Geobulletin alpha

New Poll on Rockfall Funding in Colorado 

Roads and Bridges magazine has a new poll out regarding rockfall mitigation funding for the Colorado DOT. According to the magazine, limited funds are forcing the agency to prioritize and be creative when tending to these hazards. The poll asks if there should be dedicated funds for rockfall mitigation? What do you think? [Source: Please visit Roads and Bridges website and look for the poll on the right-hand side to voice your opinion. Image: Aspen

NASA Mars orbiters reveal seasonal dust storm pattern 

For six recent Martian years, temperature records from NASA Mars orbiters reveal a pattern of three types of large regional dust storms occurring in sequence at about the same times each year during the southern hemisphere spring and summer. Each Martian year lasts about two Earth

Scientists getting organized to foster more accuracy in media’s coverage of climate change 

Guest post by Emmanuel Vincent While 2016 is on track to easily surpass 2015 as the warmest year on record, some headlines, in otherwise prestigious news outlets, are still claiming that “2015 Was Not Even Close To Hottest Year On Record” (Forbes, Jan 2016) or that the “Planet is not overheating…” (The Times of London,

Results from a short visit to the Florissant Fossil Quarry 

As part of my vacation last fall I had an hour or so to kill in my schedule and happened to be passing near Florissant, Co. The town is well known for the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument which preserves an ancient lake bed from the Eocene that was near a field of volcanoes. The volcanoes would erupt with lots of ash and this would rain onto the lake and the surrounding environment. As the ash settled it would cover anything that happened to be floating on or above the lake surface. [...]

Dust storm closes I-10 east of Tucson 

Dust storms have closed Interstate 10 east of Tucson near the New Mexico border multiple times in recent weeks. It's happening again. Here is a picture of I-10 taken at 4 p.m. today east of Willcox at mile marker 376.  [Credit, AZ Dept. of

Mapalomalia: First web geological modeling platform 

Mapalomalia lets geologists create and visualize 3D geological models from their browsers. It’s a free to use geological modeling platform. I hope people will use it to convey information about our planet that helps humankind to tackle big problems and at the same times makes geological modeling easier. I have developed it with input from many geologists, and by releasing it early I hope to receive more input from many more geologists. Just sign up here to start creating models. [...]

Hindia sphaeroidalis sponge from the Viola formation of Oklahoma 

I found one specimen of the sponge fossil called Hindia sphaeroidalis. in the Viola formation roadcut south of Sulphur, OK. This species spans many millions of years and is known in rocks from the Ordovician up through the lower Devonian. I've also found examples of this species from the lower Devonian aged Kalkberg formation of New York, but there they seemed to get much larger. The shape of the fossil is like a large pea with many small openings on all surfaces. The round shape seems to [...]

The Diversity of Echinoderm Anuses! 

This week, in the category of "one of those posts only Echinoblog could write"! Let us explore the vibrant diversity of echinoderm anal structures!! Perfectly SAFE for Work! even though it contains the word "anal" and "anuses" several times! WOO!! Echinoderms are pentaradial (aka pentameral). That is they show a form of radial symmetry wherein their body always occurs around a

Scenes from a Superbloom (Part 2), and Evidence of a Snowball Earth (in Death Valley???) 

Death Valley is a wondrous place at any time of the year, although it can be darned uncomfortable. There is value, however, in understanding the limits of human existence, which is something you indeed experience when the temperature reaches 120 degrees or so. I prefer visiting at times other than summer as a rule, and late winter is often ideal. We've been bringing students out here

Coelospira virginia brachiopod from the Bois d'Arc formation of Oklahoma 

When I'm out collecting I often pick up anything that looks like it might be a fossil and sometimes I know what it is while other times it just looks similar to another shell. Such is the case with Coelospira virginia. This is a very small shell that I probably thought was an Atrypina sp. when I tossed it into my collecting bag. It wasn't until I got home and really looked closely at it that I saw there was a difference. White it does have the same rounded shape as Atrypina sp. with a wide fold [...]

Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most? 

First, the bad news: a study out yesterday says that the lives of up to 13 million people in the United States may be disrupted by sea-level rise in the next century–more than  three times most previous estimates. Unlike some other studies, this one accounts for projected population increases along coasts–part of why its forecast is so... read

Proud of the Linux world 

Sometimes I have something to tell, but also need to realize that it is not so easy to explain. How many times have you heard of Linux, or maybe Ubuntu? Probably very often, right? I imagine that the comments were (between you and those who spoke, newspaper or friend who is): “Do I need to delete Windows?”, “It is easy, just if you know to program!” or “but there are problems with the printer…” But what makes me proud is when I ask the question, but you [...]

Evolving Geographic Information System: OpenWebGIS plans & its crowdfunding campaign 

Perhaps you have already used in your work OpenWebGIS or just have seen it or read about it. Due to this system exists since 2014. But we will describe OpenWebGIS briefly. It is an open source online/offline geographic information system for work in web browser or mobile app. Since its foundation, a great number of users have benefited from using this system functions. The site and the blog have been visited tens of thousands of times. Over this time the system was worth mentioning in [...]

No, Terence Mills does not believe his “forecast” 

Another day, another bit of clickbait climate sceptic trash in the Times. Hidden behind a paywall, which saves you from having to read it, though some of it is republished here and the underlying report (not peer reviewed) is on the GWPF site here. The basic premise is that if you fit a nonsense model with no trend or drift, you generate a forecast with no trend or drift (though with

The efficiency of the Earth as a heat radiator - Part 4 

The bit about early life having a devastating environmental impact is just a shot at the greenies.  What goes around comes around, there isn't anything that the Earth hasn't experienced before, many times.  Digression:  We have no logic that takes us from organic molecules to DNA.  For a while I thought about Galactic Seeders, but now I believe in my "Theory of Evolution of Primordial

Linux - Homeless in Google-land 

Inspiration Apple is going nuts in start-up acquisitions, but it is horrible to actually work for them.  That's why they pay these 'aqui-hires' many times more to stay with the company.  They can buy the company but nobody actually has to go work for them. Naturally, this may cause friction with the regular employees who get all the 'company town' perks, because the cost of living is

Abstract deadline for EGU 2016 fast approaching: A first-timer’s guide to the 2015 General Assembly 

Are you considering attending the upcoming EGU General Assembly in Vienna? The conference brings together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences.. This year, the meeting will be held from the 17 to 22 April at the Austria Centre Vienna. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is upon us, closing next Wednesday the 13th January at 13:00 CET. With 12,000 participants in a massive venue, the conference can be a [...]

Dreams of Summer and Southwest Travels: Hole in the Wall, Mojave National Preserve 

Christmas is over and suddenly the snow and blizzards aren't so fun any more. I find myself dreaming of warmer places and times, including a great journey we took last summer across the southwest with my students. Since my current travels are over until February, I'm going to travel through the archives to check out some marvelous geology along our southwestern tier of states: Arizona,

Monday Geology Picture: Aulacephalodon Selfie 

This week’s Monday Geology Picture is an aulacephalodon selfie that I took with the aulacephalodon model that is on display in the Geology Department at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Try saying that three times fast: aulacephalodon selfie, aulocephalodon selfie, aulacephalodon selfie! Can you say it without stumbling? I certainly can’t! So, what is an aulacephalodon? Here’s a description from the information sign next to the sculpture: Aulacephalodon was a [...]

How a QGIS plugin saved my day: autotrace 

One of my favourite horror exercises for students was the digitization of geological maps. Everyone hated it as you need to take of snapping options, correct attributes, and always needed to check with the background map which was most of the times a bad quality scan of an old never-heard-of-this-country geological map. Today I needed to do this work for myself… what goes around, comes around. Digitizing polygons or the pain in the arse… The main problem in my recent case: [...]