In 1784 Abraham Gottlob Werner put forth a theory later referred to as ‘Neptunism’. In this book he claimed that at the beginning of creation the Earth was covered with water. Rocks were separated from shrinking oceans incrementally layer upon layer with granite lying at its base. This precipitation continued until the creation was finished and continued […]
The Great Bahama Bank is a Holocene (recent) shallow water carbonate platform in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida and north of Cuba. Although the rocks associated with carbonate platforms are found in great quantity around the world, there are very few places where these rocks are currently forming today. Places where carbonates are currently […]
The Alpide Belt is a seismogenic zone extending from the Atlas mountains in Morocco through the Zagros mountains of Iran to the easternmost region of Indonesia. This range of mountains was formed through the collision of Africa, Arabia, India, and Australia with Eurasia. Having covered the Indian portion of this collision previously, I now move […]
The Himalaya were formed from the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia. This collision has created the highest mountain chain in the world with Mount Everest reaching 8848 meters (29029 feet) above sea level. In addition to creating the highest mountains in the world, the Indo-Asian collision subducted a large amount of the northern […]
Imagine with me the most idyllic Mediterranean paradise: sandy beaches, isolated villages, 70º all year long, and gelato (lots of gelato). Now superimpose on this paradise one of the most destructive forces Mother Nature has to offer. For the past 400 thousand years the landmass surrounding the Tyrrhenian sea has been pounded by Plinian volcanic eruptions. […]
