Daniel Babin

I've noticed a lot of new faces around here so I thought I would introduce myself! 🌄 I've been on geo-gram since my field mapping camp in 2015, but really got serious about it in summer 2022 🌄 I believe that part of why humanity has colossal struggles with the environment comes from a lack knowledge of earth systems and their interconnectedness. When was the last time you had an earth science class? 🌄 My goal is to be a spokesperson for our the Earth Sciences. Where are the Carl Sagans, David Attenboroughs, and Jane Goodalls of Earth and the Climate? 🌄 I'm currently working as a postdoctoral researcher studying deep sea mining at the incredible institution of Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, where the first seafloor maps and the discovery of plate tectonics were made, and the term "global warming" was first coined 🌄 I got my PhD from Columbia University and LDEO in 2022 studying the history of earth's climate, oceans, and ice ages preserved in marine sediments. 🌄 I've lived in NYC for 7 years and I love my city to death. 🌄 I am from Baton Rouge and I went to college at LSU. I am proud of my roots in the beautiful food, sounds, and warmth of Cajun culture. 🌄 My voice, graphics, and writing has been featured by the BBC, ABC, FiveThirtyEight, NASA, the American Geophysical Union, and the International Ocean Discovery Program. 🌄 I am a singer, songwriter, mandolinist, and guitarist. Check out my band Hot Grandpa on Spotify and @hot_grandpa 🌄 I am a long distance backpacker. Catch me on the Laugavegur trail in Iceland this summer. 🌄 I've recently started offering geo-tours of Central Park. My first was full of amazing young people passionate about the earth. I dream of traveling across the country to do this work. 🌄 I travel so much that my goal was to travel ~less this year. In the last year I've been to Portugal, England, Mexico, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Puerto Rico 🌄 I really encourage people to send me videos of rocks in the field that make you curious. I'll post your stuff! 📸 thanks to @mikeschmidt_ for these sick photos 🎥 most of my videos are produced by the beautiful, clever, supportive, and illustrious @julesbieds

Got too excited by these marble floors at the @metmuseum . These parallel black serrated lines are a common feature of marbles called styolites. Keys things I left out in the video: dissolution = dissolve!! The styolites indicate compression happened in the rocks that this marble was quarried from. Because marble doesn't bend so well, the rock has to find another way to adapt to the pressure that's happening. So it dissolves away to accommodate the decrease in space. Should I do more geology of floors?

The main process here is dissolution and precipitation of limestone but I think there's two different structures here that we can relate to clastic sedimentary structures that I am just crazy about. . You could think about the rimstone dams the same way we think about levee deposits. Levees grow because of flooding. There's a feedback loop where flow slows down over levees, and slower flow causes deposition of particles, which causes the levee to grow taller. . The little asymmetrical things are called scallops. You could think about them like a ripple, where you have erosion on the upstream side, and deposition on the downstream side, making an asymmetrical structure. . The thing is, because this is dissolution, we are literally looking at this processes which I'm used to imagining at the particle scale occur at the atomic scale, which is absolutely nuts. . Thanks for taking me out @cantrellcaving . Y'all give the man some love.

In the 1800’s soldiers began mining inside many caves across the southeast. Remnants of these activities can still be found inside many caves. What were they mining for and how did they do it? The answer can be found in the full video on the @scci_caves YouTube channel.

Ever wondered why caves are windy at the entrance? It’s due to the difference in pressure between the air inside a cave versus out. Here, geologist Daniel Babin explains how it works. To see the full video, visit the link in our bio and head to our YouTube @scci_caves

You have to imagine a nearly unrecognizable earth to see the one that formed these caves and sinkholes. Step 1: Lower sea level. Massive ice sheets periodically grow over North America. The growth of that ice actually subtracts from water level of the entire ocean. This site is in the Yucatán, but you're actually seeing the local expression of a global phenomenon -- glacial sea level fall Step 2: in these coastal rocks, a lower sea level allows local river systems to cut down deeply into rocks. Instead of surface rivers, they make subsurface tunnels Step 3: when the ice age is over, the water in the ice returns to the sea, raising sea level, and flooding the cave systems that we're swimming in. This is possible because earth's climate system is incredibly sensitive to small changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide. To lower sea level by 100 m, CO2 lowered 90 ppm. Today we're up 140 ppm. What do you think will happen? The rocks there are permanently connected to the sea. The deposits, related to accumulation of marine life, formed during high sea level times like the Cretaceous and the Miocene-Pliocene. The ice age world of the Pleistocene dissected the giant carbonate plateau and turned it into Swiss cheese. The entire network is connected underground, hidden by post glacial sea level rise. It's mind bending to imagine everything that this corner of the planet has seen. Follow to feel the majesty of the earth.

If you look closely, you can find clues to a cave’s past written on the walls. Geologist Daniel Babin explains how rimstone forms and what it tells us about water levels in a cave. To see the full video, check out the linktree in our bio @scci_caves

I've seen stalactites before but I haven't seen this. We found these roots dangling down in these huge columns at Cenote Caracol in Quintana Roo. The rock there is limestone, which is always dissolving and recrystalizing in the presence of water. But here we had a fun little mystery. Where was the water going? Up or down? There were these growths of rock beneath the root columns, and you had to wonder. It wasn't until we found the rock floating in water, suspended by the roots, that we felt confident about an answer. The cenote was fuel for the trees, and the roots filter out the minerals before they calcify in their bodies. Me and the guests had such a fantastic time in the Yucatán with @antheataeuber and @mind.body.water . I can't wait for the next trip.

Cenotes form from 1. Piled up bodies of sea creatures that lived millions of years ago 2. Rain water drilling holes in the rock 3. Roof collapse and expansion Produced by @laurenmccarthyy I crashed my drone into the cave wall on my first fly 😇

The mystery of the entire history of the Yucatán and these portals to underground water called cenotes is contained within these underwater rock formations that at first seem impossible. The formation of cenotes requires you to lower sea level. That way, these pools turn into underground river systems. Then, in the air in the cave, the stalactites can form. The system will then flood again when sea level rises, inundating the rock formations. Cenotes were formed by ice age cycles over the last million years, punching 10,000 portals through the barren Yucatán soil into the rich caverns below. I had a fantastic time learning free diving with @antheataeuber ! It was so easy and so incredibly breathtaking. Follow her for information about her retreats. You won't regret it.

The ELEMENTS retreat was an incredible success! Here we are swimming through caves in the Yucatán and learning the secrets of the land. The joy and magic of freediving with @antheataeuber really exceeded anything I could have prepared for. I felt so empowered, free, strong, and safe. In the coming weeks you'll see as we post! If you want to experience the Earth and water with Anthea, she's got two trips coming up in Baja May 31-June 7 June 13-20 There's just a few spots left! Reach out if you want more information.

This rock has these crazy chicken head structures protruding off of it, but only on one side. You can walk across the entire field of boulders and the pattern is the same. I have never before seen something like this. Watch to understand