Ganar una guerra moderna tiene mucho que ver con la sedimentología

Figura 1. La Formación Salt Wash ha sido interpretada como los depósitos preservados de un sistema fluvial distributario. Algunas de sus capas de arenisca presentan concentraciones relativamente altas de uranio (lee más sobre las interpretaciones fluviales aquí: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres/article-abstract/85/5/544/145482/Quantification-of-a-Distributive-Fluvial-System). Rusia ha invadido Ucrania. Hemos estado leyendo y viendo en las noticias cómo algunos equipos y armas […]

Winning a modern war is much about sedimentology

Figure 1. The Salt Wash Formation has been interpreted as the preserved deposits from a distributary fluvial system. Some of its sandstone beds bear relatively high uranium concentrations (read more about the fluvial interpretations here: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres/article-abstract/85/5/544/145482/Quantification-of-a-Distributive-Fluvial-System). Russia has invaded Ukraine. We have been reading and watching in the news how some pieces of  high-tech equipment […]

Deep-ocean sediments. Part 2: Thermohaline currents that shape the seafloor

In Part 1, we differentiate between (1) tidal-related currents in shallow marine waters and (2) purely gravitational sedimentary currents. We could add that the former are periodic, as they are controlled by the gravitational fields of the Moon and the Sun on ocean water as the Earth rotates, whereas the latter are ‘spontaneous’ currents driven […]

Deep ocean sediments, Part 1: Flows that shape the seafloor.

Most of us are aware of the existence of waves and tides. We can see them along our coastlines, and although we may not pay much attention to them, we also know that waves and tides move the sediment resting on the seabed: sand, mud, shells, and… plastics. We can all observe ripples and small […]

Psychology in outcrop studies: Heuristic biases: our “best” enemies?

There are not many scientific publications addressing the issue of subjectivity in geological studies and its impact. In one of them, Baddeley et al. (2004) clearly express it in a few phrases: “expert judgments may be biased by their use of heuristics to guide the formation of their opinions” or “the accepted or prior opinions […]

La digitalización de afloramientos sedimentarios

De bocetos a las primeras fotografías El conocimiento de la geología y, en particular, de la sedimentología, se ha transferido y compartido con éxito durante cientos de años a través de bocetos. Al igual que un botánico o un zoologista, un geólogo puede registrar datos de campo con solo papel y lápiz en forma de […]

Digitization of sedimentary outcrops

From Sketches to Early Photographs The knowledge of geology, particularly sedimentology, has been successfully transferred and shared for hundreds of years through sketches. Just like a botanist or a zoologist, a geologist can record field data using only paper and pencil in the form of drawings (see one of the oldest published geological sketches in […]