Sedimentary structures and stuff

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Jon and I often search for sedimentary structures while measuring sections to get an idea of what the environment was like back when the rock-forming sediments were first deposited. This was a really vague and uninteresting statement, so I'd like to flesh it out and give you all a better look at some of the geology we're working with in Oz. Here's a little photo gallery of some of the most common geologic features we look at, and what they might tell us.

Karst - We wouldn't be able to accomplish much science if we couldn't tell limestone (carbonate) apart from other types of rock. Since we cannot rely on the color of a rock as an indicator, we look for karst, which are a dead giveaway for carbonates. Karst are razor-edged 'ripples' that can be sharp enough to cut you at times. They are a "recent" feature, formed after our ocean sediments became rock and were uplifted into mountains, and after the carbonate sediments were exposed to rainfall. The slightly acidic rain is able to dissolve calcium carbonate, thus leaving behind the razor-sharp ridges that are a bane of weary geologists' butts.

Day 28 Update

Hey there friends!

So we've had quite a bit of rain lately, and there's an unspoken understanding that when the dirt cut roads are wet, we are not to drive on them for safety and maintenance reasons. Fortunately, we left Oodnapanicken before the rains hit, but we'll be held up in Leigh Creek until they end, which will likely be tomorrow. It'll be a nice halfway point respite!

Anyhow, here's the scoop of what has happened in the past two weeks. We:

• nearly (not really) caused the park rangers of Flinders Ranges National Park to start a missing persons search for us
• measured a section downwind from a rancid dead kangaroo at Wilkawillina
• quadrupled our chances for a coronary heart disease with homemade, oil-drenched French fries
• met up with Catherine and Erica at Oodnapanicken and had a party that none of you were invited to (now aren't you jealous)
• watched Catherine go through week one of her Vegan pledge with triumph!
• lured Catherine into playing a game of hacky sack ("No points? That is so Vegan!")
• split up work on the canyon, allowing me to map old school with colored pencils and the like on my very own (and it was awfully fun, and beats the Trimble any day!)
• encountered a feral house cat, which Erica has named 'Frodo' (you can read about that here in Erica's blog)
• replaced a slowly leaking tire on the Beast, only to narrowly escape the most epic of epic fails by forgetting to properly screw in the new tire
• spilled motor oil all over our mushrooms and still ate them
• saw a rainbow, in a place that hardly ever rains!
• parted ways with Catherine and Erica, who we will meet with again at the end of the field season to close shop

Today, I have for you many photos and some posts about the Beast, how we feed ourselves, and slacking off. I hope you enjoy the read!

For the next two weeks, we will be in St. Ronan, the only place in the world that shows a continuous exposure between Wonoka paleocanyon and canyon shoulder--and the research site of my junior paper! I am stoked, and I hope to be able to talk to you all about it in two weeks time. Thanks again for reading everyone! Stay safe and warm.

Christine

UPDATE (7/15): With the downtime in Leigh Creek, I've been able to write this post about sedimentary structures. Yay geology! Check it out, even if you have just a passing fancy of rocks.

What we do for fun

As if we weren't having fun already! Though, in all seriousness, here are the top four activities we like to pursue while slacking off in the field, in the order in which we might do them in a day:

Hacky Sack - No scores, no competition; just keep the hacky sack in the air for as long as possible between players using any part of your body other than your arms and hands, though predominant use of the feet is the norm. Since last season, it has been tradition to play this game every morning after breakfast to warm up for traverse. If every person within the participating circle can get a touch on the hacky sack without it touching the ground, the act is considered a 'hack' and cause for celebration.

Let's just say that Jon and I are totally boss at the two-person hack. This past week with Catherine and Erica around, we managed to play a three- and even FOUR-person game (yes, let it be known that Catherine Rose played hacky sack!), and that is a totally different style of play. We've realized that hacking with just two people, although more difficult and perhaps less fun, does wonders for your skills. Friday Afternoon Tea Time, watch out for us.

The Regimen

"Pasta... pesto... and chili."

That was the answer I received whenever I asked other grad students and professors about what food was like in the field. Needless to say, I wasn't really expecting much, and imagined losing a lot of weight. So when I saw Jon throwing chocolate bar after chocolate bar into our shopping cart on our first food shop in Adelaide, I was a bit confused.

As it turns out, we feast like kings out here; Jon doesn't understand how I was ever given the initial false impression. Every evening, using a propane camping stove and other assorted cutlery, we chop, slice, boil and fry enough food for dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day--that's right, I'm learning how to cook! What we eat is completely up to us, our sole limitation being that we must purchase foods that do not easily perish, i.e. no meat, just vegetables and a treasured block of sharp cheddar cheese.

My parents are probably laughing at this point, because if anything, I've been a carnivore all my life. I'm still very much the kid that picks at their vegetables at the dinner table and refuses to have anything to do with brussels sprouts. I've never been able to make sense of how vegans and vegetarians manage to feed themselves satisfactorily. But who knew that vegetables could taste so good?

The Beast

It's halfway through the field season and the only bruise on my body is from the glove box compartment of the Beast.  If a road has just the right amount of bumpiness to it, the heavy metal door of the glove box comes crashing down on my left knee, prompting pain and panic as I frantically try to keep a deluge of once important papers from spilling out.  I call this routine annoyance one of the Beast's many acts of retaliation. As for what exactly it's retaliating against, we're not quite sure.

The Beast's likeness to a surly bipolar teenager is uncanny. Sometimes on chilly mornings, it refuses to start, letting instead the windshield wipers to screech deafeningly awake. Other times, the Beast refuses to turn off, despite a severe lack of key in the ignition, leaving Jon no choice but to stall out.  When it does decide to move for us, a sound halfway between a 'moo' and a chainsaw emanates from the hood, changing pitch on turns in a clear whine of complaint.

Check-in/OK message from Guyot1 SPOT Messenger

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Latitude:-30.44064
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GPS location Date/Time:07/04/2011 21:24:06 CST

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Here's our new location. We hope things are well!

Cheers,
Jon and Christine

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Day... something update!

Hello readers from Leigh Creek once again!

We have just spend 4 days in Flinders Ranges National Park and will now be heading off for Oodnapanicken for two weeks. We'll be breaking out our new shiny GPS equipment (the Trimble) as well as meeting up with Catherine Rose, another graduate student, and her field assistant Erica Wallstrom, an Earth science school teacher from Vermont. It'll be a party!

So I only have one update this week, and that's part two of 'the outback is out to get me' series. Hopefully, it'll only be a two-parter--I'm not sure if I could stand a third.

In two weeks time, I hope that I can at least give you an update on the following topics:

• the rickety old 1981 Land Cruiser called the Beast
• our dietary regimen
• what we do for fun (you mean, when we're not scaling mountains and being awesome?)
• more in-depth information about the geology surrounding stratigraphic measurements
• mapping with the Trimble

Unfortunately, I am a horrendously slow writer, and this list is optimistic, but perhaps inspiration will take me by surprise. If you would like to hear about anything else, just make a suggestion in the comments or send me a message here.

See you all in a bit! Thanks for reading all. :)

Christine

The outback is out to get me: part 2

There's something very disturbing about an eight-legged creature that wraps up its prey alive in a web. When I was small, I was terribly afraid of spiders, so much so that when I heard that people swallow on average eight spiders while sleeping within their lifetime, I didn't ever want to go to bed again. (I have only very recently learned that this rumor is a complete myth, started by someone who wanted to prove how gullible people are.)