Ben Black
@magmatist.bsky.social
Petrologist, volcanologist, and Earth historian. Associate Professor at Rutgers. rutgersvolcano.weebly.com
Cowboy and sidekick herding cattle off the road and into the frenchglen corral. Mooo
October 11, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Cowboy and sidekick herding cattle off the road and into the frenchglen corral. Mooo
Pre-Steens rhyolites with the Alvord Desert in the background
Just for your eyes to feel better
Just for your eyes to feel better
October 10, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Pre-Steens rhyolites with the Alvord Desert in the background
Just for your eyes to feel better
Just for your eyes to feel better
What is better than pet photos?
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
October 9, 2025 at 5:18 AM
What is better than pet photos?
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
You know the answer is a praying mantis on a rock hammer
Columbia River Basalts in the background
The world has so much to learn from Norwegians about the critical importance of saunas.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
July 28, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The world has so much to learn from Norwegians about the critical importance of saunas.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
(did you guess that I would end the sentence with that word?)
Here is a nice sauna overlooking the harbor in Storekorsnes. Spotted while waiting for a ferry transfer back to Alta.
These are cloudberries (with a gabbro intrusion cutting metasedimentary rocks in the background).
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
July 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
These are cloudberries (with a gabbro intrusion cutting metasedimentary rocks in the background).
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
Cloudberries have a short Arctic growing season and have twice as much vitamin C as an orange by weight.
I will just put these photos here without much comment beyond wow this is a nice place
July 22, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I will just put these photos here without much comment beyond wow this is a nice place
One way to judge how fresh a rock is: the sound it makes when the 4.5 kilo sledge lands on it
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
July 22, 2025 at 7:42 PM
One way to judge how fresh a rock is: the sound it makes when the 4.5 kilo sledge lands on it
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
(Wielding the hammer: Ben Klein)
There were a lot of mosquitoes and biting flies in Siberia. But Norway may have Siberia beat for the sheer diversity of biters… a very heterogeneous mix of small biting flies, giant biting flies, and mosquitoes.
All living their best lives
All living their best lives
July 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
There were a lot of mosquitoes and biting flies in Siberia. But Norway may have Siberia beat for the sheer diversity of biters… a very heterogeneous mix of small biting flies, giant biting flies, and mosquitoes.
All living their best lives
All living their best lives
We climbed through a remote Norwegian valley on a reindeer path, and you’ll never guess what we saw next…
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
July 21, 2025 at 7:37 PM
We climbed through a remote Norwegian valley on a reindeer path, and you’ll never guess what we saw next…
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
It was a cliff of hornblendite and carbonatite!
Yesterday we were working near a mine. We thought maybe mining the carbonatites because they are one of the major sources of rare earth elements.
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
July 20, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Yesterday we were working near a mine. We thought maybe mining the carbonatites because they are one of the major sources of rare earth elements.
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
But actually they were mining the nephrite syenite to make porcelain! Just a reminder that we use rocks for all kinds of things. Rocks->teacups
Tomorrow we will try a new way to reach the interior of the island and then meet the boat on the other side. There are some bugs… but the geology is very exciting!
July 19, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Tomorrow we will try a new way to reach the interior of the island and then meet the boat on the other side. There are some bugs… but the geology is very exciting!
First cell reception after two great field days! We are looking at an enormous magmatic system at 5-10 kbar pressure (mid to lower crust). Very volatile rich, including carbonatites (inaccesible today due to snow). Big thank you to @fredrhog.bsky.social for sharing some nice NGU maps of the area.
July 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
First cell reception after two great field days! We are looking at an enormous magmatic system at 5-10 kbar pressure (mid to lower crust). Very volatile rich, including carbonatites (inaccesible today due to snow). Big thank you to @fredrhog.bsky.social for sharing some nice NGU maps of the area.
Quick run around Alta in the morning. Tons of wildflowers on the streets. Some old classic wooden houses…. Plus lots of buildings that feel like bunkers against the winter months
July 18, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Quick run around Alta in the morning. Tons of wildflowers on the streets. Some old classic wooden houses…. Plus lots of buildings that feel like bunkers against the winter months
Made it to Alta! Some photos from the flight in. It is 11 PM and the sunlight is golden.
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
July 17, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Made it to Alta! Some photos from the flight in. It is 11 PM and the sunlight is golden.
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
Tomorrow we meet up with colleagues from Uni of Lausanne to take a boat out to the rocks
The compare/contrast between Denmark and Norway—photos taken just a few minutes apart across the Skagerrak strait—is stark. Sand vs rock. Next: the journey 1500 km north, to the Arctic
July 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The compare/contrast between Denmark and Norway—photos taken just a few minutes apart across the Skagerrak strait—is stark. Sand vs rock. Next: the journey 1500 km north, to the Arctic
How do others feel about packing for field work? I don’t especially enjoy normal packing, but there is a pleasure in trying to imagine a future moment on an unknown mountain, and what you might wish for in that moment—and then later, with luck, being on the mountain and having just what you need
July 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
How do others feel about packing for field work? I don’t especially enjoy normal packing, but there is a pleasure in trying to imagine a future moment on an unknown mountain, and what you might wish for in that moment—and then later, with luck, being on the mountain and having just what you need
Leaving for field work tomorrow with a team heading to northern Norway to explore the exhumed remnants of a very large mafic magmatic system—possibly the lower crustal roots of an Ediacaran large igneous province! I don’t know if I will have any internet, but if so I will try to tweet along the way…
July 16, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Leaving for field work tomorrow with a team heading to northern Norway to explore the exhumed remnants of a very large mafic magmatic system—possibly the lower crustal roots of an Ediacaran large igneous province! I don’t know if I will have any internet, but if so I will try to tweet along the way…
If you are in Eastern Oregon today, stop by the C2C project’s booth at the Watershed Festival, where we explore how ancient volcanic eruptions have shaped climate and life.
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 6:50 PM
If you are in Eastern Oregon today, stop by the C2C project’s booth at the Watershed Festival, where we explore how ancient volcanic eruptions have shaped climate and life.
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Volcanoes, Lava, and Life—words to live by!
Featuring Leif Karlstrom, Lauren Adamo, &
@pedromonarrez.bsky.social
Here is a screenshot of the email from NAGT (who organize the workshop) asking for help… the next workshop is in six weeks!
May 13, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Here is a screenshot of the email from NAGT (who organize the workshop) asking for help… the next workshop is in six weeks!
And how about this granitoid engraved by Ken Hiratsuka at the corner of Prince and Broadway … here is some interesting backstory sohobroadway.org/a-look-back-...
January 11, 2025 at 5:50 PM
And how about this granitoid engraved by Ken Hiratsuka at the corner of Prince and Broadway … here is some interesting backstory sohobroadway.org/a-look-back-...
Who’s in the mood for some NYC sidewalk geology? Beautiful snowmelt-speckled migmatitic gneiss sidewalk pavers near the Soho REI… used chewing gum for scale
January 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Who’s in the mood for some NYC sidewalk geology? Beautiful snowmelt-speckled migmatitic gneiss sidewalk pavers near the Soho REI… used chewing gum for scale
My kids and I have an ice factory going on our fire escape. There are bubbles trapped in the ice. An echo of one of the ways we reconstruct Earth’s atmospheric composition hundreds of thousands of years into the past!
December 22, 2024 at 7:24 PM
My kids and I have an ice factory going on our fire escape. There are bubbles trapped in the ice. An echo of one of the ways we reconstruct Earth’s atmospheric composition hundreds of thousands of years into the past!
What drives protracted warming after some LIPs?
Our hypothesis: a long slow leak of CO2 from the deep reaches of LIP plumbing systems
Open access paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our hypothesis: a long slow leak of CO2 from the deep reaches of LIP plumbing systems
Open access paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 26, 2024 at 12:30 AM
What drives protracted warming after some LIPs?
Our hypothesis: a long slow leak of CO2 from the deep reaches of LIP plumbing systems
Open access paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our hypothesis: a long slow leak of CO2 from the deep reaches of LIP plumbing systems
Open access paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I went to the Olafur Eliasson [art] show in NYC today in which he “translates audio waves into visual phenomena”: www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/exhibitions/.... Any other petrologists see what I see?
Left: Olafur Eliasson. Right: Fig. 1 from Wallace et al (2021) Annual Reviews
Left: Olafur Eliasson. Right: Fig. 1 from Wallace et al (2021) Annual Reviews
November 10, 2024 at 12:17 AM
I went to the Olafur Eliasson [art] show in NYC today in which he “translates audio waves into visual phenomena”: www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/exhibitions/.... Any other petrologists see what I see?
Left: Olafur Eliasson. Right: Fig. 1 from Wallace et al (2021) Annual Reviews
Left: Olafur Eliasson. Right: Fig. 1 from Wallace et al (2021) Annual Reviews
If geology was a summer camp, anorthosite would have to win a prize as weirdest camper that everyone still likes. Such a weirdo! But really fun to explore Adirondack anorthosites with my Petrology class
October 20, 2024 at 10:53 PM
If geology was a summer camp, anorthosite would have to win a prize as weirdest camper that everyone still likes. Such a weirdo! But really fun to explore Adirondack anorthosites with my Petrology class