ksircombe

@ksircombe@aus.social
335 Followers
290 Following
475 Posts

A curious, innovative and always learning Geoscience Laboratory Director producing data for the public good.

Opinions and long-winded nested verbs are all mine and nothing to do with my employer.

Widespread interests across science, technology, team management and quality control. Easily distracted by gadgets and clever innovations. Big supporter of geoscience education, outreach and diversity. He/him/his.

Occasional blogger at https://the-temporal-theodolite.net/

ksircombeNov 5
No flashy specimen pictures, just minerals by the billion - voting for #ilmenite in the ⚒️🧪 Ore Cup because it contributes to the awesome black sand beaches of #NewZealand 🇳🇿 . (PSA from personal experience: *always* bring footwear on a hot summer's day...)
https://www.mineralcup.org/vote-results/vote-r1m3
ksircombeOct 24

S**t, did we forget to put mithril on the list of ⚒️🧪 critical minerals?!

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/24/critical-mineral-or-tolkien-invention-quiz

Is it a critical mineral or a Tolkien invention? Take the Guardian’s nerdiest quiz yet

Do you know your ores from your orcs? Your rare earths versus Middle-earth? Test your knowledge here …

The Guardian
ksircombeOct 17
A great way to click together ⚒️🧪 #EarthScienceWeek2025 with a Lego speed build competition using the new 'Minerals' set of quartz, amethyst, tourmaline, pyrite, fluorite, and rhodochrosite. Pictures don't do them justice, they are quite spectacular in person. Alas, no #zircon - maybe in Set 2?
ksircombeOct 16
⚒️🧪 Great Shake Out today! I know many here are well versed, but it's not universal knowledge in places, like Australia, where earthquakes are infrequent (although still potentially deadly). After a hefty 5.9 quake in 2021 that reached the Melbourne CBD, it was found only 3% knew what to do in an earthquake.
https://www.ga.gov.au/about/earth-science-week/the-great-shakeout #EarthScienceWeek2025
ksircombeOct 14
For #EarthScienceWeek2025: what 3 steps got you into ⚒️🧪 earth science?
1. A wood box full of rocks and crystals that my Dad had collected on his travels.
2. David Attenburgh's 'Life on Earth' series (but a dislike of the dissection required in biology)
3. Not able to make my mind up in choosing a science major, so I did the science that does it all!
ksircombeOct 13

It's ⚒️🧪 #EarthScienceWeek2025 !

Here's a new product from the awesome Geoscience Australia Education and Outreach team: a Year 8-10 classroom activity exploring critical minerals in Australia and their value through the lens of topographic data and the geology of Australia.

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/149815

#EarthScienceWeek2025

Show threadksircombeSep 2, 2025
It is not clear where Gutenberg sourced his stibnite, but it is clear that his invention created mass-produced books that revolutionised information transmission and set the stage for the Renaissance, Reformation, and humanist movements that underpin our modern world. Thanks #Stibnite! /4
Show threadksircombeSep 2, 2025
Antimony hardens the lead and prevents shrinkage and deformation when the alloy cools from a melt in a mould to make the moveable type. It meant that high quality clear text could be repeatably printed on mass unlike previous printing that used carved wood blocks that deteriorated quickly /3
Show threadksircombeSep 2, 2025
You may recognise this fine fellow as Johann Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, owner of an awesome beard and renowned inventor of the movable type printing press. One of his key innovations in printing was adding antimony (and tin) to lead to make type metal. /2
ksircombeSep 2, 2025
Vote #Stibnite (Sb₂S₃) for #Mincup25 ⚒️🧪 because it was the likely source of antimony that literally wrote history. The chemical symbol for antimony is ‘Sb’ from ‘stibium’ the Latin for, you guessed it, #stibnite. Let's revisit a 🧵 from last year /1
https://www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1m02
Vote in Round 1 Match 2 — Mineral Cup

Click here to vote in Stibnite vs Okenite

Mineral Cup