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• Post #3979546

  I have released episode 8 of the Raised Beaches Podcast, where I give a profile on the famous paleo sea level scientist, Paolo Pirazzoli. #Geology #SeaLevel #Podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com//2401751/episodes/19522927-episode-8-profile-of-paolo-pirazzoli-paleo-sea-level-scientist

• Post #3852301

  This poor guy had a meteorite crash through his house (luckily not hurt!), and it turned out to be a very rare type of meteorite. I wondered why the person was not thanked in the acknowledgements before I realized he was a coauthor on the paper. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aea2105

• Post #3823313

  Any paleontologists out there that has advice on how one identifies the species of a fossil? I am looking at everything from microfossils (foraminifera), molluscs and corals. Is there a manual that teaches how to do this effectively? I am but a mere modeller! #geology

• Post #3799021

  Romero et al present an ice-free and paleo sea level chronology for James Ross Island in the northeastern Antarctic Peninsula area. They found that the advance of the local ice cap happened sometime after 40,000 years ago, and this implies a period of retreated ice in MIS 3. #Geology #Antarctica #IceSheets #SeaLevel https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.110133

• Post #3337296

  How is this for a feedback loop? Ice sheets build up during a glaciation lowering global sea level → reduced water load leads to increased mid ocean ridge volcanism after a 10-20 kyr lag → volcanism releases iron in the ocean → iron causes plankton blooms → atmospheric CO₂ goes down → ice sheets build up #ClimateChange #IceSheets #SeaLevel https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-026-01982-7

• Post #2252807

  Bluesky has been down so frequently lately, you have to wonder how long it will be until people realize that Mastodon is not so bad. ;)

• Post #2129798

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 外肛動物 (がいこうどうぶつ - gaikou dobutu) - bryozoa. Bryozoa are tiny marine animals that superficially looks similar to corals, and produce a carbonate skeleton. They are one of the main fossils you will find in carbonate rocks during the past 400 million years. The current term "bryozoa" is derived from Greek roots, where "bryo" means "moss" while "zoa" means "animal". The J...

• Post #1688473

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 地質 (ちしつ - chishitu) - geology. As in the geology of the outcrop, not geology the science (that is 地質学). 地 is one of the most common Chinese characters you will encounter in Japanese, which means "earth" or "ground", while 質 is "quality". I could not find a precise etymology, but one has to assume that this is a translation of the English word "geology". #Japan #Geology #Etymology

• Post #1688472

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 岩石 (がんせき - ganseki) - rock. 岩 is the Chinese character that means "boulder" while 石 means "stone". It is actually a common thing in Japanese (and I imagine Chinese) to combine two characters of similar meanings together to make a comprehensive word. #Japan #Geology

• Post #1688471

  Šujan et al investigate the Early Pleistocene sediments in Lithuania, and conclude that the first advance of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet there happened during the Elsterian Glaciation (MIS 12). A unit that was previously interpreted as an earlier advance is now interpreted as a debris flow. #PaleoClimate #IceSheets #Quaternary https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2026.100319

• Post #1688470

  At the Kikai Instutute for Coral Reef Sciences, we have a boarding school program for high school aged students to introduce science to them in a hands on matter. Can I, the modeller, teach sedimentary geology in Japanese? Yes!

• Post #1688469

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 露頭 (ろとう - rotou) - outcrop. When you first learn the Chinese character "露", you generally learn the main meaning of "dew", but in Japanese it also means "uncovered". 頭 normally means "head", but in the sense here, it means "clarity". This again is probably a translation of the English word. #Geology #Japan #Etymology

• Post #1688468

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 有孔虫 (ゆうこうちゅう - yuukouchuu) - foraminifera. Foraminifera are single celled organisms that secrete a carbonate shell-like "test". Foraminifera fossils are abundant in marine sediments and are used extensively in paleoclimate research. The Chinese character 有 means "to have" and 孔 means "cavity". This relates to the original Latin derived word, where "foramen" means "hole&qu...

• Post #1688467

  I am preparing for my Saturday lab work on these Early Pleistocene sediments for the coral boarding school class this weekend, and I managed to find a nice foraminifera! I still have no idea how to pick them out, the tweezers I have are way too big and static is a problem. I was told I should use a paintbrush to get them out, but I have no idea how to do that. Also, I am proud that my hands were steady enough to take this photo from the microscope with my phone. It was not easy!

• Post #1688466

  Japanese Earth Science word of the day: 石灰岩 (せっかいがん - sekkaigan) - limestone. I have already gone through how 石岩 means "rock", so the middle part 灰 is added to identify the rock. On its own 灰 means "ash", so it may refer to the fact that lime would be produced from limestone by heating. #Japan #Geology

• Post #1688465

  How about for #FossilFriday some SEM images of Early Pleistocene foraminifera from the Shimajiri Group, Somachi Formation from Kikaijima, Japan? The third foram has some nasty spikes. I don't know enough to say whether they are from the foram's growth or diagenesis. #Geology

• Post #1688463

  I wrote a blog post about Point 211, the highest place in Kikaijima! I got some pictures of the coral fossils there. #Japan #Geology https://raisedbeaches.net/2026/04/26/point-211-kikaijima/

• Post #1637738

  Japanese Earth science word of the day: 石英 (せきえい - sekiei) - quartz. From my past posts, you know that 石 means stone, while 英 means something like "glorious" (it is also used for anything related to England, i.e. 英語 - English). It was likely coined in the Edo Period (before 1850). According to Wikipedia, during the Edo Period, the word 水晶 (water crystal) was also used as the world for quartz. This word has more of a connotation of gem quality quartz, compared with 石英. Apparent...