11).

Also I've been pondering for a while to make major re-construction of my entire blog. I would like to write more focused and more in depth on what really interests me. Additionally I want to move to a more professional look. I don't quite like the options blogger provides. For now all of this is still brewing in my head while I am working on my diploma mapping report and searching a cool diploma thesis topic.

Last but not least I like to thank all the loyal and active followers of my blog. Your thoughts are always a great enrichment of this blog. Thank you!

P.S. I'm on Twitter now but I didn't quite figure out what I am supposed to do there, yet.

Another blog: Ancient Shore

2009-06-11T19:34:00.002+02:00

Yesterday while surfing the web I came across this nice to read blog by Graham Young called Ancient Shore. Graham is writing from Canada, it's geology and his impressions - usually always somehow connected to the sea-side and the shore. I like the narrative writing style of his. Check it out!

Cool samples from fieldwork #04

2009-06-10T22:20:00.003+02:00

This samples that I took during fieldwork is an ideal example of the Humphriesi-Oolite from the Middle Jurassic. The Bajocian Humphriesi-Oolite is an iron-ooid rich sandy limestone with ooids of up to 2 mm in diameter. According to the available literature it has been mined as an iron ore in the Dark Ages but lost its significance since then. Sadly there is not a single outcrop of this in my entire mapping area. This sample is one of the few good pieces (mostly it looks more like a boring marl with few ooids) of float that can be encountered occasionally. It can be confused with the Aalenian Murchisonae-Oolite which, however, has much smaller oolites and is sparry, marly and can often be found as small plates, unlike the Humphriesi-Oolite.

Iron-oolite with red-brown ooids of up to 2 mm

This sample is cool because the ooids are so wonderfully preserved and can be easily observed even without a magnifying glas!

Gold!

2009-06-09T21:22:00.001+02:00

Lutz from the Geoberg.de-Blog reminded me that there still are some treasures in Germany to be found. Even if they are not as luxurious as the media may be believing. I'm not even half as excited but it sure sounds interesting. Although it is not big news to those working or researching on ore deposits in Germany and especially the Ore Mountains around Freiberg I suppose. Apparently the news has leaked out again that precious metals like Gold can actually be found in the Ore Mountains. Such a nice story for the newspapers...

Back from relaxing

2009-06-06T15:25:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I came back from relaxing a couple of days after completing my diploma mapping project maps. I really needed a break. The first three days I was completely exhausted and could physically feel some stress falling off. Now I have a bit more energy again to write the report to accompany the maps. To my great relief my supervisor found nothing to complain about and is very pleased about my work done so far. Nice! From his mouth that's a very big "job well done"!

Also for the real news: I just mailed my poster abstract to contribute to Geodresden 2009. It is this year's meeting and congress of the DGG (German Geological Association). So my very first conference presentation is on it's way! Woohohooo! Now I have a few months to make a cool poster and hopefull some additional and enhanced thin-sections.

My poster will be about organic microfossils from certain metamorphic rocks I worked on a year ago. I might post more about it closer to the meeting.

One step closer

2009-05-28T14:31:00.002+02:00

Finally! Yesterday I finally wrapped-up my maps and mailed them to my supervisor! I'm a big step closer to completing my diploma mapping project. Yes, writing the report remains but a big worry is off my head now and I have my mind free now to write something good. The maps were driving me insane recently and I am so glad they are finally gone. Time to take a few days off and then return with full strength for a month of report writing and interpretating. A few days off will also benefit my blogging now that I have less to worry about.

What the Lost Geologist is busy with...

2009-05-23T19:26:00.004+02:00

My university is a wonderful place. Really is! We have all kinds of wonderful stuff - except the really useful one. Instead of finding a way to let students use Corel or other specialised software to do important things they found a better way - let the student figure it out by himself (I won't even start with all the other things that don't work - I'm in a good mood still!). That's why I am currently developing a tennis elbow while playing around with various free graphic softwares to design a good, vertical profile of my mapping area.

Screenshot of what I do

I'm busy for two days now with what you can see above. By now I believe I am too perfectionist and should just have scribbled something on a piece of with some pencils. *sigh*

When I am done with it, then it'll deserve a place in an art gallery!

What happened to the Accretionary Wedge?

2009-05-21T13:37:00.002+02:00

Did it already fall to the fate of complete subduction? The site lists #17 for March but I haven't seen nor heard anything about it ever since. Was there one for April? What about May? Or am I just becoming blind and didn't notice? Maybe I'm not the most active contributer but I loved ready each edition.

What happened?

More about RSS feeds for geoscience journals

2009-05-20T12:35:00.007+02:00

Brian from the Clastic Detritus blog wrote about RSS feeds for geoscience journals. I'm glad I could help out with a few more feed adresses. I figured I might just as well share my article feed that I compiled recently of all the journals that I browse for something interesting. Below is a list of the 28 journals I have on my feed. Not all journals seem to have RSS feeds. Those I check manually, i.e. Economic Geology. Blogger doesn't allow me to include the article feed in a blog post so I will add it to my side-bar. You need to scroll down a bit. (I need to do some side-bar cleaning I believe)

P.S.: I forgot to also list the individual RSS feeds. Will update that later today (or tomorrow).

Chemical Geology
Earth-Science Reviews
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Journal of African Earth Sciences
Journal of Geochemical Exploration
Journal of Geodynamics
Journal of South American Earth Sciences
Journal of Structural Geology
Lithos
Marine Geology
Marine and Petroleum Geology
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Sedimentary Geology
Tectonophysics
Ore Geology Reviews
Journal of Petroleum Geology
Basin Research
Sedimentology
International Journal of Earth Sciences
Mineralium Deposita
Facies
Journal of Geosciences
Geofluids
Palaeontology
Lethaia
Terra Nova
Resource Geology

Cool samples from fieldwork #03

2009-05-16T00:31:00.002+02:00

Another great find from my work is an extraordinary large calcite crystal that I managed to recover from one location. Outcrops are really worth checking out in the really unaccessible parts. This one required some climbing and I do have to admit that I did not have the courage to return to the location a second time. I suppose this one formed either by diagenetic processes or karstification in general. Didn't get around, yet, to review my notes on this location. It is a really cool find though! From the same location I also managed to recover a few very tiny fluorite crystals within a boxwork of calcite blades. Perhaps I managed to make fotos of those, too.

Large calcite crystals

By the way: Please excuse the lack of substantial blogging. The diploma mapping report and maps are keeping me occupied more than I want them to.

Cool samples from fieldwork #02

2009-05-13T00:34:00.004+02:00

Here is the biggest belemnite I ever found! Dispite the fact that both ends are missing this is an interesting find especially because of its large size of about 15 cm! I will need some expert advise to correctly identify this one - can't know everything. Poor palaeontology prof will imagine he didn't teach me anything...

Jurassic (Bajocian) belemnite from SW-Germany

Cool samples from fieldwork #01

2009-05-10T18:54:00.005+02:00

During fieldwork I came across a number of really cool fossil and rock samples. For my report I need a couple of good images to illustrate my finds and conclusions. So I had a small foto session today and made some fotos. One of my coolest finds is a plate covered with a lot of crinoid stems and arm fragments that I identified as Isocrinus nicoleti. Since my palaeontology is not so good I will get another opinion from one of the experts at my university though. Anyways, enjoy some nice fotos!

Plate with crinoid stems

Close-up of large stem and arm fragments

Close-up and cross-view of stem fragment. Note the typical star-like appearance.

Should I...?

2009-05-07T22:28:00.002+02:00

...or should I not? Perhaps you remember some early post of mine about a seminar paper discussion chitinozoan finds in phyllites of the Erzgebirge. At the end of september this year there will be a conference - GeoDresden2009 - of the DGG (German Geological Association) in Dresden. Beautiful town by the way! The theme of my seminar paper would fit perfectly to the regional theme of the conference in my opinion though I am a litte...actually very nervous about attending and having a poster. I never did that before and I don't know if my little "investigation" is thorough enough and of sufficient quality. There are only 5 thin-sections and only one of them has a handful of microfossils in them. Being burried in work for my diploma mapping and hopefully in 1 month in my thesis I won't have time to go back to the samples and make new sections. So I basicly need to use what's in my seminar paper unless I get a hold of some old papers I've been looking for for months. Deadline for submission is May 31st.

Any advice?

Geoblog: Carbonate Sedimentology

2009-05-01T10:57:00.003+02:00

I didn't realise it until now but there is a new geoblog out there. Neuwendao is blogging from China about his research interest in carbonate sedimentology, its sedimentation and diagenesis as he describes it. The Carbonate Sedimentology blog was born April 18th and I am keen on seeing more from this new geoblogger who apparently shares a common interest of mine with carbonates.

Book recommendation: Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks

2009-04-30T21:33:00.003+02:00

A while ago I recommended "Carbonate Sedimentology" by M. Tucker for all those interested in carbonate rocks. I would like to add another wonderful work on carbonate sedimentology. While "Carbonate Sedimentology" by Tucker is more focused on the macroscopic aspects of carbonate sediments Erik Flügel has written an all-encompassing work on any kind of carbonate microfacies. His probably well known book titled "Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks" is filled with more than 900 pages of very well researched knowledge combined with many useful microfotographs of many different kinds of carbonates under the microscope. Nineteen chapters will guide you from the introduction to carbonates through any aspect you may imagine. Methods and microfacies data are explained, diagenesis, porosity and classification discussed, the biological origin is highlighted and fossils in thin sections examplefied. Microfacies types are explained, you will learn how to interpret palaeoenvironment, depositional models and read about basin analysis. Also contrains and processes are reflected upon before a discussion of reservoir and host rocks of economic commodities. Last but not least even a link to archaeology is presented followed by an enormous list of references that is even expanded upon in the accompanying CD. Quite a good book - I just wish I had the time to actually read it for real!

Cover of the last edition (2004) of Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks

Karst Webpages

2009-04-29T00:19:00.002+02:00

To re-start blogging after my unwanted hiatus I would like to share a few informative sources on karst and karstification with you. As you may be aware karst is an often re-occuring problem in soluble rocks. Usually found in carbonates (esp. pure limestones) it can also be observed in sulfates or evaporites. Besides influencing limestone resource quality and playing a role the formation of Mississippi-Valley-type deposits (hence my interest) it also is a very important aspect in hydrology and groundwater flow and is recognised as a potential geohazard in the form of sinkholes. Last but not least it can influence petroleum reservoirs.

Karst and the USGS

Speleogenesis

Karst Information Portal

Karst Home Page

Karst - A potential Geohazard and Reservoir

Introduction to carbonates

Computer problems

2009-04-19T17:32:00.003+02:00

UPDATE: The internet is working again at home but I am still missing my own computer. Should be here and working by thuesday. So I should be back to blogging sometime next week.

I wanted my readers to know, especially those of you who are commenting, that I am currently unable to make replies. My computer broke and I am completely cut-off. Thank God I made a complete back-up of my mapping data and everything just a day before the breakdown. No data is lost but I cannot work nor go online with it. So please be patient. I activated the comment moderation again so spam doesn't got out of control. The internet cafe here is quite expensive and I think it will be the only time that I will use it to post. So stay tuned for improvement sometime in the next week or two.