NOVA Geoblog

Next week's NOVA Science Seminar

2009-11-05T09:51:00.004-05:00

Science Seminar, presented by the Math, Science, and Engineering Division, Annandale Campus and also supported by Lyceum

"The Scientific Basis of Music"
Herbert A. Smith, Director Jazz Studies, Northern Virginia Community College.
Friday, November 20, 2009, CE Forum, 12 noon - 1pm

This presentation will focus on music and its essential relationship to science. It will explore areas, aspects and elements of music that most reasonably could be termed the science of music. The talk will also illuminate unique principles, concepts and procedures shared within the sciences as well as music. It will highlight the benefits of music study and practice in the intellectual and philosophical development of the educated and enlightened individual.

Professor Smith has taught at NOVA since 1976 and has performed with notable local and internationally known jazz musicians throughout his long career in music. He has taught a variety of courses including Jazz Improvisation, History of Music, Music Theory, Composition and Music Appreciation. Before he joined the faculty at NOVA he taught at Howard University and Southern Illinois University, hosted two radio jazz shows and was in the US Air Force band for three years. Herb Smith has a passionate interest in history, politics, economics, philosophy and the study of world cultures.

All students, staff, and faculty are cordially invited.

A cameo from galena

2009-11-04T10:50:00.002-05:00

Galena (PbS) makes a brief appearance in the trailer for James Cameron's new movie Avatar:

That metallic luster, that cubic cleavage, that high-specific-gravity heft... It couldn't be anything else. Apparently it's more valuable in the future that it is today. I wonder if the future humans want it for the sulfur or the lead? Watch the full trailer here.

Shawangunk Formation Conglomerate

2009-11-03T10:15:00.003-05:00

That's a slab of the Shawangunk Formation conglomerate, from eastern Pennsylvania. I collected it a couple of years ago when I drove up to go fossil hunting at the Whaleback, but it wasn't until last year that I slabbed and polished it. (The slab measures 10 cm wide by 27 cm in length.) Then a couple of months to get around to scanning it, and finally a few months more before posting it. Sheesh.

It's a lovely quartz-rich clast-supported conglomerate, a ridge former in the Valley & Ridge province of the Appalachians. Like the Massanutten Formation, it's Silurian in age, and thought to be part of the "molasse" sequence shed off the Taconian mountain belt, first raised during the late Ordovician. It is interpreted as a relatively-high-energy fluvial system deposit; sediments laid down by rivers as the mountains next door were weathered and eroded.

Tree Lobsters: "Science Police"

2009-11-02T07:02:00.003-05:00

If you don't read Tree Lobsters already, you should. Today's episode seemed particularly on-target.

Mud cracks

2009-11-02T06:55:00.004-05:00

On our Historical Geology field trip to Washington, DC, this weekend, we were down at Chain Bridge Flats and saw some fresh flood mud deposited by the flooding Potomac. It was a gelatinous goo, like pudding, but had some lovely dessication cracks developing. Here are a couple of photos, courtesy of student Ana C., with a penny for scale in each:

My Halloween costume

2009-11-01T17:29:00.003-05:00

Halloween 2009: "Underage Drinking"

(Get it? I'm a miner!!)

A piece of the rock

2009-11-01T17:05:00.003-05:00

Here's an image of my new countertop, inaccurately described by the realtor as "granite":

It's not felsic, so it can't really be granite, but I'm cool with that. This is the countertop of my kitchen "island" in the new condominium that I spent the past week moving into. For the first time in my life, I'm a homeowner...

...Whoa*.

That's why it's been so quiet around here recently. But... got the internet hooked up today, so I should be back to geoblogging regularly soon.
_____________________________________________
* You'll recall that buying a home was one of my resolutions for this year.

GSW meeting this week

2009-11-01T09:07:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
1436th Meeting

One hundred thirty years of cartography at the USGS.
Will R. Stettner, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

The Deep Carbon Observatory.
Russell Hemley, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington

The Galapagos microplate revealed.
Deborah K. Smith, National Science Foundation & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Refreshments start at 7:30 p.m. The formal program starts at 8:00 p.m.
Meetings are held at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Cosmos Club
2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. (nearest Metro is Dupont Circle)

Recommendation: RealClimate takes on Superfreakonomics

2009-10-30T07:20:00.004-04:00

I really enjoyed Freakonomics, and so it was disappointing to hear that the recently-released sequel, Superfreakonomics, had a section devoted to the suggestion that global warming was going to be imposssible to solve via cutting carbon emissions (with renewable energy sources) and so we should focus our efforts on geoengineering schemes instead. RealClimate has a well-written post up today showing just how sloppy the Superfreakonomics authors' thinking on this issue is.

Boring Volcanic Field, Oregon

2009-10-27T08:55:00.001-04:00

On the day before the GSA meeting began, I participated in a field trip to the Boring Volcanic Field, a zone of anomalously-located volcanic vents around Portland, Oregon. The field is named for the Boring Hills, adjacent to the town of Boring, Oregon, which is named for a dude named "Boring." Kim Kastens noted this funny name on the Earth and Mind blog recently. The USGS maintains an information page on the field here.

Today, some photos...

Atop Rocky Butte, field trip leaders Rick Conrey (WSU) and Russ Evarts (USGS Menlo Park) orient the group with a map highlighting the various units comprising the Boring Volcanic Field:

Mount Hood hides its peak in the clouds:

At our first outcrop stop, the field trip participants get out and look at the Boring rocks:

Here, a Boring lava flow overlies Troutdale Formation fluvial gravels:

Annotated version for the untrained eye:

In places, a "baked" zone of contact metamorphism can be seen in the Troutdale as it got scorched by the lava that flowed on top of it (bright red), but the characteristic red color was missing underneath one spot, the central overhang in this photo:

Weird, huh? Maybe the metamorphosed sediments need a certain amount of rain-mediated chemical weathering before they "blush"?

Well-rounded clast from the Troutdale: vesicular basalt from the Columbia River Plateau:

Another nice Columbia River flood basalt boulder, this one with phenocrysts of plagioclase, and a concentric zonation of texture (massive in the center, vesicular towards the edges):

Plus, you can find cobbles derived from further afield: gneiss (from Idaho?), quartzite (Belt rock?), etc:

Between cobbles of the Troutdale, you can see hyaloclastic sand (immature sand with lots of hydrated basaltic glass fragments, apparently produced by interactions of magma and water in the source area, upstream):

More hyaloclastic sand:

Oooh! A "crack panel" on the side of some cooling columns at another stop! These horizontal slats are produced in individual fracture-propagation events, and each one concludes with a little ridge called an arrest line.

Mafic pyroclastics that underlie the lava flows at this second stop:

More mafic pyroclastics, on a cinder cone in Mount Tabor Park.

This is a pretty neat outcrop: you can see normal faults cutting these angle-of-repose inclined volcanic strata, presumably forming in slumping events.

Annotated version of this same photo, highlighting a marker layer and its offset along the fault:

The weather was pretty grim for this trip, so that was a bummer. But it's Portland, right? What did we really expect? Anyhow, I enjoyed being introduced to this suite of rocks -- boring out of context, but interesting given their location well west of the main axis of Cascade volcanism. Unfortunately, the field trip didn't really address why the Boring rocks are there. I was expecting some sort of detailed discussion of the possibilities: an evaluation of different models for their generation and passage to the surface... but that really didn't happen in any substantive way. So it wasn't the most amazing field trip I've ever gone on, but it was a nice day of checking out a cool suite of rocks.

"I get mail" 1

2009-10-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

On his popular science blog Pharyngula, PZ Meyers has a regular series of posts called "I get email," (example) wherein he discusses e-mails he gets. I get e-mail, too (as I'm sure, so do other science bloggers of all stripes). Here's one I got the other day from Brian, a recent graduate from one of my many almae matres (oh yeah, I took Latin). I post it here in case anyone else is wondering the same thing:

I have a simple question for you... I was out at the Pimmit Run-Potomac
confluence collecting rock samples with that awesome chlorite/pyrite/garnet
assemblage and I encountered a couple pieces of unakite float. I'm just
wondering about its provenance. Your blogs seem to indicate that unakite is
typically found in situ farther west in the Shenandoah which would be a pretty
long way to travel (and pretty cool too!) although I believe there is Antietam
around Mather Gorge so I guess it's not impossible; unless it was
anthropogenically relocated which would be much less cool. A little insight
would be greatly appreciated so I can wow my friends when describing what is now the piece de resistance in my fish tank.

So I wrote back with this (links are additions, since I'm blogging it):

Yes, you could certainly have found some Blue Ridge unakite as float in the Potomac Gorge. I've seen many other Blue Ridge Formations as float on the bedrock terraces of the Potomac: Catoctin Formation, Harpers, Weverton, Antietam (like you mentioned), and something that looks a hell of a lot like the Old Rag Granite. I've found well-rounded bituminous coal cobbles, too! I've found unakite further out, in the Coastal Plain, as well as blue quartz (which is unique to the Blue Ridge). So I think it's quite likely you could have found some unakite.

Anyone else have any questions? Like PZ, I could make this a regular series. The more local and the more geo-centric, the better.

Happy "birthday," dear planet

2009-10-23T07:25:00.002-04:00

It's the Earth's "birthday!" Today, October 23, is the anniversary of the 4004, BCE creation of the cosmos, according to Archbishop James Ussher, Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh. Ussher is famous for having made a pre-geology attempt to date our planet using a literal interpretation of Biblical scripture and a carefull tallying of "begats." Though a scholarly and noble attempt given the intellectual context of his day, Ussher's ideas were soon supplanted with the discovery of deep time by geological studies, starting ~100 years later with another James, James Hutton. The accepted age of the Earth was pushed back further and further by subsequent geological work, and our currently accepted age for the planet (and the Solar System) is approximately 4.6 billion years. Despite these insights, there are a substantial number of "Young Earth" creationists who stick to Ussher's number, or a similarly itty-bitty age derived from a Holy Book of their choosing. This bizarre contention puts them in the awkward position of having to deny the fossil record, the decay of radioactive isotopes, the expansion of the universe, and (of course!) the evolution of species by mechanisms other than Special Creation by a diety. Because Ussher was a scholar and a thinker as well as a religious man, my suspicion is that if he were alive today, he would reject the close-minded anti-science that so many creationists voice.

I love the fact that Ussher's title was "Primate," considering that the main issue creationists have with evolution is that they don't want to be descended from non-humans. The word primate comes from the Latin for "first" (as in "primary") and reflects Ussher's position at the top of the Church of Ireland, and Linnaeus' view that the primates were "first" among the mammals, an anthropocentric bias that persists in uncountable ways today. The truth of the matter is that humans are primates, and so are baboons, lemurs, gorillas, and yes, even chimpanzees.

Ussher was indeed a primate -- just like the rest of us. Happy birthday!

Tugboat portrait of geobloggers

2009-10-22T10:03:00.003-04:00

Here's a photo of 18 of the 19 geobloggers who assembled on Monday night in Portland:

I had to do some photoshopping, as you might have deduced. Not everybody was in the same place at the same time: herding geobloggers is worse than herding cats! So... I've had to be creative to get them all in the same jpg space.

In alphabetical order, those pictured are:

Andrew Alden, About.com
Jessica Ball, Magma Cum Laude
Callan Bentley, NOVA Geoblog
"Silver Fox," Looking for Detachment
Steve Gough, Riparian Rap
Anne Jefferson, Highly Allochthonous
Kim Hannula, All My Faults Are Stress Related
Kyle House, Geologic Froth(ings)
Erik Klemetti, Eruptions
Jim Lehane (younger of the two Jims), Dino Jim's Musings
Chuck Magee, Lounge of the Lab Lemming
Marcella, Pooh's Thoughts
Mary, a geo-Twitterer
Jim Repka (older of the two Jims), Active Margin
Brian Romans, Clastic Detritus
Ron Schott, Ron Schott's Geology Home Companion Blog
Peter Selkin, Oblate Spheroid
David Williams, Stories In Stone

MAK was there too, but for some reason I don't have him in any of my photos... Sorry!

S'more stratigraphy in EARTH

2009-10-22T05:55:00.002-04:00

Great graphic by Nate Burgess in a recent EARTH, and now just posted online. I especially like the column, and the punch-line ("proposed cross-cutting relationship"). Brilliant!

GSA update 4

2009-10-21T12:53:00.004-04:00

My final day at GSA was fruitful. I started off in the "Earth, et al." session hosted by ODU's Nora Noffke. It was devoted to the Precambrian, and had some interesting talks about fluctuating oxygen levels, mineral evolution, microbially-induced sedimentary structures, and Neoproterozoic glaciation. This last one was most interesting to me: UMD's Jay Kaufman talked about field work he conducted in Siberia last summer, documenting a diamictite unit between Ediacaran strata and Cambrian strata. There's even a carbon isotope excursion to match up with it! Cool... literally.

I had lunch with my friend David Dantzler, who I hadn't even realized was at the conference, until I saw him come in to one of the Darwin-focused sessions. In the afternoon, I attended another eight talks, including some on greenstone belts in South Africa, some on geological education, and a couple about the evolution of orogens, with an emphasis on South America. (One of these was an excellent talk by Brian Romans about his field area in Patagonia.) I finished up with Kim Hannula's talk about the geoblogosphere's role in supporting women geoscientists. Then it was time to bug out: back to the hotel, then to the airport, then to Los Angeles, then to Dulles, where I arrived this morning at 6:30am. On the flight, I took an Advil PM, put in earplugs and wore one of those little eye-masks so I could get some decent amount of sleep... Mixed success on that front. Once I got to Dulles, I got some coffee, and headed straight to work! It's good to be back in the familiar environs of my office and lab again. Thanks for a great conference, everyone!

Also: GSA is maintaining a webpage summarizing the various posts from registered geobloggers. It's incomplete, but a useful idea: a repository for all the stuff being said about the conference from the various attending geobloggers.

GSA update 3

2009-10-20T07:20:00.000-04:00

Whew! A busy day at the Geological Society of America meeting in Portland, Oregon. I started off the day in the two-year-college session, culminating (for me, anyhow) in my talk about the role that field trips play in my geology classes at NOVA. I believe in spirited presentations, so I moved away from the lecturn and spoke extemporaneously about my images and data, and the talk was well-received by the audience -- or at least that portion that chose to tell me what they thought. After the talk, I was really tired out (I hadn't realized I was stressing about the talk, but apparently I must have been.) I went back to the hotel and took a shower, dealt with some mortgage stuff (I'm buying a condo in DC), and then semi-refreshed, headed back to the fray at the Convention Center.

I've met another several geobloggers: Brian Romans and Kim Hannula. Geoblogger Lockwood Dewitt sent me a rock (natrolite in calcite! likely from a pillow basalt!) via roaming geoblogger "Silver Fox." Cool. I dig it. I had some people come up to me out of the blue and tell me that they read this blog, and that is super cool to hear. Thanks!

In the afternoon, I went to a few sessions about volcanism and the end-Permian extinction, history-of-geology, and I forget what else.

In the late afternoon, the beer began flowing. I started off at the W.W. Norton publishing company's beer bash, where I brushed shoulders with Walter Alvarez, met the author of my Physical Geology textbook, Steve Marshak, and chatted at length with Bob Lillie of Oregon State University about getting the National Park Service better educated about their geological resources. Then it was off to the AGI reception, where I won a bottle of wine and got to chat with David Williams, author of Stories In Stone. Meg Sever, the editor of EARTH, with whom I've e-mailed a zillion times, but never met. Turns out Meg went to William & Mary, like me (and Jessica Ball, also at the AGI reception), so the three of us trooped upstairs to the William & Mary alumni reception. It was good to see Brent Owens, Heather McDonald, and Chuck Bailey there, as well as other W&M geology grads (including Graham, who reads this blog! Hi Graham!).

The evening's final event was the much-ballyhooed geoblogger's meet-up. At 8pm, about fifteen of us assembled at Tugboat Brewing Company, a cozy, charming little pub in downtown Portland. Every time someone walked through the door, a rousing, "Yeeeaaaahhh!!!" cheer went up. And every time someone left, they got booed! It was terrific fun meeting everyone that I've had these online geoblogging relationships with over the past ~1.5 years, and I think a good time was had by all. I'll put some photos up later... [Other online reminiscences about the meetup: Chuck and Jessica.]

Survey reminder

2009-10-19T13:30:00.003-04:00

It's been a year since an attempt I made to characterize the geoblogosphere via an online survey, and two weeks since I asked you geobloggers to take the survey that geobloggers Lutz Geissler and Robert Huber put together. I reviewed a rough draft of their survey and made some suggestions. My biggest suggestion of all, though, is aimed at you: Please complete the survey!

It will be open through the end of this month, and after all the data is in, Lutz and Robert will chew on it, and eventually we'll disseminate our findings.

So... Please take the survey. Thanks!

GSA update 2

2009-10-19T07:19:00.003-04:00

The Sunday afternoon sessions were not as diverse for me as the morning sessions, but there was some fun stuff in there.

I started off with the "digital advances" session co-sponsored by geobloggers Kyle House and Ron Schott. Working with several other organizers, Ron and Kyle put on quite a show. Kyle gave his "Get with it, Luddites!" spiel, Ian Jackson evangelized about OneGeology (a global geologic map), geoblogger Lee Allison talked about geoblogging and geotweeting (and featured the blog title banners of several GSA-attending geobloggers, including mine), and Declan De Paor (from Virginia's own Old Dominion University) showed off many of the myriad very cool digital techniques he is using. He began his talk by putting his iPhone number up on the screen and then encouraging the audience to text him their questions as he spoke, so he could read them off the iPhone propped there on the lecturn and answer them as a seamless part of his talk. Then Ron demonstrated a virtual field trip that integrated Google Earth with Giganpan imagery. When it worked, this really awed the crowd. Unfortunately, Google Earth crashed repeatedly during the demo -- which must have been frustrating for Ron. Then the talks stopped an the informal demonstrations and playing around with the technologies began on the edges of the room. Milling around in the crowd, I met for the first time fellow geobloggers Jim Repka and "Silver Fox," and chatted a bit with Kyle and Lee.

(I should also mention that I ran into Bryan of In Terra Veritas and Andrew Alden earlier in the day: geobloggers galore!)

Then I went to see Bob Hazen talk about how mineral surfaces could have provided a template for organizing biomolecules as a prelude to the origins of life. It was cool, but more of an overview talk rather than a presentation of new research.

I went to a couple of very well-attended but lackluster presentations on Sierran uplift, and then closed out the day in the structural geology session, which included an interesting study about detrital zircon populations presenting skewed age populations if the basin from which they were derived had experienced landslides. Finally, Doug Burbank of UCSB gave an invited lecture and the feedbacks between geomorphology, climate, and mountain building. I checked out a few dozen posters, and then called it a day.

GSA update 1

2009-10-18T15:54:00.004-04:00

The Annual meeting of the Geological Society of America is underway!

I enjoyed a nice field trip yesterday, investigating some anomalous igneous rocks around Portland; more on that in a later (illustrated) post.

Last night, I had dinner at the Deschutes Brewpub with Michelle Arsenault of NSF, volcanological blogger Erik Klemetti and his wife, and a fan of NOVA Geoblog, Dennis M. This was a fun and eclectic group of people, with all sorts of unexpected connections! And the Obsidian Stout was lovely...

Today the meeting proper began, and I have been delighted to attend talks on topics as diverse as geoscience education, the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake, biomarkers (chemical "fossils"), uplift of the Teton range, oxidation of the shallow ocean before the "Great Oxidation Event," and the recently-much-hullabalooed plumbing system beneath a Permian "supervolcano" in Italy. Wow! Such interesting topics, such skilled speakers, such inspiring scientists. I heard one geologist tell firsthand about his experiences living through the Hebgen Lake quake, and another put forward the suggestion that Ediacaran fossils are lichens, not animals. Several workers presented evidence that there was a substantial land biota in the Neoproterozoic. When ideas like that are being batted around, it's hard not to catch the excitement. More later... Now it's time for me to head off for another round of talks!

GSW flight #179

2009-10-17T10:51:00.003-04:00

Last night on my flight from DC to Portland, there were five GSW members ... About one-twelfth of the population of Wednesday's meeting! Plus I ran into the geologist from Blue Ridge Community College and a grad student from Virginia Tech. Cool!

New podcasts that I like

2009-10-17T08:27:00.001-04:00

A while ago, I offered some thoughts on podcasts I've been listening to. Here's a few more I've discovered since then (and that I like):

Sixty-second science - From Scientific American comes this podcast which is, as the name suggests, about science and also very, very short. Each episode is about one minute and eleven seconds, when you tack on the introduction and the the conclusion -- but the scientific content is top notch and enjoyably written. I dig it! A

RadioLab - kind of funky, disharmonic, self-indulgent production, but sometimes it really, really works. I really enjoyed the recent episodes about blinking and parasites. A-

Science podcast - From Science magazine comes a podcast to compete with the Nature podcast. The two are different: While they have in common interviews with scientists publishing groundbreaking research in the two respective journals, Nature's podcast is goofy, well-produced, and fun. Science's podcast is kind of stodgy and stiff by comparison. B-

Skeptic's Guide to the Universe - From the New England Skeptical Society comes this hour-plus-long podcast on science news and exposing pseudo-science for the bull$#@& that it is. I really like the format, although it must be said none of the five regular panelists are geologists, and they occasionally get stuff wrong like when the Cambrian was, or whether there is bauxite on the moon. Still, some great insights and perspectives. Thanks very much to Bryan for recommending this one to me: it has enriched my commute immeasurably! A

Off to GSA

2009-10-16T09:16:00.003-04:00

I'm in the office this morning, taking care of a bunch of last minute details before I depart this afternoon for the Geological Society of America's annual meeting. It's held this year in Portland, Oregon, and I'm pleased to be going in spite of the many responsibilities I'm temporarily putting on hold back here in DC and NOVA. Meetings like this are a great opportunity for professional scientists to catch up on the latest ideas both inside and outside their specialties. I'm also going to be participating in a field trip to the awesomely-named Boring Volcanic Field tomorrow, and maybe doing a little self-guided tour of Portland's geology on my own. I will be presenting a paper of my own (on the role field trips play in geology education*) on Monday. I'm looking forward to meeting many of my fellow geology bloggers Monday night, and not looking forward to the red-eye flight back to DC Tuesday night/Wednesday morning... and then going straight back to work. Fortunately I think I've got all my stuff set for next week, so it should be "plug and play" upon my return... but I've got a hunch I'm going to be pretty tired, regardless.

So... take a deep breath, Bentley... here we go!
______________________________________
* subject of my MSSE capstone research project.

New amygdules sample

2009-10-15T12:13:00.004-04:00

Here's a sample I collected along the road in the Sierra foothills when I was in California the weekend before last. It's a nice little hand sample of amygdules: vesicles (lava degassing bubbles) that have gotten infilled with mineral deposits. I just slapped it on the scanner along with a penny. Enjoy!

Summer 2010 classes

2009-10-15T08:44:00.004-04:00

I've just submitted a list of the classes I intend to teach for summer 2010. Here they are on NOVA Geoblog, before you can access them in the official Schedule of Classes...

GOL 135 (070N) The Bedrock Geology of Washington, DC. HYBRID COURSE: pre-trip reading, field study and post-trip report. One-day field trip Saturday, June 12. Rain date: Sunday, June 13. Important pre-trip logistical information and preparatory readings located online. This trip will focus on the land upon which the capital city is built, including exposures in Rock Creek Park, Georgetown, and Adams-Morgan. Includes discussion of oceanic sediments, the Rock Creek shear zone, igneous rocks emplaced during Appalachian mountain-building, Cretaceous river gravels, dinosaur bones and recent faulting. Students will be evaluated with a field trip report which will be completed after the trip itself. NOTE: This trip involves moderately strenuous hiking on forest trails. Meet in back of the CT building at 9:00 a.m.; Return by 7:00 p.m. For information about meeting time/place or other questions call (703) 323-3276 or email cbentley@nvcc.edu
HYBRID course
Additional info online

GOL 295 (4 credits) Regional Field Geology of the Northern Rocky Mountains: July 10 to July 25, 2009. Pre-trip meetings Wed. June 9 and Wed. June 23, 6:30pm, in CS 217. Western Montana and Wyoming showcase tectonic, sedimentary, geomorphic, and volcanic features which provide world-class examples of geologic processes. Students in this course will complete field studies of locations in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, as well as several other field sites. The course will involve VERY STRENUOUS outdoor physical activity: Students are expected to hike several miles at high elevations in rough mountainous terrain in order to accomplish course objectives. Airfare, lodging, and transportation are covered in the approx. $1400 course fee (does NOT include tuition). For up-to-date information and a complete itinerary, see the course website or contact the instructor at cbentley@nvcc.edu or (703) 323-3276.
Extra fee
Instructor permission required
Additional info online

GOL 299 (071N) (2 credits) Snowball Earth. June 14-19, 2009. HYBRID COURSE: pre-course reading, lab, field study and post-course report. An episode of glaciation 700 million years ago, dubbed Snowball Earth, may have provided for the evolution of multicellular life. The Snowball Earth glaciations stretch our conception of the limits of climate change: the ice apparently reached from the Earth's poles to its equator! Scientists infer that the runaway freezing event was only ended due to volcano-induced global warming. This course examines the geological, chemical, and biological evidence for Snowball Earth, and includes a field trip to local "Snowball" deposits. Course meets four times: three evening sessions (6pm-9pm) in CS 217 and all day on a Saturday (9am-5pm). The schedule is: Monday June 14 (lecture), Wednesday June 16 (lab), Friday June 18 (discussion), and Saturday June 19 (field trip). For further information call (703) 323-3276 or email cbentley@nvcc.edu or go to the course website.
HYBRID course
Additional info online

Anyone in the Northern Virginia area who's interested in any of these classes, drop me a line!

Solar Decathalon

2009-10-14T08:11:00.000-04:00

Every two years, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsors a competition called the solar decathalon on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Teams from universities around the country and across the world design low-cost, low-emissions, low-energy-use, architecturally pleasing homes, then bring them to the Mall to assemble them. For two consecutive weekends, folks like you and me can go and tour the innovative shelters. It's really an inspiring experience, and quite popular for that reason.

Here's some photos from last weekend. If you're in the DC area, the homes are open again this Thursday (tomorrow) through Sunday. You should check it out.