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Prologue I have been a Teaching Assistant for the course ES412: Sedimentary Processes and Stratigraphic Principles this past semester, and I have enjoyed the experience tremendously. It was an undergraduate course designed to give a foundational understanding of sedimentology and stratigraphy to the students through both lectures and labs. For me, it was also a chance to revisit how a student begins to think like a geologist . I think perhaps this is where undergraduate teaching gets tricky - it is both an advantage to find a blank slate, and a responsibility to fill it appropriately. No single course can fill the slate completely, but one does hope to lay the proper framework and instigate the student's curiosity so he/she searches for the details themselves. One of the topics that must be invariably introduced through a course on Stratigraphy is the concept of the Geological Time Scale (GTS) - the big chart that condenses all we know about the Earth's past. A first gl...

Q. - What do you get when you cross a geologist by profession and an etymologist by fascination? A. - The author of this blog post. I'm a Teaching Assistant (TA) this semester for a course on Sedimentology and Stratigraphy being offered at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur. It's a great opportunity to revise a subject that I was previously only average at, and to explore nooks and crannies in the syllabus that I could not previously devote much time to. One gem of my contemplation has been the exploring of word roots of some common terms. A short note on the etymology of common geological terms SEDIMENT Sediment  comes from the root "sed" which essentially means "to sit". Sediment is quite literally the stuff that sits/sinks or settles down from a liquid. What is interesting to note is that sedative is also derived from the same word root; it's something that calms you and makes you sit down. And when you're complaining of the ...

NOTE: This post assumes familiarity with a few concepts that I have explained in my previous post: The new 'Meghalayan Age' of Earth's history . --- On 14th July, 2018, the IUGS -International Commission of Stratigraphy released the latest version of the Geologic Time Scale . There were three new Ages defined: the Greenlandian, the Northgrippian and the Meghalayan (older to younger). The Meghalayan emerged as the cool kid on the block (ironic, because it's the other two that are defined in ice cores). It made news headlines because: it's apparently the  Age we're living in now. (The kind of headlines that attract non-Earth-scientist Earthlings..) it's defined by the first GSSP from India, and the first GSSP in a stalagmite. there is a debate around the necessity for this definition, the efficacy of this definition, and if it cuts into the significance of the proposed Anthropocene Epoch. But I see no reason for neglecting the other two Ages. This p...

NOTE: This post assumes no prior knowledge  of Geology. ----- Scientists recently defined the new 'Meghalayan' age of the Earth's past, and it's (obviously) based on an Indian rock sample! To understand what this age is all about, we need a very brief introduction about the concept of GSSP s or more informally, the Golden Spike s.   How we talk about the Earth's history   The Earth is roughly 4.6 billion years old, and the vast history of the Earth is divided into various time intervals arranged in heirarchy. First, there are Eons , which are subdivided into various Eras , which are next subdivided into Periods , which are then subdivided into Epochs , which are finally subdivided into Ages. ( You may have guessed it right, that last subdivision is the 'Age' in the 'Meghalayan Age'.) To summarize the order of heirarchy: Eon → Era → Period → Epoch → Age Now the most famous example that people easily relate to is the Jurassic Period...

← 13.05.2018 14.05.2018 The International Training Program of Climate and Environment Change on "The Belt and Road" began on Monday, the 14th of May at the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IEECAS) with an Opening Ceremony, some speeches and a group photo. We were apprised that the 19 participants had been selected from 9 different countries (India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan), out of about a hundred applicants. There were going to be some very interesting lectures by eminent, globally acclaimed scientists, and we were also going to be taken to a few quite exciting field trips. All in all, I was thrilled! After an introduction by all the attendees, we were taken for a visit to the labs at IEECAS, and this was the part which simply blew my mind. I will not go into lengthy but arcane descriptions of the high-end instrumentation available at IEECAS, but I will state that while ...

← 12.05.2018 13.05.2018 I spent the next day wandering around the City Center with my Nepali colleagues who fast became my friends! :) L to R: Rajesh, Ram Hari, me and Ishwar [May have been my bias towards Hindi speaking people! But they're also very sweet people.] The Xi'an City Wall was built in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty under the rule of Emperor Zhu Yuanz, and remains incredibly well preserved. It affords breathtaking views of the city, and has very interesting architecture and beauty of its own.       Here is a cute map/infographic about the Xi'an City Wall, which I found at the Travel China Guide website  (good page!): We drove around on tandem cycles! If you're in Xi'an for at least a day, I sincerely suggest you visit the City Wall, preferably on a rented bike. The Wall is quite long (about 14 km., encloses about 36 sq. km. of the city) and is quite difficult to completely see on foot. Plus, I expect it to get...

← 11.05.2018 Warning: some unnecessary candour coming up. 12.05.2018 1. I arrive at Guangzhou at 0705, local time. My first thought? So much Chinese around, get to the terminal for the next flight ASAP because it'd be quite a story if I missed my flight after a halt of ~5h. Next thought: I'm back to the realm of toilet paper (uff!). Next thought: Hey, they have Indian style toilets in China, wonder how that happened. [Next thought: why am I so obsessed with pooping ..] 2. Someone had once told me, China runs on WeChat. Well, the airport had free Wi-Fi in two modes. If you wanted to use a browser, they needed to authenticate your number with an SMS; or you could simply use the WeChat mode. I tried, but found just one person in my address book who also used WeChat. Finally sent a message to my family that I was okay, so far. 3. Had my first Chinese meal, "Ishigah coffee" (I think that was the name of the brand, not a type of coffee) and a black forest ...

11.05.2018 Background: I got selected for a training program focusing on my area of research (Paleoclimatology, the study of past climates) at the Institute of Earth Environment, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The schedule is very exciting, with seminars by world renowned scientists, and several field excursions. Not sure what I did to deserve this. ^_^ The Chinese visa application seemed quite strange to me, but in all fairness, I don't have a lot of experience with visa applications. I have only been to the U.S. so far, and every one (Indian?) who's filled out the DS-160 knows what I'm talking about. The Chinese application form feels just so simple and casual compared to that grilling. It's 4 pages long, you don't even need an appointment, you go submit it to some Indian person at a counter (not an official), and they say, sure, come collect it a few days later. Every other person I have mentioned my trip to, since, has felt the need to joke saying...