Comments on: The secret world of swamp mud http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Fri, 24 May 2013 09:45:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Han van der Heide http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434953 Han van der Heide Sun, 27 May 2012 00:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434953 'made me retch' FTFY ‘made me retch’
FTFY

]]> By: BombBlastLightingWaltz http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434842 BombBlastLightingWaltz Sat, 26 May 2012 20:46:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434842 Thanks for expanding linguistic knowledge   Thanks for expanding linguistic knowledge  

]]> By: BombBlastLightingWaltz http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434788 BombBlastLightingWaltz Sat, 26 May 2012 19:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434788 this could suggest the Sun's pulsar nature of ice ages / droughts given extreme exposure over eon compulsion/retraction of the proximaity solar's corona . Just saying. this could suggest the Sun’s pulsar nature of ice ages / droughts given extreme exposure over eon compulsion/retraction of the proximaity solar’s corona . Just saying.

]]> By: ian http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434491 ian Sat, 26 May 2012 10:22:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434491 Those clayzy sedimental fools, creating a bayou ooze zoo... This is one in the face for those who say science is boring, this is the future of augury... Those clayzy sedimental fools, creating a bayou ooze zoo… This is one in the face for those who say science is boring, this is the future of augury…

]]> By: redesigned http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434296 redesigned Sat, 26 May 2012 03:05:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434296 seriously this was a fascinating read, thanks for sharing.  we need more articles like this one. ============================= on a less serious note: i did have a hard time looking at these photos and not thinking of some gross photos i saw on a bowel cleansing message board a few years back...still traumatized.  that mental image with those images and this wording made me wretch a bit before i got past it:  "they're some variation on the shade of brown, with occasional streaks of red and burnt umber, until you get to the very bottom....Put a bit in your mouth, as I was encouraged to do" :-) seriously this was a fascinating read, thanks for sharing.  we need more articles like this one.
=============================
on a less serious note: i did have a hard time looking at these photos and not thinking of some gross photos i saw on a bowel cleansing message board a few years back…still traumatized.  that mental image with those images and this wording made me wretch a bit before i got past it:  “they’re some variation on the shade of brown, with occasional streaks of red and burnt umber, until you get to the very bottom….Put a bit in your mouth, as I was encouraged to do” :-)

]]> By: magicdragonfly http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434285 magicdragonfly Sat, 26 May 2012 02:53:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434285 In truth, Munsell, who went to Massachusetts Normal Art School (today's Massachusetts College of Art and Design) developed his system of organizing colour about 50 years before Pantone came along; really, Pantone is more like Munsell than the other way around. In truth, Munsell, who went to Massachusetts Normal Art School (today’s Massachusetts College of Art and Design) developed his system of organizing colour about 50 years before Pantone came along; really, Pantone is more like Munsell than the other way around.

]]> By: pizzicato http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434239 pizzicato Sat, 26 May 2012 01:47:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434239 ... That the collapse of the Mayan civilization was due to a once a 1,000 year super drought, thanks to evidence substantiated by swamp mud  … That the collapse of the Mayan civilization was due to a once a 1,000 year super drought, thanks to evidence substantiated by swamp mud 

]]> By: BombBlastLightingWaltz http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434139 BombBlastLightingWaltz Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434139 and the conclusion is...........?  and the conclusion is………..? 

]]> By: penguinchris http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/the-secret-world-of-swamp-mud.html#comment-1434093 penguinchris Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=163033#comment-1434093 Geologists do the "taste test" too, for layers of mudstone. Mudstone is loosely-consolidated silt or clay size particles from e.g. a sea bed - with further time and pressure it lithifies to shale (things get more complicated when soil formation is involved as here but this soil could lithify as well). You can't necessarily tell whether your mudstone is silt or clay by looking at it even with a loupe, because the grains are usually too small to see. You can take it back to the lab to look at under a microscope, or to save time you can put some in your mouth. You'll feel the grit of silt (which has a slightly larger particle size than clay) and clay will feel smooth. If you're doing detailed mapping or other study, knowing what the grain size is may be the only way to tell apart different layers, so it's important. This also provides a good identifier for people who spend a lot of time studying fine-grained sedimentary stuff - there will be visible wear on the front teeth where you bite down on this stuff :) Geologists do the “taste test” too, for layers of mudstone. Mudstone is loosely-consolidated silt or clay size particles from e.g. a sea bed – with further time and pressure it lithifies to shale (things get more complicated when soil formation is involved as here but this soil could lithify as well).

You can’t necessarily tell whether your mudstone is silt or clay by looking at it even with a loupe, because the grains are usually too small to see. You can take it back to the lab to look at under a microscope, or to save time you can put some in your mouth. You’ll feel the grit of silt (which has a slightly larger particle size than clay) and clay will feel smooth. If you’re doing detailed mapping or other study, knowing what the grain size is may be the only way to tell apart different layers, so it’s important.

This also provides a good identifier for people who spend a lot of time studying fine-grained sedimentary stuff – there will be visible wear on the front teeth where you bite down on this stuff :)

]]>