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.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

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: 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.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Biogenic Geology

When we think of geology and rocks, living things rarely jump to mind unless we’re talking about fossils. And when we think of fossils, we usually think of mineralized bones and shells or tell-tale impressions within sedimentary rocks. Some rocks, however, are made up entirely of the fossilized remains of once living creatures. These “biogenic” sedimentary rocks are an important part of the solid Earth and more common than you might think! The Geology Gents are no biologists, but they nonetheless explore biogenic sedimentary rocks and the incredible geologic histories they record.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Rockin’ Pop-Up: The Varieties of Volcanoes

This month, the Geology Gents explore how varied volcanoes can be. Graham Edwards and Gavin Piccione, PhD candidates in geochronology at UC Santa Cruz, put on blast how lava type affects the appearance of volcanoes and the way those volcanoes erupt.

Watch Past Pop-Ups
Read our blog Rock Record

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Building Appalachia

The mountain ranges along our western edge of North America have a much different origin story than those of the east coast. We’ve explored the Sierra and the Santa Cruz Mountains in past pop-ups. This time around we’re comparing our relatively young ranges to the ancient origins of the Appalachians and beyond.

About the Series: Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for monthly 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 here or by email to events@santacruzmuseum.org and feel free to include pictures of rocks you’d like identified! Pro-tip: the better the picture, the better the ID.

Watch Past Pop-Ups

Rockin’ Pop-Up: Impacts of Fire on Geologic Landscapes

This month, the Geology Gents are joined by their colleague Alandra Lopez, a Ph.D. candidate in the Earth System Science Department at Stanford University who will discuss the impacts of fire on geologic systems, as well as spend some time on one of our state’s unique features: serpentine soils.

Alandra studies the biogeochemical processes that control the release of naturally occurring contaminants, like arsenic, uranium, and hexavalent chromium, in soils to groundwater.

Watch Past Pop-Ups

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.

Watch Past Pop-Ups

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.