The purpose of scale is to provide context. A 1 million acre wildfire is big. In the Texas panhandle, it killed two people, destroyed dozens of homes and caused nearly…
Tag: Geology Lessons
Mass Extinction Fail: Messenian Salinity Crisis Version
While the Messinian Salinity Crisis and subsequent Zanclean Megaflood comprise one of the most incredible episodes in geologic history… So incredible that the uppermost stage of the Miocene epoch is…
Sea Level Rise Is Causing Longer Days?
Guest “I couldn’t make this sort of schist up, even if I was trying” by David Middleton ‘Unprecedented’ Sea Level Rise Is Making Earth’s Days Longer Published Jul 15, 2024 at…
PETM Caused by Passing Star?
Could a passing rogue star have caused the PETM? Could other astrophysical phenomena been primary drivers of paleoclimate change?
Applying Scale and Context to 2023’s “Record” High Temperatures
Guest “geological scale and context” by David Middleton, 2023 has been a hot year… We have the makings of a super-El Niño and an unprecedented injection of water vapor into…
Kumimanu fordycei: The Giant Penguins of the Paleocene Epoch
Giant penguins thrived in a much warmer world, without year-round sea ice… Yet modern penguins are doomed by warming temperatures and declining year-round sea ice… Right.
If wishes were horses, we’d all get ponies for Christmas: Geothermal Edition
“[I]f the Texas drilling industry drilled as many geothermal wells as it currently does oil and gas… the state could run itself off geothermal power by 2027.” If wishes were…
The “Anthropolitan” Compromise?
Guest “Stick a fork in it” by David Middleton This should “stick a fork” in the notion of an Anthropocene Epoch… Gill co-authors report arguing Anthropocene should be a geological…
Mars Perseverance: More Evidence of Ancient Lake/Delta System
Guest ” If it looks like a delta, walks like a delta and quacks like a delta, it might just be… ” by David Middleton It looked like a delta…
A Peak Oiler and an Abiotic Oil Aficionado Walked into a Bar on the Gulf of Mexico…
Guest “Deepwater trip to Mars” by David Middleton A Peak Oiler would look at this pie chart and declare that 93% of the oil and gas under the US Federal…
Critical Rock Theory
Guest “Surely you can’t be serious” by David Middleton “I am serious and don’t call me Shirley!” H/T to Willie Soon for the article and the catchy phrase: Critical Rock…
Eemian Sea Level Adjusted Downwards
Guest “For once it’s not worse than previously thought” by David Middleton But it’s still catastrophic… Because models… Some Past Sea Levels May Not Have Been as High as Thought,…
Cenozoic Ice Age Caused by Drop in CO2… Because Models
Guest “I couldn’t make this sort of schist up if I was trying” by David Middleton H/T to Robert Bissett… Drop in Greenhouse Gas Caused Global Cooling 34 Million Years…
Hiawatha Crater: Bracketing the Age
Guest “Don’t mention the YDIH… (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)” by David Middleton The recent discovery of a large, probably young, impact crater beneath the edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet…
Gizmodo goes fuller retard… on the geologic time scale
Guest “You never always go full retard” by David Middleton 7 Epic Epochs of Earth, Ranked […] 1. Pleistocene, 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago The very best time on Earth.…
Consensus Science: Anthropocene Edition
Guest “This would actually be science by voting” by David Middleton In my most recent post addressing the Anthropocene, one commentator became obsessed with the fact that in order for…
Energy Transition: Blue Oil Edition
Guest “Responding to a reader request” by David Middleton Hat tip to Mike Higton for requesting a deeper dive into “Blue Oil” Mike was referring to this post of mine…
PAGES 12K: The Ice Age Goeth
Guest “damning with faint praise” by David Middleton Kaufman, Mckay, Routson, et al., 2020 In my previous post, I noted a “funny pattern” in the latest Holocene climate reconstruction (Kaufman,…
Frac’ing banned in Delaware River Basin… So what?
Guest “one word away from real news” by David Middleton If this was about the Delaware Basin, this wouldn’t be fake news. The Delaware River Basin Commission followed the lead…
Common Martian Mineral Found in Antarctic Ice Core
Guest “geologizing” by David Middleton Geology rocks! Substance found in Antarctic ice may solve a martian mysteryBy Tess Joosse Jan. 26, 2021 Researchers have discovered a common martian mineral deep…
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