Im not sure what the correct English term is for it, but this is what I do for my final paper on bachelor level in geology. A petrological and mineralogical study av so called Battle axes (also know as Boat axes or axes from Corded ware culture, around 2900-2300 BC). The geological value of this is of study is limited to me learning a lot of methods for mineral and petrological identification - on a level usually more often found on a masters degree. The archaeological value of this study is to helt determine possible connections between different parts of the neolithical Europe based on what type of rock these axes are made of.I wanna learn all there is to know about petrological and mineralogical studies, so this is as good as anything else + the cool archaeological part.

Most typical axes of this type are made of diabase or basalt, found in many places in Sweden. But the ones Im going to examine (with thin sections and so on) are made of dacite, a dacite not found here. So if theres anyone out there with knowledge of European dacite locations, please let me know.

One typical battle axe, made of diabase (I think - the white spots seems to be dusty/eroded dents and cavities, difficult to say for sure). And no, of course we dont do thin sections of nice whole samples like this, but rather of broken up parts.

Take a look at these fairly new incredible photos from ISS. Link

Well, I didnt get around writing much yet about Swedish geology, and now there is that lovely Swedish version of the pagan ritual of midsummers eve coming up this Friday where Im probably going to get ridiculusly drunk and go of killing christians like a good old viking. But when I get back I will write some about my bachelor-project. Its to do with doing a petrographic study of a boat axe from the neolithic stone age. Stay cool and stay tuned! Happy midsummer - Glad midsommar!

I just recently came back from a week long trip to the province of Blekinge here in Sweden. Its an awsome province with beautiful deep forests and I can recommend a trip to it to anyone who loves nature. But be sure to bring something against mosquitos and ticks. The humid climate near the Baltic sea makes it a paradise for ticks.

It was a course in making maps of the bedrock, the petrology and structures. Mostly we found intrusive granites and more or less gneiss and granite-gneiss with pegmatite intrusions - the most common types of bedrock in here south east of Sweden. But one unusual loose rock caught our attention.

The theory my professor gave us was that it probably was a piece of diabas with (from the intrusion loosened) megacrysts of pegmatites in it (microcline and red quartz). The area is rich in pegmatites and diabase intrusions so the theory of origin made sence, however he had never seen anything like it before and had to base this on a qualified assumption. I presume its an unusal find or has someone found anything similar? No, its not my finger…

Just wondering if I still have any followers to the blog? I was thinking about starting up the blog with topics on Swedish geology for the summer. Mostly because of the severe drought in the Swedish bloggosphere during the summer time.

Let me know if Im still visible in the geoblog community!

Any experts on Cretaceous fossils from Ignaberga in Sweden out there that can help me? At that time, around 80 Ma it was a archipelago-like enviroment, rich on belemnites, brachiopods and shark) Ive got two small remains that I want to know what they could be.

I found a very unusual rock last fall that I have some trouble identifying. Since this being Sweden the damn glaciers of the Ice age transport rocks all over the place (or at least from the north to the south). So the provenance of the stone is basically unkown except that it must be something possible for Sweden and neighbouring countries. I have never seen anything like it here in Sweden but perhaps some of my english speaking readers out there have at least a qualified guess to offer me. It doesnt look like any sedimentary rock that Ive seen anywhere in Sweden before. I have my guess of course, but I want your oppinion on it.

As you can se from the images its some sort of sedimentary rock. It basically looks like some form of clay (or silt) stone with stripes of quarts sand in it and rich in Iron (but that could of course be something it was exposed to simply). I havent actually weighed it, but it feels quite heavy, perhaps because of the iron?. The larger granule/grain in the middle is also quartz as far as I can tell.

Update: Added two more closeups. 

An 4.7 earthquake must seem like nothing to people living in places like California. But in Sweden, where that just happened with the epicenter a couple of miles from where I live its a big deal. By far the strongest earthquake in Sweden for a century.

All happening along the Tornqvist-zone. The ancient fault line zone streching through my home province Skåne (Scania). Ive written som more about in in my Swedish geoblog.

More info

You made the right choice in electing Obama. Im very pleased.

Yes Im alive, but this blog is not. As most of you know by know I write only on my Swedish blog and Antimonite has faded away. I just dont have the time or energy to write two blogs.

But if someone cares: Ive just added an easy-to-use gadget on my Swedish geoblog Terra Incognita so that you can translate the content to English (or any other prefered language). This is of course not in any way sensational - just wanted to make it easy for any visitor so I made it possible to do so through a simple gadget. The gadget is located in the left sidebar at the bottom. Impossible to miss since it comes with a big ass Google logotype.

Ive decided to do this since its very unlikely that I will post that much here on Antimonite in the (near) future. So if youre interested in Swedish geology (on a basic level), youre welcome to translate my blog Terra Incognita and keep on reading that one instead of this. Of course, the translations in general are really bad - but you will probably at least understand the content - and if not - its ok to post comments on the blog in English - ask me and I will translate.

Update: Have added the translation-gadget as an option in the topmenu off Terra Incognita instead.