My t-shirt drawings.
Beginning in the top right corner is a mineralogical representation
of the mineral "selenite". Next, (clockwise): a paleontologist's
generalized representation of a brachiopod. Next, a trilobite. Below
that is the physical representation of the Southcentral section of the
GSA --Geological Society of America. The line running through it is called
the Fall Line and, in NC, represents the place where the old continent's
edge once was. From there eastward is all relatively new, and mostly all
sedimentary in nature. The rock hammer, a geologist's most basic tool,
driven deeply into the soil of Louisiana, was my own. I was born and raised
in New Orleans, a place where there is only mud and crawfish and not much
of interest to a hard rock geologist -- mostly only those interested in
sedimentary processes or in oil.
Below that are what is known as "conodont's teeth". Once upon a time,
these things were thought to actually BE the teeth of some critter whose
physical appearance was shrouded in mystery. They were used (by their color)
to determine the presence and type of oil in the fields, but little else
was
known about them.
Left of the teeth: a rotated garnet that represents the folding and rotating associated with metamorphic rocks. The representation goes from right to left and depicts what happens internally to a garnet subjected to folding and stretching of the crust in metamorphic processes.
The dinosaur's hat was given to me by my best friend, Jessie. The coat hanger in the mouth of the dino came from a professor's remark that being skinny enough to fit through a coat hanger was a pre-requisite of doing mine work.
Next up are the "faults". The representations are of a normal fault (hanging wall, footwall, etc), a thrust fault (which are common in areas such as the SW and the Great Plains, as well as elsewhere -- think of the leading edge of at least one continent moving over and above the leading edge of another that is either stationary or moving in the opposite direction), and a dry hole. The circle with 4 spikes is an oil geologist's representation of a hole that was drilled and came up dry... hence the pun, engineer's fault."
The chemical formula written on an angle to the lower right of is the formula for Glauconite, a sedimentary mineral that was a favorite area of study of our Stratigraphy instructor. It's formed from very old worm dung and has a lovely pale green-blue color. The instructor's favorite expression, when someone asked him how they knew what age this stuff was or where it came from was, "Zullo told me -- he was there." I used that tribute on the other shirt I did, plus had a pocket design of barnacles (his field of study) and a dedication to Zullo.
The writing around the edges of the rotation axis are:
"Uplifts, thrusts and overturned beds are common in areas of orogeny
(mountain building)"... Geologists have their transgressions." .
. . "Geologists make the bedrock better... "Der" (the trademark remark
of our newest professor of Optical Mineralogy) . . ."All my faults are
normal"..... "Reunite Gondwanaland" (ancient continent that covered half
the earth at one time)..... "Love a geologist and feel the earthquake".......
"Have a gneiss day."