Sometimes a geologist will compare a mountain belt to a living organism. Just like organisms, mountain belts are dynamic systems that experience life cycles. Mountains go through a fragile infancy, a youth filled with rapid growth, a commanding adulthood, and an eventual decay into old age. Sometimes though, the entrance into old age is not […]
The Alpide Belt is a seismogenic zone extending from the Atlas mountains in Morocco through the Zagros mountains of Iran to the easternmost region of Indonesia. This range of mountains was formed through the collision of Africa, Arabia, India, and Australia with Eurasia. Having covered the Indian portion of this collision previously, I now move […]
Imagine with me the most idyllic Mediterranean paradise: sandy beaches, isolated villages, 70º all year long, and gelato (lots of gelato). Now superimpose on this paradise one of the most destructive forces Mother Nature has to offer. For the past 400 thousand years the landmass surrounding the Tyrrhenian sea has been pounded by Plinian volcanic eruptions. […]
