My School Project

As an (OLD) undergrad student here at New Mexico Tech, I am lucky enough to be involved with a very interesting science project. This school is actually renowned for the research opportunities available, and it truly doesn't disappoint if you are at all interested in doing some work while studying. Although I am passionate about volcanoes, I also like seismology and faults a great deal too. Maybe because my family lived in LA for many years, and I was in countless earthquakes growing up (including the North Ridge Quake of '94), I don't know! But I am fascinated by the mechanics of the moving, dynamic earth, it never ceases to amaze me!

There are many types of faults and they all are formed in different tectonic regimes. The ones I am working on are in Southern California, one in the Salton trough, the other in the Whipple mountains. They are both low-angle normal faults, which in the world of geology are the most contentious type of fault. Some scientists don't believe they actually form and slip at low angles (<30 degrees), because that orientation defies accepted rock mechanic theory. Our group is working to answer some basic questions about how they form and slip at this mis-oriented angle. My part of the project is to conduct a particle size analysis of the fault rocks at different depths from the slip surface. I spend many hours looking down a microscope, taking pictures of "thin sections" of rocks and then manipulating the images. When I plot grain size vs. # of grains on a log scale, the pattern in the graph will help to constrain the conditions of formation of the rocks. It's challenging work, but exciting too cause no one else has ever done this in-depth of a study on low-angle normal fault rocks. Plus, I get to work with two geniuses of structural geologists and 2 genius metamorphic petrologists as well!

MSOE Team!!!

I've been so busy with school, it's hard to believe how long it's been since I posted on here! Things are challenging but good, I'm taking a Volcanoes class to keep me happy, and its working!

I'm very excited because I have been accepted into the Mad Scientists of Etsy team! Everyone in the team is like me, a creative science person! This is the first team I have been accepted into, I requested entrance into one of the jewelry teams but wasn't even turned down, just flat IGNORED. I'm very happy with my new team, it is a cool, creative, fun bunch of scientific people who make wonderful, varied crafts that they sell on Etsy as well. I am planning to make a treasury soon with items from people on the team, should be fun! Check out the team blog if you are interested!

http://madscientistsofetsy.blogspot.com/

Snow

It's a cold snowy day here in Socorro. I woke up to about 3 inches and a 2 hour delay for school...always nice! Snowy days like this make me want to stay inside all day and be cozy. Maybe make some jewelry, drink something hot and tasty, take a nap with my cat. Well, none of those things happened...had to go out in it and make my way to Statistics class this afternoon...I lead a sort of double life. I live in Socorro during the week and attend school, and then I'm home in Santa Fe with my family for the weekend. I don't have any of my jewelry making stuff down here in Socorro for the simple fact that I would never get anything else done if I did! No reading, homeworke assignments, writing of papers or work would get done! As it is I spend waaay too much time on Etsy everyday...I think I'm addicted to craftcult's Heartomatic too! Hmmm, the snow is making me want to create something with white pearls and crystals....I'll have to work on that this weekend maybe!

New Earrings!

It's really awesome when a piece comes together perfectly, from concept to creation! That is how it was with my two new pairs of earrings I have listed in my Etsy shop! I got two fabulous pink mystic quartz gemstones from another Etsy seller, and knew I wanted to do something special with them. I waited til I had the perfect mix of pinks to go with those stones, which ended up being small pink sapphires and cubes of faceted rose quartz! Done up in 14 kt gold filled wire, these earrings were fun to create and I think they turned out very nice! The second pair happened today as a burst of inspiration came over me...I was looking at the faceted citrine beads and wanted to do something a little different with them...then I spotted my strand of flawless peridots that I have been saving for something special...and voila!...my citrine vine earrings were born! Hope you like them!

Ecuador

Last summer, I took a grad level volcano geophysics class in Ecuador! It was the most fantastic volcanic experience I've ever had. We installed seismic and infrasound instruments on the flanks of Tungurahua volcano while it was exploding, rumbling and roaring overhead! We spent a week traveling in Ecuador to other active volcanoes, some of which we climbed (Guagua Pichincha, Reventador, part of Cotopaxi), while our instruments worked for us collecting data on Tungurahua. Then we collected and analyzed the data, some of which has now been presented at the annual AGU meeting. We even got to see a volcanic lahar (mudflow the consistency of wet concrete) while on the mountain, which is a very rare event to witness! Ecuador is a fantastically beautiful country, lush, green and a volcanologists heaven! The town of Banos where we stayed for two weeks is a hotsprings resort town, with TONS of things for the outdoor enthusiast to enjoy: biking, horseback riding, waterfall rapelling, canyoning, four-wheeling, hiking and volcano watching. The town is at the foot of Tungurahua, which is a potentially deadly threat to the surrounding communities. For this reason it is highly instrumented and monitored by the Ecuadorian Instituto Geophysico in Quito and there is a special observatory in a nearby valley with round-the-clock scientific observation. This is an amazing place, if you like volcanoes at all, try to take a vacation in this town, it is wonderful!

Finally!

Finally, I have decided to start a blog, to share my thoughts and inspiration with those of you out there who also make jewelry, or who just love jewelry as much as I do. Also, an occasional story about a volcano, since I am studying geology full-time and hope to someday be a working volcanologist. Believe me, it's ALL connected... geology, jewelry, minerals, volcanoes, magmatic processes, gem deposits and precious metals!! Without magmatic processes, we would have no large gemstone and precious metal deposits from which to create jewels, since a majority of gems grow as magma and/or magmatic fluids cool slowly inside the earth. (Well, there wouldn't be life on earth either, but that is another topic for another day!)

Wire wrapping is my passion although I do make other kinds of jewelry as well...I enjoy pearl knotting, stringing, working with chain, metal work, making glass beads etc. I recently received a cabbing station from a dear friend for my birthday, so I will someday be adding my own handmade cabs to my line of jewelry. I also recently joined the New Mexico Faceters Guild and have begun to learn how to facet my own gemstones! This is an amazing thing for me as it has been a life-long dream of mine to be able to cut my own gemstones! Extra special that my geologic and rockhounding activities have helped me to amass a large collection of gem quality rough material that has just been waiting for me to do something with!

This blog is intended for me to share some of my jewelry making experience, techniques, inspiration, ideas and challenges with you. Welcome!