Latest Sedimentology Stories
At first, figuring out how pebble-sized rocks organize themselves in evenly-spaced patterns in sand seemed simple and even intuitive. But once Andrew Leier, an assistant geoscience professor at the U of C, started observing, he discovered that the most commonly held notions did not apply.And even more surprising, was that his findings revealed answers to NASA's questions about sediment transport and surface processes on Mars. Those results are published in this month's edition of...
The sand used in Seattle to protect motorists from icy streets is more dangerous to aquatic life than typical road salt, environmentalists say. With more than 6,000 tons of sand already dispersed on Seattle streets since last Thursday, environmentalists claim the alternative winter road solution can clog area waterways and damage its precarious food chain, The Seattle Times said Wednesday. In general, what my colleagues have found, and I have found, is that sand actually has a greater...
As scientists search for life on Mars, they should take a close look at rock varnish, according to a paper in the current issue of the "Journal of Geophysical Research."The paper describes how a research team led by Kimberly R. Kuhlman, of the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, found bacteria associated with rock varnish in an area where the surrounding soils were essentially devoid of life. The study suggests that rock varnish could provide a niche habitat for microbial life...
Hurricane Ike reconfirmed one Texas researcher's idea: Interfering with Galveston Island's natural elevation hurts the island's sand dunes and marsh flora. Ike reconfirmed the basic idea I've had for several years, Rusty Feagin, ecosystem scientist with Texas AgriLife Research at Texas A&M University, said in a news release. The plants on sand dunes and in marshes build an island's elevation, so we shouldn't compromise that. When comparing pre- and post-Ike marshes, Feagin said he found...
Dr. Rusty Feagin was managing several ecosystem research projects on Galveston Island when the 2008 hurricane season began.Then he got an unexpected visit from a research assistant named Ike."Ike reconfirmed the basic idea I've had for several years," said Feagin, ecosystem scientist with Texas AgriLife Research. "The plants on sand dunes and in marshes build an island's elevation, so we shouldn't compromise that."Most of the dunes and marshes he and his graduate students had studied were...
Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe's big river systems, according to a recently held workshop organized by the European Science Foundation (ESF). This finding provides important clues for protecting Europe's rivers against a combined onslaught from human development and climate change, which are tampering with existing ecosystems and changing both the physical and biological forces acting upon them.Both aquatic plants (living in...
By Kristin S. Agostoni Sand and sediment clogging the south entrance to the Marina del Rey channel will be dredged this fall using technology designed to separate contaminants from beach-suitable sand. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to pump the dredged material from the channel entry to a Dockweiler Beach parking lot, where a machine will extract polluted fine particles from coarse sand, a spokesman said. The goal is to haul away the contaminants - estimated to be about 10 percent...
By Tony Henderson RECENT flooding has been part of the price for the way the landscape has been changed in the past, a North river scientist has said. "We are paying the price for not thinking about how our management of the land impacts negatively on the water environment," said Professor Stuart Lane, executive director of the Institute of Hazard and Risk at Durham University. Prof Lane said past measures, such as digging drainage grips in upland moors, had caused major...
As the world looks for more energy, the oil industry will need more refined tools for discoveries in places where searches have never before taken place, geologists say.One such tool is a new sediment curve (which shows where sediment-on-the-move is deposited), derived from sediments of the Paleozoic Era 542 to 251 million years ago, scientists report in this week's issue of the journal Science. The sediment curve covers the entire Paleozoic Era."The new Paleozoic sea-level sediment...
TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2008) - Shoreham Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SMH) ("SMH" or "Shoreham"), a Canadian based exploration company dedicated to the exploration of advanced precious metal and polymetallic deposits in South America and Canada, is pleased to announce further developments regarding its Potaro-Maple Creek gold and diamond project in Guyana. Pursuant to an agreement with Vannessa Ventures Ltd. (now Infinito Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IG)) finalized in March 2007, the...
Latest Sedimentology Reference Libraries
A river delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river, where the river flows into an ocean, estuary, lake, sea, or reservoir. These deltas are built from the deposition of the sediment that is carried by the river as the flow exit’s the mouth of the river. Over a long period of time, this deposition constructs the distinctive geographic pattern of a river delta. The creation of a delta is made up of three core forms: the bottomset, topset, and foreset/frontset. Bottomset...
In geology, a conglomerate is a rock consisting of other stones that have been cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of subangular clasts and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts. Both conglomerates and breccias are characterized by clasts larger than sand (>2 mm). There are two varieties of conglomerate, defined by texture: paraconglomerates and orthoconglomerates. Paraconglomerates are one of two varieties of conglomerate...
