Mi(ni)Geo

There wasn’t much color photography in Darwin’s day, so all the photos we have of him are in black and white (or sepia). Here’s a site with some skillful retouching of old photos to add color…and a new version of a familiar image. (vía Pharyngula)

Leanchoilia (by realismart27)

Reconstituição dos 1º invertebrados da fauna de Burgess Shale (600 milhões anos a.C. - Canadá).

Earth from Space: Summer in bloom (by europeanspaceagency)

The phytoplankton bloom pictured in this Envisat image stretches across the Barents Sea off the coast of mainland Europe’s most northern point, Cape Nordkinn. Although most types of phytoplankton are individually microscopic, the chlorophyll they use for photosynthesis collectively tints the colour of the surrounding ocean waters. This allows for these tiny organisms to be detected from space with dedicated ‘ocean colour’ sensors, such as Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, which acquired this image on 17 August 2011. Credit: ESA.

Yes, that bloom really is that color…

Fig. 5 in A. Baucon, Studi Trent. Sci. Nat., Acta Geol., 83, 15 (2008): Selection of body fossils from the Musaeum Metallicum. a. Aldrovandi describes this specimen as a “Rock pregnant with a shell”. b. Aldrovandi describes such fossils as “Astroitis”, referring to the star-like morphology of certain echinoderms and corals. (via Storia della Geologia)

Bryozoa (by Grimsvotn)

Devonian Age Fossil.

kodakowl:

Libonectes (Southwest Swimmer) was a very long-necked plieosaur, known as an elasmosaur (a group of marine animals from the creatcious with four strong paddle-shaped limbs that lived in the sea.)  An early fossil hunter thought that libonectes’s head was originally the tail of another fossil, then it was thought that their necks could move much like a snake’s body, but they are actually relatively rigid, much like those of sauropods.  There were 62 bones in its long neck, which accounted for over half of its body length. Libonectes likely swam after shoals of fish and attacked from underneath to trap them in its cage like mouth. Its teeth were long, sharp, forward facing, and interlinked forming said cage for trapping its unfortunate prey.

(Source: lifethroughgeologictime)

Close-up of top of Porites microatoll that was raised 1.5m above sea-level and killed during the giant MW 9.2 earthquake. This shows it was submerging in the years prior to the earthquake. Simeulue island, Aceh Sumatra. Credit: Kerry Sieh. (via Earth Observatory of Singapore)

Fern Fossil (by Wolverlei/Martin Stevens)

Bill Bryson (via spacetimecontinumm)

Burgesscomplg (by Goniagnostus)

The color version of the Burgess Shale community that John Whorral and I created together.

Acumulacions no rodades de foraminífers ficats entremig d’alguns còdols imbricats amb perforacions. (via Bloc de camp)

Most volcanic activity happens not on land, but kilometres down in the deep ocean. Geological research has revealed that underwater volcanoes, or hydrothermal vents, are rich in metals like copper, zinc, silver and gold at concentrations that make them commercially attractive to miners. But, they are also colonised by exotic life-forms and scientists believe the vents may have been the location where life originated. Mark Horstman takes a look at a mining project that is set to commence operations in the deep waters off Papua New Guinea. (via Catalyst)

Beth Orcutt

Amino Acids from Interstellar Space (by AGUvideos)

We’ve long known that the individual atoms that make up our bodies, and everything around us, come from stars. Recently, however, scientists are discovering that complex molecules can be found out in interstellar space. Using the samples returned by the Stardust spacecraft, scientists detected the amino acid glycine fully formed in a comet’s tail. Only this glycine wasn’t like that here on Earth; it was built with some subtle differences - clues to its interstellar heritage. Produced by Colin Schultz, with contributions from Kathleen O’Neil. Additional material courtesy of NASA/ESA/SOHO. Music used under creative commons by Jam Sounds, Oleg Sirenko & DJ Fab.

Äigu Beds of the Kaugatuma Formation exposed on the northwestern shore of the Sõrve Peninsula on Saaremaa. These are Late Silurian (Pridoli) limestones with a great abundance of crinoid fragments — so many that they are locally called “ringstones”. The image shows a crinoid stem and isolated ring-like columnals. (via Wooster Geologists)