Category Archives: Geology

The Hawaiian/Emperor Seamounts and How Island Arcs are Formed

Posted on September 5, 2013 by gymnosperm

Ever wonder why offshore island arcs should form at random spots in the oceans? No? Don’t worry, its a far fig newton. We offer here the suggestion that the locations are not random, that island arc trenches and probably spreading ridges and … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Seamount Chains as Incipient Island Arcs | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Granite Rafts

Posted on August 31, 2013 by gymnosperm

Continents are granite rafts. We believe that granite is formed when thoroughly hydrated ocean floor sinks at a subduction zone or trench, often at the edge of a continent. When it sinks deep enough it gets cooked at very high … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Gravity Anomalies | Leave a comment

The Alpine Zone and the Colonization of Land, or Plants Make Dirt

Posted on August 24, 2013 by gymnosperm

There have been several concepts that have no predictive value in an era of reductive science, but nonetheless contain poetic truth. One of these is the notion that the atom is a microcosm of the solar system, the galaxy, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Geography, Geology, History of Life, Metaphor, Wilderness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wild Idea #6743: Possible Impact Signatures in Seafloor Isochrons

Posted on June 22, 2013 by gymnosperm

Who knows from what depths the well of ideas flows? For me it is often during the liberation of rote manual work that frees some bandwidth while still requiring a minimal level of focus and blood flow to the brain. … Continue reading →

Posted in Asteroid Impacts, Geography, Geology, Magnetic Reversals, Paleogeography, Plate Tectonics, Seafloor Isochrons | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hawaii

Posted on March 3, 2013 by gymnosperm

By incredibly good luck I’ve been spending lots of time in Hawaii lately, on business no less. I stay in this unbelievable house.   One really gets the sense of being out in the middle of the ocean in Hawaii, … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geoid, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Oceanography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

California Great Central Valley as a Cretaceous Sea of Cortez

Posted on February 18, 2013 by gymnosperm

I was travelling the world as I often do in Google Earth, pondering how strange it is that the Hawaiian Seamount chain created a gravity low its entire length, when I noticed this: Probably just because gravity lows are a nice deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Paleogeography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Nano Carbon Cycle

Posted on February 13, 2013 by gymnosperm

We live in a world of wee beasties. Microbes here, microbes there, microbes in every breath we take, microbes on every bite we eat. They digest the food in our bellies, they create our food and drink. They make us … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Cycle, Climate, Geography, Geology, Oceanography | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Structural Similarities Observed in ENSO Neutered Atmospheric Temperatures and Ocean Enthalpy

Posted on February 2, 2013 by gymnosperm

Signal lies in structure. Atmospheric temperature for the last decade and a half has made it abundantly clear that there is much more going on than the optical and radiative properties of carbon dioxide. The converse possibility that oceans, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Geography, Geology, Global Warming, Oceanography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Seafloor Isochrons Place a Hard Limit on Crustal Disintegration from the Chicxulub Impact

Posted on January 6, 2013 by gymnosperm

I always thought the entire form of the Gulf of Mexico might be the crater from the Chicxulub impact reputed to have wasted the dinosaurs. My imagination runs with that name. So much to work with. Chicxyclub…well, Club Med impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Asteroid Impacts, Geography, Geology, Magnetic Reversals, Oceanography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Charybdis and the Oldest Ocean Floor on Earth

Posted on January 6, 2013 by gymnosperm

A few years back there was a much ballyhooed drilling effort to find some 175 million year old sea floor touted as the “oldest”. Incorrecto qui mo sabe. That particular ocean floor is interesting in its own right (see our … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Geography, Geology, Paleogeography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments