Profile

I currently teach biology and geology at International School in Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, on the French Riviera near Nice.
In the past, I also worked in a few french schools in Canada, Germany and Portugal before coming back to France.
When not in the classroom, I'm a coordinator for an educational seismological network in France called ‘sismometers at school’.
Indead, working on seismometers in schools gives students (12-17 years old) more motivation and a better opportunity to focus on natural hazards knowledge as well as the use of real time databases.

I am member of the Committee of Education of EGU. I am also involved in the International Earth Science Olympiads in my country and I supervise, in my regional area, the teachers’ training program in geosciences.
It is the reason why I am working with scientists from Geoazur (CNRS) located in Sophia Antipolis in South of France.

I try to make my students or my colleagues realize how important more investigation, more field tools, more data use in science teaching are.
I involve my students in field schoolwork and in network databases. I am really looking forward to bringing more authentic science to my students.

Jean-Luc Berenguer's blog

Engma 10 resolved : Rocks in powder

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Fri, 02/08/2013 - 09:00

Basalt is a volcanic rock (microlitic structure).

From a primary magma from partial melting of the mantle peridotites.

The rocks are classified as basic as base-rich (MgO, FeO) and low alkali (K2O, Na2O).

They are dark because of Fe2O3.

Enigma 10: Rocks in powder !

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Mon, 02/04/2013 - 11:19

After the structure, density, porosity, magnetism, mineralogy of rocks, geochemists up!

Enigma 9 resolved : Olivine … what will happen to you ?

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Sat, 02/02/2013 - 08:59

The weekly question focused on the difference between the black smokers and white smokers.

All these hydrothermal fields are encountered during oceanographic explorations.

1. Black smokers: they are in the form of chimneys. Emission of sulphurous water at temperatures above 300 º C.

High levels of transition metals. Sulphide deposits in chimneys.

Enigma 9 : Olivine ... what will happen to you?

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Sun, 01/27/2013 - 16:22

Olivine is the first mineral to crystallize when magma is cooling.

It is the reason why Olivine is often present in the gabbros, but also in the basalts.

Olivine can crystallize at a temperature of about 1000 ° C. This is the first mineral of the Bowen reaction sequence (see enigma 7: Minerals!)

Enigma 8 resolved : Magnets !

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Sat, 01/26/2013 - 16:43

The answer was found by some of our frequent readers. Thank you for following us and explore with us in a fun way, all aspects of geology.

Once the candle lit, the small ring of nickel previously attracted by the magnet will stop being attracted to it and will hang in the vertical piece of wood.

Enigma 8 : Magic magnets

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Sun, 01/20/2013 - 09:22

When cores arrive in the lab from the drill floor, scientists and technicians study physical properties of the rocks (magnetism susceptibility for example).
Magmatic rocks contain ferromagnesian minerals (see previous enigma). During the cooling of magma, the rocks, with such minerals can 'fossilized' the magnetic field. Some rocks from the oceanic crust are very amazing.

Enigma 7 resolved : Minerals

Submitted by Jean-Luc Berenguer on Sat, 01/19/2013 - 16:07

The magma produced in the oceanic ridge, while cooling slowly, crystallizes in magmatic rocks.

The challenge for the petrologists on board the JR consists to discover the history of the oceanic crust genesis by the study of minerals in the magmatic rocks.

To resolve the enigma, it is necessary to recall the stages of the minerals crystallization.