ask a geologist ← Alex Acks: Sound and Nerdery

[Ask a Geologist] Huge Tracts of Land 6

Apr

24

2014

This should probably be more appropriately titled “Ask a Lady Geologist” but we all know I hate that term. But this is also not about the geology so much as the real estate. You know, boobs. Okay, so a dear friend of mine mentioned a descriptive phrase for body position oft-used in our genre: “She ...

[Ask a Geologist] Young coal and petroleum 2

Jan

27

2014

Andrew asked: Would a planet terraformed fifteen million years ago have any petroleum or coal reserves? If so, how would the extent of the deposits compare to Earth? So, in order to get petroleum or coal, you need the following: Lots of organic matter building up Heat and pressure via burial Time How much time? That’s ...

[Ask a Geologist] Moon Artifacts

Jan

23

2014

Andrew asked: Given ancient alien artifacts which take the form of giant stone cubes, made roughly fifteen million years ago, on an airless moon, what sort of information about them or their makers could a geologist infer from analyzing them? All right, off the top of my head: Age analysis: How old the rock itself ...

[Ask a Geologist] Evidence of a Nuclear Winter

Dec

11

2013

Andrew asked: Given a rough Earth analog that experienced a major nuclear war about 1 Ma, would there be any evidence of in the rocks in modern times? All right, so I can think of two major potential lines of evidence off the top of my head when it comes to nuclear weapons: 1) Radioactive ...

[Ask a Geologist] When Geologists Get Funky

Dec

7

2013

Andrew asked: What DOES happen when you get a bunch of geologists drunk? For ease of answering, I have prepared this handy-dandy flowchart:

[Ask a Geologist] Of Meteorites and Jars 2

Nov

25

2013

The lovely and cupcake-alicious E. Catherine Tobler had a couple of geology-related questions, which I have simplified because sooper sekrit reasons: 1) Pretend it’s before 1900–how do you test if a piece of jewelry is made from a meteorite? After trawling around on the internet a bit, the most likely thing I could come up with ...

[Ask a Geologist] Before there was terraforming, there were rocks 1

Nov

21

2013

My friend Andrew Barton asked me, a bit out of the blue via twitter: Given a now-earthlike planet terraformed 15 million years ago, which previously resembled an Earth-sized Iapetus or something, how obvious would the pre-terraforming rocks be, or what governs how deep they’d be now? He also provided a bit more background as to the ...