The Ellipsis--Hot, Hot, Hot, Dot, Dot, Dots. . . And the Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017

      This week's Partial Ellipsis of the Sun will focus on the ellipsis in our blog title as well as the upcoming solar eclipse, visible in the U.S. on August 21, 2017. 

     I discovered this week that three dots on clothing labels signifies hot, hot, hot (ok, truly just "hot," but you get the idea)

.  .  .and look at our logo!

      Ellipsis, from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short") is a series of three dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning (Look! A typewriter!)

      Depending on their context and placement in a sentence, ellipses can indicate an unfinished thought, a slight pause, an echoing voice, a leading statement, or a nervous or awkward silence. 

     Aposiopesis is the use of an ellipsis to trail off into silence, for example: "I wonder about where to go to view the August 2017 eclipse. . ." When placed at the beginning or end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also inspire a feeling of wonder, sadness, or imagining.

     The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full stops (. . .)

or a precomposed triple-dot glyph (…). The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, framed as "dot-dot-dot".

     In Anne Toner's book on the ellipsis, Ellipsis in English Literature: Signs of Omission  she suggests that the first use of the punctuation in the English language dates to a 1588 translation of Terence's Andria, by Maurice Kyffin. In that case, however, the ellipsis consists not of dots but of short dashes.

    
     There are numerous widely acknowledged types of ellipsis. Nine of them are: 1) gapping, 2) stripping, 3) VP-ellipsis, 4) pseudogapping, 5) answer fragments, 6) sluicing, 7) N-ellipsis, 8) comparative deletion, and 9) null complement anaphora. However, rather than getting into further discussion of these nine types of ellipses. . .

let's move on to the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. 

     The eclipse has its own website. Maizie and I are already planning a camping trip with friends to Wyoming to view the eclipse. How about you? Will your path cross with the solar eclipse. . .?

Only 219 days to go!
Steph

Wow! { { { Photograph by Walker Berg, Oregon: CROWS ON SNOW} } }

Larger Super-Eruptions at Yellowstone National Park 8 to 12 Million Years Ago

    A smaller number of giant super-eruptions between 8 and 12 million years ago that could be larger than the colossal eruptions known to have taken place at Yellowstone have been identified in the United States through research led by the University of Leicester.

     The international research team suggests that while the number of volcanic eruptions thought to have originated from the central Snake River Plain in Idaho, USA, is less than previously believed, the 12 recorded giant eruptions were likely 'significantly larger' than research has previously suggested.

     Dr. Tom Knott, Professor Mike Branney and Dr. Marc Reichow, from the University of Leicester's Department of Geology's Volcanology Group, conducted the research with a team of international collaborators from the U. of California, Santa Cruz, the U. of Copenhagen, Denmark and Idaho State University.

     "Using a multi-technique approach, including whole-rock and mineral chemistries, palaeomagnetic data, and radio-isotopic dates, the team has been able to 'fingerprint' individual eruption deposits and correlate these over vast regions (thousands of square kilometers)."

    In establishing widespread correlations, the team drastically reduced the number of eruptions previously thought to have originated from the central Snake River Plain by more than half.

     "The researchers have reported that one of the super-eruptions from the Yellowstone hotspot-track, defined as the Castleford Crossing eruption, occurred about 8.1 million years ago and estimate the eruption volume to have exceeded 1,900 cubic kilometers. 

     "The single volcanic sheet covers an area over 14,000 square kilometers in southern Idaho, and is more than 1.3 kilometers thick in the caldera of the super-volcano."

     "This is just one of 12 giant eruptions reported from the area by the Leicester researchers who show that intense hotspot magmatism caused major crustal subsidence, forming the 100 kilometer-wide Snake River Basin. The team also demonstrates that these eruptions were in fact significantly larger than previously thought and may rival those better known at Yellowstone."

     Dr. Knott said "While it is well-known that Yellowstone has erupted catastrophically in recent times perhaps less widely appreciated is that these were just the latest in a protracted history of numerous catastrophic super-eruptions that have burned a track along the Snake River eastwards from Oregon to Yellowstone from 16 million years ago to present.

    "The size and magnitude of this newly defined eruption is as large, if not larger, than better known eruptions at Yellowstone, and it is just the first in an emerging record of newly discovered super-eruptions during a period of intense magmatic activity between 8 and 12 million years ago."

Ever been to the Snake River Plain or Yellowstone? Ash me no questions. . .
Steph

Vindaloo? No, Vedauwoo: Please Take it for Granite in Wyoming

     A friend returned from climbing in the cracks at Vedauwoo in the Medicine Bow area of southeast Wyoming last fall. (Oops, you ought not say "fall" to a rock climber, I suppose.)

      These silicic rocks, the 1.4 billion year old Sherman Granite, hold spiritual meaning for the local Arapaho Indians who call them "bito'o'wu" meaning "earth-born".

      
      I've heard folks talk about visiting the hoodoos of "Vindaloo" in southeast Wyoming for many years. 

    

       In fact, DuckDuckGoing (or Googling) Vindaloo and Wyoming does bring one straight to Vedauwoo, affectionately also called "The Voo."

      Interestingly, the Sherman Granite is relatively young, compared to the 2.4 billion year old granite (and marine deposits) of the Great Tetons Mountains to the northwest. {Old rocks in a relatively young uplift (about 9 million years)--a great combo for striking mountain peaks}.

        Any ideas about why I chose Vedauwoo this week?

           And not the Vishnu Schist?! 

More to be revealed,
Steph

Columnar Joints: No, NOT in Colorado, But in Svartifoss, Devil's Tower, and Giant's Causeway

     Columnar joints are spectacular, often very long, hexagonal features found in igneous basalts (that's basalts not bathsalts!). Three particularly well-preserved examples are in Svartifoss, Iceland,

Devil's Tower, Wyoming, USA,

and the Giant's Causeway in far northeastern Ireland.

       [To clarify, there are columnar joints in Colorado; they are just not as spectacular as in those three places.]

        The mechanism for creating these six-sided features is seen here where 'C' represents the center of each hexagon:

        

      This two-minute geology video shows columnar jointing from the side and from the top in eastern Washington, USA. The accompanying one minute video shows what happened to a rock hammer atop those hexagonal features!

        The columnar joints in Iceland have inspired architecture for a local church. I still think our first PEOTS field trip ought to be to Iceland.

         More information about this hexagonal packing structure, including T- and Y- junctures, points toward a similarity to the optimally-packed honeycomb:

. . .and to mud cracks. . .

and to carbon rings in chemistry (benzene here):

and to . . .

      Isn't nature mesmerizing?! And more than she's cracked up to be!?

Steph

P.S.

Hmmm, Ethiopia is likely ahead of Iceland in my travel plans, but Iceland is a close second. . .