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Nannobacteria
I spent 5 years
as a 1000 lira/hr schiavo for Luigi Folk, the Father of Nannobacteria. "Nannobacteria" are 25-300 nm ovoid shapes that are observed during
high-magnification SEM research. These critters have
been implicated in the formation of mineral deposits
in terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples, and in
the development of arterial plaque in the human body.
Go here for more info about nannobacteria.
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Sandstone Diagenesis
This is the stuff I enjoy
the most but do the least. Everything I know about sandstones
and geochemistry comes from working with Earle McBride, Lynton
Land, Kitty Milliken, and Bob Folk at UT. I enjoy using all
scales of data, from core analyses, through thin section petrography,
to high-magnification SEM, to understand the processes and
chemistry of diagenesis. I am a proud member of the "Vagaries
of Diagenesis Fan Club."
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Sedimentology
and Provenance of Cat Island
Cat
Island, located offshore of Gulfport MS, is the westernmost
barrier island in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The
unusual “T” shape of Cat Island is commonly interpreted
as the result of westward longshore currents reworking the
original shore-parallel island following the abandonment of
the St. Bernard delta of the Mississippi River. However, the
heavy mineral suite from Cat Island implies that the most
probable provenance of the sediment is the crystalline metamorphic
region of the southern Appalachians.
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Clays
in Caves
I
got into this field because of my disgust with greedy pinheads
in my old department and in Austin in general. My work on
the Barton Springs section of the Edwards Aquifer is a good
example of a neat application of clay mineralogy.
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