Celebrate Geologic Map Day!

Today is Geologic Map Day, part of Earth Science Week here in the United States.  According to the American Geosciences Institute, this day "promote(s) awareness of geologic mapping and its vital importance to society."

So, what is a geologic map?  A geologic map tells you all about the rocks beneath your feet - what type of  rocks and where their strata (or layers) occur, along with where you can find underground caves, faults, and other geologic features.  A builder might use a geologic map to determine where it is safest to build a new structure.  An environmentalist can use a geologic map to guess how pollution might travel underground.  And a city planner might use an environmental map to determine where to sink a new well.  

Want to check out a geologic map for where you live?  If you're in the U.S., you can visit the Association of American State Geologists and click on the map for your state  Additional Geologic Map Day Resources are available at AGI's Earth Science Week website. 

Hugs to all of my geologist friends!  You rock!  ;-)
 

Family Fun at the Rock & Mineral Show

A couple of months ago, I took the boys (and Princess, but she was in the stroller and didn't see much) to their first rock and mineral show. Actually, it was my first, as well. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it just be a big room with row after row of rock samples? To my family, as novices, would they all look the same? Would there be other folks in attendance like us, curious newbies, or would the room be filled with seasoned, dusty rockhounds?

I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the show was to children. My boys had a great time. Yes, there were collections of rocks and minerals on display. But there was a wonderful variety. Most displays contained just enough documentation to be informative without overwhelming the viewer. There was even a "please touch" table, which Kerm and Little Brother greatly enjoyed.


One exhibiter collected little bottles of sand. They were all different shades - pink, black, beige, tan - and they were labeled with locations from all over the world. Another person collected "dangerous" rocks, minerals containing substances like lead or arsenic that can be harmful to humans.

In the back, there was a makeshift room covered with tarps. The boys loved seeing the fluorescent rocks displayed there.


Fluorescent rocks appear to glow in the dark, but they actually glow under shortwave or long wave ultraviolet light. The Tozour Family's Fluorescent Rocks shows a similar display of fluorescent minerals, with photos of what the rocks look like under normal (white) light and what they look like under ultraviolet (black) light.

(I am tempted to buy a black light bulb to see if any of our rocks fluoresce under long wave UV. Fun side note: you can also see old dog or cat urine stains using black light.)

There was a special hands-on display where kids could "mine" for minerals. The boys were each given a card with small pictures of different minerals and they dug through the sand until each found a specimen. The boys then compared their samples to the pictures on the card and identified which minerals they had uncovered. I thought this was a clever way to introduce kids to rock collecting and the process of identifying minerals by using a key.

Kerm mines for minerals

Of course, we also went upstairs and visited the vendor room, where you could buy mineral samples on just about every budget. We picked out a few of the cheaper specimens for purchase, and I pointed out to Kerm and Little Brother that I frequently couldn't tell the $6 rocks from the $600 rocks, so they'd better stay close and not touch anything.

All in all, it was great visit, and a nice introduction to mineralogy, geology, and paleontology (did I mention the nice fellow giving away fossilized shark vertebrae?). The rock and mineral show cost less than $10 per person to attend. My greatest expense was running out to buy Kerm and Little Brother display cases to store their new found treasures.




Photo credits: Mama Joules

Mountains and moose

Today, my family went for a picnic near a mountainside lake. On the drive down the canyon, we pulled off of the road several times to read the signs explaining the geology of the area. My older son and I decided to stop at two different rockslides to examine the rocks.

Now, a rockslide may not sound like much fun. But for two amateur geology buffs with over-active imaginations, it was a blast. We took home several finds: a sparkly rock that surely contains gold, a piece of shale with a rust-colored inclusion that just has to be a fossiled tree leaf, and a striated rock that might become a jewel someday.

But my favorite part of the day came as I was driving along the canyon road and saw something out of the corner of my eye. Two moose were frolicking in the grassy wetland area flanking a nearby stream. They almost looked like horses, except that their muzzles were far too large. Unlike most moose I've seen in my life -- slow and lumbering -- these two were clearly rough-housing and playing in the water.

It was an awesome sight. I wish I could have taken a picture, but in a way, I'm glad that I couldn't. The road was winding and narrow at that point, with no place to stop for a photo. And that's probably why the moose were there.

Meet the vug

Yesterday, I was floating around the web looking for photographs to jazz up my blog posts. Let me just say, the National Park Service has an awesome cache of photographs in the public domain. I wasn't looking for a vug, but once I saw one, I knew I had to show it to you.

Crystal-lined Vug in Wind Cave
Photo credit: Jason Walz, National Park Service
Despite the funny name and this rather intimidating photograph, a vug is just a hole (or cavity) in a rock. This hole is often lined with a different type of rock. A geode is an example of a round vug.

Geology in your backseat

Are you planning a vacation somewhere in the United States? Before you leave on your next trip, be sure to take along some geology. Roadside Geology guides are available for a number of U.S. locations. Road cuts provide a wonderful opportunity to take a peek at what’s normally hidden deep beneath the earth’s surface.

Weeping rock of the Boone FormationPhoto credit: Roxnoil
Along the highways of Missouri, you often see weeping limestone faces -- like the one shown above -- due to the porous nature of this sedimentary rock. These seeps can be especially beautiful when they freeze in the wintertime, forming dripping white icicles instead of appearing as dark streaks.


Pinnacles National Monument, California
Photo credit: National Park Service(Note: If you tip your head to the left, the parallel lines in the rock look horizontal. That gives you a sense of how much the rocks have been displaced (moved) over time.)

Driving through the canyons of Utah, rock layers sometimes appear vertical instead of horizontal due to uplift (see photo above for an example of this in California).


Lava flow near Kalapana, Hawaii (June 1990)
Photo credit: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological SurveyCheck out the USGS Lava covers Kalapana for more great images!
And if you are exploring the Big Island of Hawaii, some of your intended highways may have been covered by lava flow – a prime example of geology in action!

Learn more about U.S. geology by visiting the United States Geological Survey or drop by the Association of American State Geologists and click on the map to visit each state’s own Geological Survey.

Website of the Week: USGS Astro Kids

Learn about Pluto’s downgraded status as a dwarf planet (it’s now considered to be the 10th planet from the sun)** and more at Astro Kids, the Astrogeology Research Program webpage of the United States Geological Survey. Create a model moon from a tennis ball, discover fun facts about the planets and print coloring pages of them, or make a magnet of the planet Mars.

What is "astrogeology"? This scientific study explores the geology of celestial bodies in our solar system other than Earth (like our moon, other planets and their moons, comets and asteroids). Astrogeologists map the surface features on these celestial bodies (like the mountains and valleys of Mars, for example) and try to figure out how they were formed (such as, does this planet have water or volcanoes?).


**But please remember to check the dates on any web pages about the planets, particularly Pluto. Anything created prior to Pluto’s reclassification by the International Astronomical Union on August 24, 2006 (like the Planetary Info Sheets on the Astro Kids website), still incorrectly show Pluto as the ninth planet. Keep in mind, though, the words of Jim Murphy, Head of New Mexico’s State University’s Department of Astronomy: "This reclassification of Pluto as a ‘dwarf planet’ does not in any way change the physical aspects of Pluto ..." (Read his complete statement about Pluto’s reclassification here.)