Dr Katie StrangScotland has some of the oldest rocks in the world! Hereโs a gorgeous piece of ~3 billion year old gneiss from near Loch Duich ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ๐ค #Geology #ScottishGeology #AyeItsVeryGneiss
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟLadyMuck@StoorieCastle@palaeokatie wow!
@LadyMuckFaeStoorieCastle so pretty ๐
Matthew Martell@palaeokatie I love the word gneiss ๐
I know nothing about rocks, but it's a great word.
@MatthewRMartell I love it too! People usually take it for granite ๐
Dreadnought Holiday@palaeokatie My mad keen rock fan daughter has inherited various polished stones from her grandmother. Is there any useful field guide type thing that'll help her with out what she has? I'm guessing most are quartz and jaspers, but don't want to just fob her off with that guess.
@DreadShips do you think theyโre from Scotland? Thereโs some good pebble ID guides, or you can send me pics if you want ๐
@palaeokatie They're mostly just the usual polished eggs you see around in gift shops, tbf, but with Christmas coming up I figured a book might make a nice stocking filler. She's a proper rock goblin - a few years ago in the Lakes she pointed out we were nearly back at the same height we started as the rocks had changed back to slate - and I'd like to feed that. Always aware that the generic Collins guides etc aren't always the most useful, hence bothering you!
BashStKid(Feel free to suggest alternatives, there's no royal road in geology!)
Could use a gemstones/ pebbles/ popular minerals guide for IDing what you've got - some of them are linked with nice youtube videos. (also you can touch and taste and scratch your rocks)
then if you can find a hi-res geological map, or a field guide to an area, that will throw up plenty of context & interesting things to look for.
As always, ymmv.
@BashStKid @palaeokatie Ah, now a geological map might be a good idea...
Maps can often be tricky for learners to get to grips with (not many maps are an uneven 2D slice through a complex 3D thing) but they almost always have one or two vertical cross-sections on the bottom to help visualise whatโs going on beneath the surface.
A good field guide will help with that, although you need a bit of experience to get the most out of them.
Any alternative thoughts on that, Katie?
Taffoni Pyrope ๐ฆ
Kyle Rose@palaeokatie gNice! ๐ฏ
John Mullinax@palaeokatie Wow! I recently heard that the mountains of Norway, Scotland, and Appalachia in North America were once all part of the same mountain range...? And that was apparently only 2-300 years ago. So that gneiss would be 10x older than Europe separating from North America? ๐คฏ
@Johnmullinax Scotland separated from North America about 60 million years ago ๐
Vincent@palaeokatie Gorgeous!
Diana Payne@palaeokatie it's very gneiss
Norman Kebell@palaeokatie just a thought, should we be leaving rocks in situ rather than taking them away?
@Tormid yeah you should never remove anything from bedrock, and for loose material you need permission from the land owner and/or naturescot to collect. And if you are collecting loose material it should be collected responsibly (i.e. only removing 1-2 small pieces, not disturbing wildlife etc). This is part of a teaching collection (I do lots of public outreach and engagement ๐).
Tomsprints2@palaeokatie Very gneiss.
Comrade Dogboy โ
Maitri@palaeokatie Just finished reading a series set on the Isle of Lewis. The Lewisian Gneiss plays a huge role in the books. So beautiful.
Snu Bear@palaeokatie my Dad did his PhD on metamorphic rock in Scotland, back in the 60โs ๐