geology - Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Rockin’ Pop-Up: 115 Years of Geologic History in Santa Cruz

Topic: From earthquakes to erosion and limekilns to cement, a lot has happened geologically since the Museum first opened 115 years ago.

About the series: Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for weekly conversations about rocks live on Facebook. Each week 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.

Submit your questions ahead of time on Facebook or by emailing events@santacruzmuseum.org, or during the program live on Facebook. Feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Coastal Geology

Topic: Explore the impacts that the ocean, weather, and tectonic activity have on our ever-changing coastline.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: California’s State Symbols

Topic: California’s symbols are iconic — from the California Poppy to the California Grizzly Bear. Though they may be less discussed, our state’s geologic symbols do not disappoint. Learn about what makes our state’s gemstone, mineral, and rock iconically Californian during this week’s Rockin’ Pop-Up.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Sea Level Rise and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Gavin and Graham discuss their new paper exploring evidence of massive sea level rise due to past melting of the East Antarctic ice sheet.

Resources:
Read the full paper
Explore NOAA’s sea level rise simulator
Explore the City of Santa Cruz’s Climate Action Program

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Volcanoes and Mass Extinctions

Gavin and Graham will be joined by Dr. Seth Burgess, research geologist at the USGS volcano science center. Dr. Burgess got his PhD at MIT, where he studied the timing and rate of the Earth’s mass extinction events. At the USGS, he specializes in dating young volcanic activity in the western US to reconstruct the volcanic history of the area, and to assess the risk that volcanic activity poses to the general public. We will chat with Seth about some of the highlights from his mass extinction work, as well his role and projects at the USGS.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Science Communication

How does a discovery in the lab make it to the New York Times or Radiolab? Experimentation and data analysis are only part of the story. During this installment of the Rockin’ Pop-Up, Gavin and Graham discuss the funding and academic structures that shape their work, and how all of it comes together to be communicated with the scientific and general community.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Ask a Scientist

This week we explore what it’s like to be a geologist as Gavin and Graham interview scientists currently studying geology at Uc Santa Cruz. Explore their lab, hear how they solve problems, and learn about the projects they work on.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Geologic Time Part Two

After exploring the Earth’s “greatest hits” last week, the Geology Gents dig deeper into how we determine the age of rocks.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Geologic Time Part One

One of the greatest challenges for most people when it comes to understanding geology is the concept of time. When our lives are measured in minutes, hours, and days, what does 3-7 million years even mean? Or 4 billion years? Explore the conventions of geologic time during this week’s installment.

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Rockin’ Pop-Up: Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

This week the Geology Gents are rounding out our recent discussions about the three main rock types (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) by digging a little deeper into sedimentary rocks. This week we’ll explore how sedimentary rocks can be further impacted by their environments, resulting in the phenomenon of chemical sedimentary rocks. Some well known examples are geodes and opals.