Rockin' Pop-Up - Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Sun, Astroids, and Comets

After two years and 35 programs, this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up will be our final installment. Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, one last time for an exploration of our solar system. This third installment of our solar system trilogy will end at the beginning, examining how the sun, asteroids, and comets help us understand the origin of our solar system. Watch part one about the terrestrial planets and part two about the giants.

About the Series: Join the Geology Gents, Gavin Piccione and Graham Edwards, for monthly conversations about rocks live on Facebook. Each month we’ll explore a different geologic topic, from Santa Cruz formations to tips for being a more effective rockhound. Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Note: you do not need to have a Facebook account to be able to watch the program live.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Giants of our Solar System

Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for the second installment of a three-part trilogy exploring the planets of our solar system. March will examine the icy and gaseous planets known as “the giants” — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Watch part one about the terrestrial planets.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Terrestrial Planets of our Solar System

Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for the first installment of a three-part trilogy exploring the planets of our solar system. February will examine the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Motions of the Oceans and the Atmosphere

What do rocks have to do with the ocean and the atmosphere? Well, quite a lot it turns out! Join us for our next Rockin’ Pop-Up where the Geology Gents will simplify the complexities of these important earth systems.

Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Note: you do not need to have a Facebook account to be able to watch the program live.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Dangerous Minerals

Some rocks are just stone cold killers. From asbestos to cinnabar, our natural world is full of toxic minerals, many of which appear in our everyday lives. Kick-off the Halloween season by digging into the dangerous side of geology during this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up with Gavin and Graham — the Geology Gents.

Photo of Cinnabar (Credit: Dakota Matrix)

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: What even IS North America?

Santa Cruz County is obviously a part of North America. Right?

Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. There’s the continent of North America, but there’s also the North American tectonic plate — where Santa Cruz County does not reside! While our neighbors in Los Gatos on the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains are located on the North American Plate, Santa Cruz is located on the Pacific Plate.

There are lots of little (and really big!) geologic surprises across the continent. Join the Geology Gents for this North American road trip!

About the Series: Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for monthly conversations about rocks live on Facebook. Each month we’ll explore a different geologic topic, from Santa Cruz formations to tips for being a more effective rockhound. Graham Edwards and Gavin Piccione are PhD candidates in geochronology with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

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Read our blog Rock Record

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Great Geologic Goodbyes

Graham Edwards and Gavin Piccione with fossil

For over three years, the Geology Gents have been regular fixtures at the Museum — both online and in-person. For this month’s pop-up though, we say goodbye to Graham as he heads out to New Hampshire for his post-doctoral work at Dartmouth College. The good news is that he’ll remain a Geology Gent from afar and Rockin’ Pop-Ups will continue!

In honor of this milestone, Graham and Gavin will be exploring some “great geologic goodbyes” for this month’s pop-up — from extinction events to the dismantling of Pangea.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Ocean Floor

The Earth’s crust is divided into two types: oceanic crust and continental crust. During this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up, we’ll dive into the ever-changing landscape of the ocean floor, from the cozy sounding pillow lavas to the tongue-twisters of troctolite and ultramafic cumulates. It can be dark down there on the ocean floor. Let the Geology Gents help guide you around.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Great Geologic Landmarks

Tourist season is upon us, the time when people pick-up and travel the world in search of new experiences, lasting memories, and unbelievable views. For this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up, we’ll be taking a roadtrip through some of the great geologic landmarks of the United States, from Yellowstone to Yosemite, and Carlsbad Caverns to our own Pinnacles.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Moon!

The earth rises over the surface of the moon.

Geology literally means the study of the Earth, so why are we digging into the Moon for this month’s Rockin’ Pop-Up? Well, as the Geology Gents put it, “The moon is basically the Earth.” Say what? Don’t worry, all will be revealed. This month, learn about the formation of our moon and how scientists study it.