KSircombe
@ksircombe.bsky.social
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.
#OreCup #copper is one of only two coloured metals ⚒️🧪
The iconic reddish color is due to a peculiarity in the transition of electrons between the 3d and 4s orbitals causing absorption of blue and green wavelengths and reflecting red/orange wavelengths. Also makes it a great electrical conductor.
The iconic reddish color is due to a peculiarity in the transition of electrons between the 3d and 4s orbitals causing absorption of blue and green wavelengths and reflecting red/orange wavelengths. Also makes it a great electrical conductor.
November 7, 2025 at 4:19 AM
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...)
buff.ly/ez1xDOJ
buff.ly/ez1xDOJ
November 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
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...)
buff.ly/ez1xDOJ
buff.ly/ez1xDOJ
Always a big ⚒️🧪 fan of #copper. We use it for vacuum gaskets which we then give away to visiting school groups - they find it fascinating because although copper is everywhere it's rare to actually *see* it. There's probably a kilo or so of copper in your immediate vicinity.
November 3, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Always a big ⚒️🧪 fan of #copper. We use it for vacuum gaskets which we then give away to visiting school groups - they find it fascinating because although copper is everywhere it's rare to actually *see* it. There's probably a kilo or so of copper in your immediate vicinity.
Ward Beach in the northeastern corner of the South Island, New Zealand. A dramatic, rocky, wind-swept coast with concretions, the end of dinosaurs at the K-T boundary and sidling past grumpy fur seals napping amongst the outcrops... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Be...
October 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Ward Beach in the northeastern corner of the South Island, New Zealand. A dramatic, rocky, wind-swept coast with concretions, the end of dinosaurs at the K-T boundary and sidling past grumpy fur seals napping amongst the outcrops... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Be...
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?
October 17, 2025 at 6:24 AM
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?
For #EarthScienceWeek2025: what 3 steps got you into ⚒️🧪 Earth Science?
1. A wood box full of rocks and crystals that my Dad had collected in his travels
2. David Attenbourgh's 'Life on Earth'
3. Couldn't make up my mind choosing a science major, so I did the (earth) science that does them all!
1. A wood box full of rocks and crystals that my Dad had collected in his travels
2. David Attenbourgh's 'Life on Earth'
3. Couldn't make up my mind choosing a science major, so I did the (earth) science that does them all!
October 14, 2025 at 1:55 AM
For #EarthScienceWeek2025: what 3 steps got you into ⚒️🧪 Earth Science?
1. A wood box full of rocks and crystals that my Dad had collected in his travels
2. David Attenbourgh's 'Life on Earth'
3. Couldn't make up my mind choosing a science major, so I did the (earth) science that does them all!
1. A wood box full of rocks and crystals that my Dad had collected in his travels
2. David Attenbourgh's 'Life on Earth'
3. Couldn't make up my mind choosing a science major, so I did the (earth) science that does them all!
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.
buff.ly/Y8v46nt
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.
buff.ly/Y8v46nt
October 13, 2025 at 1:31 AM
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.
buff.ly/Y8v46nt
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.
buff.ly/Y8v46nt
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee is a great read. It brings together descriptions of field trips (and the geologists!) plus local history to weave a story how the geology of North America has shaped its people and history, and how the story of geology itself has grown.
October 10, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee is a great read. It brings together descriptions of field trips (and the geologists!) plus local history to weave a story how the geology of North America has shaped its people and history, and how the story of geology itself has grown.
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
September 2, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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
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
September 2, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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
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
September 2, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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
⚒️🧪 #Mincup25 begins! Let's start with a PSA:
• Please don't take a handful of fluffy stuff into a laboratory to ask for a microscope to see if it is asbestos. That tends to get people excited for all the wrong reasons. True story.
• Vote #pectolite because it isn't trying to kill you.
• Please don't take a handful of fluffy stuff into a laboratory to ask for a microscope to see if it is asbestos. That tends to get people excited for all the wrong reasons. True story.
• Vote #pectolite because it isn't trying to kill you.
September 1, 2025 at 12:04 PM
⚒️🧪 #Mincup25 begins! Let's start with a PSA:
• Please don't take a handful of fluffy stuff into a laboratory to ask for a microscope to see if it is asbestos. That tends to get people excited for all the wrong reasons. True story.
• Vote #pectolite because it isn't trying to kill you.
• Please don't take a handful of fluffy stuff into a laboratory to ask for a microscope to see if it is asbestos. That tends to get people excited for all the wrong reasons. True story.
• Vote #pectolite because it isn't trying to kill you.
Meanwhile, back in 🇦🇺 Australia... another addition to the already chonky list of Things That Will F**k You Up.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
July 31, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Meanwhile, back in 🇦🇺 Australia... another addition to the already chonky list of Things That Will F**k You Up.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
For any ⚒️🧪 fans in Canberra 🇦🇺 on 8 and 15 August for #NationalScienceWeek... a rare opportunity to see the geological foundations of Parliament House!
parliamenthouse.respax.com/public/aph/t...
parliamenthouse.respax.com/public/aph/t...
July 24, 2025 at 3:58 AM
For any ⚒️🧪 fans in Canberra 🇦🇺 on 8 and 15 August for #NationalScienceWeek... a rare opportunity to see the geological foundations of Parliament House!
parliamenthouse.respax.com/public/aph/t...
parliamenthouse.respax.com/public/aph/t...
International Rock Day ⚒️🧪 picture: Concretions on Ward Beach in the northeastern South Island, New Zealand 🇳🇿. These rocks are late, late Cretaceous rocks and the famous K-T boundary is nearby.
July 13, 2025 at 9:50 AM
International Rock Day ⚒️🧪 picture: Concretions on Ward Beach in the northeastern South Island, New Zealand 🇳🇿. These rocks are late, late Cretaceous rocks and the famous K-T boundary is nearby.
And then there are the fish...
July 8, 2025 at 7:24 AM
And then there are the fish...
It's such an Australian 🇦🇺 thing to flex about how deadly the snakes are in a First Aid training course... 😬
July 8, 2025 at 7:22 AM
It's such an Australian 🇦🇺 thing to flex about how deadly the snakes are in a First Aid training course... 😬
And now the Winter #Solstice from the same location ⚒️🧪🌏
A noticeable lack of celebrants due to an effective demonstration of seasonal change with a brisk minus 6°C air temperature... 🥶
A noticeable lack of celebrants due to an effective demonstration of seasonal change with a brisk minus 6°C air temperature... 🥶
June 21, 2025 at 12:30 AM
And now the Winter #Solstice from the same location ⚒️🧪🌏
A noticeable lack of celebrants due to an effective demonstration of seasonal change with a brisk minus 6°C air temperature... 🥶
A noticeable lack of celebrants due to an effective demonstration of seasonal change with a brisk minus 6°C air temperature... 🥶
And because coincidences... today I saw some archived ⚒️🧪rock samples from Antarctica collected from a glacial moraine in 1957. The 🤯 thing is that these cobbles are *rounded* - they were made by water flowing in a river. They whisper of a time when Antarctica was a very different place.
June 19, 2025 at 7:33 AM
And because coincidences... today I saw some archived ⚒️🧪rock samples from Antarctica collected from a glacial moraine in 1957. The 🤯 thing is that these cobbles are *rounded* - they were made by water flowing in a river. They whisper of a time when Antarctica was a very different place.
Columnar! Basalt! ⚒️🧪
June 5, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Columnar! Basalt! ⚒️🧪
It's #LookUpAtTheSkyDay 👀☁️🧪⚒️ - a reminder to take a few moments to look up and contemplate the wonder of it all... Here is my sky today, it's been mostly overcast, but with some subtle colours later in the day. What does your sky look like?
April 14, 2025 at 5:51 AM
It's #LookUpAtTheSkyDay 👀☁️🧪⚒️ - a reminder to take a few moments to look up and contemplate the wonder of it all... Here is my sky today, it's been mostly overcast, but with some subtle colours later in the day. What does your sky look like?
Having some 🧪 fun this afternoon...
April 12, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Having some 🧪 fun this afternoon...
Meanwhile in #Australia 🇦🇺, in the context of strategic operational framework we engaged in a comprehensive process of mitigating multi-faceted challenges to our market share through deployment of innovative solutions. And, uh, Dave in Marketing couldn't decide whether to go for some chips or a pie.
April 10, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Meanwhile in #Australia 🇦🇺, in the context of strategic operational framework we engaged in a comprehensive process of mitigating multi-faceted challenges to our market share through deployment of innovative solutions. And, uh, Dave in Marketing couldn't decide whether to go for some chips or a pie.