GeologyRocks

I got into geology via my geography teacher at school (when we did a bit of physical geology), A-level geology was great, undergrad in geophysics (though mostly geology to be honest), then a PhD in carbonate sedimentology.

What I love is that fact I can look at sedimentary rocks and try and figure out the environment in which they were deposited. A chuck of my research is working out how to constrain the unknowns in that interpretation with numerical modelling. To me it's fascinating

I would love to tell the 14-year old me to work even harder and read even more about *everything* as it all interlinks and some of those links are not obvious.

Hope you like the change in study subject!

Even a fairly basic understanding of geology makes holidays interesting and that one reason alone is sufficient to get into the subject.

 Thanks I will do that I'm already reading a book on geology in Britsh Columbia and I'm finding it so interesting. I'm sure this is the type of thing I could see myself doing for the rest of my life, and the demand is so high in Canada for geologists/engineers with all the mining companies, as were so rich in every resource.

I got into geology whilst doing some writing about my home county, and have never looked back! I always remember looking at the diagrams of the Geosphere, Biosphere, and Atmosphere at school and wondering about all the interactions that occurred where they met in the middle...

Thats Great I am so excited about starting geology; I have never been excited to really start a spring class, but I am for this one. 

 question for you guys.  

Do you see the world around you though a much different lens now that you understand geology?

Definitely!  You can still appreciate beautiful scenery, but instead of just looking and moving on you will start wondering why that hill or valley is there.  Was there folding?  If so from what direction? Is it cutting down through a fault?

Don't know about where you are, but look at old buildings (over 120 or so years) and you will see (normally) the underlaying geology of the area.  They couldn't transport huge blocks and amounts of stone by horse and cart.   (Although obviously they did for very expensive buildings).  So they tend to be built with very local stone.

If you have dry stone walls where you are that is another source of geology. Those stones literally came out of the adjacent field.  In fact over here (or in Eire) you could blindfold a geologist and take him (or her - apologies ladies!!!) anywhere in the country, and from the type of stone and the way the wall is build he/she would be able to take a very good guess at where they were. 

Its is a fascinating science - with still lots of discoveries to be made.  In British Columbia you are not that far from the Burgess Shales (Google it).  Discovered by accident when a slab fell in front of a horse rider.

You are about to start learning and will never stop!

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

Absolutely!  It's almost like a religious experience, ie everything makes so much more sense than it did before and it can be very humbling at times.  I'll stop now before I get too emotional.

Hear, hear! 

One of my friends, Julian Bulman decided to write a list for Listverse.com.

 Its a very interesting historic earthquake list and will give some perspective on the repercusions associated with major seismic events.

Enjoy

http://listverse.com/2012/11/02/10-historic-earthquakes-from-antiquity/