Jun 24
2021

Fragile geologic feature, Clyde Dam area, New Zealand. Photo: Mark Stirling

Recent discoveries about our planet, its rocks, and other “stone” topics

(Photo above) For the first time, researchers have used precariously-balanced rocks to set the formal design earthquake motions for a major existing engineered structure – the Clyde Dam, the largest concrete dam in New Zealand
https://www.seismosoc.org/news/balanced-rocks-set-ground-motion-values-for-new-zealand-dam/
 

Obsidian flake like those found int Lake Huron. Photo: Yellowstone National Park / Wikimedia CommonsIn the sediments of Lake Huron, underwater archaeologists find 9,000-year-old stone artifacts that originate form an obsidian quarry more than 2,000 miles away in central Oregon giving proof of the long-distance trade network in North America
https://www.uta.edu/news/news-releases/2021/06/15/lemke-lake-huron
 

The Himalayan Mountain Range as seen from the international Space Station. Photo: Nasa, Jan Derk/ Wikimedia Commons
There has long been controversy about whether the world’s highest region, Tibet, has grown taller during the recent geological past. New results from the University of Copenhagen indicate that the ‘Roof of the World’ appears to have risen by up to 600 meters and the answer was found in underwater lava
https://science.ku.dk/english/press/news/2021/geological-riddle-solved-roof-of-the-world-has-gotten-higher/
 

A palaeoartist's impression of the dinosaurs and their footprints. Credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth
Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaur – the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil 110 million years ago – have been found in Kent. They were discovered in the cliffs and on the foreshore in Folkestone, where stormy conditions affect the cliff and coastal waters, and are constantly revealing new fossils
https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/footprints-discovered-from-the-last-dinosaurs-to-walk-on-uk-soil

(24.06.2021, USA: 06.24.2021)