Mi(ni)Geo

This handout photo provided by Darryl Pitt of the Macovich Collection shows an external view of a Martian meteorite recovered in December 2011 near Foumzgit, Morocco following a meteorite shower believed to have occurred in July 2011. Scientists are confirming a recent and rare invasion from Mars _ meteorite chunks that fell from the red planet over Morocco last summer. Meteorites from Mars are more than 1 million times rarer than gold. And this is only the fifth time experts have chemically confirmed fresh Martian rocks fell to Earth. The last time was in 1962. Scientists believe this meteorite fell last July because there were sightings of it. Credit: Darryl Pitt, Macovich Collection (vía The Associated Press)

Specular Haematite (by Hypocentre)

One mineral in the shape of another. Here we have a cubic mineral form with a metallic lustre. The clue here is in the foreground where a thin coating of specular haematite has been broken off from an underlying yellow fluorspar crystal. Sample from Egremont, Cumbria, close to the Florence Mine.

Arm of the remotely operated vehicle Jason samples freshly erupted lava on Axial Seamount, July 27, 2011. Credit: Bill Chadwick, Oregon State University. Copyright: WHOI. (via The Earth Institute)

Mingling of rhyolitic and fresh basaltic magma in 84,000 year-old caldera-forming eruption, Atitlan caldera, Guatemala. Credit:Chris Newhall. (via Earth Observatory of Singapore)

A small array of soil and unconsolidated sediment samples collected by me on a short field trip – every is distinct by its colour, petrological composition, grain size and shape, content of organic material – properties that can be unique to a specific spot. The first two samples on the left came from a mountain river with strong current and with granitic rocks in its catchment area, the third from a small, slow flowing creek with basaltic rocks in the surrounding. The fourth comes from a fine-grained soil with a similar bedrock geology like the third sample and the last sample was collected from the entrance of a cave inhabitated by birds (therefore lots of fragments of plants, snails and insects). (via It’s sedimentary, my dear Watson | History of Geology)