Saturday, February 9, 2008

Geology in LOST

OK, if you watch LOST and haven't seen this week's episode yet, then go do something else. Honestly, what are you doing reading geology blogs anyhow?? There are more important things to be doing... Like catching up on LOST.


(Are you gone yet? DON'T KEEP READING. I warned you. Don't.)


For those of you who watch LOST, umm, wow. Thursday night was what the season opener should have been. Major new insights, major new questions. And: son of a gun, some of them have geological tie-ins. Who'd-a thunk it?


I mean, those of us who've made it through Season 2 know that the island has a weird magnetic anomaly, a feature which not only crashed Oceanic flight 815, but also apparently shields the island from outside observation. Geotimes even wrote a piece on this geological plotline. At the end of Season 2, a team of (apparently) polar scientists in the employ of Penny Widmore even remotely detect a magnetic pulse from the island.


Among the new insights from this week's episode: the location of a sunken Oceanic 815, complete with tail section and wedding-ring-less pilot Greg Grunberg. And not only is it discovered by robotic submersibles, but they show a map of a major subduction zone to show where they found the plane. (See below for a screen capture.) But is it really the real Ocean 815? Or a decoy? Regardless, when was the last time the Sunda Trench appeared in a fictional TV show?



Insight #2 is a polar bear skeleton, wearing a Dharma Iniative collar, unearthed in.... of all places, Tunisia. What the heck? Polar bears are a big part of the mystery island's biodiversity, but what is one doing in the Sahara? And why is it fossilized?


I don't get this show, but I love it, love it, love it. Other thoughts from LOSTophilic geologists?

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1 Comments:

Blogger Oxymorgan said...

tunisia is the island's antipode.

June 17, 2008 3:53 PM  

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