Welcome to "the engines of my love," a regular review
of why I love you, Martha Ellyn Sharp Nelson, and no
other woman.
I love you because you were on my mind as I did detailed attribute
analysis on and between the interpretations of Sequence Boundary 16.4,
Maximum Flooding Surface 24.8, and Sequence Boundary 36 on Thursday.
I realize these are words with no particular meaning for you, and I
would like to take a minute of your time to explain what I mean.
When the ice ages occur the sea level drops by a couple of hundred
feet. This lowering of the erosional base level results in rapid
erosion, including deep incised valleys near the sea shore, and broad
erosional features across large areas. These geologic times of
non-deposition are referred to as a Sequence Boundary. The maps we have
generated for the area in South Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, where we
are working at the BEG, includes major Sequence Boundaries at 16.4
million years ago and at 36 million years ago. In addition, when the
ice caps melt, the sea raises until it reaches the large alluvial plane,
which is somewhat like the `Katy Prarie.' When the sea level reaches
this stage a large ice burg disengages from the poles and the flat
area is covered with water in the matter of a few days or years. This
is called a Maximum Flooding Surface and there are a lot of fossils
located at this interval. In the Lake Maracaibo area there is a key
Maximum Flooding Surface 24.8 million years ago. The Maximum Flooding
Surface tends to be made up of shales and forms a nice seal to burried
sand dunes and beaches, hydrocarbon reservoir rocks.
One of the things I have become trained at over the years is to
interpret these geologic events from seismic data. One of the ways
we go about doing this is to do detailed attribute analysis of seismic
waveforms. This includes calculating the various types of seismic
amplitude between and at the various geologic horizons. The whole
process is quantitative. There are specific measurements, and then
when maps are made of the results we look for geologic patterns to base
the interpretation on.
As you know I tend to apply this same type of `scientific logic'
to my relationships with you and with our children. When I see patterns
which bring out my fears I emotionally melt, raise the sea level, and
create a seal between me and those I love. When I see patterns I like,
I dig in, like an incised valley, and try to drink it up. I have not
been very good at just enjoying what happens and not trying to tweak
the system. I hope you find it worthwhile I am starting to recognize
my impact on the system that was our family.
I am striving to let what happens just happen, to speak up when
choices that don't meet my values occur, and to not judge, blame,
criticize, or be sarcastic. I am still going to do attribute analysis,
but I am striving to let the data interpret itself. I am striving to
learn these methdologies because I love you.
I'm interested in sharing why I love you. I know how important
the written word is to you, and if you ever feel neglected,
ignored, or unloved, and would like an up-to-date bound copy of
these lovelets or any subset of these lovelets for any purpose
you might have come to mind, please tell me or e-mail your request
to rnelson@walden3d.com with the request 'lovelet update.'
With all my love,
Roice