My thesis

So, I wanted to blog today (better than writing test questions), but I couldn't think of anything. I kept thinking to myself "If you're not going to work, you should be working on your thesis." So then it occurred to me- why not blog about what I'm doing for my thesis?
Most people don't know what I'm doing, mostly because when people ask me, I give the shortest answer possible to avoid boring them. Not that I think it's boring, no way. It's just that if you're not into geology and all the lingo, things can get pretty confusing and convoluted pretty fast, which leads to boredom. Anyway, I figure if I type it, you can skip over it without worrying about being polite and trying/pretending to listen/understand.
For starters:
This is zebra dolomite. It's pretty obvious where the name came from. However, despite their optical differences, the black and white layers are indeed the same mineral, dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2).
This is a close-up image of the black dolomite. It was taken with an SEM (scanning electron microscope) and the entire image is maybe one millimeter across. There's lots of stuff in the black dolomite that's not dolomite. All those white spots are different minerals, like quartz, feldspar, rutile, anhydrite, apatite, and a bunch of others. Those minerals are detrital, which means that as the black dolomite was forming by precipitating from seawater, a bunch of other little particles were carried by rivers and streams into the ocean and they fell out into the newly precipitated black dolomite.
This is a photomicrograph (that's some of our fancy lingo) of the white dolomite. Most of the white spots on here are dust or scratches, not so much other minerals. So, the white dolomite has virtually no detritus in it. Here's why I think that is: The black dolomite is primary and the white dolomite secondary. So we had a block of solid black (it's actually dark grey) dolomite that was then altered by some sort of fluid. As a part of my thesis, I'm trying to determine the hydrothermal fluid that altered and recrystallized the black dolomite into the white.
These are tiny little nanocrystals of apatite. They fill fractures throughout the black dolomite and are also found along the border between the white and black dolomite. There are two hypotheses I'm examining so far as where the apatite came from in the dolomite. The first is that it's detrital, the second is that it precipitated in cracks when there was just the black dolomite, and the third (whoops, guess there are three) is that they crystallized from the same fluid that altered the dark dolomite to the white. I hope it's three, personally, because if that's the case, then I could get an age at which the black dolomite was altered.
This is just a little tiny inclusion in the black. It's rutile (TiO2), a mineral that is commonly used as a pigment in paints and makeup. The flaky stuff to either side is some kind of clay.
I haven't explained too much about my thesis yet, I guess. Just showing off some cool pictures. So what I'm doing boils down to a couple main objectives. 1) I want to compile a detailed microscopic study of the dolomite and its inclusions using x-ray crystallography, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (the TEM is a cool cool microscope- its resolution is so high that you can see planes of atoms). 2) Look at the difference between the zebra dolomite in my localities compared to other locations throughout the Basin and Range and the world. That's something that I forgot to mention. There are lots of zebra dolomites, all over the world and others in Utah, however, other zebra dolomites are associated with precious or heavy metal ore deposits (Pb, Zn, Au, Ag) or oil and the ones I'm studying are not. So hopefully, someday, I will know why. 3) Interpret the data in terms of an origin of the fluid that altered the black dolomite. So far, with other zebra dolomites, this hasn't really been done. It's generally agreed that their origin is hydrothermal, however, there is a lot of disagreement as to what the source fluid could be. Figuring out an origin, or at least constraining one, will be hard, especially if isotopic data is ambiguous.
That took a long time. And it's just a very rough idea what I'm doing. The details get even more boring. To other people, not me. I love this stuff.
PS- Mike and I are moving!! To a house!!

Conner's Graduation

Well, Conner graduated from high school. With more renown than any of his other siblings, which he is very proud of. No, I'm really proud of him, too. He was valedictorian, went to the national science fair, and was the most valuable defender on the soccer team. He'll be coming to BYU in the fall, on a full scholarship, and it occurred to me the other day that it will be very cute that he and I will have a semester of college together. It would be two (because I won't graduate until next August), but he plans on leaving for his mission after his first semester (his birthday is in December). So I'm proud of him for that, too.
His graduation ended up being really nostalgic for me. It's my 5 year reunion this summer, so I was thinking about when I graduated from high school, anyway. It was fun to remember my senior year- I had an awesome time. I wish we had our scanner software up and going, so I could put some of those pictures up. Perhaps soon. Anyway, what I remember most about my graduation was, I think, singing in the choir and combined orchestra performing Mack Wilberg's "Come Thou Fount." That was a neat experience. So was the all-night party. American Fork High now does them at Boondocks, but back in my day, it was just at the school. So much awesome karaoke.
This was Conner giving his 2 minute speech as valedictorian. Because the graduating class was so big (~500) and they had four salutatorians, all student speeches were cut down to just 2 minutes each. He did a really good job.
The Kiddo and my parents. After this shot, I was taking some of just him and his diploma, which he was holding upside down. I corrected him before I realized how awesome it would be to have a picture of him, all adorned, holding his diploma upside down like he was possibly illiterate or something. Really wish I hadn't told him to fix it.
Big sister all proud of little brother. Awww.
Me, Claire, and Jeanette all had a little brother who graduated this year. Although they let us down a little bit by not being all best friends, like we were, we were all proud. So, here we are, 5 years later, at another AF graduation, still best friends. I love them so much. Oh, and yes, Jeanette and I are totally wearing the same shirt in different colors. Definitely bought them separately from one another.
Yay for friends! It took us a couple tries to get a good silly shot, but in the end, I think we emerged triumphant. Also, I think it would be awesome if someone that didn't know us analyzed our personalities based on this one photo.

Cute blogs

So, how do you cute up blogs? I've noticed that other people have blogs that aren't one of the several templates offered, and I would like to have a blog like that. The polka dots are wearing on me. If you know anything about cute blogs, let me know. Because I want one.
In other news, I hope you all like the additions I've made to the blog, namely the buddy blog list and the "a little about us" section. The buddy blog still needs some work, as I can not yet access Andrea and Jeff's blog or Mom and Dad's. I need invites!

Yeah, the Bahamas were pretty great

Right after the winter semester ended, I went on a geology super field trip with my department to the Florida Keys and Andros Island, Bahamas. We were studying a modern carbonate depositional platform, which just means that we were looking at limestones forming. Coral reefs are an important part of that system, which meant (of course) that we were going to have to snorkel and take a look at some modern reefs. This was my first experience snorkeling, and I really loved it. I saw a shark by a patch reef in the Keys. It was pretty small, maybe 5 feet and not very close to me. I actually didn't realize that it was a shark at the time. I thought it was just a big fish. Some people who were with me when I saw it told me later what I had seen. I also got really close to some rays. I swam over one that was about 2 feet across after I almost landed on it when I got out of the boat. There was another one in the same area that was much bigger that had burrowed down into the sand so just its eyes and its tail spike were showing. Scary looking. The trip was really good and geologically fulfilling and everything, but I was glad when it was over because I really missed Mike. Next time I go to the Bahamas, I'm going to bring him.
This was a really big conch shell somebody brought up from the bottom. I saw some huge ones at several places, both alive and dead.
The ones with the black stripes are called sergeant majors, and the ones with the yellow tails are called yellow tails. Very creative.
This is the beach that was about 10 steps away from the front door of our little Bahamas hut. The red stuff is algae that washed up during the winter. We went to a place called Joulter's Cay (to the north of Andros) to talk about ooids (which are very cool) and there were all sorts of shells and sea cucumbers and star fish and urchins laying around. This starfish was obviously special because it is not, in fact, a star.
We stopped at a fruit stand on our way out of the Everglades that was called "Robert is Here." It was really cool. They did shakes (I got a key lime one that was excellent) and you could buy a whole coconut and get a hole drilled in it so you could drink the milk. They also had a honey tasting table with flavors like amaretto, avocado, and vanilla. It was great. You could also buy boiled peanuts, the joy of which I had not known before. It was probably one of my favorite stops. Definitely my favorite non-geology stop.
This was at the Everglades National Park. Sunrise. We saw it everyday we were on Andros.

This thing Rach tagged me on

Ok, ok, so it's been several months since last I posted, and I told myself I'd do this on Monday, and now since it's Thursday I figure I finally will. Also, Rachel tagged me with this thing, and I want to fill it out. So, here we go.

Where is your cell phone? Probably on the bed. Possibly on the floor or in the other room.

Your significant other? Working, bringing home the bacon, etc.

Your hair? Brown and long...but maybe not so long soon. I have an appointment with Hillary next month.

Your mother? Just helped me and Mike start devising a new and healthy diet so we can lose the weight we've been gaining since we got married.

Your father? Has already lost 25lbs since my mom made over their diet. Needless to say, both parents are great.

Your favorite thing? Baby animals. Or babies. Or cuddling with Mike.

Your dream last night? Ooo, this is a good day for this one. Last night I dreamed that I was in the show Stargate SG1 (which I used to watch when I was younger and now Mike and watch it online) and we were attacked by the Replicators (little erector set spiders) and we had to run all over the base to get away from them. Then we were hiding in the towel room and I accidentally started a huge fire (everyone in the dream was mad at me) and we had to run again and I jumped off a balcony through a window and then my dream became a little more like the last Bourne movie (Bourne Supremacy? Or is that just the second one?) and I don't remember it as well. Very action packed, though.

Your favorite drink? Probably just water. It's usually what I want, although I do enjoy exquisite drinks such as mudslides and piña coladas (both virgin)

Your dream/goal? To get done with school, for Mike to get done with school, and to have a house.

The room you’re in? Bedroom/office

Your ex? Depends on which one, but for the most part, I really couldn't say.

Your fear? SPIDERS.

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Done with school, with some kids, keeping busy.

Where were you last night? Visiting my parents, Mike's parents, and Rachel and Nate. And their new kitten, which is so so cute.

Muffins? Cupcakes.

One of your wish list items? A laptop and curtains for my kitchen. And some cute new black Sunday shoes.

Where you grew up? American Fork, Utah

The last thing you did? Had breakfast and showered.

What are you wearing? Jeans and an orange/red shirt. Also the towel turban.

Your TV? Makes an awful high pitched buzz/hum.

Your pets? Nothing. But I want Rachel's cat's kitten. So cute.

Your computer? A Dell. This is probably a better question for Mike.

Your life? I'm a fan.

Your mood? Feeling good, ready to start doing stuff.

Missing someone? Jessica mostly. Mike a little bit but not as much because I'll see him tonight.

Your car? 2005 Hyundai Elantra. It's a little trooper.

Something you’re not wearing? Makeup. In the summer I usually only put it on before I go somewhere.

Favorite store? Lately I've really been digging Lowe's. I also like Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Ross' and TJ Maxx's.

Your summer? No school!! Except the whole thesis thing. Some yard work- I want to do a little garden. Some camping, some hiking. It's shaping up to be a good one.

Like someone? I like Mike the best, but I also like a lot of other people, notably my family (this means in-laws as well) and my friends. I feel I've now answered this question to everyone's satisfaction.

Your favorite color? Red!

Last time you laughed? Last night when Mike did his kitten impression. Everyone should get to see it. It cracks me up super bad.

Last time you cried? I don't know, really.

Next time: Tales of the Bahamas