metamorphic rocks
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Category archives for metamorphic rocks
Looking at rocks up close… and not so close
Posted by Kim Hannula on July 6, 2009 One of the tricky things to convey about rocks, especially in a lecture or in a textbook, is the way geologists can see such different things at different scales – from thousands of kilometers to a few micrometers – and the way that all those observations fit together to understanding the processes that shape the…
Articles I want to read: May Geology edition
Posted by Kim Hannula on May 30, 2009 I made a promise to myself that every month, I would at least look through the abstracts on my RSS feeds and note interesting articles that I wanted to find time to read. So now it’s May 30, and I’d better do it before the June issues come out. So… articles in the May issue…
I *heart* phyllites
Posted by Kim Hannula on May 20, 2009 I have a confession to make. My favorite rocks are flaky. Really flaky. Phyllites are the metamorphic rock that gets left out of intro geology labs. They’re kind of like slates, in that they break into slabs. But they’re shiny like schists. The crystals are too small to see with the naked eye – well,…
Hot rocks, thermal insulation, and the giant imaginary comforter in the lower crust
Posted by Kim Hannula on April 15, 2009 The cores of mountain belts formed by continental collisions often contain metamorphic rocks, formed when sediments were buried in the collision and transformed by heat and pressure. But the heat and pressure don’t happen simultaneously – rocks can be buried (and increase in pressure) much faster than they can heat up. When the rocks are…
Chocolate chip cookie tectonics, take two
Posted by Kim Hannula on April 13, 2009 My reviewers commenters on yesterday’s post on chocolate chip cookie deformation had some great points. (Some of them also seem to have been very hungry. For those who want me to experiment more, and to get to analyze the results: looks like I’ve got something that I can promise once the Donors Choose challenge rolls…
Stuff I’m reading
Posted by Kim Hannula on March 4, 2009 There has been a lot of cool stuff posted while I was getting this blog set up. From my Google Reader shared items: Exotic rocks. There’s an art exhibit in Oakland, California, that includes metamorphic rocks from Maine. Why? Because the schists sound like xylophone keys when they’re struck. I knew there was a reason…