Tag Archives: earth science

“Canadian company @Recon_Africa drills for oil in the Okavango delta watershed”

This post was originally published on August 5, 2021. It has been updated a few times, lastly on March . The updates that appeared here earlier have been moved to the end of this blog post. The original content has … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 11 – Dino Hunt!

The preamble to this review series is here Posted today, February 12, the 206th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and just in time for tomorrow, another #FossilFriday and another day to watch Dino Hunt! —– Bramble, K., M.E. Burns and … Continue reading

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Extreme tides and Winter ice

Figure 1. Winter ice on the salt marshes of Minas Basin photographed from Wolfville, Nova Scotia, March 1, 2007. View to the North.  What is an estuary? An estuary is a bay with an open connection to the sea. Rivers … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, General geoscience, Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 10 – a question of Iron

The preamble to this review series is here —– Halverson, G.P., F. Poitrasson, P.E. Hoffman, A. Nédélec, J.-M. Montel and J. Kirby, 2011, Fe-isotope and trace element geochemistry of the Neoproterozoic syn-glacial Rapitan iron formation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. … Continue reading

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Nova Scotia’s own Great Unconformity

The Angular Unconformity (U) at Nova Scotia’s Rainy Cove, separating intensely folded and faulted early Carboniferous shales and sandstones of the Horton Group (labeled 1 below the unconformity) and gently inclined, undeformed sandstones and conglomerates of the Wolfville Formation (2) at … Continue reading

Posted in General geoscience, Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A #tsunami is really a tidal wave, except it isn’t

Katsushika Hokusai, Great Wave off Kanagawa. Image from Wikimedia. Original in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the Great Sumatra earthquake which triggered the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed a quarter million people. … Continue reading

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Four Billion Years and Counting: Canada is as old as the Earth and this book tells all

    Just published! 400-pages on Canada’s geologic heritage in both official languages for only $39.95! Order your English language copy here and your French copy here.  The book’s website has tons of freely downloadable illustrations and other materials for … Continue reading

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#Katrina10. #Louisiana is still disappearing

I wrote this blog post in November of 2014. I am reblogging it today, on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Land loss map of South Louisiana. Image source here. Click on image to enlarge.  Is it the weather? No … Continue reading

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Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 8 – Earth in the firing range

The preamble to this review series is here. All reviews in this series are categorized as “Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper” (see right hand column). — Spray, J.G. and L.M. Thompson, 2008, Constraints on central uplift structure from the Manicouagan … Continue reading

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#Women in (Earth)Science: Dr. Lui-Heung Chan (@FindingAda)

It’s 30 years ago this Fall that I registered for ‘Chemical Oceanography’, a graduate level class at Louisiana State University as part of my PhD program in Marine Sciences. The class was taught by Dr. Lui-Heung Chan, a quiet woman whom … Continue reading

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And then there were two: Global #Geoparks in Canada

UPDATE: 19 NOVEMBER 2015. Great News!! Global Geoparks are now official UNESCO sites. “A what? ” “A Global Geopark” “Okay, I give up” Most of you have no idea what a Global Geopark is. That’s not surprising, because – according to my … Continue reading

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Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper – 7: very old warm seas in what is now Nunavut (and why there is a Lead-Zinc ore body there)

The preamble to this review series is here. All reviews in this series are categorized as “Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper” (see right hand column). ===== Turner, E.C., 2009, Mesoproterozoic carbonate systems in the Borden Basin, Nunavut. Canadian Journal of … Continue reading

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Granites, Glaciers and the Ocean: a hike

We hiked, the other day – a well-known coastal trail, but new to me. So much still to discover here and it’s not like we haven’t been trying. The trail is in Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park and takes the … Continue reading

Posted in General geoscience, Geoheritage, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 6 – Would CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers carry an environmental risk for shallow aquifers?

The preamble to this series is here. All reviews are stored in the category “Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper” (see right hand column). ===== Lemieux, J.-M., 2011, (Review:) The potential impact of underground geological storage of carbon dioxide in deep saline … Continue reading

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Canada’s Geoheritage Surge: Geoscience Heritage, Geoparks, Geosites, Geotourism

UPDATE – OCTOBER 20 2014. It’s here! “Four Billion Years and Counting: Canada’s Geologic Heritage”. Offered to you by the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences for CAD$39.95 only – order your copy from Nimbus   —   Left: A fossil tree at … Continue reading

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Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper – 5: refining seismic risk assessment in Canada

The preamble to this series of reviews is here. All reviews can be found under the category “Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper” Atkinson, G.M. and K. Goda, 2011, Effects of Seismicity Models and New Ground-Motion Prediction Equations on Seismic Hazard … Continue reading

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A Tidal power lagoon in Nova Scotia’s Scott’s Bay?

Nova Scotia is where I live – a 700-odd km long NE-SW peninsula that more or less parallels the edge of the continent. What (almost) separates us from that continent is the Bay of Fundy, the Canadian extent of the Gulf … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, General geoscience, Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 4 – Ice ages and Klondike gold

The pre-amble to this series of reviews is here Froese, E.G., Zazula, G.D., Westgate, J.A., Preece, S.J., Sanborn, P.T., Reyes, A.V., Pearce, N.J.G., 2009, The Klondike goldfields and Pleistocene environments of Beringia. GSA Today, v. 19, no. 8, p. 4-10. … Continue reading

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Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper 3 – the importance of finding layered oceanic crust

The preamble to this review series is here.  Gillis, K.M., J.E. Snow, A. Klaus, N. Abe, A.B. Adriao, N. Akizawa, G. Ceuleneer, M.J. Cheadle, K. Faak, T.J. Falloon, S.A. Friedman, M. Godard, G. Guerin, Y. Harigane, A.J. Horst, T. Hoshide, … Continue reading

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Blue Beach is not for sale

(Originally posted in March 2014. Updated a few times, last in May 2017)   Left: Google Earth image showing location of Blue Beach – Avonport Station coastline. Right: aerial photo of the cliff (in the shade) and beach at low … Continue reading

Posted in General geoscience, Geoheritage, Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper – 1: The end of the last Ice Age off Newfoundland

The preamble to this review series is here. Roger, J., Saint-Ange, F., Lajeunesse, P., Duchesne, M.J., and St-Onge, G., 2013, Late Quaternary glacial history and meltwater discharges along the Northeastern Newfoundland shelf. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 50, p. … Continue reading

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Canadian Earth Science for @PMHarper – Preamble

In 2007, Canadian writer Yann Martel became puzzled about what made then relatively new Canadian PM Stephen Harper tick.  This as a result of a visit to Ottawa on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Council for … Continue reading

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A year later: women in (geo)science

It’s almost exactly year since I started this blog. My first post was dedicated to ‘Women in Geoscience’ Day 2012, followed by a dozen or so others, but I haven’t been very productive lately: my last post was 5 months … Continue reading

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What Research does Society need / want? A reflection on cutting public science institutions

From 1997 to 2002 I was president of the Royal Geological and Mining Society of the Netherlands (KNGMG, http://www.kngmg.nl). One of my tasks was to present the Society’s highest scientific award, the “Van Waterschoot van der Gracht Medal”[1] to a … Continue reading

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Dreikanter: The biography of my favourite ventifact

(photo E. Kosters) This is my favourite ventifact, a real Dreikanter, a German word meaning ‘three sider’. This vernacular term became the formal label for a ventifact with three sides. My Dreikanter is a well-sorted pure quartz sandstone of a … Continue reading

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Rise to the challenge: #$5millionforscience

Two weeks ago the Canadian government announced the creation of a Federal office for Religious Freedom. It will cost Canadian tax payers $5 million per year. Many Canadians, including myself, do not believe this is a good money destination. Many … Continue reading

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Barrier Island Erosion / Sea Level Rise / Transgressive Anthropogenic Sequences /

Thanks to Twitter, I was made aware of a recent US report, entitled “Coastal impact, Adaptation and Vulnerabilities”. A summary of the report is here: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3496#.USVxRFc-6OJ. What caught my attention on that page was the ‘before and after Hurricane Sandy’ … Continue reading

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Wrong Question: can fracking be done safely?

August 2021 A lot has changed in 8 years. My position on hydraulic fracturing has changed too. I could delete this post, but I’m not going to do that. A lot has changed: the climate crisis has deepened and the … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The tidal landscape banner photo: Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada

UPDATED December 29, 2014 This was my blog’s banner photo until January 1, 2015. What are you looking at? In a world of Google Earth where everyone has a GPS in their cell phone, I should start with the coordinates. … Continue reading

Posted in General geoscience, Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments