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Friday Rocks #37: Porphyroclastic Ultramylonite

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[caption id="attachment_572" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Feldspar porphyroclasts in the ultramylonite of the Pofadder Shear Zone[/caption] Porphyoclasts are deformed crystals found in a metamorphic rock. In a mylonite weaker minerals deform though crystalplastic processes and form a "toothpaste" texture. Stronger minerals will try to resist the deformation, but may break and stretch along with the weaker minerals. As the weak minerals recrystallize, they will flow around the remnant stronger minerals. [caption id="attachment_573" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Feldspathic porphyclast in the ultramylonite of the Pofadder Shear Zone[/caption] Do you have a cool rock to share? Submit it to FridayRocks[at]Upsection[dot]com
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Teaching geoscience to religious students

The blog En Tequila es Verdad posted an interesting article about teaching geoscience religious students.  Ron Schott noted that taking a slow approach, introducing the scientific method, evidence, and how science is made, encourages them to critically think about the evidence and engage in the class. It's a great article, go check it out. This article reminded me of a time in the 4th grade. Our class was learning about dinosaurs. I was talking with a friend about how dinosaurs were millions of years old. He replied with "but the Earth is only 6,000 years old." I can't remember exactly what my response was, but I do remember giving him a quizzical look. Being in elementary school, we weren't given a proof of how we know the age of the Earth. I accepted it on faith that the teacher was telling the truth, and probably on the fact that dinosaurs and rocks are really old and really COOL (thanks, Dad and ,uhh, probably Bill Nye, too). Hmm, now that I think about it, I...
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