WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.040 Oh hey, it's the rock in your pocket. Ali Ward 2 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.200 back with Part two of Geology. Have you listen to 3 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:07.679 part one? 4 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.279 Why not? 5 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.199 If you haven't, go back listen to part one. It's 6 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:13.320 linked in the show notes. It covers everything from what 7 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.160 the hell is rock? To what's a boulder? Is sand rocks? 8 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.079 What's a mineral? How do we read rocks? Why are 9 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.679 they different colors? And what is the most low stakes 10 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:26.640 free hobby in the world involving a gravel driveway? Okay, 11 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.440 so listen to one and then now let's get to 12 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.079 part two. So this guest is once again beloved by 13 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.840 all getting their PhD at Oregon State studying paleoclimate and 14 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.880 glacial geology, and this follow up episode will answer questions 15 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:43.280 from hundreds of listeners who left their queries via patreon 16 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:46.039 dot com slash ologies, where you can join for a 17 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:48.479 dollar a month that gives you the heads up on 18 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.200 upcoming episodes and it lets you leave questions for theologists. 19 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.079 So thank you patrons for supporting the show from day one. 20 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.200 Thank you also to any listener who rates and subscribes 21 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:58.759 and especially leaves reviews. 22 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:00.119 I read them all. 23 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:03.600 This week I picked Clifton's to read and they said, 24 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.959 Ologies is a magic school bus reboot none of us 25 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:09.200 knew we wanted, but better because it includes real scientists, 26 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.280 social scientists, audio memes, and cursing Clifton Thornton. 27 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:14.120 I'll take it. 28 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.200 Also, if you don't want cursing, you can check out 29 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.079 the g rated Smologies episodes, which are linked in the 30 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.159 show notes. Okay, Part two Geology, Pull up a petrified 31 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:29.079 stump and get ready for geodes, long hikes, lab grown diamonds. 32 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.439 Fossilized trees, space rocks, lead poisoning ponds, and their favorite 33 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:39.280 ever rock with lifelong lithophile and your new favorite geologist 34 00:01:39.719 --> 00:02:01.079 Schmidty Thompson. Have some time for me to keep you 35 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:01.840 a little bit longer? 36 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.560 Yeah? Absolutely, I've got no word to be god? Yeah, 37 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:10.639 can I make it a chief harder? 38 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:15.719 We should see, and we did. Thank you for being. 39 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.280 So patient of my very uninformed questions. 40 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:20.240 Oh my gosh, no, no, no, no. It's great. 41 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.159 If someone comes to me like tell me about rocks, 42 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:24.719 like why is that not a great thing? Like that, 43 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:26.879 I get to be the person to tell them. Because 44 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:29.479 that's why I love talking about geology is just because 45 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.360 I think it's neat all right. 46 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:33.240 I thought This was a great question. 47 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:37.960 Amanda McClendon, Ariel Belch and Roda Vacaria wanted to know 48 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:38.919 is ice a rock? 49 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:40.199 Ice rock? 50 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.120 That's a good question, and I don't think I have 51 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:47.080 a good definitive answer well now, because if you look 52 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.520 at just the very technical definition of what is a mineral, 53 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:51.280 ice fits a lot of those properties. 54 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.400 So, as we covered in Part one, a mineral is 55 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:59.120 a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound that has an 56 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:04.360 orderly internal structure. It has a crystal form and physical properties. 57 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:06.599 So ice kind of checks out. 58 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:10.360 But the thing that's different about ice is about, you know, 59 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.360 what kind of states that exists in relative to other rocks. 60 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:16.639 So for in the most part, you know, when you're 61 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.919 thinking about when does the rock become a liquid rock, 62 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.439 that happens at very very high temperatures. When rocks are 63 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:25.280 moving through our Earth systems, they're going to be behaving 64 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:27.439 very differently than when ice would be moving through the 65 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:29.719 same rains of temperatures. If you're a heat up a 66 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.520 rock until it became lava magma, ice would just be 67 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:35.759 vapor by that point. So I think it makes sense 68 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:37.680 in some ways. You know, we're looking at the technicality 69 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:39.680 and like, yeah, this fits in all of the same categories. 70 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:41.919 But then in terms of thinking about you know, how 71 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.280 does this material interact with in Earth systems? Like how 72 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.919 does it behave? How does it influence the nature of 73 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:51.879 our planet? Ice is kind of in its own category, y'all. 74 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.840 There is debate about this and I triple checked, and 75 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.360 if it seems to icy, it's because it is. 76 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:00.479 But here's low down. 77 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.840 So a mineral needs to be composed of solids, and 78 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.080 water is not a solid, So no, the ice cubes 79 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.879 in your freezer are not minerals or rocks. However, if 80 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:16.839 it is naturally occurring ice like a snowbank that has 81 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.399 solidified or a glacier, them's a rock. 82 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:24.560 A glacier is a rock. How hot does rock have 83 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:26.240 to be to melt or does that really depend on 84 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:26.839 the rock? 85 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:29.560 It really depends on the rock. And it's actually part 86 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.439 of the reasons we're not just surrounded by one rock 87 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:36.480 is that different minerals crystallize different temperatures. 88 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:37.759 So when you have. 89 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.319 A blob of magma moving up through the Earth's crust, 90 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.959 it's going to be cooling, and as it's cooling, some 91 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.560 minerals might cool and drop out and sit at the 92 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:53.560 bottom and be left behind. And so that means that 93 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:56.519 that's one way for our Earth system people to sort like, oh, 94 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.000 you know, maybe a lot of the minerals that are 95 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:00.480 like deep in the sound of the Earth are going 96 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:02.720 to be really rich in things like iron and magnesium. 97 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:06.279 But as different kinds of minerals are crystallizing and cooling 98 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.279 and being left behind by magma moving, that's the way 99 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:13.160 to concentrate different amounts of elements in different kinds of rocks. 100 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.759 And so that's part of the reason that Earth is 101 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.560 the way it is is because we have, you know, 102 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:20.839 all these tectonic plates moving around, and we have this 103 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.439 mantle that is moving material around, and as rocks and 104 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.800 minerals are moving through igneous and sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, 105 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:33.519 it's kind of acting like it's sorting out different concentrations 106 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.639 of elements into different parts of the planet. 107 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:39.079 So, yes, rocks and water are acting like colanders and 108 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:43.279 sorting heavier elements and minerals, which then link up in 109 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:48.399 crystalline structures, sometimes in the cracks and spaces of other rocks, 110 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.879 which is why there might be, for example, a vein 111 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.959 of quartz in granite. Now, if there is a lot 112 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.720 of silica dissolved in water, quartz rocks like amethyst might 113 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:00.240 form or agis. 114 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.279 And if the water has just a boatload of copper. 115 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.079 In it, years and years down the line, turquoise or 116 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:10.079 malachite might form, And gems and rocks can form sixty 117 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:14.240 feet to twenty five miles deep in the earth, but some, 118 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.600 like diamonds and parado. 119 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:17.279 Are a little bit more shy. 120 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:20.560 They crystallize as deep as one hundred and twenty five 121 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.399 miles below the surface of Earth, one hundred and twenty 122 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:28.560 five miles deep in volcanic tunnels called kimberlite pipes and 123 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:33.720 weird fact, all diamonds are roughly one to three billion 124 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.079 years old, all of them. 125 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:36.560 They're old. They're special. 126 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.399 But historically diamond mining can come with a true human cost, 127 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:45.839 and they've been mined in war zones and some of 128 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.959 the money is used to fund more wars. Russia is 129 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.680 a huge diamond exporter, and recent sanctions mean fewer diamonds 130 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.439 on the market, which means Sillennials and gen z Folks 131 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.639 are looking to get hitched using other gems or lab 132 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:05.560 grown diamonds, which are actual structural diamonds totally legit diamonds, 133 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:09.000 but up to seventy three percent cheaper, and they're more 134 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:13.360 sustainably made. The resale value is less, but so are 135 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.480 the ethical bummers. But the lesson here is that the 136 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:20.560 only thing we can really rely on, the only constant, 137 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.360 is change. So yes, your life might feel like it's 138 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.360 melting under the boiling, hellish pressure of the entire earth, 139 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.319 but something new and shinier and stronger is on its way. 140 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.879 Just give it a few billion years. 141 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:37.279 And that allows us to get all of the beautiful 142 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.040 variations of rocks that we have. So like, if you're 143 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.519 to go to other planets, they're not going to have 144 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:43.639 as many different kinds of rocks as we are because 145 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:47.040 they don't have the tectonic system that allows the different 146 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:47.360 kinds of. 147 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:48.120 Rocks to develop. 148 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:50.360 Oh So, like the rocks we have today were very 149 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.800 different from the rocks that first formed four point five 150 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:53.800 billion years ago. 151 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.279 Does that mean that there might be completely different rocks 152 00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:57.800 that don't exist now in the future. 153 00:07:59.120 --> 00:07:59.959 That's a really good question. 154 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.000 I don't I don't know the answer to that, but 155 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.000 I know who I would ask about that, so I 156 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:06.959 might get back to you. 157 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.319 So Schmidty asked a friend who said that the planet 158 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.639 will settle at a lower temperature but have the same pressure, 159 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.120 which will stabilize the kind of rocks produced so same. 160 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.600 But Schmitty's friend wasn't sure if that would produce any 161 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.399 minerals we don't already have to be determined by a 162 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.319 time machine and a pickax. But what about on other planets? 163 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.559 So this next question was asked by patrons Gig Katie King, 164 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:39.120 Will kingen Ron Dagdag, and Gina Woolsey and a bunch 165 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.639 of other people wanted to know. Gina says, space rocks 166 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.960 are cool. What are some of the coolest things found 167 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:49.960 via space rocks, either ones that have landed to the 168 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.159 Earth or ones that are still in space. And then 169 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:55.720 Stephen Woo wants to know, how do we know if 170 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:58.000 a rock is from space? And Alice rubens chimed in, 171 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.759 all rocks are from space. Technically we are also from space. 172 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.200 Do you have thoughts on space rocks? 173 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:04.879 Absolutely, thos on space rocks. 174 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.480 So space rocks are really cool because depending on where 175 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.720 it formed, that can tell us a lot about parts 176 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.360 of the Solar System that are really hurt to reach. 177 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.600 And so you know, a lot of our space rocks 178 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:18.320 are from I'm not expert on meteorites. This is just 179 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.919 a very broad overview, but a lot of the space 180 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.960 rocks formed when the rest of the planet's rocky plants 181 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.600 are forming, so they're just space dust that hasn't been 182 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:29.519 through the formation of a planet before. But we can 183 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:31.759 also get space rocks from the Moon, from the. 184 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.440 Planet Moon from the planet the Moon. 185 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.320 Star, so you have rocks from the Moon and sometimes 186 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:39.240 land on our planet. We also have rocks from Mars 187 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.200 that have made it to the Earth. Love that, so 188 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.679 we actually have rocks from Mars that we can study 189 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:48.200 because at some point Mars got hit by a meteor 190 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.440 meteorite and some Martian rocks get ejected into space and 191 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:53.519 they landed on Earth. 192 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.320 For more on this, you can listen to the Areology 193 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:01.039 episode about Mars with doctor Jennifer Booze, which not just 194 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.039 Martian rocks, but also the time doctor Booze got to 195 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.080 handle Moon rocks and it didn't go well and she 196 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.159 lost her marbles. Also, the Selenology episode with rock hel 197 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:14.320 Nuno is all about the Moon and we have it 198 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:16.440 as a Smology's episode in case you have small young 199 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.240 people who want to learn about the Moon. Smology's episodes 200 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:21.759 are linked in the show notes. They're friendly for all ages. 201 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.679 They're free. Speaking of ages, Schmidi says that Iowa borne 202 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:30.159 geochemist doctor Claire Patterson had a bright idea to figure 203 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.600 out how old the planet is? How old is this 204 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:33.399 thing we're living on? 205 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:35.840 But actually, I think one of the coolest things to 206 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.080 come out of studying space rocks is not necessarily about 207 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:40.840 the space rocks, but that's how we first figured out 208 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.320 how old a planet was was using space rocks. When 209 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:44.879 we were starting to figure out the age of the Earth, 210 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.120 someone had the idea that a lot of these space 211 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.799 rocks probably formed at the same time that the Earth did. 212 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.000 And one of the really cool things that you can 213 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:56.720 do if you're doing chemistry on a rock is you 214 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:00.159 can use little tiny bits of radioactive elements inside to 215 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.480 rock to how old it is. And so a lot 216 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:06.639 of the rocks will incorporate tiny trace amounts of radioactive 217 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.519 elements like uranium into them, and when the rock is 218 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.200 still a blot of magma or it's space material, that 219 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.879 uranium is decaying and it's producing things like lead, and 220 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:17.240 that's just getting mixed up when a rock hardens it 221 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.639 becomes a rock. That crystal structure is going to trap 222 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:24.919 anything the decaying radioactive uranium produces inside it, and so 223 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:26.720 it's kind of like a timer. And so if you 224 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.080 can get a piece of a rock that has litle 225 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.679 tiny bits of radioactive uranium in it, and you can 226 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.919 look how much uranium is there and how much lead 227 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.240 is next to it, you can get an idea of 228 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:40.120 how long it's been since that rock formed and that 229 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:42.519 timer started, and that would be about how old the 230 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.879 Earth is. And so a while back, we were able 231 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:48.200 to get the age of four point five billion years 232 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.120 from a meteorite, and that age of the Earth has 233 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:54.480 stood the test of time, like, that's a pretty darn 234 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.399 good estimates. When we are trying to figure out how 235 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:02.240 much urine even led there wasn't these meteorites. I think 236 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:03.799 this was in the thirties or the forties. 237 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:04.799 You had to. 238 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:08.720 Measure how much lad there was in the sample. And 239 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:12.080 this was back when we still had lead in gasoline. 240 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.559 And so the scientist who was trying to measure the 241 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:18.039 sled was getting weird results, and so he started trying 242 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.720 to figure out where is the sled coming from and 243 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.799 so he developed a lot of modern green room procedures 244 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.080 because lead was in the air, it was in his hair, 245 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.440 it was in its glows, and so he went on 246 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:35.759 to be a really active voice against environmental lead because 247 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.799 he became so aware of that was in everything, because 248 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:40.600 it was contaminating all his samples. 249 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.039 So get the lead out, that is all. 250 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:47.679 So yes, doctor Clara Patterson, well done, High fives. So 251 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:51.039 we covered this in the Ludology episode about video games 252 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:55.440 with doctor Jane McGonagall. And why were we chatting about 253 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:59.759 like atari and lead toxicity in the same episode because 254 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:04.679 of something called the lead violence hypothesis. So lead poisoning 255 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:08.840 affects developing brains in ways that can lead to aggression 256 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.559 and impulsivity and impaired executive functions. And what do you know, 257 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:17.480 Lead and gasoline post World War two meant a baby 258 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:21.720 boom that was maturing into individuals more likely to commit 259 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:26.039 violent crimes. And a twenty eighteen Mother Jones article explains, quote, 260 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:30.840 every year the population of teenagers with lead poisoning increased, 261 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:34.559 and violent crime increased with it. This is why the 262 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.799 seventies and eighties were eras in which crime skyrocketed quote. 263 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.720 So why is this. Neuroscientists have found that because lead 264 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:47.120 is chemically similar to calcium, it displaces the calcium needed 265 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:50.399 for normal brain development. And the data is just staggering, 266 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.279 and bands of leaded gasoline and lead paint correspond to 267 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:57.600 these huge drops in violent crime. Again, well done, doctor 268 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.159 Claire Patterson. You also had to work on I'm the 269 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.279 atom Bomb too, but thanks for figuring out the lead 270 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.440 stuff and that Earth is four point five four three 271 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.759 billion years old, give or take fifty million years. I 272 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.240 liked Benjamin's question, Benjamin wants to know geology seems like 273 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.440 a big deal. My question is, how do you think 274 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.399 chocolate candy rocks look? Did they do a good job? 275 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.679 I should have a funny story about that. I had 276 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:24.120 some really amazing chocolate rocks. They were probably that size, 277 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:27.279 like an egg, painted with these beautiful metallic edible pains, 278 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.519 and I was like, this looks pretty convincing. And it's 279 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.000 really hard to identify a rock by picture because a 280 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.240 lot of rock id is like picking it up and 281 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:36.240 feeling it and moving it around and looking at the 282 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.799 crystals and looking at it under a microscope, licking it delicious, 283 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:42.240 and so it's really hard, Like a lot of people 284 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.519 send me pictures of rocks, and I oftentimes can't give 285 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.919 them a good answer what it is. But I thought, 286 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:48.519 let's just try this, so I sent a picture of 287 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:50.240 this chocolate rocks and geology friends. It was like, what 288 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.159 do you think this is? And they all gave rock answers, 289 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.600 and then I sent the back picture of the rock 290 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:56.759 dropped in half, showing. 291 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.320 It with chocolate. The were all these pos So a 292 00:14:58.320 --> 00:14:59.639 lot of chocolate rocks for a pretty. 293 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:03.559 Good job mischief, good natured fun with just a dash 294 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.720 of endearing evil schmidty. 295 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:06.279 I love it. 296 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.360 Miranda Panda wants to know if you saw the news 297 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.399 story about the large boulder the size of a small 298 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.240 boulder on the side of the road, and if you 299 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:12.879 had thoughts on that. 300 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:14.440 I did see that. 301 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:16.480 I didn't ever read the article about it, but that's 302 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.399 really funny to me because I feel like boulder is 303 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:20.120 one of those many funny words that a lot of 304 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.080 people in science interact with. It has a technical definition, 305 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.440 like there is a size of rock that above which 306 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:27.600 a rock is a boulder, but you know, the boulder 307 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.519 is a very common colloquial term, So I would I 308 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.679 would love to track down that article and see like 309 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.799 exactly who was using the world boulder and should they 310 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:36.440 have known better? 311 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:38.519 I know, I want, I want to reach out to 312 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:42.200 them and see if they meant a large boulder the 313 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.799 size of a small car or what they were thinking 314 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.399 if it was just like just a brain fart. But okay, 315 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.080 side note, if you are just blissfully off of the Internet, 316 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.440 you may have missed when a Colorado Sheriff's office tweeted 317 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.840 a photo of a geological road obstruction with the caption 318 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.720 large boulder the size of a small is completely blocking 319 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.120 eastbound lane Highway one forty five at silver Pick Road. 320 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:04.919 Please use caution. 321 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:09.759 This was in January twenty twenty, when pre pandemic Twitter 322 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.159 was still sometimes used for things like silliness and chuckling 323 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.759 at typos and yes. In a subsequent interview, I went 324 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.759 and found this. I dug around the public information officer 325 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:24.120 who drafted that tweet, Susan Lily, admitted that she definitely 326 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.759 meant a large boulder the size of a small car, 327 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:30.519 but that large boulder sized small oopsie was just cute 328 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:34.919 as hell and anyway, language has a real plasticity to it. Oh, 329 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.919 speaking of that, Mohammed Farco and also Jules Clement, first 330 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.840 time question asker. Jules says, we have the bronze age, 331 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:46.360 the iron age, are we now in the plastic age? 332 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:47.519 And Mohammad wants to know. 333 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:49.440 Okay, I've read there's a new type of rock that 334 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:53.320 consists of plastics called plastic i glomerates, and my question 335 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.519 is how does that happen and what does it mean 336 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.639 in the larger scheme of things? Also, eke, are there 337 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.639 plastic rocks chocolate rocks? But are their plastic ones? 338 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:02.200 There are? 339 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.960 So there is something that we consider plastic rocks. So 340 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.440 just like how sand and silt and clay moves through 341 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.039 sort of a system, you can get a little bit 342 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.920 of plastic that are really really really really resistant to 343 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.920 degrading that are going to be moving through our rivers 344 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:19.079 and our oceans and they're gonna glomp together the same 345 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.880 way sand does. And so that's going to become part 346 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:23.319 of our geologic record. 347 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.279 How do you feel about it? 348 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:26.960 I don't feel good about it. 349 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.759 Plastic is if you're thinking geologically about the things humans 350 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:33.960 are going to do that are going to leave an 351 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:37.079 impact on our planet, Plastic is a big one. Because 352 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:40.319 everything in our Earth is constantly cycling and so I 353 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:42.640 think there's a lot of real advantages to using products 354 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:47.160 that will eventually go back into the cycle of materials 355 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:49.920 moving through the earth, and plastic very much is not 356 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:51.799 one of them. 357 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.559 When you're sitting on the beach, you're looking at sand, 358 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.920 do you see plastics in there? 359 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:02.039 I do see plastic, and if if I can reasonably 360 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.400 assume that it's not something that was gross, I I 361 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.960 try and pick it up. I'm a habitual trash picker. 362 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:10.240 Upper I was up to mpt by pockets before I 363 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:11.079 do laundry. 364 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.759 That happened with me today and I found some garbage 365 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:16.920 in the pocket. Then I forget where I even picked. 366 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:17.599 It up, but it was in there. 367 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:18.599 I always have to do that. 368 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:21.880 Let's all aspire to find trash in our pockets on 369 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.160 laundry day, or even better, throw the trash away and 370 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.160 wash our disgusting hands as soon as we see a 371 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:27.799 garbage can. 372 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:28.279 Okay. 373 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:34.000 Chandler Witherington and Corey Francis Parks want to know first 374 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.799 time question. Ask for Corey, where do you even start 375 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:39.839 as an amateur geology fan. Chandler wants to know are 376 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:44.079 there any apps that you recommend to help identify rocks? 377 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:47.359 I mean, I guess unless the app licks the rock, 378 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:49.079 are you just fresh out of luck? 379 00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:49.519 Yeah? 380 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:51.640 I don't have any good apps to identify rocks. But 381 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.240 the two things I recommend would be you can go 382 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:57.160 to a local bookstore sometimes they'll have local rock guides, 383 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.920 or you can get like a paper I still have, 384 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:02.319 you know, I have two various field guides to rock 385 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:04.079 and minerals books that I've been carrying around with me 386 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.279 for many years. And then there's a website and recommend 387 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:08.319 if people are really interested in learning about rocks. There's 388 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.079 a website called mindat that you can look it up, 389 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.240 and it's just this really comprehensive database and you can 390 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.160 spend a lot of time there. Along with having all 391 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:18.240 sorts of chemical information about the rock, there's also you 392 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:20.640 can look at pictures of them, and there's oftentimes pictures 393 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.319 of both what this rock looks like in sort of 394 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:25.960 everyday situations and then also just these beautiful pictures he's 395 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.000 been hours staring at. 396 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:29.519 So that was mindat dot org. 397 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.000 M I ndat dot org, and I just accidentally went 398 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.880 on and looked at citrens for forty five minutes, and 399 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.200 then I fell down a hole looking at different types 400 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:43.319 of corundum, which can be rubies and sapphires. Thanks Mindat, 401 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.920