Since relocating to Europe (Scotland to be precise), I have noticed many Europeans choose to leave their homeland during the summer months for long (sometimes 2-3 months) vacations. For the average American this is unheard of. Vacations I have experienced are always quick and to the point. One week in Disneyland, two days at the […]
Sveconorwegian Orogeny, Norway
I recently returned from a couple weeks of field work in the Telemark Region of Norway. The Telemark is widely known for its Stave Churches, the birth place of Telemark skiing, very cold winters (like all of Norway), and funky cottages on stilts. 12 century stave church in Seljord One legend recalls that the church […]
Mount Katmai – Kirk Schleiffarth
100 years ago, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century occurred on the Alaska Peninsula, west of Anchorage. Beginning on June 6th, 1912, a new vent produced an explosive three day eruption that produced 13.5 cubic kilometers of material (over 3 times larger than the 4 cubic kilometers of the 1980 of Mount St […]
Iceland – Kellen Gunderson
Iceland was recently described to me as “Disneyland for Geologists”. The meaning of that phrase is obvious. Iceland is littered with the volcanoes, glaciers, and active faults that make geologists’ blood start pumping. But there are many places in the world that have all of these different features. What separates Iceland apart is the overwhelming […]
Augusto Gansser – A true traveling geologist
Augusto Gansser (by Vera Markus) Augusto Gansser is to the Himalaya, what James Cook is to the Pacific Ocean, and John Wesley Powell is to the American West. While none of these men were the first to explore these regions of the world the impact these men left will continue to influence the way we see […]