https://youtu.be/ARJJGufScTw Before I even finished my first geology class, I jokingly said I was going to be a Spanish-speaking geologist at Walt Disney World. While the rocks at Disney may not exactly be real, Walt Disney World can actually be a great place to learn about geology. In particular Disney's Animal Kingdom celebrates the intrinsic… Continue reading The Geology of Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Tag: meteorite impact
Glaciated breccia: A three-part rock story
This piece of glaciated breccia from the Brussels Hill meteorite impact structure in Brussels, Wisconsin is probably one of my favorites in my collection. It’s not the oldest, nor is it necessarily the prettiest, but it holds one of the best stories. This rock began its life ~440 million years ago during the Silurian Period.… Continue reading Glaciated breccia: A three-part rock story
Meteorite Impact or Maar?
Looking at the two images above, they appear quite similar: both are of very large (~1 mile wide), nearly perfectly circular craters in the ground. However, one was formed by a meteorite impact and the other is a maar formed by an explosive volcanic eruption. Think you can figure out which one is which? From just… Continue reading Meteorite Impact or Maar?
The geology behind Disney/Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur”
The trailer for the new Disney/Pixar movie “The Good Dinosaur” begins by asking the simple question, “What if the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs missed?” As a geologist, my immediate answer to the question was, “Well, the dinosaurs still probably would have died out.” Most public knowledge of the End-Cretaceous mass extinction 65 million years ago involves… Continue reading The geology behind Disney/Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur”
Crater Hunters Find New Clues to Ancient Impact Storm
The Earth will never catch up to the moon (let’s hope), but the number of Ordovician craters may soon takeoff. That’s because it’s easier and cheaper than ever to sniff out the shocked minerals that confirm an impact. My work on my impact site, Brussels Hill in Wisconsin, is featured in this article, which is… Continue reading Crater Hunters Find New Clues to Ancient Impact Storm
Emily Zawacki, Ph.D. 