In this episode we start a looong conversation about how to identify rocks. We begin by outlining a few simple rules to go by, and how to start to think about identifying rocks when you find them out in the world! We now have a live Mobile App for iOS and Android. There you can learn all the basics of geoscience with our CampGeo content, purchase a visual audiobook on the Geology of Yellowstone National Park, and listen to past PlanetGeo episodes! Download now at this linkLike, Subscribe...

How To Identify Rocks

A Geology and Earth Science Podcast. Join Chris, an award-winning geology teacher, and Jesse, a geoscience professor, in discussing the amazing features of our planet and their impact on your everyday life. No prior knowledge required. New episodes coming at you every week. Listen, subscribe, share with someone you know!

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Some Rocks You SHOULD Know - Metamorphism and Plate Tectonics

Today we really go into the weeds. Jesse and a colleague just published a paper in the journal Nature that proposes a new model for how continents became stable. Stable continents have all the granite at the surface, which contains all the heat producing elements like U and Th and K - elements that decay away. Today, we discuss that paper in detail, and along the way learn a bit about the early Earth, what we know and don't know! Here is a link to the paper, which is open access and can be do...

When Continents Became Stable

Today, Chris and Jesse get into a discussion about Earth’s oldest material.  Earth is 4.568 Billion years old.  First of all, that’s amazing the geochronologists have refined this down to 3 decimal places.  How do we know this?  The oldest grains ever found are 4.38 billion years old.  If that’s the case, then how do we know the Earth is significantly older than that?  Join us as we answer that and many other important questions about Earth’s oldest stuff.  ...

Earth's Oldest Stuff

In this episode, we tackle a listener question regarding planning a geology trip for students.  Both Chris and Jesse have quite a bit of experience in planning and executing field excursions for students.  We believe that seeing geology in the field is one of the most powerful learning opportunities for students of all levels.  In our discussion, we talk about the difficulties in convincing the higher-ups that this is actually a good idea.  We also get into some of the str...

How To Identify Rocks

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