CHAPARRAL GEOLOGY
Geology Provides a Break From the Hectic World
No other topic of inquiry, no other physical entity, no other subject of discussion is more accessible, more receptive to new ideas, and more able to release us from our disquieted minds than the study of rocks and the dynamic earth that creates them.
We know this from first-hand experience.
In our effort to expand the depth of our Chaparral Naturalist program over the past few years, we have been participating in both local (SDAG) and national (GSA) geological organizations through conferences, informal gatherings, and most importantly, field trips. The inspiring takeaway from these experiences is that geologists seem to have transcended our species' myopic focus on ourselves and the hubris that fuels it. Consequently, the pervasive doom and gloom and contentious social conflicts that garners so much attention these days are absent. Political complaints, social grievances, and hand wringing over the fate of the world fail to find traction during conversations.
Instead, social interactions are consumed by excited banter over the latest geological wonderment: animated disagreements over the extent of ice age floods, challenges to find the actual cause of hot spots on the earth's crust, and discussions about the opportunities provided by the numerous extinction events our planet has experienced over the past 500 million years. And then there's the recognized fact that rocks hold their historical secrets tightly. No one was around when they did what they did. So, informed speculation adds additional excitement to even the most casual discourse.
And interestingly, during our entire time attending the Geological Society of America conference in Spokane (5/2024), mobile phones were just not very evident. In fact, during the two-day field trip exploring the famous "scablands" across Washington (caused by multiple ice age floods), we never saw any participant take out a phone.
Although rock hammers, excursions into wild places in search of rocks, faults, and fossils, and studying easily collectible things of beauty certainly contribute to the unique, jaunty nature of geologists, it is likely the Zen-like appreciation of deep time that has the most significant impact on how geologists see the world and themselves. Pretense and certainty have no place when one knows how insignificant humans are in the earth's 4.6-billion-year existence, and that much of what one believes can be turned upside down by a rock in someone's collection or the latest drill core. Curiosity is the watch word. Interestingly, the willingness and ability of geologists to consider new ideas was the reason why they were one of the most sought-after scientists during America's war effort in the 1940s.
Of course, geologists, being human, suffer from the same tendency as everyone else - latching on to an idea as one's intellectual child, refusing to let go despite clear signals to do so. But the debilitating consequences of such intransigence is still a fresh memory from when plate tectonics revolutionized geology in the late 1960s. Plate tectonics essentially created a brand-new scientific field. Geology is still called geology, but its fundamental foundations were burned to the ground and replaced by a new framework that has been able to answer questions that had perplexed us for thousands of years - why mountains, why earthquakes, and why rock layers twist in so many fascinating ways.
So, geologists are like young entrepreneurs in a new industry, creating innovative solutions and discovering novel ideas that foster more of the same. It is an exciting time to love rocks.
Once the geological experience begins to filter into the biologist's mind, it becomes clear why California's complex geology is a big reason biodiversity in the state is nearly seven times richer than anywhere else in the United States. It's on the rocks where life began, and it's on the rocks life is sustained. Therefore, it is impossible to truly understand life without understanding rocks.
And so, join us as we continue expanding our understanding and appreciation of geology on both local and global scales. We will be adding more information to our website as we continue to learn. Please revisit the developing subpages listed below when you are not outside doing what you should be doing - collecting rocks.
California Chaparral Institute
May, 2024
Geological field trips are one of best parts of studying geology. The trip shown below was to explore the famous scablands of eastern Washington, a land swept clean and scared by ice-aged floods as recently as 15,000 to 12,000 years ago. Here's an outstanding video from PBS about the landscape and the process that shaped it.
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Walking across the plains to a 350-ton erratic boulder dropped by chunk of glacial ice 15,000 years ago. It's that gray lump, middle left. Scablands, WA.
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Arrived at the erratic!
Photo by Bruce Bjornstad.
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Palouse Falls, WA, was created as multiple ice age floods screamed across the landscape, digging deep holes through thick layers of the dense, volcanic rock basalt. The falls are one of the most spectacular creations of the floods.
Visit Our Geology Pages For More
Where to Start - Recommended books and resources.
Geo Primer - Learn (or become reaquainted with) the basic wonders of geology.
San Diego Geology - A look at one of the most diverse geological locations on earth.
Serpentine Chaparral - Serpentine, California's Official State Rock, is a wonderful thing.
Manzanita Geology - The iconic shrubs of the chaparral have diversified with the soil in which they grow.
Watersheds - It's not where you store water in your backyard, but where the water goes.
Geology Humor - Coming soon!