Heather
@rockspotter.bsky.social
Petrologist, Museum professional, Nature enthusiast. Beauty is everywhere. Science helps us see it.
Reposted by Heather
May 17, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Or geologists… all those lovely rocks on the path need a quick glance…
May 10, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Or geologists… all those lovely rocks on the path need a quick glance…
Was really struggling with working today - turns out it’s Beltane, so I should really be leaping over bonfires and celebrating fertility rituals, which explains everything 🤣
May 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Was really struggling with working today - turns out it’s Beltane, so I should really be leaping over bonfires and celebrating fertility rituals, which explains everything 🤣
Lovely Easter in Yorkshire, although I think I look happiest on the least sunny day 😂
April 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Lovely Easter in Yorkshire, although I think I look happiest on the least sunny day 😂
Reposted by Heather
A nice schist with muscovite, kyanite/sillimanite, chlorite, and twinned plagioclase.
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks
April 10, 2025 at 6:28 AM
A nice schist with muscovite, kyanite/sillimanite, chlorite, and twinned plagioclase.
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks
#thinsectionthursday #geology #science #minerals #rocks
Reposted by Heather
🔬Microscopy Thursday!
🌿Did you know that plants can grow crystals? Here is a piece of oak with Ca-oxalates growing in its cells. In some plants, oxalate crystals form ~80% of their dry mass. In humans, they make kidney stones.
Sample provided by Dr Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow).
🌿Did you know that plants can grow crystals? Here is a piece of oak with Ca-oxalates growing in its cells. In some plants, oxalate crystals form ~80% of their dry mass. In humans, they make kidney stones.
Sample provided by Dr Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow).
April 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
🔬Microscopy Thursday!
🌿Did you know that plants can grow crystals? Here is a piece of oak with Ca-oxalates growing in its cells. In some plants, oxalate crystals form ~80% of their dry mass. In humans, they make kidney stones.
Sample provided by Dr Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow).
🌿Did you know that plants can grow crystals? Here is a piece of oak with Ca-oxalates growing in its cells. In some plants, oxalate crystals form ~80% of their dry mass. In humans, they make kidney stones.
Sample provided by Dr Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow).
Another reason to love otters #pocketrocks #geology
April 3, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Another reason to love otters #pocketrocks #geology
Reposted by Heather
Font at Doncaster Minster by George Gilbert Scott in two varieties of Cornish Serpentinite #fontsonfriday #urbangeology
March 28, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Font at Doncaster Minster by George Gilbert Scott in two varieties of Cornish Serpentinite #fontsonfriday #urbangeology
As a museum professional, this is worrying (but not surprising)
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums
The order says that "divisive narratives" must be purged from the US museums and research centres.
www.bbc.com
March 28, 2025 at 8:41 AM
As a museum professional, this is worrying (but not surprising)
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Heather
A local #ThinSectionThursday today. Clinopyroxene- and olivine-phyric basalt from Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Location given as St Anthony's Chapel, so probably lava two or three of the Arthur's Seat lava succession.
March 6, 2025 at 12:10 PM
A local #ThinSectionThursday today. Clinopyroxene- and olivine-phyric basalt from Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Location given as St Anthony's Chapel, so probably lava two or three of the Arthur's Seat lava succession.
Reposted by Heather
"Dig from where we stand"
Here’s the text from today’s Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Scotland, it can be heard audio at around 0720 (1:20 in) at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
About “the blizzard of the world” that “overturns the order of the soul”. The full Leonard Cohen lyrics at: www.leonardcohenfiles.com/album10.html
About “the blizzard of the world” that “overturns the order of the soul”. The full Leonard Cohen lyrics at: www.leonardcohenfiles.com/album10.html
February 27, 2025 at 8:13 AM
"Dig from where we stand"
Reposted by Heather
Rutile Ti⁴⁺O₂
Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada
FOV = 3.77 mm
#1561
NFS
#minerals
Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada
FOV = 3.77 mm
#1561
NFS
#minerals
February 16, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Rutile Ti⁴⁺O₂
Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada
FOV = 3.77 mm
#1561
NFS
#minerals
Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada
FOV = 3.77 mm
#1561
NFS
#minerals
This crazy #mineral (abhurite) occurs exclusively on tin ingots in shipwrecks!! 😮
It’s formed by the chemical reaction between tin & seawater.
This SEM image from @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social shows tin ingots coated with abhurite from the SS Liverpool, which sank off the coast of Anglesey in 1863.
It’s formed by the chemical reaction between tin & seawater.
This SEM image from @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social shows tin ingots coated with abhurite from the SS Liverpool, which sank off the coast of Anglesey in 1863.
February 15, 2025 at 11:22 AM
This crazy #mineral (abhurite) occurs exclusively on tin ingots in shipwrecks!! 😮
It’s formed by the chemical reaction between tin & seawater.
This SEM image from @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social shows tin ingots coated with abhurite from the SS Liverpool, which sank off the coast of Anglesey in 1863.
It’s formed by the chemical reaction between tin & seawater.
This SEM image from @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social shows tin ingots coated with abhurite from the SS Liverpool, which sank off the coast of Anglesey in 1863.
Still one of my favourite typos: Dean Lomax & team are so immersed in their subject they're even starting to look like fossils…
(From science daily in 2018) #geology
(From science daily in 2018) #geology
February 14, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Still one of my favourite typos: Dean Lomax & team are so immersed in their subject they're even starting to look like fossils…
(From science daily in 2018) #geology
(From science daily in 2018) #geology
At last, something we can do to defend #scientists in the US. Please sign if this resonates with your values. 🔬 👩🏻🔬
#geology
#geology
OK folks, I have now created a google form that allows people to sign to show their support for my open letter to the President of the Royal Society. Please sign and share widely: forms.gle/miDciq35oxyw...
February 14, 2025 at 9:55 AM
At last, something we can do to defend #scientists in the US. Please sign if this resonates with your values. 🔬 👩🏻🔬
#geology
#geology
Reposted by Heather
1 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Quetzalcoatlite:
- Named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, due to its sea-blue colour
- Forms in the oxidised zone of tellurium-bearing hydrothermal deposits #minerals
- This below is a co-type specimen (one of the specimens used to define the species)
Quetzalcoatlite:
- Named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, due to its sea-blue colour
- Forms in the oxidised zone of tellurium-bearing hydrothermal deposits #minerals
- This below is a co-type specimen (one of the specimens used to define the species)
January 1, 2025 at 9:43 AM
1 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Quetzalcoatlite:
- Named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, due to its sea-blue colour
- Forms in the oxidised zone of tellurium-bearing hydrothermal deposits #minerals
- This below is a co-type specimen (one of the specimens used to define the species)
Quetzalcoatlite:
- Named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, due to its sea-blue colour
- Forms in the oxidised zone of tellurium-bearing hydrothermal deposits #minerals
- This below is a co-type specimen (one of the specimens used to define the species)
Reposted by Heather
I hear it’s almost time for some superb owls! Here’s one from 1508 by Albrecht Dürer.
February 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I hear it’s almost time for some superb owls! Here’s one from 1508 by Albrecht Dürer.
Reposted by Heather
A crisp and sunny morning here in #Charmouth, why not come along at 10am for our first beach clean of 2025!
Help us collect, sort and record rubbish for the Marine Conservation Society as part of citizen science and create a safer environment for our wildlife.
Meet us in the seafront car park!
Help us collect, sort and record rubbish for the Marine Conservation Society as part of citizen science and create a safer environment for our wildlife.
Meet us in the seafront car park!
February 9, 2025 at 7:26 AM
A crisp and sunny morning here in #Charmouth, why not come along at 10am for our first beach clean of 2025!
Help us collect, sort and record rubbish for the Marine Conservation Society as part of citizen science and create a safer environment for our wildlife.
Meet us in the seafront car park!
Help us collect, sort and record rubbish for the Marine Conservation Society as part of citizen science and create a safer environment for our wildlife.
Meet us in the seafront car park!
Reposted by Heather
Some beautiful Penrhyn slate in the @nhm-london.bsky.social evolution garden - with creatures & the excellent Earth science researcher who helped bring this real-rock timeline to life.
February 7, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Some beautiful Penrhyn slate in the @nhm-london.bsky.social evolution garden - with creatures & the excellent Earth science researcher who helped bring this real-rock timeline to life.
Look the the square window in the natural history #museum #evolution garden and what do you see?
A pterosaur!
As designed in 1875 and sculpted from terracotta to Alfred Waterhouse’s design.
A pterosaur!
As designed in 1875 and sculpted from terracotta to Alfred Waterhouse’s design.
February 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Look the the square window in the natural history #museum #evolution garden and what do you see?
A pterosaur!
As designed in 1875 and sculpted from terracotta to Alfred Waterhouse’s design.
A pterosaur!
As designed in 1875 and sculpted from terracotta to Alfred Waterhouse’s design.
#Tourmaline is probably my favourite #mineral.
It has so many varieties- like the lovely allochromatic Elbaite.
If copper-bearing, crystals can be a beautiful blue / green, like in this pegmatite.
Quintos pegmatite, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. #geology
📷 F. Brederodes (CC licence)
It has so many varieties- like the lovely allochromatic Elbaite.
If copper-bearing, crystals can be a beautiful blue / green, like in this pegmatite.
Quintos pegmatite, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. #geology
📷 F. Brederodes (CC licence)
February 6, 2025 at 11:01 AM
#Tourmaline is probably my favourite #mineral.
It has so many varieties- like the lovely allochromatic Elbaite.
If copper-bearing, crystals can be a beautiful blue / green, like in this pegmatite.
Quintos pegmatite, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. #geology
📷 F. Brederodes (CC licence)
It has so many varieties- like the lovely allochromatic Elbaite.
If copper-bearing, crystals can be a beautiful blue / green, like in this pegmatite.
Quintos pegmatite, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. #geology
📷 F. Brederodes (CC licence)
Reposted by Heather
