/sci/ - Science & Math

Can rock farms accuratly control what type of rock they produce?
And more importantly, are they limited to gemstones?

Is there ponies moving the tectonics plates? Or is there none?

>>4058062
I think in at least one episode the ponies started panicking because they thought at earthquake was happening. This leads me to believe Equestria has plate tectonics and the ponies don't control them.

Is Geophysics all right? What are you most interested in? I am personally a fan of shale gas right now, since I am living in an area rich with it at the moment. They are drilling wells everywhere, it seems. Our neighborhood gets a nice yearly stipend from the well near-by.

Plus, the drilling rigs are sexy. For a while, I was debating majoring in either petroleum engineering or geophysics as my graduate degree, but I've been looking at nuclear physics more and more recently. Hyped stuff about LFTR set me on the track, on top of stuff about ITER and tokamaks in general. Also, it doesn't help I'm a Navy Nuke.

>>4058062

The rocks in rock farms appear spontaneously and randomly. They are not limited to gemstones, but that is what's valuable, so that's what the ponies mine.

There are no plate tectonics in Equestria, or at least there haven't been since Celestia and Luna took the throne. Maybe in Discord's world.

>>4058070
That was a stampede of cattle, I believe.

>>4058062
>>4058081
At least stick to real-world stuff, guys.

>>4058057
Fuck ponies, this thread is now about motherfucking Ilmenite. It's a naturally occurring semiconductor that you can mine for iron, oxygen, and titanium.

if you want to talk about ponies, go to /b/.

>>4058076

I don't know a lot about geophysics as I haven't got that far, but I don't care too much for it. I rather enjoy the hard rock world and mining more. There is a big focus on minerals where I'm at right now, so it seems the best career choice.

Anyone doing some Hydrogeology? I love me some karst topography and ground water. I got alot of HR geo pictures but /sci/ doesn't allowed pictures that large.

>>4058097
Hey, more power to you. I was influenced to look into both of those considered-majors because of relatives who are, respectively, a geophysicist and a petroleum engineer working for a big-name oil company. They travel a lot, do lots of stuff, and have a fair bit of moolah. I am certainly jelly.

>>4058096
>>4058084
>ponies ARE science

>>4058095
ilmenite's pretty cool, but I'm gonna stick with my trusted friend olivine.

In my experience the vast majority of people that I know who watch my little pony friendship is magic simply do so for the attention it brings them. They love bringing it up in conversation, posting pictures of it everywhere, especially on their facebook and are generally over the top about it. I think they do this because watching a show for little girls is controversial and may spark a disagreement with people who don't watch it. Nonetheless I'm sure there are people who simply like the show because they like it cary on, but for the morons who watch it for the attention or to fit in please... please kill yourselfs. You are like religous people going form door to door telling you about god but in this case your telling them about ponies. You are as dumb and ignorant as a religous person.

>>4058097
Also, I hear mining is very lucrative, especially for salt these days.

>>4058106
Fuck that!
Labradorite in da house!

>>4058108
lol

>>4058095
>>4058106
suddenly fluorite kicks both they ass!

>>4058115
Punning aside, I'm found of perthites and goethite

>Oh god how did I get here I am not good with computer

>>4058121
fond even

>>4058095
>>4058115
>>4058120
Obligatory.

You all wish you could be as awesome as feldspar.

>>4058108
I know exactly what you mean and agree wholeheartedly

>>4058125
Dunno realgar might be better.

iridescence isn't all that uncommon. Bright red minerals? naw.

BAM! mohs 4 defining mineral fuckin up all yo shit.

>>4058120
Holy shit I submit. I was gonna post my smoky quartz but fuck... that's sexy!

Still gonna post it.

>>4058126
I wish I was as awesome and as influential as felds.

Did no-one get my tectosilicate joke? You're not geology nerds!

>>4058103

There is a lot of oil here too, but my university is focusing more on minerals. I meant no disrespect to oil petrology or anything.

>>4058102
I only got to see karst when I was in Costa Rica last year because there really isn't any up here. Besides, the water is frozen half the year anyways. You could upload your pics to megaupload or something, that would be sweet. There are never too many geology pictures.

How about that muscovite?

>>4058132
both those fluorite specimens are huge (for euhedral crystals), and in harvard's mineralogical museum. there's some crazy specimens there.

>>4058121
fuck goethite. ive had enough of its shit this semester.

>>4058130
>>4058138
you have my attention

Fuck your shit. Tungsten all the way.
Incredibly-high melting point
Makes fuck-yeah awesome allows (tungsten carbide? Yes please)
Radiation shielding
Even more!

>>4058102
I want to do Karst geology, but I don't really know what kind of work you do with a specialization in such things.

I'm at IU, so I'm surrounded by caves and sinkholes.

>>4058154
Alloys, rather.

>>4058145
What's your sign?

>>4058157
forgot to add: and yet I've only seen like one office in our building that has cave related displays/research posters outside of it.

>>4058159
I guess we can have a crystallography thread too.

>>4058149
Want some hematite instead? What course are you taking? I'd assume you'd have other minerals to hate than goethite if it was mineralogy.

>>4058157
I'm jelly of your caves. I've got...glaciers. That's about as cool as it gets.

This thread is seriously making me reconsider what I want to do for graduate school. Of course, maybe I could do materials science of some type. Many fields can overlap.

Eh, fuck it. I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

>>4058168
Glaciers are pretty fucking cool. It'd be cool to do fieldwork in heavily glaciated terrain, I think. All the cobble fields and morraines and so on.

>>4058062
Interestingly, the "ask the pie sisters" fanblog has a elaborate and remarkably reasonably-sounding and consistent explanation of what exactly happens on a rock farm.

>>4058168
Bitch, why are you complaining about glaciers? That shit is awesome. I'd love to study those bitches. Go to Greenland or Iceland or some shit? Fuck yes! Hell, maybe even Antarctica!

>>4058164
It's from geochem. I'm taking mineralogy too, but it's mostly silicate in there. I actually like geochem, but some of the solubilty shit was a pain in the ass, ergo fuck goethite.

>>4058157
I live in San Antonio, Texas. So I pretty much live right over the Edward's Aquifer. Just starting my first year right now so I'm not too sure what I can do with the degree, all I know is that I fucking love the shit out of it, so I don't really care.


Does anyone have a really good book for Structural geology? Wanna get some reading in before I go to the class, don't like being unprepared.

>>4058178
>>4058172
Glaciers ARE cool. But after a while, your hands get cold and you'd rather be on a volcano in Hawaii watching lava flows.

God, I love geology. So many interesting things to study.

>>4058181
I bought Fossen's Structural Geology book to study as well, even though I won't take it until next fall. From what I've read about it and in it, it seems to be really good.

>>4058181
Structural geology is supposed to be a bitch. It's a field course at my school, which is nice, but still.

>>4058180
Is there a good source on the internet for EH-PH and T-P, T-X diagrams? Whenever it comes time to do my homework, I end up having to dig all over the place to get the charts I need.

>>4058181
I don't know if ay of these are helpful, but some books I have on file:
Global Earth Physics: A Handbook of Physical Constraints
Mineral Physics and Crystallography
Rock Physics and Phase Relations
Dictionary of Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy
Field Geophysics
Image Estimation by Example - Geophysical Sounding
The Oil Shale Industry
Theory of the Earth
Chemistry of Precious Metals
Elements of Mineralogy
Outline of Mineralogy, Geology, and Mineralogical Analysis

>>4058154
>>4058148
>>4058145
>>4058138
>>4058132
>>4058131
>>4058130
>>4058126
>>4058125
>>4058121
>>4058120
>>4058115
>>4058095

>What is this place, filled with so many wonders? Casting it's spell, that I am now under.

Proof that geology is God tier science and all others are shit tier humanities rejects.

I honestly wish I'd have studied a bit more geophysics. I feel saddened in my physics pursuits, and am back to square one of what I want to do in graduate school.

Materials Science is definitely looking cooler and cooler. Any input for fellow /sci/entists?

Interests:
Oil and Gas Industry
Fluid Dynamics
Physical Oceanography
Plasma Physics
Nuclear Physics
Geophysics
and a few smaller ones.

>>4058208
Well, my mineralogy professor likes to talk about how mat sci and mineralogy are both very related to crystallography and *shudder* symmetry.

>>4058057
I'm a geologist. NOT A PONY.

I work on landfills, but I'm not a pro. In a year or so, i'll be eligible for LICENSURE. So that'll be cool.

But my boss won't paid for eeducation, so to get some real work, I'll need to go elsewhere.

>>4058197
>Is there a good source on the internet for EH-PH and T-P, T-X diagrams?
Not that I know of, I bookmarked a medley of different sites, but they're mostly professors uploads from different universities. And wikipedia. Or a book.

WTF a geology thread in /sci/? When the hell does this ever happen?
Anyway, hello fellow geologists. :D
Personally, I prefer the mathematical side of geology, and modelling and such.

>>4058212
They are, your professor is right. Crystallography and symmetry are the backbone of mineralolgy and anything related to it, especially at the molecular level.

What are the top 3 hardest classes in geology?

>>4058214
Weird. It seems like geologists like their voluminous books and records, so it seems odd that there wouldn't be a booklet with papers and information on all the most common solid solution's and aqueous solution conditions.

I guess I need to take GeoChem asap so I can derive such things for myself.

>>4058208
Maybe I should just be an applied mathematician.
Or go into engineering physics.
Though, UWisc - Madison has an "Applied Mathematics and Engineering Physics" program. I would definitely look into that, since it is where I plan on attending. That, or UTexas

>>4058225
I didn't mean to imply that I was incredulous, just that those are things you might want to think about if you were planning on getting a graduate degree in material science.

>>4058232
Protip: None of them are hard.

>>4058235
Though, fuck. That's an undergraduate program. I'm boned there.

>>4058217
>WTF a geology thread in /sci/? When the hell does this ever happen?
It happens when someone decides that /sci/ is filled with shit and starts a thread, i.e. me.
>Anyway, hello fellow geologists. :D
Personally, I prefer the mathematical side of geology, and modelling and such.
I could do with less math, but I do like all the diagrams and graphs. But I fucking LOVE good pictures.

>>4058233
>it seems odd that there wouldn't be a booklet with papers and information on all the most common solid solution's and aqueous solution conditions

More like copyright shit. It's like they don't want people to have knowledge.

>>4058248
Fancy mathematics is awesome.

Yeah, and I know what I want to do now. Or not. Whatvever. More geostuff and ponies!

>>4058262
>I know what I want to do now.
Mathematician or geologist?

As an added bonus, I like to rock climb, too. So I can look at rocks athletically and aesthetically while I look at rocks scientifically. Boosh.

>>4058271
"Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics"
Fixes my problems, mostly. Other things can be academic hobbies.

>>4058274
>As an added bonus, I like to sit on my ass too. So I can look at rocks lazily and aesthetically while I look at rocks scientifically. Booyakasha.

Pic related, it's the inside of a volcano that I sandboarded down.

>>4058290
Physics is pretty cool, and fairly easy to understand. Engineering sounds fun, but I rather break things than build them.

>>4058329
You can always break stuff to see how it works, and put it back together or make it better. That's where engineering can come into play.

Folks, let's talk about flood basalts. What's a flood basalt? Well quite simply it's a huge fucking flood of lava.

Think 200,000 km^2 or larger flooded with molten lava.

Think the lava level from a mario game.

Flood basalts are fucking awesome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_basalt

>>4058351
Can you fix my refrigerator? /sarcasm

>>4058329
Sounds like somebody wants a job in the military industrial complex!

Also have you considered going into explosives/explosion/combustion research(which is more often than not in mechanical engineering)? You get plenty of opportunities to break things, on purpose!

>>4058366
>Flood basalts are fucking awesome
truer words have never been spoken

So awesome in fact that even the moon has them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_mare

I love mafic rocks, especially peridotite and basalt. There is just something that calls me when I see them.

>>4058366
Shit is so cash.

>>4058392
>Lunar mare
>Picture of Luna
ISWYDT

>>4058381
>Sounds like somebody wants a job in the military industrial complex!
Uh, I don't think I'd fit in. Godlessness, ponies, distrust of authority, etc.

Also have you considered going into explosives/explosion/combustion research
At one point I did, but then I got drawn towards geology. Colorful minerals > explosions, but hey, you get to blow stuff up in mining too.

>>4058392
>lunar mare
>luna
Shit son five star post.

>>4058381
Military industrial complex isn't all bad.

Mining/geotechnical engineerbro reporting in. Just wanted to say that rocks and explosions are fucking awesome.

I know most of my geology from playing Dwarf Fortress and subsequently looking up rock types on the wiki.

Why do so many people find it easy to blame the oil industry for earthquakes in unusual regions when they use the fracking method for extraction of fossil fuels? Is there any legitimacy to their claims?

>>4058483
>Is there any legitimacy to their claims?
Fracking does cause some tremors, but nothing that would be life threatening. They blame them for the same reason anyone blames anyone else, it's easy and they're probably retarded.

Does anyone have a good mnemonic device for the plag series?

>>4058493

I was looking for a little more discussion than some name calling and a picture of a pony. What evidence supports this?

Hay guise.

>>4058503
>"Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations...earthquakes were minor
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?categoryID=1&faqID=1Q:

>several studies demonstrate that hydraulic fracturing induces microearthquakes
http://www.earthworksaction.org/fracturingearthquakes.cfm

>They blame them for the same reason anyone blames anyone else
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ignorance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc

>>4058518
what's in your limestone? looks interesting.

>>4058483
It's long been known that when water seeps into minute cracks in the crust, it acts like a lubricant, sometimes triggering quakes in regions where there already is pressure bound in the astenosphere.

I can't say for sure, but fracturing the rocks to significant depth seems like a good way to increase the seepage of water and motility of the crust.

>>4058527
They pump water or other fluids into the fractures at high pressures. I thought of it more as a pressure and stress thing, but lubrication makes more sense.

>>4058545
As far as I know, fracking itself mostly causes a vertical shift instead of a horizontal one.

While this shift can certainly cause cracks and more in rigid structures, the question was of quakes.

>>4058524
>>4058527
>>4058545
>>4058559

Just to note, I was speaking specifically of the recent large earthquakes in Oklahoma over the past 3 years, and especially this past month. There was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake which was very unusual for this area. Almost any time discussion of these recent events arise, blame often gets put on fracking for causing these earthquakes. They are in fact unusually shallow, about 4-5km in depth. However, they have all been located on an ancient fault line known as the Wilzetta fault. Which would lead to the assumption that earthquakes should occur on faults, but could fracking exacerbate earthquakes in an already active fault?

>>4058565
Maybe if conditions of rare types somehow lined up.
But, then you get into chaos theory there.

>>4058609
This.

Fracking might have brought the quake sooner than it would have naturally happened, but then, it might also have lessened the magnitude by releasing pressure before it reached the point where it would have naturally been released and caused some significant damage.

But as said, it's all speculation without the necessary data.

geology is a science?

>>4058565
Why fracking? It's 'fraccing', surely. At least it used to be. "Fracking" looks ugly

>>4058617
Stop cursing! This is a family-friendly web-site!

>>4058621
Frack you!!

>>4058624

>>4058617
The official term is hydrofracturing, but the common term is fracking. Also "frac job" or "frack job".

>>4058625
More seriously, here in Eastern Australia, virtually the whole of which sits on a cumulative 100ft of high-grade, low-sulphur Permian coal, there is growing tension between would-be exploiters of coalbed methane and the traditional farming/grazing community. Artesian water is a limited resource, and to get the (low-permeability) coal to produce, it is fracced and de-watered to increase its permeability. The farmers don't see why they should be restricted in their right to use this water while mining companies can pump out and discard thousands of megalitres of it without paying a red cent. Much of the local media has taken the farmers' side, and uses the spelling "fracking". I thought it was just for the ugliness, but I now see that the spelling is internationally accepted. Language evolution, I guess.

>>4058634
As a non-native english speaker, 'fraccing' looks uglier than 'fracking'. The latter seems to obey language conventions better.

>>4058630
Indeed. I seem to remember the name 'Halliburton' and serried ranks of high-pressure pumps, pushing down sand proppant and viscosity modifiers and who-knows-what-else, some of which turns up in the groundwater.

>>4058057
Hi guys - my plan is to study geology in a British university and then move to Canada to get a job - how likely am I to succeed, geobros?

>>4058638
English does not have too many language conventions, or more properly has a mish-mash inherited from ancient Greek, Latin and Germanic sources. Unlike, say, French with its Academie Francaise, English has been happy to adopt any word from anywhere to get that exact nuance of meaning. For example, 'nuance'.

I think something more like the commonly used diminutive 'piccies' for 'pictures' is appropriate here. But then, I am an engineer, not an English professor.

>>4058638
English does not have too many language conventions, or to put it more properly has a mish-mash inherited from ancient Greek, Latin and Germanic sources. Unlike, say, French with its Academie Francaise, English has been happy to adopt any word from anywhere to get that exact nuance of meaning. For example, 'nuance'.

I think something more like the commonly used diminutive 'piccies' for 'pictures' is appropriate here. But then, I am an engineer, not an English professor.

>>4058659
>ladies and gentlemen - autism.

>>4058658
>>4058659
It doesn't fuccing matter.

>>4058643
bumping for truth

screw you guys

That's a really complex question. Decent, especially as time goes on here. In the US, there are supposed to be 10,000 unfilled geological science positions in ten years (in other words, we're not even training enough geologists to meet the replacement rate). Don't know how worked that number is, as I saw it in a AGS or AGI flyer.

>>4058351
One of my engineering buddies was doing work on the sheer strength of bones. He would break bones for his research.

>>4058483
I'd be more concerned about the burning water than a few little shakes.