Zircons are — more often than not — the reason why I travel. Zircon is a zirconium (number 40 on the periodic table) bearing silicate mineral (ZrSiO4). Zircon is an extremely important mineral for geologists because although Zr is the dominant cation, zircon also contains several other large cations such as uranium, hafnium, and rare […]
My trip to coastal Maine started in the Deer Isle granite complex. This Devonian granite complex exhibits a complex and highly diverse set of igneous textures that are the result of new magma injection and mixing. The base of the plutonic complex is dominated by cumulates of large alkali feldspars and abundant mafic enclaves. Many of […]
Battle Island is a small island off the east coast of Labrador. Although this island is only 16 square kilometers, Battle Island one of the few places that preserves the youngest pre-Grenvillian sediments. Why does this matter you ask? I am trying to understand the changes in the chemistry of the continental crust due to […]
In 1784 Abraham Gottlob Werner put forth a theory later referred to as ‘Neptunism’. In this book he claimed that at the beginning of creation the Earth was covered with water. Rocks were separated from shrinking oceans incrementally layer upon layer with granite lying at its base. This precipitation continued until the creation was finished and continued […]
The Great Bahama Bank is a Holocene (recent) shallow water carbonate platform in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida and north of Cuba. Although the rocks associated with carbonate platforms are found in great quantity around the world, there are very few places where these rocks are currently forming today. Places where carbonates are currently […]
