Earth and Planetary Science - UC Berkeley

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Photo: Professor Nick Swanson-Hysell with students in his geology field course.

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Today is Big Give, the UC Berkeley community's annual opportunity to give back to the departments and programs closest to their hearts.

What was the "Snowball Earth?" What caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period? An expert panel discusses the disasters of the distant past, and what the geological and fossil records tell us about the future.

Mass Extinctions and Ancient Climate Catastrophes

Public lecture on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 @ 5:00 PM with EPS Professors Nick Swanson-Hysell and Paul Renne.

Register in advance to attend the Zoom meeting:
https://ucbevents.wufoo.com/forms/p11zyuje0y20swh/

Basic Science Lights the Way, Spring 2022: https://basicscience.berkeley.edu/

EPS Professor Bill Boos provides insight on the mechanics of the North American monsoon that will have a major impact on forecasts in the region, both in short-term and long-term climate projections.

Summer rains in American Southwest are not your typical monsoon Supercomputer simulations show that the monsoons that drench the American Southwest and Mexico are generated when the jet stream collides with the Sierra Madre

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Greywacke!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

Sandstones are considered to be siliciclastic rocks. ‘Silici-’ means it is made of silicate minerals such as quartz, feldspar, mica, pyroxenes and amphiboles. ‘-Clastic’ refers to there being small pieces, or clasts, of these silicate materials in the sandstone. In this sandstone, sand grains range from 0.06 to 2 millimeters in diameter and there is abundant matrix (the fine material between the sand grains) leading to it being classified as a greywacke The matrix of a rock like this Greywacke can be composed of smaller grains of the same minerals as the bulk rock or of different minerals such as clays.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Greywacke!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

Sandstones like this greywacke can be categorized by their composition and the varying percentage of quartz grains, feldspar grains, and lithic fragments. Within a sandstone there can be clay or silt-sized material between the sand grains. These small “in between” grains make up what is called the matrix. If a sandstone contains 5%, it is a wacke.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Quartzite!

Type: Metamorphic Rock

When a quartz-bearing sandstone is subjected to high pressure, temperature and fluid flow, the rock can recrystallize to form the metamorphic rock quartzite. During metamorphism of this quartzite, the pressure resulted in the boundaries of the quartz grains changing shape leading to the deformed shapes. Clay minerals within the sandstone were transformed into other minerals such as the mica mineral muscovite.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Fossiliferous Limestone!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

This limestone is made of fossil shells cemented together. Calcifying organisms, such as the molluscs and foraminifera within this limestone, use Ca^2+ and CO3^2- ions in seawater to build their shells composed of the calcium carbonate minerals calcite and aragonite. Given that carbonate saturation is higher at warm temperatures, limestone commonly formed in tropical seas.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Yule Marble!

Type: Metamorphic Rock

Yule Marble, quarried from the West Elk Mountains of Colorado, formed from the heating of a 350 million year old limestone by a magma chamber 30 million years ago. The beauty and purity of this marble (>99% calcite), has led to it being used for construction of important American landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Here at Berkeley, Professor Francis Turner (1904 - 1985) used blocks of the Yule marble, such as this one, in a series of landmark experimental studies on rock deformation.

Earth and Planetary Science - UC Berkeley updated their phone number.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Arkosic Sandstone!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

When an underwater landslide occurs in the ocean, a slurry of sediment and water known as a turbidite can rush down the slope. A turbidite can erode into underlying sediment. When sediments are quickly deposited into these scours, they form a type of sedimentary structure known as a flute cast. This rock broke along the surface that was the ancient sea. Later, the rock may break along the old surfaces due to its plane of weakness, exposing the flute cast such as on this rock.

Join us at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in Oakland on Saturday, October 30th, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Learn About Local Geology with EPS Professors Nick Swanson-Hysell and Richard Allen
Please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1V2YzI_P5X2jbthgQ1r781zd3zHTqTjKogoTLOM8osDY/viewform?edit_requested=true

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Sandstone!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

This sandstone is made of rounded quartz sand grains that were deposited in an ancient surface environment. While it is the size, shape and composition of the sand grains that gives insight into the ancient environment, the secondary colored bands known as Liesegang rings are the most striking characteristic of this rock. Liesegang banding forms through fluid flow and the precipitation of secondary iron oxide minerals within permeable rock. These iron oxides, such as hematite, goethite and limonite, are more commonly known as rust.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Petrified Wood!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

When a tree falls, it nearly always decomposes completely. In rare settings, a tree can be buried and the wood can be replaced with minerals to become petrified wood. This can occur in certain environments, such as near an active volcano, where groundwater is saturated with silica, and the silica replaces the structure of the tree’s cells. See if you can still count the tree’s rings in this piece of petrified wood.

Graduate Diversity Admissions Fair Oct 18-22, online, EPS Session on Friday, October 22nd at 11:00 AM PST

Learn more about graduate study at UC Berkeley and find the right program for your interests at this weeklong virtual fair!

The University of California, Berkeley is holding its second virtual Graduate Diversity Admissions Fair October 18-22 to help prospective professional, master's, and doctoral students learn more about UC Berkeley overall, our application process, and departments in your area of interest. Register for plenary sessions and department information sessions on our event webpage.

Graduate Diversity Admissions Fair
Dates: Monday, Oct. 18 through Friday, Oct. 22
EPS Session: Friday, Oct. 22 @ 11:00 AM
This admissions fair was developed specifically for underrepresented minority students considering graduate school, though it is open to all attendees.

Register for the Fair! (https://whova.com/web/diver1_202110/)

If you require accommodations in order to fully participate, please reach out to us at [email protected] with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Arkosic sandstone!

Type: Sedimentary Rock

This rock is a clastic sedimentary rock, meaning that it is formed of clasts (fragments of pre-existing minerals and rocks). Sandstones can have a wide variety of clast composition and size. A sandstone with many types of minerals that have very angular shapes is considered to be immature because it has not undergone extensive weathering to round the clasts and remove many of mineral types. An example of a mature sandstone would be one in which the sand grains are round and comprised solely of quartz, the most weather-resistant mineral found in sands. This immature sandstone is known as arkosic, as many of the grains are made of the mineral feldspar.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Welded Rhyolite Tuff!

Type: Igneous Volcanic Rock

Tuff is a rock type that forms from volcanic ash that is produced when a volcano erupts explosively. When the ash and other rock fragments are hot, they may weld (become stuck) together. Igneous volcanic rocks have a wide variety of chemical compositions. Rocks of rhyolitic composition such as this one have 69% or more SiO2 and are described as felsic. Felsic rocks such as this are very viscous and do not flow easily when molten. Eruptions of felsic magma tend to be very explosive as felsic magma is viscous and resists flow. A great example of such a rock unit is the Bishop Tuff in eastern California that was deposited from an eruption that happened 767,000 years ago

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Muscovite Calcite Schist!

Type: Metamorphic Rock

This muscovite calcite schist is a medium-grade metamorphic rock with the sheet-like grains of the mineral muscovite having formed due to elevated heat and pressure. This specimen has a band of cube-shaped, yellow-gold minerals called pyrite across the middle. Pyrite is sometimes called “fool’s gold” because of its yellow-gold color and metallic luster.

Come on a journey through the Earth Sciences & Map Library Escape Room!
Geography vs. EPS and we're behind! We need your help.
The Library Escape Room is open until this Friday September 3, 2021. You must be a UC Berkeley student, staff, or faculty member (You need to use your Berkeley email). See here for more details: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/libraryescaperoom

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! Today we will be spotlighting Granite!

Type: Igneous Plutonic Rock

This piece of granite contains a pegmatite vein. Pegmatite is the coarse-grained rock that forms from the last fluids to crystallize in a magma chamber. The crystals form more slowly and grow larger than in other plutonic rocks. As the magma is emplaced, it contains three main phases: preexisting crystals, a hydrous crystal melt/mush and a fluid mostly comprised of gas. Low temperatures, high fluid concentrations and a high concentration of fluxing ions like boron and lithium result in crystals forming over a protracted time period leading to pegmatite.

Welcome back for another week of McCone Henge Mondays! This week we will be spotlighting Serpentine.

Type: Metamorphic Rock

In a subduction zone, oceanic crust slides underneath continental crust in a process known as subduction. As oceanic crust subducts beneath continental crust, it is subjected to high pressure. The oceanic crust is relatively cool and saturated with water. When water gets into a pressurized system, it can expedite metamorphic reactions and create hydrated minerals. Olivine, a common mineral found in oceanic crust, reacts with water and silica in solution, creating a new mineral: serpentine. Serpentine is the official state rock of California.

Welcome back to McCone Henge Mondays! This week's spotlight is on Basalt!
Type: Igneous Volcanic Rock

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, meaning that it cools and solidifies at earth’s surface rather than underground. Basalt forms from magma that is mafic in composition, meaning it is composed of minerals low in silica and rich with iron and magnesium. When basaltic magma erupts, the temperature of the lava is typically around 1100°C. At the surface, the lava cools quickly, forming glass and small crystals.

Register Now to see EPS Professor Harriet Lau in the Science at Cal Lecture Series present: What Can Studying Tiny Vibrations Deep within the Earth Teach Us About Our Planet?
Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-can-studying-tiny-vibrations-deep-within-the-earth-teach-us-registration-166862948571?aff=Newsletter

Welcome to McCone Henge Mondays! Every Monday, the EPS Department will be showcasing the different components that make up the McCone Henge. These formations can be found outside of McCone Hall at UC Berkeley.

Siliceous Limestone
Type: sedimentary rock

Limestone commonly forms in shallow marine environments. Limestone often forms from fragments of fossil shells. After this limestone forms, fluid flow through the rock caused much of it to be replaced by silica through a process known as silicification. This secondary silica-rich rock is called chert. Notice the way the rock breaks in a regular blocky pattern. This rock has a layered structure, both on the boulder (horizontal) and in the thin section. These layers are called bedding and formed during sedimentation.

Brian Chandler (EPS PhD 2021) research conducted with EPS Professor Rudy Wenk

Mineral Microstructures Shed Light on Planet-Scale Dynamics To explore what happens to minerals under the extreme conditions in Earth’s mantle, researchers developed an x-ray technique that bridges the gap between methods that reveal bulk properties and those that focus on individual crystals. Use of the technique has shed light on the dynamics of tectonic...

A few highlights from the EPS live virtual graduation ceremony this week, with Ross Stein from Temblor giving the commencement address. Congratulations Class of 2021!!!!!!!