What Are Some Were More Valuable Than Others?

Rock Canyon is an excellent site for geologic research and has been investigated by geologists from around Utah and neighboring states. With outstanding extrusions of quartzite, tillite and limestone, it’s a favored destination for hikers, rock climbers and scientists. The quartzite is considered the most unique feature of Rock Canyon as it’s one of the few clear and distinct examples of the sedimentary processes involved with a shallow marine setting. The tillite beneath the quartzite draws attention to the ancient glaciers to the past. In conjunction with the active Wasatch Fault found at its doorstep, Rock Canyon is an important place in Utah for geologists.

This allows geologists to study what’s happening and how geological processes work and progress through time.

| Geological oceanographers and geophysicists explore the ocean floor and map submarine geologic structures. Studies of the physical and chemical properties of rocks and sediments give us valuable information about Earth’s history.

Despite a family history of geophysicists and rock enthusiasts, I’ve never found the subject of rocks particularly fascinating. However, an exploration of Earth Science has lead me to the discovery that rocks are actually hidden gems (often literally), and that there’s more to the topic than one would think.

Introduction - For the period of Sunday, August 28th – Sunday, September 4th, 2011, students from the University of Saskatchewan geological sciences department along with professors Dr. Kevin Ansdell and Dr. Kyle Larson took part in a geologic field school in and around the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba. The purpose of this field school was for students to

Mineralogy- An important part of Geology is the study of Minerals, their physical properties, structure, and chemistry. It helps us understand how they react with one another depending on the circumstances including weathering, fire, how deep, with living or non-living organisms. Minerology is broad and interesting field of study.

Rocks: Students learn about rocks through the use of a film. The student uses a white board to take notes, and organizes notes with the use of a graphic organizer.

The first chapter of the book discusses the way we can use fossil records to study the biological world. Fossils are one of the major lines of evidence we use to understand ourselves. Surprisingly, we are able to discover them with a high amount of precision and predictability. In particular, field paleontologists have it easier than it has ever been before due to the current information age. The physical hunt for important fossils, however, is much like it has always been. Three factors limiting the number of useful fossil sites include rock age, type (whether or not it can preserve fossils), and number of exposed rocks. So, it takes a bit of luck to reliably find fossils. Thankfully, rock

Lutgens, F. K. & Tarbuck, E. J. (2011). Foundations of earth science (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice

The objective of the trip to Blount Springs, Alabama was to observe and gather data on the geological structure of the area. Blount Springs is located in the northern part of Alabama just 33 miles north of Birmingham, and lies on the southernmost part of the Appalachian fold belt. The field work began on the morning of Saturday April, 7th at 8:50am. The weather was cloudy with temperatures in the mid 40’s, and the area was wet from rain the previous night. Our materials included a map of the area, list of formations, a Brunton compass, and a Rite in the Rain field book. The procedure of the field work involved 12 stops at outcrops to gather data, one stop was omitted from the original plans. This data gathered included bedding and joint orientations

A mineral is homogenous, naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure and specific physical properties.

Walking along the bank of Chartiers Creek I climb a top an array of massive rocks that look as if they had fallen from the hill side when civilization still meant hunter, gatherer. From a top the rocks I sit, and listen to the mollifying sound of the water rush past me. I close my eyes, and let the sound rush over me. I breathe in the fresh spring air which smells like life renewed. I could sit at that spot all day-for the rest of my life maybe-but it’s time to go the next, and final attraction the fossil cliff. The fossil cliff is a roughly fifty foot high sheer cliff. Through the woods I hike to its base, and start to pull away loose stones looking for fossils of long since gone plant, and animal life. A convenient sign explain the high probability for finding fossils in this particular area. I’m yet to find the uncategorized dinosaur fossil which will make me rich, and famous, but I have found a wide variety of plants (that I’m not smart enough to identify) within the rocks. After working up a sweat from walking, getting covered in dust from fossil excavation, and seeing nightfall creeping upon me it’s time to head back to my

However every scientific field is important, and those rocks gave us a better understanding of the

Coming fresh out of high school, earth sciences was never on my radar as a potential future career field. There were no earth science classes available at my schools from kindergarten to 12th grade; I was only briefly exposed to the idea of it during a Georgia history class in middle school. I entered college as a biology major, but subsequently went through the common stage of frantic major switching after I encountered organic chemistry. In the end, I settled with geology after conducting mildly extensive research on what the major entails, the broad range of career opportunities, and the job availability; however, having no exposure to anything earth science-related, whether it be classes, hiking, or camping, I was initially hesitant in pursuing unknown territory. Yet, after a year of geology courses, I attained a compelling fascination with the subject, and particularly with the water science/hydrogeology aspect of the field.

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” Samuel Jackson