Geology programs on TV

[ComedyPilot]

Oi.......put 'em up!!!

Who said geology is better than geography?

Outside...NOW..........!!!

There's nothing I like more than poring over maps of places I've been, and places I would like to visit

Each to their own I suppose

[gloves off and back to the 1:25000]

 

[wobbler]

snip

When I got to uni I found that you needed to be more of a physicist than a geologist to get involved at that time as geophysics (basically measuring stuff remotely instead of taking rock samples) was where the evidence was coming from to a large extent. A lot of geology is kind of like that - you need to know some other science(s) to bring to bear on the geological problems - in my case chemistry (geochemistry) and fluid transport modelling (hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry) help to understand the origin of ore bodies (like gold, copper, uranium and what not).

Is this how they measure the amount of lava in a chamber beneath a volcano? Or do they measure the circumference and just have a guess at how deep it is? Guess, may not be the correct geological term.


Oh, and I bought all those books too.

I watched a program tonight about the super volcano in Yellowstone Park, it seems as though graphics people are trying to out do each other at making more and more dramatic animations of volcanic eruptions. I prefer Ian Stewart.

 

[Globalti]

I would love to go back to college and study geology, it's thanks to an impulse purchase of a little book called Rock Solid by Anna Grayson (ISBN 0-565-01108-1 for anybody who's interested) that I have come to appreciate the importance of the rocks under our feet and how much they shape our lives. Coupled with the fact that I've been a mountaineer since I was eight and have always enjoyed looking at rocks and mountains and wondering why they are the way they are.

 

[Fiona N]

...

Is this how they measure the amount of lava in a chamber beneath a volcano? Or do they measure the circumference and just have a guess at how deep it is? Guess, may not be the correct geological term.

Yes - there are various techniques which can be used to measure differences in gravity, magnetism, heat flow and seismic velocity, all of which vary between solid rock and magma in a magma chamber. Seismic refraction and reflection can be used to find the 'edges' of the magma chamber where there is a change in properties (a seismic discontinuity in the lingo) while with microgravity you basically measure the difference in density of the ground underneath (allowing for topography as the further you are from the centre of the earth, the weaker gravity is) - the hot magma being less dense than solid rock. Thermal measurements may also give you estimates of the heat flow thus temperature of the magma chamber. Altogether you can get quite a reasonable picture of what there is down there.

You used to have to walk about carrying bits of equipment but nowadays much can be done from planes and sateliites which is rather nice when it comes to about to erupt volcanoes - volcanology used to be about the most dangerous branch of geological science.

 

[Fiona N]

...with the fact that I've been a mountaineer since I was eight and have always enjoyed looking at rocks and mountains and wondering why they are the way they are.

I'm not sure whether any of it sticks, but I've always tried to educate my mountaineering companions about the geological wonders around them. On Aconcagua, the most interesting thing - much more interesting that the pretty boring trek up the slag heap of a mountain - was the geology of the volcanic province.

The best bit of geology while travelling, though, has to be on the Karakorum Highway somewhere north of Gilgit where there's a bronze plaque screwed to a small cliff at the side of the road which says "Here continents collided". It marks (probably rather too precisely) the collision (suture) zone between the India plate and the Eurasian plate which gave rise to the Himalaya. Unlike say, the Moine thrust in Scotland, where you can pinpoint the top and the bottom to within cms across a fault zone, the Himalayan suture zone is some kms wide so the plaque is a bit of a fantasy but a nice idea.

 

[wobbler]

Fiona, thank you very much, this is exactly what I was looking for, it really has helped. I had to Google most of what you wrote, but I think I could cope on a just for fun course. At the risk of upsetting ComedyPilot again, where is the fun in flying over volcanoes that are on the brink of eruption? I would walk up and have a gander.
I'm definitely putting some geophones on the Xmas list next year.
Rich

 

[Ste T.]

Earth Story +1

A few years back my o/h got me a copy of Earth Story with Aubrey Manning. It's brilliant and so engrossing, but its presented in a softly spoken, intelligent non sensationalist way, so it probably wouldn't go down to well today. Also Aubry Manning was in his 60s so he wouldn't be allowed to present it as he would break the presenters age bar that now seems to operate on TV.

 

[Arch]

Earth Story +1

A few years back my o/h got me a copy of Earth Story with Aubrey Manning. It's brilliant and so engrossing, but its presented in a softly spoken, intelligent non sensationalist way, so it probably wouldn't go down to well today. Also Aubry Manning was in his 60s so he wouldn't be allowed to present it as he would break the presenters age bar that now seems to operate on TV.

I've got a feeling I've seen him on TV fairly recently though. I think there are some who can 'get away' with being older. Well, there's Attenborough of course. I think there's a certain quota of 'slightly barmy old professor' types allowed. Ray Mears did a series a while back with a very game older chap, most entertaining he was, and he and Mears clearly respected each other which made for good TV.