In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to the Galapagos Islands. Here, helium isotopes and the observations of Charles Darwin tell the tales of evolution, both in terms of geology and ecology respectively. As an isolated group of ocean islands, the Galapagos became the perfect place to observe the fine details of evolution. Do not be fooled by their small size! The Galapagos Islands are home to massive amounts information.
Cover art photo credits: David Broad
Resources:
Basener, W.F. and Sanford, J.C., 2018. The fundamental theorem of natural selection with mutations. Journal of Mathematical Biology, 76(7), pp.1589–1622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-017-1190-x.
Costa De Beauregard, R., 2018. Travelling in Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle (1839). Caliban. French Journal of English Studies, (59), pp.89–100. https://doi.org/10.4000/caliban.3768.
Kurz, M.D. and Geist, D., 1999. Dynamics of the Galapagos hotspot from helium isotope geochemistry. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 63(23), pp.4139–4156. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(99)00314-2.
Liu, Y., 2018. Chapter Five – Natural Selection and Pangenesis: The Darwinian Synthesis of Evolution and Genetics. In: D. Kumar, ed. Advances in Genetics, Darwin’s Pangenesis and Its Rediscovery Part B. [online] Academic Press.pp.121–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adgen.2018.05.010.
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