Geology in the News
Ametrine
26 April, 2020
Ametrine is a quartz mineral with purple and yellow in the same crystal. There is one limited natural source in South America, but there are man-made crystals as well. Buyer beware.
Further information at geology.com
Coronavirus Lockdowns Change Earth's Movement
The lockdowns around the world have created a situation usually only seen at Christmas. The lack of vehicular traffic and the noise of large machinery around the world has created a silence that seismic geologists are loving. They can finally hear the earth without all the interferring noise.
Shorter Day, Longer Year
10 March, 2020
The last non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago had a shorter day (23 1/2 hours) and longer year (272 days) than we have today. The earth is slowing down.
Newsweek Article about it
[photo by Bob Hole of a Gila Bend Tyrannosaur sculpture]
Transitional Fossil Fish
Elpistostege watsoni was a tetrapod-like fish from the Devonian that lived more than 380-million-years ago.
The fossil was found in Quebec, Canada, and shows fin bones in an arrangement very like more advanced tetrapods. It's the earliest known well-developed hand-like structure.
The article is HERE.
Rocks May be the Reason for Life
2 March 2020
Researchers working together from Germany, France and Japan have found that reactions occurying at hydrothermal vents are very similar to microbial metabolism. Processes like this may be linked to the scientific explanation of the origin of life on Earth.
