Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Rivers are the key to understanding why many landscapes look the way they do. Study how rivers form, how they sculpt the land, how water and sediment move in a river, and how rivers change course over time. Rivers also create habitats for plants and animals, both of which influence the landscape. Finally, signs of vanished rivers tell the story of geologic events in the deep past.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Geomorphology is the study of landscapes and their individual landforms. Learn the five major influences on landscape formation. Use this background to tour the United States, which is a remarkable laboratory of geomorphology with features such as the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon and Channeled Scablands, and more.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Visit the beach with a geologist's eyes and see how the interaction of waves, ocean currents, and winds lead to the ebb and flow of sediments and blending of landforms. Consider the four types of waves and what they reveal about the ocean floor just offshore. Also, zero in on individual grains of sand, identifying their minerals and tracing their origin. Reflect on why beaches are sandy at all.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Check out limestone, one of nature's most amazing rocks, with medical, economic, and sightseeing benefits. Not to mention, limestone provides insight into environments eons ago. Examine its chemistry and the ways it forms. Survey different kinds of limestone, including types that preserve detailed fossils. Finally, look at sinkholes and caves, which occur in limestone karst topography.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Go outside and find an outcrop-a roadcut, cliff face, or other site where rocks are exposed. These are ideal places for practicing field geology. Professor Cotter gives tips on safety, maps, tools, and techniques. A notebook and careful record-keeping are essential. Amateur geologists can make important discoveries, so field geology is your chance to advance knowledge while enjoying the outdoors.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Soil may be the most important geologic resource on the planet. Discover how geologists classify soils, focusing on the concept of soil horizons, which are distinct layers that often vary in composition, color, and texture. Analyze how this cross section, which signals soil fertility, differs depending on the type of biome. Learn how soils form and how easily they are destroyed by erosion.
Publisher
Principal Media
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Journey from the depths of the Pacific Ocean into the far reaches of space on a quest to find something that changes everything ... signs of life, somewhere else in the universe. With cutting-edge imagery from the world's most powerful telescopes, THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN SPACE takes audiences from the surface of Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, to the extreme lava fields of Hawaii and thermal vents deep beneath the sea.
69) Earth
Publisher
KimStim
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In seven locations in North America and Europe, we observe miners, engineers and foremen at work. They enjoy it-who wouldn't like operating one of those massive excavators? Nevertheless, there's a feeling of unease. Sometimes a fossilized tree turns up and is saved for a museum-if the bulldozer hasn't already smashed it, that is. When asked, the workers are well aware of the consequences for nature, climate and safety. But it's work, and there's a...
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Learn what it's like to walk on barely cooled lava from an active volcano-one of many fascinating geologic experiences you can have in volcanic landscapes. Examine the different types of volcanoes and volcanic rocks, and which active sites are safe to explore and which you should avoid. In field geology you should be prepared, so review the special precautions to take when visiting volcanoes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The most highly prized rocks among non-geologists are gemstones. This episode covers all 12 birthstones, plus other gems, probing the shifting categories of precious and semi-precious gems. You learn how gems form and where to find them. Even more difficult to find are meteorites. Hear tips for identifying these extraterrestrial rocks, which are unlike anything native to Earth.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Stressing that he is not a medical doctor, Professor Cotter delves into the healthful and harmful effects of geologically sourced substances. Some have proven benefits, such as the antibacterial properties of salt and copper. Others can be deadly. For example, radon, a gaseous product of radioactive decay, causes lung cancer. Asbestos, a fibrous silicate mineral, is similarly dangerous to breathe.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Having studied igneous rocks that cool quickly, now turn to igneous rocks that cool deep underground over the course of millions of years. Find out how to distinguish granite from diorite, gabbro, and other intrusive igneous rocks. Learn about notable batholiths, such as Yosemite's Half Dome, and look at the abundant uses for granite and similar rocks.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Trace the history of oil exploration and recovery, focusing on the geology of petroleum and natural gas formations. To strike oil, you need to find a source rock, a reservoir rock, a caprock, and a structural feature called a trap where oil can pool. Survey some of the world's most productive oil fields, and investigate the plusses and minuses of hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking."
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Sedimentary rocks make up a substantial majority of rocks at Earth's surface. In this episode, focus on clastic rocks, which are composed of broken fragments of pre-existing rocks. The fragments can vary in size from clay particles to silt, sand, gravel, and larger pieces. Learn how these rocks form and the rich stories they tell about the past.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Taught by Professor James F. P. Cotter of the University of Minnesota, Morris, this course teaches you the fundamentals of field geology. You learn the basics of rocks, minerals, and landforms, and how to apply this knowledge to read an outcrop, find and prepare fossils, assess soil and groundwater, prospect for gems and ore, and much more.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Investigate glaciers, which now cover about 10% of Earth's land area; 25,000 years ago, they covered 30%. Learn how to spot evidence of past glaciation-from sculpted valleys in Yosemite National Park, to the cliffs at Vicksburg, Mississippi (which formed far from glaciers), to Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. Dig into the physics of glaciers: how they develop and the forces they exert.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Consider how to put your knowledge of geology to use. Issues faced by your community may benefit from geologic insights about groundwater, watersheds, roadways, pollution, and historic questions such as abandoned mines and quarries. Practical geology will only grow in importance as the world deals with climate change, resource shortages, and the pressing need to live in harmony with the planet.
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