MARCH 2009 | VOLUME 001
The
The |
MARCH
2009
|
Geology |
Times
|
|
Volume 001
Letters to the Editor – by Max Hanson………………………………………………………………………….……….page 2
Australia: A Scientific Travel Guide – by Celestina Tanase ……………………………………………..………page 5
The Ring of Fire – by Ciara Javier………………………………………………………………………………………….page 8
Earth’s Layers – by Eric Gauthier…………………………………………………………………….……….…...………page 9
Fossils: The Oldest Things in the World – by Joshua Lu…………………………………………………….….page 10
If Rock Monsters Existed…. – by Edward Abramskey…………………….……………………….….………….page 11
Rocks: A Photo Album – by Katie Boyce………………………………….…………………………………………...page 12
Reviews on the Run – by Chase Russell……………………………………………….…………………………….…page 18
Weathering – by Aaron Brown / Tsunamis – by Teanne Clements…………………………………………page 19
1
Letters to the Editor
by Maxwell Richard Hanson a.k.a. Snake
Snake answers some of your FAQs below.
Q: Hey snake, I was wondering if you could tell me if there
are any big geysers around Vancouver. Susie Qu Vancouver, BC
A: Not really, but if you’re really interested, Yellowstone
Park has tons of them.
Q: How are stalactites formed? Jim Fegall Toronto, ON
A: Stalactites are formed when water carves out a cave and big
spikes are left.
Q: Is it possible to have a tsunami in
Vancouver? Harold Greene Victoria, BC
A: If Vancouver were to experience a major
earthquake we would most likely encounter
a tsunami, so watch out! You know, one did
happen in Port Alberni!
2
Q: What in the name of my great grandmother are ice cores for? It’s just water!
A: Sometimes you can tell history! Some of the cores are ice from millions of years ago!
(Older than your great grandmother, possibly!)
Q: What dangers does going into mines or caves
have? Melanie Benche Calgary, Alberta
A: There are many dangers actually. You could die
of carbon monoxide poisoning, cave-ins, even rabid
animals! You’d be best to stay away from those
suckers!
Thanks everyone for asking questions! Keep them coming. You never know when your question
may be answered.
3
Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney, Australia
Australia:
A Scientific Travel Guide
Explore Oz and all its mysterious rock
formations on this visual tour of the land
down under.
By Celestina Tanase
Australia is well known for its kangaroos and
croc hunter Steve Irwin, but what is it that makes this
country so worth seeing? Well, it could be anything
ranging from the famous Wave Rock to the Sydney
Opera House. Read on to learn about some more great
places in Australia that are visit-worthy.
One of Australia’s most famous sites is Wave
Rock. Wave Rock is one of the biggest and oldest
rocks in Australia; it is over 2 million years old. From
looking at the picture you can tell that it is a
humongous wave made of earth waiting for that
splash that will never
come. At the top, the
wave is connected to
flat land. When people
go to see the wave they
usually walk alongside
or on the wave. At the
top people usually have a picnic after their long walk
on or alongside the wave. It is also a very famous sight
in Australia. It is located in Western Australia. It is
probably unforgettable.
The Devil’s Marbles are a lot of rocks balancing on
other rocks. What you
see in the picture is just
a few rocks out of a lot.
These boulders spread
out for miles! Some
tourists like to climb up
in the middle of the rocks and use the two rocks to be
able to balance in between. The aboriginals believed
that the rocks were eggs laid by the rainbow serpent,
a powerful ancestor who helped create life on Earth.
5
Planning a trip to Australia?
Purnulu is another beautiful You might want to know what the weather’s like.
sight in Australia. This sight is Here’s a table to help you with your vacation plans.
now a national park. Another
name given to this park is the Season Temperature
Bungle Bungles. Scientifically, Winter +10-+15°C
it is a 3,000 square-kilometre sandstone plateau. Spring +30-+40°C
Purnululu itself means sandstone. Summer +40-+50°C
Autumn +15-+25°C
So now that you’re in the know
about the land down under, what are Fun Fact: When the Earth was in
you waiting for? Australia awaits you! Pangaea form Australia was colder than
the Antarctic!
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Find whatever you need at
cadby’s caving emporium!
where the adventure really begins…
The Ring of Fire:
The ring of fire or sometimes called the “circum pacific belt” is a
Ring
direct result of Plate tectonics and the collision and movement of
crustal plates. It has about 452 volcanoes and is home to about 75%
of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. The ring of fire runs
along Chile, northwards along the South American coast through
Central America, Mexico, the west coast of the US and the
of Fire southern part of Alaska, through the Aleutian Islands to Japan, the
Philippines and Indonesia before curving back to New Guinea, the
southwest Pacific islands and New Zealand. It is a band of
volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the pacific, and 90%
of the world’s earthquake and 80% of the world’s largest
BY: CIARA JAVIER
earthquake occurs along the ring of fire.
If you find yourself thinking
of something great to do over
your vacation, then the Ring
of Fire Expedition Tour is
right for you. During this trip
you will be cruising to these
4 different locations around
the world: Japan,
Washington (state), the
Philippines, and Mexico.
While you are there you will
be checking out
volcanoes/mountains that
have erupted along the ring
of fire. These
volcanoes/mountains are: Mt.
Fuji (Japan) Mt. Pinatubo
(Philippines), Mt. St. Helens
(Washington), and Mt.
Paricutin (Mexico).
Blood Diamond stars Leonardo
Dicaprio and Djimon Honsou.
“Blood Diamond is one of the greatest
movies of all time!”
Available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
8
Earth’s Layers
By Eric Gauthier
The Crust is about 5
– 30 miles thick. The
mantle is about 1800
miles thick. The
outer core is about
1300 miles thick.
The inner core is
800 miles thick. The
crust is a thin rocky
skin layer. The
thinnest part of the
crust is the Ocean.
The upper part of
the mantle is cooler
then the
bottom/middle. The
deep mantle is very
hot because it’s on
top of the outer
core. There for it
makes the mantle
and crust move
slowly.
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3
FOSSILS:
The oldest things in the world
BY: JOSHUA LU
WHERE ARE FOSSILS FOUND?
WHAT ARE FOSSILS? Fossils can be found everywhere! They
Fossils are the remains of plants and can be found deep underground, under
animals that lived a long time ago. The water, or as high as mountains.
fossils may look like when the plant or
animal was alive but now have changed to
stone.
FOSSIL OF THE TRICERATOPS FOSSILS STORY
Fossils can tell us a lot of things. For
example: the fossil record tells the history
of changes to life on Earth. It is important
HOW ARE FOSSILS FORMED? because it shows what type of animals
Fossils are rock-like casts, impressions, or and plants lived on Earth hundreds of
actual remains of organisms that were millions of years ago. So fossils are very
covered by sediment when they died, useful.
before they could decompose.
There are several processes that can
create fossils:
Internment: This is preservation by
covered with mud, soil and sand.
Replacement: Cell walls can be replaced
$299.99!
by minerals. Real jade beads, silver clasp.
Refrigeration: Animals and plants can be
preserved in permafrost.
Only at Bob’s Jewellery Store!
10
every part of the world and this trip will
IF ROCK exceed all his expectations. He isn’t scared of
anything (or so he says) and will take on
MONSTERS whatever that comes his way.
Duke, a veteran miner, has dug for gold and
EXISTED... other treasures around the world. He’s
BY: EDWARD ABRAMSKEY survived floods, cave-ins, and other dangers
that can happen in mines. He’s really an iron
H
man! He’s never seen anything like the
idden deep in the Earth is the crystals that Doc showed him and the tales of
Earth’s core, a ball of fire or the the alleged rock monsters that live there
home of evil rock monsters? Our guarding the crystals. Sometimes, he isn’t sure
highly educated teams of scientists are trying if he believes in rock monsters at all. But we’ll
to find out if the Lego Miners are in grave have to wait and find out.
danger on their journey to the core of the
Earth in able to find the valuable crystals Brains, a famous scientist who would like to
hidden there. know if these “Rock Monsters” exist and if
possible to capture one of these Rock
If these supposed rock monsters did exist Monsters to examine. He is fascinated by the
they would need to eat rare minerals or Earth’s core and everything about it and is
crystals that are only found in the center of ready to see it firsthand.
the earth. Many scientists believe they would
eat the many crystals that are thought to be Rex, the main engineer for the power miners
around the Earth’s core. I know what you and builds his machines to withstand even
might be thinking. Is this safe? The scientists the hottest temperatures. He loves building
building their vehicles and equipment sure stuff and gets really mad if his things get
hope so. sabotaged. So in other words he loves all of
his creations.
If they were to accomplish building a machine
that could drill through the Earth and survive The Earth’s core is believed to be solid and
the hot magma, they would have to think of made up of iron. “It will be a tough cookie to
the easiest way to get to the mantle. Our crack,” says top engineer Rex. We won’t
scientists think that the easiest way to get to know what it’s like to go through something
the mantle would be through a volcano or like that since it will be the first time this will
through an underwater trench. happen and a top achievement for mankind.
Let’s meet the team for this brave and daring
expedition.
Facts on the Earth’s Core:
Doc, the leader of the team, is determined to
find out what lies underneath the earth and The Earth’s core is the size of the moon
discover all of its secrets. He has traveled to and it is made of iron. That means it’s
solid! Its outer core is the size of Mars!
11
Rocks: A Photo Album by Katie Boyce
There are many different types of rocks on the surface of the earth. Here are just some of the rocks
that you might find.
Quartz
Quartz has many different variations of colours. They can be purple, green, rose, colourless and some
other colours too. They are very hard, and have all different sizes. Because they are so beautiful, they
are very expensive.
Jade
Jade is mostly known to be green, but it also has very
different colors as well. Jade can be smooth when found or
very rough. Most jewellers have to deal with sanding and
shaping it.
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Pyrite (a.k.a. Fool’s Gold)
As you can see, pyrite looks pretty hard. People who thought that were right. Pyrite can sometimes
be as hard as quartz, but sometimes it is slightly softer. Pyrite has a beautiful yellowish- gold feature
to it, which makes it as beautiful as it is. It is also known as “fool’s gold” because some people
mistake it for gold.
Graphite
Graphite is a rock, but not one of the prettiest. It is a rock that is only black. It
does not vary. It is pretty soft, compared to other rocks such as quartz and has
a very nice touch to jewelry.
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Halite
Halite can be a very pretty color of rose, and can also be solid white. Halite isn’t one of the super
hard rocks. Sometimes when people see Halite as rose, they will think it is a different type of rock.
Galena
Galena is gray as you can see, and
all rocks have streaks, mostly
different colors, but galena’s
streaks are gray too. But even
when people think that makes it
plain, it can still be different
shades of gray. Galena is still very
pretty, even though it is all gray.
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Calcite
Calcite is a very unique type of rock. Look at its textures! I don’t think these were sanded yet, and
they look beautiful!
Serpentine
Shades of green on serpentine rock are truly different. From photos I have seen, every serpentine
rock is different, and that is good because people probably won’t get bored of looking at different
pictures.
Feldspar
Feldspar is one of my favorites. You might think it is ugly but this rock has a really nice color.
Green, gray, brownish and pink sometimes!
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Magnetite
Magnetite has very weird shaped and looking rocks.
Sometimes a rock will have more than one color.
Biotite
Biotite is very plain. It looks like one of the rocks you would find in gravel, but sometimes they are
expensive. Who would’ve known that?
Pyrrhotite
Look at this rock! It is extraordinary!
Pyrrhotite (as you can see) is yellow and
brown looking. Pyrrhotite has very unique
designs. With streaks of black and colors
that blend together nicely, pyrrhotite is one
of the prettiest rocks out there.
Hematite
Hematite is a rock that you will commonly see on
jewellery. With its nice smooth shape you can create, it
makes a really fancy or casual piece of jewellery.
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Reviews on the Run with Chase Russell
Journey to the Centre of the Earth: Book vs. Movie
Rating:
The best part is going down the hill in the T-Rex head.
Good sleepover movie? I would say it is a good sleepover
movie because it is cool to watch.
Worthy of a sequel? You bet!
Special Effects ? The T-Rex/the birds/ Venus fly trap
Did you know…?
-The book was inspired by Charles's of 1863.
-Lyell's book also influenced Louis's Geological Evidences
of the Antiquity of Man 1867 second edition of La Terre avant
le déluge which included dramatic illustrations of savage men
and women wearing animal skins and wielding stone axes,
in place of the Garden of Eden shown in the 1863 edition.
Some parts are not as real as
they seem…
The T- Rex has been extinct for a long time.
The birds that glow a light blue are not even real.
The venus fly trap cannot even get that big in the real world.
The fish that fly out of the water are not alive.
The cell phone would not work down in the center of the
earth.
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WEATHERING____ TSUNAMIS_____
BY AARON BROWN BY TEANNE CLEMENTS
C
hemical weathering occurs when there 2001
is a chemical reaction With surface wave or
between water, air or moment magnitudes
another substance and the greater than or equal
material and rocks. A good to 6.5 and
example is acid rain. with a depth of 100
km.
2002 - This was the biggest
tsunami of the
2000nds; it killed 5000
B
people and it cost
iological weathering is aided by living
3 million to repair.
things such as plants animals and micro
organisms. An example is plants growing
out of the sidewalk when
you walk to school.
2003 - This tsunami
took down cars,
houses and people.
2004 - Tsunami strikes
Thailand and kills 300
people and 80 livestock.
P
hysical weathering is caused by a
physical force such as ice, wind, or water.
2005
In example, roads break down over a
period of time from Tsunami strikes hotel in
water, ice and snow. Arugam, Sri Lanka.
2007
Tsunami hits beach side in
southern Java villages.
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