G is for Geology

This is the same as last year but you know - I never tire of geology. It is a good thing that I teach it and do research in it for a living!

Geology is the study of the Earth, from the center out to the outer atmosphere. It encompasses rocks and minerals, the hydrosphere (ocean, rivers, ice), and the atmosphere and the weather that takes place in it.  It interfaces with biology as we study how the biosphere affects the soil and the atmosphere, and many other things. I've been told by astronomers that even the planets are considered the realm of planetary geologists, and astronomy begins beyond the Solar System.

I think my students are surprised that I spend only a week or two on rocks and minerals in the intro class, and we soon move on to plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, surface processes, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere.

I also find the natural world so beautiful: rocks, landscapes, seascapes, etc.

Viridian
   Tweet

G is for Geology

Back to the A to Z challenge, after Sunday off.  But I was blogging - Sunday Stamps are featured on my other blog, unimaginatively called Viridian's Postcard Blog. 

I love geology! The other night I was watching Laurence of Arabia and noting the rock formations in the background, esp. in the beginning of the film.  For the aforementioned blog,  the theme was Rocks, minerals, or the environment, and so I featured these stamps:

Featuring tiger eye and opal.

I recently sent out this geological postcard:

Geology! It is more than rocks, it is the entire study of the earth we live on.

Viridian

Tweet

Blogtoberfest: Bedrock Geology of Illinois

I have the same post on my postcard blog. So sue me.

From the back:
Sedimentary rocks ranging in age from about 510 million (Cambrian) to 290 million (Pennsylvanian) are at the bedrock surface in Illinois and were deposited in and near ancient fluctuating seas. Cretaceous sands and gravels deposited in extreme southern and western Illinois are about 100 to 66 million years old. Tertiary rocks were deposited as coastal plain and deltaic sediments between 66 and 2 million years ago. Coal, oil and gas, building stone, fluorite, clays, groundwater and other resources in the bedrock contribute several billion dollars annually to the Illinois economy.

Illinois Geological Survey, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois.
http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/

In Europe, The time period correlating to the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods is known as the Carboniferous. It was a time of great swamps, both in physical extent and how long they lasted. Large amounts of plant material were deposited, which later changed to coal. Half of the USA’s electricity is generated from Coal-fired power plants, so this is still a major commodity. (It sells for $40 - $50 a short ton – don’t ask what a short ton is!) See more information (LOTS more) at the Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelcoal.html.

Fluorite is a mineral with the chemical composition CaF2 – calcium fluoride. It is mined for the fluorine for industrial purposes.

We are in the heart of the continent – lots of flat-lying sedimentary rocks here.