Episode 43 In this episode, GOTR takes the skeletons out of their closets and goes on a deep into all things forensic geologies, the mysterious interface between geology and forensics. While there was no exact date when scientific methods were first introduced to solving murders, there is no doubt geology had an early influence. Uniformitarianism is a concept that establishes a crucial link between geologists and forensic scientists, where the use of clues are used to work out a past sequence of events to determine what happened. We go through how a crime scene might be controlled for, and clu ..read more

Back in action, the GOTR folks welcome the only one cannoli, the original paisano, Ken Lazara aka kentonics. We talk field oopsies and dive in a bit into Arizona geology and learn about a very aptly named volcano...you'll just have to listen to find out. We also discuss migmatites and how they fool geologists everywhere. Maybe we even discuss some Metallica disdain. Enjoy and Be cool, stay tuned, and keep it ON THE ROCKS. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/geology-on-the-rocks/support ..read more

Episode 47 We dare you to say ‘Ice Aged Ice Sheets’ five times fast. But first, in this episode, the GotR Gang dive into all things Glaciers, brrrr. Glaciers and Glaciation, generally speaking, covers the formation, features, effects, and causes of glaciation events on Earth. Ice sheets and alpine glaciers are described, including their movement and erosional features and landforms. Glacial deposits will be examined, including a discussion of the features created by till and stratified drift. Other effects are worthy of discussion, including crustal subsidence and rebound, sea level changes, a ..read more

Episode 30 What is better than sitting back and enjoying a great movie? Watching a comically bad movie with geology as its backdrop, that is what! In this episode, we dive deep into two such movies: The Core and Airplane vs. Volcano. While The Core was not nearly as bad as the Airplane vs. Volcano, it was full of crazy geology that just do not add up. And Airplane vs. Volcano was just….  On the back half of our main discussion, we discuss the geology of Middle-freaking-Earth. We do suggest looking at a map of Middle-Earth to help keep track of the geologic complexities we present to you ..read more

Episode 46! Welcome to Season 5 of Geology on the Rocks! We have special guest Geoarcheologis Dr. David Rachal in this episode to discuss all things balls. Through his research, Dave uses his balls of choice, Ruppia cirrhosa (Ruppia) seeds, to better constrain megafauna footprints in southern New Mexico along the ancient shorelines of the Paleolake Otero. He draws on both geological and archaeological data to support his research. His work infers a dynamic shoreline rather than the current models, which assume a more static landscape. The study suggests that this newer model could have broader ..read more

Episode 45 A season finale! This episode closes out season 4 with a dang bang! We finally get around to answering some of the questions we have received, such as jobs and career paths in the geosciences, what our favorite geologic structures are, identifying minerals in the field, types of rocks you might encounter in various depositional settings. Carly even shares with us a story about what happens when you give her a geology fact. Between the bars of our main discussion we present another mineral minute sponsored by the hydrated phosphouranlyte mineral, Dewindtite. Until next season, stay t ..read more

Episode 42 This delicious episode explores the amazing world of desserts and wine! We sculpt the the auditory landscape by discussing such musings as climatic conditions that create desserts, geographic distribution of the Earth’s desserts, weathering, dunes, and surface morphologies. We do a little talk on each of our favorite deserts and wind are. We navigate how we can use desserts to explore our not so distant past and explore caves, karsts, coprolites, and wall etchings to see how the desserts we see today are not the desserts of the past. Between the bars of our main discussion we presen ..read more

Episode 41 It’s snowing down here in the Lone Star State, and geomorphology is the name of this episode’s game, which is fitting as there is a shift in the landscape here at Geology on the Rocks! Geomorphology, simply put, is just the study of Earth’s landforms and landform evolution. Traditionally, the subject has been studied qualitatively, which is the description of landforms, and quantitatively, which is process-based and aims to describe forces acting on Earth’s surface to produce landforms and landform change. And like every other branch of geology, many sub-disciplines within geomorpho ..read more

Episode 40 This episode is dedicated to all those who ever thought that banded iron formations were boring and basic as we here at GotR do a deep dive into these really Spiffy BIFs. We discuss such things as what are they? Where do they come from? Is there any geological significance? What do they tell us? Every time we think that we are going to just have a nice, easy topic, the more and more we read about it and reflect on our own assumptions, it turns out to be so dang complicated and could be several different things at the same time. But we do our best to be as thorough as possible while ..read more

Episode 39 Hold on to your seats because if you love rocks, QAPF diagrams, or simply nerding out, this episode is for you as we take a deep dive into the magnificent world of basalts. Basalts are simply aphanitic extrusive igneous rocks formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lavas rich in magnesium and iron exposed at or near the surface of rocky planets or moons. Nearly 90% of all volcanic rocks on Earth are basalt. From tholeiitic basalts to alkali basalts to mid-ocean ridge basalts to the basalts of Hawaii & Iceland, nothing is off-limits for us. We have fun facts galore, poems ..read more