I had to do something special for 12/12/12, so I decided to do my twelve top samples for 2012. There is nothing scientific about this. Some samples were selected because of the content of the sand. Others were picked for their historical significance, location, or to credit the folks who collected the samples.  Without a doubt the all-time winner must be the Trinitite sample from the Trinity Bomb Site in New Mexico. I was in awe when I received the sample, and still visit the site at least once a week to see this incredible piece of history. Second is the sample from Shark Tooth, New Mexico was my only fossil sample this year other than the images I took during my workshop at Harvard. I have a passion for fossils, and those teeth were great. Number three is Kangerlussuaq, Greenland because it's from Greenland. Paleo Lake Vida in Antarctica is number four because it's from Antarctica. The Oolitic sand of Bridger Bay Beach in the Great Salt Lake is number five. These almost perfect spheres have been a quest of mine for many years. I finally got a sample. A sample from the floor of the Kennecott Copper Mine in Alaska comes in at number six. A contributor who became an Itinerant Principal to 15 schools in Alaska collected samples as she visited her new charges. The end result was more than twenty new samples for the site! My first sample from the Gobi Desert contributed by a faculty member from my old school is number seven. Meteorites from the Arizona Meteor Crater takes the eighth slot. I found this sample when I was cleaning my old classroom. It was a very tiny sample encased in what looked like a time release capsule. Also from Arizona comes number eight,  a sample from the Boothill Cemetery, Tombstone. There is probably no more historic graveyard from the old west than Boothill. Number nine is a token. The sample from Great Falls, Virginia could just as easily come from numerous other locations in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New Mexico, Washington D. C., Washington State, Oregon, California, and Spain. All of these samples came from the same person this year. Thank you Christa! I read Albert Dickas' new book 101 American Geo-Sites You've Gotta See  (Mountain Press) . It's a bucket list for geologists.  Click here to see all 101 locations. I thought it would be neat to see if I could get samples from all 101 locations. In 2012 one sample came in! I'm making Geo-Site Niagara Falls number 10. I read about number eleven, Aliso Beach in California,  in Robert Sharp's Geology Underfoot in Southern California (Mountain Press). It talked about the San Onofre Breccia and the stratigraphy of the area as being the most spectacular on the Southern California coast. He didn't lie! Finally, the Ngorongoro Crater Floor, Tanzania takes the last slot. Some of the most important fossils in the study of Hominids comes from this location. I had the pleasure of photographing and posting almost 300 samples from you folks this year. It was my pleasure. Keep up the good work, and let's shoot for 365 in 2013!

Return to Home