A poem for Valentine's Day

Valentine, By a Palaeontologist
by Edward Forbes

Borne upon Pterodactyle's wing,
This heart, which once you deemed of stone,
Model of maids, to thee I bring,
And offer it to thee alone!
Not Owen, pondering o'er bone
Of great Dinornis, fonder grew
Of mighty wingless birds unknown,
Then I, sweet maid, of you.

The Glyptodon, which Darwin found
Beside the South Atlantic main,
Was in no harder armour bound
Than that my spirit did enchain;
Till, bade by thee, Love rent in twain
The fetters which my fancy tied
To boulder, glacier, and moraine,
And bore me to thy side!

Like some fantastic Trilobite
That perished in the Silurian sea,And long lay hid from mortal sight,
So was the heart I yield to thee.
Now from its stony matrix free,
Thy palaeontologic skill
Once more hath call'd it forth to be
The servant of thy will.

Full details on The Geological Society's blog

One of the fastest growing areas of research in the geosciences is what is now called 'geomicrobiology'. Although bacteria and other microbes have long been used in industrial processes such as bioleaching, where  metals are extracted from their mined ores, it is only now that the role played by microbes in geological processes is being fully appreciated. At and near Earth's surface, such organisms can be involved in electron transfer reactions that have a great impact on the chemistry of sediments, soils and waters, influencing the cycling of major elements such as sulphur and iron, and of trace toxic elements such as arsenic.
The reasons for the growth in interest in geomicrobiology is partly due to development of  techniques which can probe the composition of natural microbial communities and their genetic makeup. It is also because we now have techniques to study the very fine particle minerals, and the surfaces of those minerals, involved in many mineral-microbe interactions.
Geomicrobiology is fascinating partly because it is, literally, where geology and biology meet in the living world. Many questions about  mineral-microbe interactions remain to be answered, not least the question of how such interactions work at the molecular scale (as when an organism such as the bacterium Geobacter respires through an electron transfer reaction that involves the reduction of highly insoluble ferric iron oxide minerals to a much more soluble ferrous form).
Geomicrobiology is not just a subject of academic interest;  microbes can be set to work in helping to solve practical problems, such as in the clean-up of contaminated land and water, or the synthesis of novel mineral products.
As part of the initiative associated with the launch of the Geological Society's Environment Network, the Society is co-sponsoring (with the Society for General Microbiology, and the Mineralogical Society) a 2-day conference on 'Geomicrobiology- the roles and activities of microbes in processes of fundamental importance to geology'. This is planned for 19-20 April, 2012 in Manchester.

The Geological Society blog

Some of you may like to follow general geological news on this blog.

Friends of the The Geological Society

Did you know that the Society now offers a way for geological enthusiasts to become involved, through the ‘Friends of the Society’ scheme? The scheme is open to all those with an interest in geology at a non-professional level.
For just £35 a year, Friends receive Geoscientist, discounts on Special Publications and library use, and an evening event among other benefits. Please tell your friends so that they can become ours!