Pavement geology
By Denise
@petatonicsca (7070)
Japan
June 17, 2020 11:30pm CST
Have you ever noticed beautiful shiny granite or other rocks in the public buildings around you? I have been studying various geology classes online for the past two years, and while my main interest is seismology and volcanology, I realized that the courses in rock identification were important.
I really struggled at first with rock identification, even though as a kid I loved finding and looking up rocks. The college courses talked about crystal structure, elements vs. minerals vs. rocks (all different... what???) and a bunch of other things I didn't understand. I finally started to get the information sorted in my head, and then I started noticing the rocks in buildings. And trying to identify them!
I finally encountered a Twitter account called "pavement geology". So I was not crazy, there were people all over the world taking pictures of their sidewalks, stairs, walls etc. and identifying them.
Now that I can't travel to my favorite volcano (the prefecture it's in is not allowing outsiders in because in all they have only had 11 coronavirus cases) I thought, "What about doing pavement geology here?"
Yesterday I was walking up some stairs that I am on a lot. They are made of diorite and gabbro! I was so excited! I think this will be on my list of things to do this summer!
Do you notice building materials, rock or otherwise?
5 people like this
6 responses
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
18 Jun 20
@petatonicsca How are striations defined? I could look it up, but...
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
19 Jun 20
@TheHorse Stripes. Fancy geologic word. Sedimentary and igneous rocks have random distribution of minerals, although you can occasionally see layers in sedimentary, but metamorphic has dramatic changes, like a white quartz stripe in the middle of a red rock.
1 person likes this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
18 Jun 20
I would definitely fail the "identify wood" test. Right now I can tell granite, diorite, gabbro, which are all igneous rocks that have cooled slowly underground (in an old magma chamber). I'm not so good at sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. About all I can tell you is if it has striations, it's metamorphic.
2 people like this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
19 Jun 20
I think you can enjoy things without being good at them. In my case, I like looking at art but about all I can do are stick figures which are pretty bad.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
19 Jun 20
Nice! I collected fossils mostly as a child. I didn't know much about any other rock except quartz and sandstone.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Jun 20
I don't take a lot of notice but I'm pleased you're excited. lol
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Jun 20
@petatonicsca 
Over-excited is probably much better than being totally apathetic.
Over-excited is probably much better than being totally apathetic.
@simplfred (20641)
• Philippines
18 Jun 20
I surely notice some rock design on buildings but I really don't have any idea what rocks they are called.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
18 Jun 20
But it's fun to see even if you can't name them, I think.
1 person likes this
@Sathyabo (904)
•
18 Jun 20
Sometimes I do notice the building materials and Rocks. In many college and hospital the very shine Quality Paver used. I do notice it when it shines more.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
18 Jun 20
Colleges, hospitals, and some of the old Tokyo underground stations too. They were built to last.
1 person likes this
