Ankan Basu » Geology

Pikeville-Kentucky-Pike County

Ankan Basu — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:38:53 +0000

Pikeville-Kentucky-Pike County
Pikeville is a city in Pike County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 6,295 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pike County. Pike County has a population of approximately 70,000. Pike County was the childhood home of country music stars Patty Loveless and Dwight Yoakam, and is the home of former Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton. Professional golfers Woody Blackburn and Robert Damron, both of whom have won on the PGA Tour, were born in Pikeville. Mark Reynolds, pro baseball player with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is also a Pikeville native.

To Learn more about Pikeville, KY visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikeville,_Kentucky

Beautiful Sandstone Cut-Roadside Geology-KY

I have been to Pikeville multiple time for various drilling projects. Here are few photographs of the lovely country out there. I will post some more videos soon.

Grundy-Virginia

Ankan Basu — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:08:47 +0000

Grundy-Virginia
I go to Grundy for work and for fun both. We love the country and winding roads over there. Plus you can see some beautiful sedimentary srtuctures. Well, here are some pictures.

The Grundy-Beautiful Sandstone

Grundy is a town in Buchanan County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,105 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Buchanan County. The town is noted for its educational institutions and their role in the town’s economic rebirth. In the past, the town served as a stopover for Union troops on their way to the Battle of Saltville. The town is also noteworthy for its flood control project, where the mountain across the river was blasted to make way for new development.
To Learn more about Grundy visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundy,_Virginia

The town, founded in 1858 upon the formation of Buchanan County, was named for Felix Grundy (1777-1840), United States Attorney General (1838-1839) and United States Senator from Tennessee (1839-1840). It was incorporated in 1876. The present courthouse dates from 1905.

Grundy is located at 37°16?36?N 82°5?42?W? / ?37.27667°N 82.095°W? / 37.27667; -82.095 (37.276760, -82.095038)[9]. The town is located at intersection of U.S. Route 460 and State Route 83 directly on the banks of the Levisa Fork River. Grundy is located in the coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.0 square miles (13.1 km²), all of it land.

Grundy is located in the Cumberland Plateau Region. The town is tightly tucked within the mountains in little valleys called hollows or ‘hollers’.

Transportation
Grundy is served by the Grundy Municipal Airport located in Vansant. The airport serves general aviation air traffic. Commercial air traffic can be found at airports in Bluefield (1 hour driving away) and Beckley (2 hours driving away) in West Virginia and at the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee (about 2 hours driving away).

Four County Transit maintains a local trolley system that services downtown locations. Stops include the Courthouse, Grundy Church of Christ, the former Food City parking lot, the Grundy Community Center, the Appalachian School of Law, and the former downtown parking lot.[10]

Grundy is at the corner of the Levisa River and Slate Creek. The Norfolk Southern Railway maintains tracks and runs trains through the town but no trains stop in Grundy.

Grundy is served by U.S. Highway 460. The Coalfields Expressway will be built just to the north and east of town. State Route 83 is also a major highway in the area.

Geochemist’s Workbnech Presentation

Ankan Basu — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:20:36 +0000

Check out the presentation I did on Geochemist’s Workbench Software.

Geochemist's Workbech Presentation

Click Below to get the Power Point Presentation

Geochemist’s Workbench Presentation

The Rocktypes

Ankan Basu — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:11:33 +0000

The Rocktypes:

Notes for my students. I am reading the book “Petrology – Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic” by Ehlers and Blatt after a long time. This is my own notes that I found most interesting from the first chapter named “Why Petrology?” There are many questions to be answered by studying various rock types.

What is the radius of Earth?
6,371 km {Note: crust is only outer .27% (.74% by volume)}

Did the early Earth have oxygen?
Yes. Hematitic Iron Ores were common and abundant even in earliest Precambrian rocks.

Past Vs present:

Dolomite 3x more abundant in precambrian rocks than Limestone. Present day dolomite formation is extremely rare and restricted.
Middle Precambrian rock contain 15% silica as Chert. Present day Chert formation is very rare.
Evaporite formation is very common in present time, but very rare during the Precambrian.

Relative Surface Abundance of Rock Types:
about 66% of the surface is made of sedimentary rocks.

Crustal Abundance of Rocks:

Is Crust=Lithosphere? No. Crust = the outer shell of earth above the Mohorovicic discontinuity. Lithosphere = Crust + upper portion of mantle (about 100 km depth)
Asthenosphere – layer beyow lithosphere with lower seismic velocity than layer above.
What is the average thickness of crust? 17 km.
What is the average thickness of sediments on continental block? 1.8 km (5905.51 feet) – 35% of the total crust
What is the average thickness of sediments on oceanic block? 0.3 km ( 984.25 feet) – about 65% of the total crust

What would be the average? Do math.
Continents – mainly granitic rocks
Oceanic basins – mainly basaltic rocks.

Sedimentary Rocks	Igneous Rocks	Metamorphic Rocks
Common features Stratified ripple marks, X-bedding, Mud Cracks, Load Structures sometimes shape of the rockbody is similar to the depositional environment – such as delta, bar, river drainage Many times fossiliferous (Specially Limestones)	Common Features Volcanic/Lala Flow X-cutting relationship with surrounding rocks – veins, Dikes, stocks, Batholiths Prominent thermal effect on surrounding rocks, often metamorphism defined by color change, reactions, new mineral formation No Fossils. Interlocking structure.	Common Features Distorted rocks – pebbles, fossils etc Elongate grains are parallel to the regional trend/foliation Cleavage related to regional structure. Prograssive chage in mineralogy (most prominet in contact metamorphism)
Mainly Precambrian/Ordovician Terranes		Mainly Precambrian/Ordovician Terranes
Common Textures: Porphyritic Glassy Vesicular Amygdaloidal Pyroclastic Interlocking	Common Texture: Fossiliferous Fragmental Ooolitic Stratified	Common Texture: Granulated Brecciated Crystalloblastic Hornfelsic
Common Minerals Amphibole Feldspars Leucite Micas Nephiline Olivine Pyroxene Quartz	Common Minerals Quartz Calcite Dolomite Anhydrite Chert Glauconite Gypsum Halite	Common Minerals Amphibole Andalucite Cordierite Epidote Feldspar Garnet Glaucophane Graphite Kyanite Sillimanite Staurolite Tremolite-actinolite Wollastonite Micas Quartz