Merry Christmas! ­­¡Feliz Navidad!

Thursday Video: Further Up Yonder

Courtesy of Giacomo Sardelli

The year reaches its end, and I think this is the last Thursday Video post of 2012. It doesn't really have much to do with structural geology, but it is beautiful. Very. Probably you have already seen it, because it has been a big hit in most of social networks. I talk about "Further Up Yonder: A timelapse message from ISS to all Humankind"by Giacomo Sardelli.

As a geologist working in remote sensing with satellite images, I am delighted with the cinematography of this clip. It makes me feel happy I am a geologist, and what this video show is our playground.

Enjoy it and share it! And find out more in its Facebook page. 


Further Up Yonder from Giacomo Sardelli on Vimeo.

"Structural Geology", by Haakon Fossen

Rainy summer day in Delft, The Netherlands. I look for cover and I enter into a bookshop -how convenient for a book-addict-. I end up buying a nice Parker pen and an uncommon souvenir: a copy of “Structural geology” by Haakon Fossen. Somehow, it sounds slightly like “The Neverending Story”. Like Bastian, I have been absorbed by a book. It's a long time since I bought my last geologic book in an actual physical shop, and not on a website. It must be special.

Haakon Fossen is Professor of Structural Geology at the University of Bergen. Apart from his academic background, Haakon has also worked in the oil and gas industry. You can learn more about him and his interests on his website.

The book, published by Cambridge University Press, is an excellent manual on the principles of structural geology. But before commenting on the text itself, I'd like to remark that the material quality of the book is superb. This book simply says “read me, read me more”. Published in an A4 (kind of) size hardback format and full colour glossy pages. Rich in illustrations, sharp photographies and analogues.

Divided in twenty-one chapters, the text covers a wide range of topics organised in a sequence that travels from the realm of the small and the infinitesimal to the tectonic regimes that shape our planet. After an introduction to the basics of structural geology, Haakon immediately continues with topics on strain and stress, brittle and ductile deformation and regional regimes (i.e. contraction, extension, transpression and transtension and salt tectonics) and relevant techniques in structural analysis (i.e. cross-section balancing and restoration). The last chapter provides an integral view of structural geology, as a summary.

Each chapter is thoroughly illustrated, from an opening full-page image to the broad variety of tables, illustrations and block diagrams that feed the reader's sight page after page. Most of the examples are taken from up-to-date literature, displaying field photos, seismic features, sand-box and other scaled analogues, etc.; all very sharp and with very good printing quality.

The 3D block figures are nicely drawn and fit perfectly their aim. They portrait the discussed topics clearly and in detail. End-member diagrams are also abundant in the text They are clear, complete and not overloaded with too much detail that would mask their purpose. Just for that reason this book is a “must” for any student and professional of the Earth sciences.


Haakon's writing is very enjoyable. Easy to follow, fluid and precise. He writes straight to the point, with accuracy and efficiency. The text is easy to follow, as it is very careful in providing good and rich definition and continuous examples. I personally like very much the constant use of mathematical expressions supporting the definitions. A very basic knowledge of linear and matrix algebra will suffice. In depth explanations and short case studies are left for very handy and visually attractive boxes. Each chapter closes with a summary, review questions and a recommendation on further reading. The book closes with two appendixes (one on the deformation matrix, very enjoyable -really!-, and another on stereographic projection) a very useful glossary, the description of the cover pictures of each chapter and the index.

Is that all? No. Because the book, actually, extends out of itself. At the end of each chapter the reader can find a recommendation on a e-module, also authored by Haakon, and freely available online in the companion website at cambridge.org . The reader can also find in there all the images of the book in different resolutions, presentations, excel spreadsheets, sample chapters and so forth. Find out more here.

If you have to recommend or buy a book on the principles of structural geology, this is the one.

Structural Geology, by Haakon Fossen (2012). Hardback published by Cambridge University Press. 480 pages, 549 colour illus. Dimensions: 276 x 219 mm.

Buy at Amazon.com ¦ Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.ca ¦ Amazon.es ¦ Amazon.de ¦ Amazon.fr

Thursday Video: Fracking!

The fracking issue in the United Kingdom is being reignited once again since the Chancelor George Osborne has shown in his Autumn Statement support to the the industry in this field, with tax advantages and other iniciatives.

I cannot have an opinion on this topic simply because I don't have enough information. But I find annoying how people who become specialists after reading two or three posts in a forum have a ground and solid opinion, not based on facts and data but on opinions of others.

How much of the arguments against fracking are pure myths? How much the economy really benefits from this shale production? Surely there are pros and cons, but like in many other topics, "controversy" many times is simple ignorance and fanatism. It reminds me the "controversy on evolution": There is not such controversy, full stop.
It's actually difficult to find reliable information on it.

Is Blackpool going to collapse? No.

Is fracking causing earthquakes? Perhaps Mw 2.3 or 1.5 events, but hardly anything that doesn't already occur naturally in the British Isles

Is the Large Hadron Collider kill us all? Well, do you see what I mean with "controversies". A controversy is good, it sparks debate. A "controversy" is not. I doesn't spark anything.

Most of sources are biased to one side or to the other, and hardly anyone speaks about the geomechanics behind, about the drilling technique, about the geology involved... The truth is that we consume more and more energy, and we need to get it from somewhere. We all know that oil and gas is a patch and not a permanent solution to our energy needs. But as long as we live in as we do now (heating systems based on gas, cars running on petrol), we need fossil fuels and this is not an option.

This week The Independent published a story that, in my opinion, is just bad journalism. "The great rush: Government to give green light to mass exploration for shale gas", simply don't talk about what is actually fracking. It just echoes the arguments of Greenpeace, and this is all. The media has been repeating that for two or three days now:

"They suggest more than 32,000 square miles – or 64 per cent of the countryside – could potentially be exploited for shale gas and is being considered for exploration licences."

So what? It doesn't mean that this 64% of countryside will contain profitable prospects. Most of the surface of any country is potentially open for exploration of mineral deposits, and we don't live in open pits, do we?

Unfortunately, geology is an unknown topic for the vast population. Hardly anyone stops to think "one moment... this earthquakes in Blackpool, CAN they actually be produced by some fluid injection in the rocks down my feet?"

This short clip I found in YouTube is quite appropiate for today. . It's an animation that illustrates part of a talk given by Prof. Mike Stepheson asking, precisely, for information. The public needs information, not ready-made ideas and opinions. And then, they will decide what is best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKW4_UGVGBw

And yeah, keep wearing shorts and tshirt at home while outside is freezing. That really helps the debate.

Any opinion? Any good source of information? Let's discuss. :-)

I find the term "fracking" awesome. I think I will use it as substitute of the F word. "What do you think of this fracking shales thing, pal?"

Photo: normal faults in the Betic Cordillera

Journal of Structural Geology is one of the publications I like the most in our field. I have full access to it included in my Geological Society membership, and I enjoy taking a look to the abstracts every now and then. I usually try to read a paper from JSG every second week or so. I am not always successful in this!

This month catched my attention a beautiful outcrop depicted in the "Photograph of the month" article,  provided by Fabrizio Agosta, from the University of Basilicata, Italy, and it display a recent trench dug for a highway in Granada, Spain, where Triassic basement (marbles) are in contact with beach deposits of Tortonian age (Upper Miocene). Those deposits are beautifully deformed during extension in the Betic Cordillera by several normal faults, forming a typical conjugate pattern alternating synthetic and antithetic faults.

I find two things very interesting: first, the strain concentration near the marble; second, that the cut is actually double, as there is a smaller slope near the foreground, adding an extra third dimension to the structure. Beautiful!

Take a look here. You can download a pdf and a high resolution version of the photo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2012.09.006

I really would like to include a low quality version of the picture here in this article, but even though the very short article is freely accessible, it would cost me just to embed the photo £18.57. Funny non-open access world!

Online plate tectonics

The Geological Society of London revamped their website a couple of months ago or so. It's basically the same site as before, but better organised and with a much nicer layout and design. Thumbs up for this!.

 

One of the things I like the most is the "Online plate tectonics" site, aimed to students aged 14 - 16 (I personally think any person will enjoy it, at any age). The site starts with an interactive introduction to the distribution of plate boundaries, volcanoes and earthquakes. It has also sections on the pioneers of plate tectonics, explanations about the geochemical and geomechanical properties of plates, and how the plate tectonics have shaped the geography of the United Kingdom. It also counts with tests and glossary areas, where the young visitor can check their knowledge and find answers to their questions.The teachers also have their area, with indications and guidelines.

A great initiative for kids, teachers and general public alike. It doesn't matter how much you know about plate tectonics, you will like this site and you will bookmark it!

Enjoy it and spread it.

http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Home/Plate-Tectonics

Industrial Structural Geology: Principles, Techniques and Integration

The Geological Society of London organises this week the Industrial Structural Geology: Principles, Techniques and Integration conference, from the 28th to the 30th of November.

A bit late, but if you are around registration is still open. It costs £150 for fellows (£250 for non-members) and £30 for students.

The program is here: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/en/Events/~/media/shared/pdfs/specialist%20and%20regional%20groups/petroleum/ISG_Final%20Programme.ashx

You can find more information at the GeolSoc. I will be there on Wednesday and Friday, if you fancy a drink (or two...)

Undiscovering a ghost island in the Pacific

Geographic exploration of our the lands of our planet is basically done and we can say confidently that there are not major unknown features out there. People still find waterfalls in the Amazon and the Himalayas -vertical features not easily detected with satellite data- , or relatively small rivers in the jungle -streams covered by jungle- but we have such a good coverage of the Earth by many sensors onboard satellites, that we can hardly imagine a team of explorers discovering a new river or an island.

What published yesterday the Guardian is actually quite the opposite: a team of marine scientist in the search of an island that, even though it was mapped in Google Earth as Sandy Island near New Caledonia it didn't really exist. So they undiscovered it!

The team on board the RV Southern Surveyor, led by geologist Maria Seton, from Sidney University, embarked on a voyage to research plate tectonics in that part of the Pacific, and passing near the location of the island, decided to investigate it, as they had found discrepancies about its more essential nature: even though Google Earth spotted it, the island didn't appear on the navigation chart of the vessel and no images of it where available.

What did they found? Nothing.Waters not less shallow than 1300 m and not a single evidence of the presence of the island. Check out the location in this map:

View Larger Map

The article in almighty Wikipedia on the Sandy Island reports that some amateur radio enthusiasts had already "undiscovered" the island in 2000, but the story didn't circulate. In that article also explains that it could be a case of a copyright trap -a cartographic method of introducing deliverated errors in order to detect unauthorised copies of a map-.

Do you know any similar case of copyright traps? I do them sometimes in my geological maps!

By the way, you may not know the story of the Landsat Island, an island not mapped before being observed on Landsat images! 

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/22/sandy-island-missing-google-earth

Isopach maps vs isochore maps

Thickness maps are a fundamental tool in structural geology. They represent thickness variations and thickness trends of a given unit. Isochore and isopach maps are two different types of thickness map. To make it clear from the beginning:

• An isopach is a line that connects points of equal true thickness (i.e. measured perpendicular to bedding), whereas...
• an isochore is a line that connects points of equal vertical thickness. 

Fig. 1.- A constant thickness layer is drilled at different angles by three wells

Figure 1 depicts a perfect cilindrical fold, where the western flank dips more than the eastern flank. Well 1 cuts the yellow bed at a higher angle than well 3, and therefore, the vertical thickness found in well 1 is larger than in well 3. Well 2 cuts the bed where is horizontal, and therefore the vertical thickness equals the real thickness. The real thickness of the yellow bed is constant: 500 m.

If we would do an isopach map of the yellow unit, it would show a constant value of 500 m, because this unit doesn't show any thickness (true) variation... It would be a pretty boring map :-). But it would be telling us quite a lot already; for starting, we could think we are dealing with a parallel fold formed by flexural flow (for example).

Fig. 2-. Isochore map for the yellow unit in figure 1.

Figure 2 shows the isochore map -contours for equal vertical thickness- for the yellow bed depicted in figure 1. Red colour indicates minimum vertical thickness, whilst purple shows maximum value. You can see that it shows what you can see in the cross section: we would measure increasing vertical thickness as we move away from the hinge of the fold, as the dip of the bed increases and therefore we would cut the yellow bed at a higher angles.

We can see that the difference between an isopach map and an isochore map is quite obvious and simple to understand. Unfortunately, some people interchange both terms, and too many times we can see isochore maps refered to as "isopach maps"

If we would get the map from figure 2, and somebody would tell us that this is a isopach map over and anticline, we could wrongly conclude that the real thickness around the hinge line of the fold is smaller than in the flanks, and we would probably think that we have in front of us as growth anticline, for example. 

Another error may come from working with seismic surveys and not realising that if you take a surface representing a top unit, and you substract another surface representing a bottom unit, the result is a isochore map, not a isopach map.

Hence... how many structures have been wrongly studied, how many wells haven't reached a target because somebody used wrong a simple word? Better not even to know it! And this is considering that everytime we read a vertical thickness in a well log the well was actually vertical and not deviated at all. If you take a surface representing a top unit, and you substract another surface representing a bottom unit, the result is a isochore map, not a isopach map.

If you have any question, just ask in the comments. If you have any suggestion for a new article, just let me know. You are also welcomed to write some contribution!

Cosmos and Carl Sagan Day

I was born at the end of the 70's. One of my earliest TV memories is the Olympic Games of Moscow in 1980. I was 3 and I honestly don't remember much about it. But something I clearly remember from my childhood is watching Cosmos, by Carl Sagan.  I don't remember the program itself, because I was probably too young to understand it, but I know I loved it and I loved its music by Vangelis. I remember the excitement in my young minds, probably mixing Cosmos with Galactica or Martian Chronicles!

Years later, as a teenager, I spent a fortune (by my standards!) buying the VHS collection. I watched it so many times that after a couple of years the tapes were broken.

Today would be Sagan's birthday. He was born on a 9th of November. And today, almost 20 years after he died, people celebrate the "Carl Sagan Day". Sagan was the voice of science, the voice of reason and talked about the Universe in a way that it was impossible not to stop to think what a privileged lot of molecules with conscience we are.

Still today, Cosmos has a deep effect on me. It makes me happy to be a scientist and not any other thing. It makes me happy to have spent many nights in the garden looking up to the January sky through my telescope. It also makes me miss people that were around me in the 80's and they are long gone by now. 

Now you can enjoy it directly in YouTube. Show it to your kids if they speak English! I hope they like it as much as I did 30 years ago.



I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Daniel Herrero. He came to my home the day Carl Sagan died, and that was the first thing he told me then. I couldn't believe it, and I later, alone, I cried with the book of Cosmos in my hands. 

Festival of Geology 2012, in London

This Saturday, 10th November 2012, will take place in London the "Festival of Geology", organised by the Geologist's Association. It will run from 10.30 in the morning to 4.30 in the afternoon, and apart from exhibitors (minerals, fossils, tools, maps, etc), and a "Discovery Room" with activities for kids, it will include four talks:

11.30-12.15 pm — Professor Paul Bown
Investigating the History of Climates and life through deep sea drilling.

12.30-1.15 pm — Professor Rory Mortimore
Using fossils in construction projects:  London Tunnels to Stonehenge.

2.00-2.45 pm — Professor Iain Stewart
Seismic Faults and Sacred Sanctuaries.

3.00-3.35 pm — Professor Jenny Clack
Populating Romers’ Gap : rebuilding terrestrial ecosystems after the end-Devonian mass extinction.

On Sunday 11th November, the Festival will continue in three fieldtrips:

Professor Joe Cain: Geological Illustrations at Crystal Palace
Diana Clements & Naomi Stevenson: London Walk: Green Park and Hyde Park Corner
Geoff Downer: The Building of Ramsgate and its harbour

If that was not enough, there is also an Amateur Photographic Competition on any geological topic, with a £100 1st Prize, a £50 2nd Prize and a £25 3rd Prize.

Fancy attending, fancy meeting up? Tell me in twitter or through the comments to this article!

For more information, visit the Geologists' Association.

Geological heritage, 0 - Developers, 1

And that is all.

As it have been communicated in the Facebook page of "Save Siccar Point", the planning application for the installation of a waste-water pipeline at Siccar Point has been approved by the local council. If you don't know what is Siccar Point, I know need to say two words: Hutton's Unconformity.

The statement pusblished at "Save Siccar Point" reads as follows:

Unfortunately, the planning application has been approved by the Council Planning Committee.

We called the council last week and were told nothing had been decided and there was no news and that committee meetings are usually at the end of the month. Today we found out the council planning committee met yesterday morning. It all seems a bit suspect and underhand.

They have added a few constraints to the application, but nothing that will now stop the pipeline being built and the effluent being pumped out into the sea just 150m from Siccar Point.

We can't thank people enough for the time and effort put into objecting to this planning application, but at the end of the day the council have ignored all the excellent objections, said the effluent was none of their concern (it was SEPA's) and have effectively used SNH's approval of the application as the reason why they couldn't object.

We're sorry it hasn't turned out differently, but with the application approved there's little that can be done to stop the pipeline being laid.

Human stupidity doesn't have limits.  When we will learn that we cannot afford to destroy geological heritage, like any other natural heritage. It can't be replicated, duplicated, or emulated. Things happen once and only once in nature

Follow me in Twitter

I have been using Twitter for some weeks, and perhaps you would like to follow me.

http://www.twitter.com/lithospheric
 
I am progressively focusing on geology issues and general science, but please be aware that I also write in Spanish and sometimes I write about social and current affairs. My tweet feed is not exclusive for this blog, as I don't see the need of keeping a different account for each website I have! Also, I try to keep a flow of 70/100 tweets per week, which I think is a good number.

If you decide to follow me, ping me and let me know!

Earth literally, a blog by Philip Allen

The first time I learnt about Philip Allen was reading Basin Analysis, which he coathors together with John Allen. This must-have book that any student has used since it appeared some 20 years ago is a solid and strong summary of what we know in terms of basin evolution. I think I consult it twice a week, and we have at home two different editions (first and second editions... I am not aware of a third edition!)

This morning, I got a recommendation in Twitter to follow him. I checked his profile, and found out that he writes a blog:

http://www.earth-literally.blogspot.co.uk/

His blog is a little treasure. Earth literally. The title says all! You will find geology, in the shape of very useful artigles with thoughts from such a great geologist, and you will also find a more literally side of Philip, whose prose is reach, enjoyable and reflect his wide knowledge of many topics.

Well, go and check it out, follow him! You won't regret it.

J.

Nature on l'Aquila

The echoes of the l'Aquila case, rather disappearing, are becomen louder. Nature has just published a story on the case that may be of your interest

http://www.nature.com/news/l-aquila-verdict-row-grows-1.11683

Many voices have risen asking for joint letters and statements telling the Italian government about their mistake. "GSA should speak" "GeolSoc raise your voice"!.

They are wrong. Communications should be directed to the Italian population, not to their governors/rulers.Italy, like most of countries in Europe, is a democracy where the government and the justice are separated (thanks!), and primer minister don't have, or shouldn't have, a voice in what a judge decides is best.

For that reason, is the people who has to realised that something is very wrong when several scientist are sent to prison for doing their work, which is not looking into a glass ball and predict the future.

EGU short statement on L'Aquila case

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) has provided a brief statement on the L'Aquila case, as follows "

Scientists alarmed by verdict of Italian court The seismological community is deeply concerned about the L'Aquila verdict by an Italian court on 22 October 2012. The manslaughter conviction of six earthquake experts in Italy for failing to give adequate warning of the 2009 earthquake in the city of L'Aquila that killed over 300 people, has occupied the thoughts of large parts of our community. The consequences of this verdict for science in general, and for the exchange of information between scientists and policy-makers in particular, could be drastic. If scientists stop actively engaging with the public to demonstrate the importance of their work, if they refuse to work in hazard-evaluation panels, or if they are afraid of offering scientific advice to the best of their ability, the prime foundations of science – sharing and openly discussing research and increasing knowledge – are no longer met. There are many subtleties to the L'Aquila case, so that the case itself cannot be judged by most of us. Thus, to rather provide a constructive input on the discussion, the current status of earthquake prediction is summarised by scientists of the Seismology Division of EGU. Hannover, 23 October 2012, Charlotte Krawczyk

Source: EGU website 

Personally, I think this is a very complex issue and I won't discuss anything as I lack the legal and causitic ground about this specific case.

Fossil Rock Anthem

I know, is not structural geology... but it is funny. Enjoy this parody of "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO



Thanks to my friend José Lires who shared it in Facebook!

Streetural geology I: Normanton Rd fold belt

Perhaps we spend too much time observing structures, and then we extrapolate our observations to every day stuff.

Perhaps.

Or simply this is really just a miniature fold belt, made in the asphalt in my street! (...hence the name; "Normanton Road Fold Belt"). I'd happily make a cut in order to study the subsurface structure of this fold belt, but I don't think Croydon Council would like that.


What can you see? Can you see some pattern in the little folds? I think I can see that the folds have vergency consistent with the flank where they are, but probably I have to come back to check that out.

(Good news, I have more "Streetural" geology photos already made :) )

Thursday video: Boudinage and Milch-Schnitte

Boudins are competent rock layers that have been stretched into segments, due to layer-parallel extension. Boudinage is the process that forms boudins.

Milch-Schnitte is a type of sweet, popular in Germany, made with two soft spongy cake slices sandwiching a white softer filling made with milk.

What is the relationship between a German sweet and boudins? An experiment made by the guys at the Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geodynamics Group at the RWTH Aachen University (www.ged.rwth-aachen.de), where two pieces of Milch Schnitte are compressed vertically to achieve an extension that causes the boudinaging of one of the brown spongy cake slices.

But, instead of reading me... just watch the video and enjoy!

Video source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX0lFcVp3bA

Thursday Video: metamorphic rocks in the Giant's Causeway

Photo courtesy of Rick, from Flickr

Remember the story a few weeks ago about The National Trust including the creationist hypothesis as a plausible explanation for the origin of the Giant's Causeway (Northern Ireland) at their new visitor's centre?
Let's forget the sectarian nonsense and let's focus in science, the marvel of reason that tries to explain our word through our observations and logical deductions.

Today, for Thursday Video, a film produced by the Open University about metamorphic rocks (and also igneours rocks!) in and around the Giant's Causeway.
Have fun!