I was lucky to witness two astoundingly good talks today: @stellarplanet.bsky.social talked about exoplanet atmospheres for Geology Club, and @cintylee.bsky.social talked about bioacoustic monitoring of migrating birds for Bird Club! Grateful to know these amazing scientists. ⚒️🦉

Xenolith (gneissic amphibolite) that I picked up last weekend in a rounded cobble of granite. ⚒️

Cutting rocks today at the state survey. ⚒️

Tear it down. ✊

Mer de Glace from Signal Forbes 1890 | 2013 | 2021 | 2024 Strong acceleration of the demise of the largest French glacier over last few years! 🧊🔥

This is what it looks like when fascists successfully take over an institution. This is the aesthetic of American fascism and state capture all in one.

Big plagioclase phenocrysts in Catoctin Formation greenstone (meta-basalt). Rip-rap boulder below dam at Walnut Creek Park. ⚒️

Brown-headed cowbirds are back in town. #birds 🦉

Evening entertainment

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There is horror and evil and suffering in this world today, but it is beautiful and warm and sunny in central Virginia, and it feels like spring. I enjoyed a hike with my Geology Club and then did some chores. Now enjoying an IPA in the sunshine, and returning to the sad, sick news.

Nice septa on show in this ~190 million year old ammonite I found it Whitby, North Yorkshire. #FossilFriday #Paleontology

Some Chilhowee samples: Weverton at left, and Antietam at right. ⚒️

Superb book. I look forward to this film adaptation!! ⚒️

Big kink folds in phyllite at Totier Creek Reservoir spillway near Scottsville, VA, on yesterday's (rainy) Physical Geology field trip: #FridayFold ⚒️

Found this machine today which seems suitable for most of your chipmunk-crushing needs:

Got an Eastern Screech-Owl (gray morph) today at Ivy Creek Natural Area in Charlottesville - roosting in a Wood Duck box! 🦉 #birds

If your geology department needs an excellent guest speaker, see if you can get @julieelliott.bsky.social to talk. She gave a great seminar on various fascinating aspects of Alaskan tectonics today, from a geophysical, seismological, geomorphic, and volcanological point of view. Top notch! ⚒️

Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.

Talking landslides tonight with my field course students. Going to show them this 2017 slump photo from Camerino, Italy: ⚒️

Today's the day I wag my jaw about deformed rocks! ⚒️

Hubble spotted a ‘dark galaxy’ that’s at least 99.9% dark matter | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

it's molting season for RFK Jr

surely we can teach the children how to ethically use this product designed for unethical use by unethical people

Spark. Patch. Continuing. Vocalize. Nemesis. Pish. Twitcher. 🦉

Soliciting travel advice: I'm heading to Nova Scotia this summer for the first time with my family. I have 10 days. I want to see the Bay of Fundy & Cape Breton Island. I have a free place to stay in Sydney (Jason Loxton), & have already booked Fundy-adjacent lodging. Any must-sees between them? ⚒️🦉

The bull's eye is on Taunton, MA, hereafter to be known as Tauntaun.

A drainage divide. Here along the crest of the Blue Ridge, rain falling on the east side drains into the Rockfish River, and thence into the James (~180 miles to sea level). Rain falling on the west side drains into the Shenandoah River, and thence to the Potomac (~360 miles to sea level). ⚒️

Just the wildest moulin I've ever seen, if you can even call it that. Maybe a decapitated englacial channel would be a better descriptor.

Plagioclase phenocrysts in Catoctin meta-basalt (greenstone), PVCC campus. ⚒️

Reworded from our alternative student paper: "Remember, [AI] may be bad for the environment, unnecessary and a pain in the arse to use, but at least it is also expensive."

The returning adult Red-breasted Goose showed well on the Loch Gruinart flats during our half term week on #Islay #UKBirding

PVCC past & present at the joint field trip today, overlooking Blue Ridge mountain majesty. ⚒️

Nik vs. the bear

Chuck always has this look on his face! ⚒️

Out on a full day joint field trip with PVCC Geology Club + W&M Geology department, exploring the geology of Nelson County near Wintergreen. ⚒️

One of my students asked me the other day why we use a brick pattern to represent limestone in cross-section sketches and stratigraphic columns. This is why. ⚒️

I guest taught a high school class this AM, laying some of the foundations of bird watching in anticipation of a field trip next month. Most of the students were game, one was really into it (a superstar), & 4 were pretty much dickheads.

Central VA people: stop what you’re doing and go outside and enjoy this sunshine and perfect temperatures for a bit.

Love this old fold exhibit showing this gorgeous example of a anticline and a syncline. The oldest rock layers are on the bottom which helps identify the type of fold. These formed from pressure caused by compression. #FridayFold #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

A #FridayFold of kinked, crenulated phyllite that I saw yesterday while poking around at the Virginia state geologic survey. ⚒️

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Fans of the excellent 26 episode "The Earth Revealed" series will be sad to learn its episodes will go offline this summer. Annenberg Learner is going "bye-bye": www.learner.org/series/earth... It is 30 years old, but still, this is a loss. ⚒️

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Getting shown up in the arena of elite impunity by *the British monarchy* is an incredible “America at 250!” achievement

Juggling so many things! Parenthood, committees (AI, evaluations, C&I), teaching, field trip planning, NAGT conference planning, Club advising, VGFC non-profit incorporation, birding, bird club, research mentorship, abstract writing, OER writing & editing, counseling students, REU recommendations. ⚒️

I saw a Red-Breasted Nuthatch today on campus. They are uncommon around here (central VA) in the winters. #birds 🦉

This is deeply embarrassing to just everything

New post 👇 on my #Tectoldies blog. It's about beautiful cross-sections of the Morcles Helvetic nappe in the Swiss Alps 🏔️ First in a series I plan to share about those amazing Swiss #tectonic cross-sections. Stay tuned. ⚒️ tectoldies.mystrikingly.com/blog/the-mor...