the.com/geology
the slow autobiography of a planet, written in stone and read by patient maniacs
means The scientific study of the Earth's solid material — its rocks, minerals, and structure — and the processes and history that have shaped them over time.
from From the Greek 'gē' (earth) plus '-logia' (the study of), giving roughly 'earth-talk.' The combination came into use in the scientific sense in the 18th century, as naturalists began reading the planet's layers like pages and the discipline acquired its modern name.
- deep time
- Earth's history compressed: humans arrive in last seconds
- oldest mineral
- Australian zircon crystals are 4.4 billion years old
- moving ground
- continents drift roughly as fast as fingernails grow
- rock cycle
- mountains become sand become stone become mountains again
- hammer tax
- geologists lick rocks to identify them, seriously
mid-ocean ridge system — 65,000 km of underwater mountain ranges where new oceanic crust forms, spanning all ocean basins
san andreas fault — 800 mile transform fault in california where pacific and north american plates meet, causing major earthquakes
grand canyon — 1.8 billion year stratigraphic record exposed in arizona by the colorado river's erosion
yellowstone caldera — supervolcano in wyoming with geysers, hot springs, and a massive magma chamber 10 km below surface