Geology On The Rocks

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 tun...

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 deposi...

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 archaeolog...

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 happ...

Episode 44! DANG! What better start to an episode could you ask for as we begin our discussion discussing tornadoes and drunk pigs? Our main topic discusses some of the most common environmental problems we face today. What makes it difficult is the nature of the "problems" have changed: where such problems were once primarily scientific and technocratic in nature, they are now almost exclusively...

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 betwee...

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 o...

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 quantitative...

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...

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 volcani...

Episode 38 It has been a crazy year, to say the least. To start 2022 off with a bang, we present to you a brand spanking new episode that was previously recorded covering the important topic of Acid Mine Drainage. But we first go over how ore deposits are emplaced and the types of ore typically mined. On the back half, we talk primarily about AMD's environmental concerns and the formation of conta...

Episode 37 After a crazy September, we are finally back back! This episode is a follow-up to the Speleology Special, and we dive a bit deeper into the fascinating world of caves. We begin our discussion with the controls of cave temperatures – latitude and altitude, among other variables. Fun fact, the temperatures at lower depths in caves can be regarded as “fossil” temperatures. An example of th...

Episode 36 We’re back with another exciting season of Geology on the Rocks! To start off the new season, we present to you all things doom and destruction in this natural disaster episode.  There is no doubt that natural disasters suck. However, sometimes it seems as if nature has a way to seemingly have a system of checks and balances for such destructive events. Or it may seem like pure hap...

Episode 35 To close out another wonderful season, Season 3, we here at Geology on the Rocks decided to dive deep into all things about the geology of our home state, Texas. While we planned on talking about the specifics of North Texas, it evolved into a broader historical approach. Discussed is the evolution of the Lone Star State from the Precambrian times all the way through to the Cenozoic. Th...

Episode 34 Well, we did it. We went full throttle and geeked out discussing all things Devonian. Have you ever found yourself saying the Devonian was SOOO boring? Nothing was going on besides something about fish and that is about it!  If this sounds like you, boy do we have an episode for you! When was the Devonian you ask? The Geologic Period of the Devonian Period is part of the Late Paleo...

Episode 33 This is Part 2 of 2 in our two-part series with Dr. Greta Bowling. In this episode, the biologist and geologists square off and stand up to fight for the one true meaning and definition of a mineral. Leading off the episode is Jason from Coastlands as we pick his musical brainball and talk shop about HoneyBuckets. The latter half the episode picks up where we left on in part one, as we...

Episode 32 This is Part 1 of 2 in our two-part series with Dr. Greta Bowling. In this episode, we dive deep into the timeline of Human Evolution. We first talk about how Darwin’s Morphological Species Concept helped scientists answer the age-old question of do we, as humans, come from apes? In short, humans and apes share a common ancestor in the distant past. Primates first evolved 55 Mya (millio...

Episode 31 In this week’s episode, we talk about all things caves. The study of caves, or speleology, is the science that brings to light the physical and biological aspects of their environments. Humans and their ancestors have long used caves as dwelling places, burial sites, storehouses, and even burial sites. While caves have been explored for hundreds of years, only recently have we come to r...

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 t...

Episode 29 This week we discuss space with one of our long time listeners, Kevin. We boldly brave the final frontier and try to wrap our brainballs around how big the cosmos actually is - 93,000,000,000 light years across, one light year being 6 Trillion Miles (or 9.7 Trillion Kilometers). We try to make sense of the multiverse and discuss what would happen if you actually fell into a black hole....

Episode 28 Don't take things for granted, or granite, as we do our episode in reverse. We kick things off with a new & improved That Freaking Rocks. transforming the segment into a platform for bands to share with everyone some new music. Joining us for the very first iteration is Jared from Our Transient Lives . The majestic sonic soundscape has a really awesome story behind it; it being a po...

Episode 27 The journey continues as the boys at Geology on the Rocks team up with Mario , from and the Fall In 360 Podcast , to discuss all things Geology and War. Our discussion begins with what defines a continent. Seriously, what defines a continent? Are there 5, 6, 7, or even 8? What we do see is some of the divisions are geopolitical and available resources have been the cause of many conflic...

Season 3 - Episode 26 This was probably the most fantastic episode to date! Ugh.. Plastic. Is. Everywhere. AMD, or Anthropogenic Marine Debris, outnumbered plankton by a ratio of 6:1 a decade ago; imagine what that number looks like today?! It is pervasive and entirely man-made. Joining us for the discussion, is American Geoarcheologist/Anthropologist, Dr. Dale Simpson, to help bring to light the...

We turn a quarter-century! Episode Twenty, the season two finale, is all from you, the inquisitive listener with your curious questions. We talk a little Advection Fog in our Triple Junction segment. Question: What do bee larvae, Mars’ Ionosphere, Phosphorus, and Iceland all have in common? NewNews, that’s what. In our main discussion, we first try to iron out the Flat Earth conspiracy and discuss...

Where to even begin?  Dr. Greta Bowling joins the podcast for Episode 24 , which is action-packed from start to finish. It is our longest episode to date that you won't want to miss a second of. It is chalk full of knowledges, tangents (Is Ryan Gosling Hot or Not?), poems, corrections, rants, Freudian slips, and flat-out derailments. Some NewNews quick hits: the naked mole rat strikes again s...