From the front matter of Denis Shaw's Trace Elements in Magmas

Geochemistry is a compilation of imprecise, irreproducible and uncoordinated analyses.
(i) Keep the rocks in mind, for they cannot be reduced to analytical measurements; (ii) (from O. F. Tuttle) minerals are the archives of the rocks; (iii) keep filing [your] fingernails while waving [your] arms.

Relatedly: a lecturer's assertion during my undergrad that fundamentally you cannot argue with the rocks [ergo any theory you develop must be supported by the rocks], hence in part this poem of mine; and the general feeling among my group's principle investigators that geochemistry is fundamentally characterised by paranoia, and how relaxed you're willing to be about cleanliness.

December days master post

HELLO PEOPLE lots of you lovely folk are doing the December Days meme (or contemplating giving it a go). I would like to make a master post but failed to think of this until enough had gone by that my shonky short-term memory lost usernames, and in any case I think it would be polite to make sure you're actually cool with me linking this rabble to you!

If you'd like me to link to you in this round-up, can you leave a link to your prompts post in comments? Cheers! xx

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