GEOSC 10
Geology of the National Parks

A Rocking Review

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We’re off on a great journey through the National Parks, around the world, and deep into history. Here’s a preview of some of the things we’ll visit before the semester ends. These "Rock Videos" are mostly parodies of famous songs. Later in the semester, they really will be useful reviews of the units.

Parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man"
Click Here for Transcript of "Piano Man" Parody Video

4.6 billion years, as the story starts before our new crowd'll shuffle in; the ones who can learn from the scary parts, and enjoy that the ball's still in spin. Falling meteorites hit with energy bringing radioactivity. And the melt from that heat, gave us layers, discrete the core, mantle crust, air and sea. Then a Mars-sized one blasted the moon out to make tides, and to shine down on us from on high.

Sings us a song, you're the GeoMan. What was, and what is, and will be, On this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.

No living thing softened that Hadean scene. No oxygen blew through the sky. 'Til photosynthetic bacteria, blue-green gave us something to breathe by and by. That oxygen changed the Earth's chemistry, and broke down so much greenhouse gas that the new O2 breeze gave a Snowball deep-freeze 'til volcanic CO2 made it pass. Now, while Venus melts lead, and Mars shivers, this ball that we love is fine-tuned in-between.

Sings us a song, you're the GeoMan. What was, and what is, and will be, On this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.

Precambrian microbes, then trilobites in Paleozoic warm seas, led to sauropod - Tyrannosaurus fights across Mesozoic countries. 'Til one fateful day of the meteorite, just 65 million years past, in that fire-ice hell the great dinosaurs fell, while a few mammals weathered the blast. And the jobs that the dionos left open have slowly been filled by those mammals' offspring.

Sings us a song, you're the GeoMan. What was, and what is, and will be, On this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.

There's a pretty good crowd here on Saturday. Procreation for mammals a thrill. Cenozoic's long scene becomes Anthropocene, and we wonder if we have the will. 4.6 billion years of just nature, Then 6 billion of us join the mix (2012 update -7 billion and counting). Some are thinking quite clear, but some smell like a beer, and there's lots of things here we should fix. But as long as the ball keeps on spinning, and as long as the music keeps playing, we're in.

Sings us a song, you're the GeoMan. What was, and what is, and will be, On this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.

Credit: Dr. Richard Alley (and Billy Joel)