PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Office Hours: Plate Tectonics Questions/Thoughts Nov 25, 2022

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Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
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So You Think You Know Plate Tectonics? Part 2 Nov 17, 2022

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Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
In today's episode, we continue with our series on 'So... You think you know plate tectonics?' - Part 2.
Can you answer the following questions?
1- How do sedimentary rocks relate to plate tectonics?
2- How does plate tectonics explain or relate to the formation of metamorphic rocks?
3- How does plate tectonics relate to the formation of very important mineral resources?
Jesse and Chris have a casual conversation centered around relating these questions to plate tectonics. We would love feedback and / or listener questions regarding this episode or the series in general. Enjoy!
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A Groovy Geologist - Cate Larsen Nov 10, 2022

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Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
You can find out more about Cate Larsen and all her social media links here at groovygeologist.com!
Remember you can Support Us Here,
and share PlanetGeo with your friends and family!
Cate - aka - groovygeologist is a geo-communicator. She utilizes the power of the internet to bring geology education to the masses. She has a B.S. in geology and a passion for teaching. Cate has her hands in a lot of things. She hosts a weekly livestream called Rocks and Hops where she teaches more structured lessons while drinking a craft beer. She also hosts a podcast called The Schist of It.
Jesse and Chris ran into Cate at the GSA meetings in Denver this past October. We knew right away that this would be a great opportunity to look at geoscience education in a very unique way. We hope you enjoy this entertaining interview.
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So... You Think You Know Plate Tectonics? Part 1 Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
One day, I (Chris) walked into class and announced that we were beginning plate tectonics. I was so excited to begin teaching this content. The response from my students was not at all what I expected. They let me know that they had all the plate tectonics they could handle in middle school and there wasn't anything left to learn. They knew the 3 basic types of plate boundaries (kind of) - divergent, convergent, and the T-one. I then started asking deeper level questions that tested their ability to apply this huge theory to make sense of the world around them.
During lunch that day, I began writing a series of questions about the unifying theory of plate tectonics. Needless to say, their understanding was skin deep and that's totally Okay. I wanted to show that we can take a basic understanding and use it to make so much more sense of our world.
That "event" gave me the idea to do a series on PlanetGeo covering a deep dive into plate tectonics. Jesse was not easy to convince. He felt like it was too massive. Anyway, I won and here comes the series. In this episode, we answer the following questions:
1. How does plate tectonics explain the formation of basalt?
2. How does plate tectonics explain the formation of andesite?
3. How does plate tectonics explain the formation of granite?
We hope you enjoy!
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Discovering Diamonds: The Story of Canada's Diamond Rush with Kevin Krajick Oct 27, 2022

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Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
Link to: Barrenlands: The Epic Search for Diamonds in Canada's
Today, we get to interview author Kevin Krajick. Below is a small sample of his credentials and accolades.

Senior Editor Science News Communications, Columbia Climate School
Author at State of the Planet
Work has been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Science, Smithsonian Mag, etc
Two time Winner of the American Geophysical Union's Walter Sullivan Award - excellence in science journalism
Finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Service

We were interested in interviewing Kevin because of his book on Searching for diamonds in the Northwest Territories in Canada. This is a place near and dear to Jesse's heart because he does a lot of research up there. The book is exceptional and reads more like a novel mainly because of two featured individuals: Chuck Fipke and Stewart (Stu) Blusson. They are both Canadian geologists, prospectors, businessmen, helicopter pilot, etc. Check the link below for the book.
In addition to writing this book, Kevin is a writer for the Columbia Climate School (https://news.climate.columbia.edu/). He has written on an impressive array of topic from climate, Earth science, and society.
We hope you enjoy this interesting interview. Cheers.

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Communicating the Earth Observatory: Author Kevin Krajick Oct 20, 2022

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Link to: Barrenlands: The Epic Search for Diamonds in Canada's
Today, we get to interview author Kevin Krajick. Below is a small sample of his credentials and accolades.

Senior Editor Science News Communications, Columbia Climate School
Author at State of the Planet
Work has been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Science, Smithsonian Mag, etc
Two time Winner of the American Geophysical Union's Walter Sullivan Award - excellence in science journalism
Finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Service

Don't Take it For Granite - Geology of Countertops Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
In this episode, we tackle the confusing industry of "granite" countertops. It's confusing because it seems as though all rock countertops are called "granite". However, to a geologist, granite is a very specific type of rock and only a small percentage of countertops are actually granite.
There are maybe 5 or so major rock types that are all found in the "granite" countertop category. We spend some time talking about each major type:

Marble - this might be named accurately actually in most places. Is it very white with no distinct grains showing? Then it is probably marble. Especially if it has long dark wavys streaks
Granite - there is some real granite in there! Does it have pink, white, grey, and a few black flecks in it? Most of the grains are smaller than your fingernail? Then it may actually be granite. Can be white - no pink, too. Has to have some black flecks and some gray too.
Pegmatite - Does it have really really large grains? The size of your finger? Grey, white, black, with crazy textures in between them? It might be a pegmatite
Schist/gneiss - does it have a definite texture and pattern in one direction? Are their little waves of light and dark wavy patterns? Are there big deep purple garnets in it or blue flakes? What about dark and light bands with an overall darker color? It could be gneiss or schist.
Conglomerate - does it have a bunch of round or oblong grains in it of a variety of colors? Could be a conglomerate - these are spectacular.
There are others to be sure. These are just the most common.

We also talk about another type that is growing in popularity - Quartz counters. They aren't actually quartz though. We like this option a lot because it's a green product. No rock was mined for the specific purpose of making countertops. Quartz countertops are a form of engineered stone, made from ground-up particles of stone bound together with plastic resins. About 90% of the material is Crushed up waste granite, marble, and natural stone or recycled industrial wastes such as ceramic, silica, glass, mirrors, etc.

We hope you enjoy!
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Capturing Carbon - The Basics of Carbon Capture and Storage Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
In this episode, we dive into a very important topic that will play an increasing role in the climate change crisis. Carbon (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) is a big geoscience problem, and a possible solution to climate change. But, we need to understand these two terms well - it’s all about making rocks!
The oceans capture carbon for us, but we want to help this process along. In order to do that, we need to find ways to concentrate the Carbon because it's in such a low overall concentration in the atmosphere. We discuss some of the ways companies are trying to speed up the concentration process.
Once the Carbon is captured, we need to find ways to store it. Rocks such as limestone in the ocean is a natural way for Carbon storage. Again, we discuss some of the creative ways companies are researching to effectively store the captured carbon. We hope you enjoy our discussion on the very important topic.
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Introducing campGEO Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

Click this link to try campGEO today!
Today, we are very excited to launch campGEO - our conversational textbook to help you learn geology.
This is a structured and image-based approach to learning. Geology is a visual field, so you need images to fully understand what we are talking about! Now you have them. Login to campGEO using the common social media logins, and access all our content for free!
You can also visit our website CampCourses where you can find the link and a QR code to share.
Remember, if you like what we do here, share with your friends, leave us a rating and a review, and follow us on social media!
www.campcourses.com
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The Doomsday Glacier - Professor Richard Alley Part 2 Sep 29, 2022

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Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO!
Available here: geo.campcourses.com
This is a link to the video of the Quick Clay Slide at Dissa video Dr. Alley references. This shows what can also happen to a glacier when it loses it's toe-hold as described in this episode.
Dr. Richard Alley is a renowned glaciologist and paleoclimate scientist. He is also widely regarded as one of the best professors at Penn State University. Below is a list of his impressive credentials:

National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Member of the Royal Society
Evan Pugh University Professorship
Penn State’s top teaching award
Presidential Young Investigator Award
Earth - the Operator’s Manual -
Briefed senators, international legislators, and a sitting US Vice President
Published an unbelievable >310 papers/books/etc

Join us as we discuss climate change, glaciers, and sea level. Much of his current research is on a Western Antarctic glacier called Thwaites Glacier. It's been dubbed the doomsday glacier because of its likely impact on sea level. Alley is a gifted speaker and uses incredible analogies to paint a vivid picture.
Another big part of the discussion is how Carbon is the thermostat control knob for our atmosphere. We hope you enjoy the discussion. We did!

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