Reddit mentions: The best geology books

One of the main things to do in Baton Rouge is to eat delicious food.

• Enjoy exploring Louisiana Creole cuisine (surprisingly great Wikipedia article!) and Cajun cuisine. Two favorites: blackened redfish, and bread pudding.
  
• Eat the incredible seafood poboy (get it with sprouts, and hashbrowns on the side; apply tabasco liberally) at Louie's by LSU (open 24hrs, usually--closed sunday nights?).
  
• Be awed by the epic summertime thunderstorms that roll through almost every day around 2pm.
  
• Visit the observation deck at the top of the state capitol. It's open till 4pm. Prepare for your visit by reading All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (or watch either of the films--the 1949 film won best picture, and the 2006 re-make was filmed locally), a fictionalization of the rise and fall of Huey Long. Pick up a copy of the book at Cottonwood Books.
  
• Visit the Louisiana State Museum (by spanish town and the capitol; free).
  
• Try to get a tour of the ExxonMobil refinery.
  
• Two local obsessions: Raising Canes chicken fingers and LSU Football.
  
• Eat pizza at Capitol Grocery in Spanish Town, at 5pm (except Sunday). Sit outside and listen to some locals telling stories. Wander around Spanish Town and Arsenal Park.
  
• Run/bike/drive around the LSU lakes. Gawk at the amazing houses.
  
• Visit Mike the Tiger at LSU. While you're there, check out the special exhibitions at the LSU library.
  
• Eat delicious food at George's restaurant, an incredible dive bar under I-10. Favorites are the burgers (the 'heavy hitter' with avocado), the pastrami and swiss on rye, the ribeye sandwich. Legendary for their shrimp poboys, though I have never had one. Leave a dollar on the tar-encrusted ceiling.
  
• Play tennis or golf at City Park or visit the dog park
  
• See the crazy snake collection at Bluebonnet Swamp nature center
  
• Drink beers, eat red beans and rice, boudin balls, and hushpuppies at the Chimes by LSU. Tin roof amber is a great local beer (it's not on the menu, but they have it!). If it's your first time, start out with an Abita Amber and a fried alligator appetizer.
  
• Admittedly it isn't Cafe du Monde, and, after being razed by Walmart, the neighborhood ain't what it used to be, but you can still get your beignet fix at Coffee Call.
  
• Visit the new Tin Roof brewery (friday afternoons only) and enjoy free samples.
  
• See a show and get dinner at Chelsea's, also in the I-10 overpass area. One favorite is the grilled cheese on foccacia; goes well with a blue moon.
  
• Drink coffee at PerksGarden District Coffee (on Perkins Rd) or Highland Coffee (by LSU; always full of lots of studying students).
  
• Get a plate lunch at Zeeland Street Market (by Perks). Get the lunch special. On Wednesdays they have the best fried chicken in town. On Fridays get the fried catfish with mac and cheese on the side. Best time to arrive is just before the 12:00 noon crowds. Closed Sunday.
  
• Take a date to lunch at Yvette Marie's, a cute low-key restaurant in an antique store. I like the jalapeno chicken sandwich. If you're looking for something more traditional, you can't go wrong with their muffuletta sandwich.
  
• Ride in the monthly Critical Mass bike ride with approximately 200 other cyclists through the streets of the city. Last friday of every month, 6:30pm, LSU parade ground/clocktower. See also the bicycle events calendar.
  
• Go on a swamp tour with Marcus de la Houssaye (Lake Martin/Breaux Bridge), Ernest Couret (Butte La Rose), or Dean Wilson (Bayou Sorrel- afterwards, take the Plaquemine-Sunshine ferry across the river and eat lunch at Roberto's River Road Restaurant)
  
• Read Cherry Baton Rouge to hear about this week's goings-on.
  
• Listen to 91.1 KLSU (college radio station) and 89.3 WRKF (NPR affiliate).
  
• Find the river road ruins south of LSU.
  
• On the first friday of the month, go to Stabbed in the Art.
  
• Some other restaurants to look up: Parrain's Seafood; Juban's; Roberto's River Road Restaurant (Sunshine, LA)
  
• The Old State Capitol is beautiful, historic, and free to visit. On the river at North Blvd (by the Shaw Center).
  
• Stroll on the levee and watch the ships (barges) go by.
  
• If you are a civil engineering / geology nerd, you will enjoy reading John McPhee's book The Control of Nature (or read it online) which details the century-long but almost-certainly-doomed effort to control the Mississippi river. If this stuff interests you, drive up and visit the Morganza Spillway and Old River Control, about 1 hour drive north from Baton Rouge (maybe a bit shorter now due to the new Audubon Bridge). There is also the Bonnet Carré Spillway on the way to New Orleans. (Morganza is also the location of the "cafe scene" from Easy Rider; visit The Bear (bar) for some memorabilia.) Check out this beautiful overlay of some old geological maps showing the past courses of the Mississippi river onto Google Maps. Roadside Geology of Louisiana is good too.
  
• The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory is about 30 miles east and offers public tours on some fridays and saturdays. Contact them in advance. CAMD operates a synchrotron light source in town (across from Whole Foods); you might be able to get a tour there too.
  
• Get a group of friends together, bring a cooler full of beer, and go Tiki Tubing down the Amite River. If Tiki Tubing isn't quite your style, rent a kayak at the Backpacker and take it out on some local river or bayou. They have equipment that will let you carry a kayak on just about any vehicle.
  
• Head out to Zydeco Breakfast at Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge (1 hr drive west) early Saturday morning (8am). Or the cajun/zydeco dance at Whiskey River Landing Sundays at 4pm, or their neighbor McGee's Landing Sundays at noon (also: airboat rides). Listen to KRVS 88.7 FM on the way over.
  
• Tour Laura Plantation and stroll the grounds of Oak Alley Plantation. I've heard Laura Plantation has a much better, more historically-informed tour; skip the tour at Oak Alley and go directly for the mint juleps.
  
• Abita brewery, about 1.5 hours east, has free tours
  
• Feed the giraffes at Global Wildlife (near Hammond)
  
• Get an airplane flying lesson at Fly By Knight (Hammond)
  
• Go to Tsunami on the roof of the Shaw Center (art museum) for the best view of the river (thanks BiscuitCrisps). Great place for a drink! Also, check whether any events are going on at the Shaw Center or the co-located Manship Theatre. They often have interesting shows and films.
  
• The Cove has this city's best selection of whiskey (thanks malakhgabriel).
  

I'm not local, but here are some resources you may look into:

A list of gem/mineral clubs in South Carolina. I'm sure that other /r/rockhounds will back me up when I say that joining a club is a great way to meet people who know where to go to find the goods. Clubs also often go out on field trips periodically, including to spots you can't access as an individual.

Here is a general article on the geology of upcountry SC.

A list of upcoming mineral shows. Your best bet might be the Augusta, GA show in March. Shows are another solid place to meet some folks who might give you some pointers, and a great place to get your very early (or very late) Christmas shopping done!

GatorGirl's list for general-interest geology stuff in your state. You might cut your teeth on a commercial site, like the listed Diamond Hill Mine before venturing out on your own.

I couldn't find any rockhounding guides for your state, but Michael Streeter's A Rockhounding Guide to North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains seems well-received on Amazon. One of the reviewers mentions that it gives GPS coords for the sites, which is an absolute godsend. Rock, Gem, and Mineral Collecting Sites in Western North Carolina is another option, but many reviews mention that several sites are no longer open to collecting. It might be worth a read, anyways. And as more of a general overview, you might try a "Roadside Geology" style book like Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas. Your local library may have a copy of some of those.

And, for all of your rock database needs: here is the full Mindat page for finds listed in your state -- towards the bottom, you can select a specific county to narrow things down a bit. Mindat's pretty comprehensive and often has great pictures to help you know what to look for when you hunt, although many of the specimens were collected from private land or closed sites.

If it's not too much of a drive, here is an older post I made regarding rockhounding in North Carolina.

Be aware of the local laws and always keep the Code of Ethics in mind!

With regards to tools required, that depends on exactly what you're looking for! If you're just digging in dirt, a shovel and/or trowel may be all you need. If you see yourself breaking open hard rock, you may need a geologist's hammer and safety glasses. In general, you'll want to bring proper outdoor attire, a buddy to hunt with (and drink your beer, find the good specimens, and go for help if you get hurt!), lunch, a bucket to carry your finds home, and paper towels to wrap delicate specimens in. I'd definitely recommend going on a couple club outings before striking out alone, though.

Good luck!

Wikipedia is your friend. You CAN teach yourself stuff about any of the above. In highschool I decided to pursue playing guitar. Never got very good at it, but I decided to record myself playing anyway. I ended up liking making music with the computer more than practicing, so I did that for a while. Came out with an album with a friend and got some attention at school from it, pretty cool. Then I needed a website for our band, of course, so I learned how to do that by downloading dreamweaver and Flash. I ended up liking Flash the best, and now years later, I've programmed a good number of Flash games and made money from them. None of this stuff happened because of school. It was all because I followed what I wanted to do. (oh, and don't feel bad about pirating software for learning purposes, especially at your age. But also look into educational versions).

Not to say I didn't learn anything good in highschool. I learned a lot from my senior English class because the teacher obviously liked what he did, was good at teaching (taught at Notre Dame half the time, at the high school half the time) and challenged us. Learning how to write a good paper is so important. Oh and I use some basic trigonometry in programming the Flash games. No calculus stuff though.

Ok, my final comment, since you seem to love learning, are two of the coolest books I've read.

Hey man. I have been helping students prepare for the FG exam for the past year or so. I am going to try and answer your questions as best as I can, but please feel free to ask more if you want.

1. Those REG Review guides will work fine. You can buy updates, if you like, from their website. However, I usually stress not to take REG Review as gospel. There are several errors within their study guide book, and the quizzes. I am not a big fan of the books, but they do give the individual a good place to start. If you see something in the book/quizzes that you feel is off, take the time to research it. It will help you tremendously.
   
   
2. There are many online practice tests for 101 courses, mineralogy, petrology, glaciology, and many more. They are usually study guides or practice tests from university classes, available online for students, or associated with textbooks. Search these out, or make your own study guides or quizzes. Use pictures and diagrams and construct fill in the blank practice quizzes.
   
   In regards to the practice exams, keep in mind two things-- they are much harder than the actual exam, and it is impossible to know everything.
   
   
3. Save your money, there are plenty of online resources. Email an old professor or TA and ask if they can give you some old quizzes or handouts (yes, I know this is easier said than done). I had a few professors send me some old tests, but I think I just got lucky.
   
   
4. Eh, pretty much. Add relative age dating.
   
   
5. I used my old textbook to study, but there are structural lab manuals online.
   
   Textbook-- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/structural-geology-of-rocks-and-regions-george-h-davis/1116750487/2674186308854?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+Textbooks_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP20456&k_clickid=3x20456
   
   This is an older edition. But for $3; who gives a shit?
   
   Lab Manual-- http://www.usouthal.edu/geography/allison/GY403/StructuralGeologyLabManual.pdf
   
   
6. Study with friends. Run through some practice tests or exams and study what you missed. Remember that you will not know everything, and that is okay. The test is scored on a gradient, more or less. Stick with the basics.
   
   Be sure to set aside time to study and don't freak out.
   
   Hope I helped!
   
   Edit: Here are a few websites that may help you study:
   
   Physical Geology Textbook supplemental material:
   http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072402466/sitemap.html?Qui
   
   More Physical Geology practice quizzes:
   http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/Exams/ExamMaster.HTM
   
   Mineralogy and Geochem:
   
   http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/FundamentalsIndex.html
   
   I do not remember much geochem on the FG exam when I took it. But it doesn't hurt to brush up a little.
   
   Also, if you feel the need to purchase a historical book, I recommend "Evolution of the Earth" by Donald Prothero. Even though it pains me to recommend it, dude's a Class A creeper, the book is really good. Buy an older edition like the seventh or so. The only difference I remember between seventh and eighth edition are a few side notes about hominids. Pretty much moot between the two.

i am a huge fan of reading , and the vast majority of books i have read have been the physical medium type. i tried downloading e-books and reading them on my laptop (at work), but it really was a strain on my eyes. i loved the idea of having all my books with me, but was hesitant to buy another "screen" to read on after the crappy laptop reading. then my local library got some of the original nooks, and i checked one out for a few weeks, and it really changed my opinion on e-readers. the convenience! there was only a few books that it came with from the library, but i found some of the books i was currently reading on a torrent site and found it much easier to read on on the nook. for example, i enjoy reading while laying on my side, if you reading a big hard cover you know how much a pain this can be. this was made 100 times easier with the nook. later on i had an opportunity to see a kindle, and to me it looked a little clearer, but didn't seem like a huge difference. it did seem like a nice user interface overall, and eventually when i buy one (which i definitely will) i'm leaning towards a kindle. i went to b&n and looked at the nook color, and though it looked nice for the color books, i think it would be lousy for regular books.

if you read a lot, but are hesitant to get an e-reader, i would suggest trying to borrow one from someone, i think you may be pleasantly surprised. they aren't for everyone. i am still going to support my library and local book store as there are a lot of books that just simply look better in paper (i have the entire definitive visual guide series for example).

for most books though, it's just about the story. i'm not one of those people that cares if the cover of my book is the movie version, or the "original" 1st edition version. i really could give two shits about the "art" or "smell" of books. for me, it's about the story, not the medium, and whatever conveys that story most efficiently gets my vote. i am an avid reader and and e-reader is a great tool in my reading toolbox to supplement my reading. it's not meant to "replace books".

Check out the Princeton Field Guide. It's really nice and around $20. If you're looking for the spiritual side of things, I don't have the know-how to provide a recommendation but if you're interested in the mineral themselves you may like it. It has lots of beautiful images and the descriptions are really good. They'll tell you the environments where they form, what their crystal systems look like, how they tend to break (you'll want to know that for drilling your holes and such - I imagine you'd drill perpendicular to cleavage for less fracture).

As far as fancy rock names, you'll just put that together with experience. You can pick up an old edition Earth by Tarbuck for $10 online and that'll tell you all of your basics and from there you can easily branch out.

It can be confusing and frustrating at first, but just keep at it and it'll all come together with some experience. I can recommend things for days, but those books really helped me get a grip on the variety.

If you have any other questions, I'm super happy to help!

Princeton: http://www.amazon.com/Minerals-World-Princeton-Field-Guides/dp/069109537X

Earth: http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Introduction-Physical-Geology-8th/dp/0131148656/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407769493&sr=1-9&keywords=earth+tarbuck

Geology/geography is pretty interesting in its own right, and learning about it can help you make your maps more 'realistic'. Granted, that may or may not be what you want, but it's a start. Understanding how rivers form, how glaciers form landforms, and how things like mountain ranges, deserts, islands, and other massive landforms form can really help you make a convincing map that doesn't appear so alien that you have to come up with a whole new set of physics rules to justify it.

I recommend getting an older geology 101 textbook if you're like me and get distracted when you try and read things on the internet. Sure, you can get most of the information online for free, but you can get used, old editions of textbooks for cheap and then you have something you don't need internet acces or even power for. You can get this one for <$20 used, and it's pretty decent. I'm sure there's better/cheaper options out there, but this is what I used in my geology class and it's really interesting.

So John McPhee books are generally pretty great and won't be too... much? For somebody just getting into it. The problem with most geology books is that they're going to get a little technical, and it can be easy to feel out of your depth (especially considering even basic terms aren't really taught in science classes in grade school). Anyway, Assembling California is a good one. Annals of the former world is another one by him that's really great, but it's a little thick.

There have to be some decent youtube videos, but even sites like Lynda don't have anything geology-wise.

If you want to get into it a little more casually, follow (legit) science groups/publications on social media. AGU is pretty active and posts on a wide variety of geologic topics (they have some good blogs, too); the NSF and NOAA also post cool stuff, but it's not specifically geology-related.

Honestly, your best bet is to try a class though. Geology is a pretty varied field, and even if intro-level courses are generally kind of... dumbed down (in a lot of schools they're called "rocks for jocks")? They'll still get you more than you might out of random googling.

Da exista. Din pacate in engleza sunt mult mai multe resurse decat in romana dar asta nu ne mira.

In engleza ai:

• Probabil cea mai completa resursa este ultimul raport IPCC. Aici ai linkul pentru sumarul raportului. Nu se folosesc termeni complicati, dar limbajul este foarte precis pentru ca trebuie sa fie, si deci poate e mai greoi de citit. Cu toate astea nici lista nu ar fi completa fara sa pun raport ul IPCC in varf pentru ca reprezinta sinteza muncii de decenii a intregii comuntati stiintifice pe tema schimbarilor climatice.
  
  
• Siteul NASA pe tema de climate change - are explicatii pentru oameni normali, grafice, animatii si mult mult material care poate fi citit pe scurt sau mai in detaliu in functie de cat timp vrei sa dedici.
  
  
• Un alt site cu slideuri simple dar la obiect e climate-change-knowledge.org - nu e la fel de frumos facut ca cel NASA
  
  
• Un clip foarte scurt (<3min) facut de Agentia de protectia mediului din SUA. Explica bazele fenomenului si au si alte filmulete informative pe canalul lor.
  
  
• Un alt canal de YouTube despre stiinta schimbarilor climatice pe care nu pot sa il recomand suficient - potholer54. Omul posteaza de ani de zile pe tema asta si este de meserie jurnalist pe teme de mediu asa ca are experienta in a explica termeni complexi in cuvinte simple. Are foarte multe clipru care raspund miturilor care neaga schimbarea climatica si este o resursa foarte buna ca sa intelegi cum apare, cum se propaga si cum poate fi refutata informatia gresita care circula pe teme de mediu.
  
  
• Un ultim site care este excelent pentru explicat aceleasi mituri gresite despre schimbarile climatice si care include mereu surse si linkuri catre articolele stiintifice care rezolva problema este skeptical science. Un mic detaliu aici, foarte multe bloguri si siteuri care se ocupa cu propaganda anti-stiinta pe teme de mediu se cheama Skeptical-ceva pentru ca ei nu se considera ignoranti ci doar sceptici. Eh siteul pe care l-am dat mai sus se ocupa exact cu demontarea miturilor gresite pe tema asta cu surse si explicatii decent de simple.
  
  
• Daca vrei ceva care poate fi citit si offline si care e in general o resursa educativa excelenta pentru oricine este "Earth’s Climate Past and Future - William F. Ruddiman". Se gaseste pe Amazon in diverse editii. Pdf ul insa pluteste liber prin diverse librarii online cum ar fi b-ok.xyz.
  
  In limba romana am gasit foarte putine resurse dar exista macar.
  
  
• Pagina Agentiei Nationale de Meteorologie pe tema climei - poate grafic nu cea mai frumoasa dar au explicati simple si la punct in romana. Aici gasesti si informatii generale despre mecanismele schimbarii climatice si o privire mai in detaliu despre cum este si va fi afectata Romania.
  
  
• Tot publicat de ANM si bun de citit offline e documentul asta (pdf). Are un cuprins foarte detaliat astfel incat poti sa citesti doar informatia de baza sau sa intri in detalii si nu este scris pentru specialisti.
  
  Ar mai fi multe, multe altele de recomandat dar astea cred ca acopera foarte bine subiectul intr-un mod accesibil pentru oricine e interesat. Presupun ca mai sunt si alte resurse bune in limba romana dar atat am putut gasii dupa o cautare simpla. Pentru orice alte intrebari iti stau la dispozitie.
  
  Edit: uitasem sa adaug linkul pentru canalul lui potholer54

So, I work in Yellowstone and the rest of the state doesn't really recognize the tourist parts as really true Wyoming. The schedule you described is the Disney tour. Having worked with the Disney tour, it's kinda adventure on rails. It's not a mean criticism, there are few tours that aren't that way. I see the same people leading them every week. You'll be seeing and doing the same stuff every week with people who are way more interested in the Disney brand than they'll be interested in the state of Wyoming. If I'm wrong and you aren't with Disney, my advice is still mostly the same. Focus your attention on the specific places on the tour.

Read all of Yellowstone Resources and Issues.

Grand Teton has a recommended reading list for guides. In addition to that, the rest of both official sites are a trove of information in the "Learn about the Park" sections.

Check out Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country for interesting features to point out while traveling between locations.

These may be helpful. /r/yellowstone /r/JacksonHole /r/GrandTetonNatlPark/


Maybe read some Edward Abbey for your soul. :) I do hope you have a great summer. I came for a summer, fell in love with Yellowstone and then found the rest of the state and decided to never leave.

Annals of the Former World by John McPhee. McPhee is one of the best nonfiction writers out there, which helps a lot.

The core of the book is a series of encounters with prominent scientists who were deeply involved in making the discoveries he outlined. So it is powerful from the human interest angle but that is inextricable tied in with a deep exploration of the science involved. It's from a layman's point of view, but that is probably a great advantage if you are layman yourself, and it's far from superficial but a real attempt to deeply understand and explain the geology.

Incidentally, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1999.

Take a look at this video as well - about one of the sections of Annals of a Former World.

The only thing I can think of is "befriend a geologist who enjoys hiking" (I'm keen if you live in Queensland! But unlikely!).

While not the answer you're looking for... why don't you learn some basic geology yourself? You could then make your own assumptions on why the landscape looks a certain way, or why you're finding certain rocks in an area.

I found a entry course online but I can't attest to how good it is. Or if you're looking for something a bit more this textbook can be really interesting to someone who has an interest in earth science and will cover all the basics! I know it's a scientific textbook but it's a great read if you are interested in learning about the basics of earth science.

One thing you might want to take a look at is an introductory historical geology textbook.

I read an older edition of this (http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Geology-Reed-Wicander/dp/1111987297) and it was generally pretty good. Very expensive there, but I'm sure a PDF is available for free with a bit of looking.

It covers the very basics of many fields (plate tectonics, Earth composition and structure, radiometric dating techniques) and then moves through major time periods of Earth's history, including dinosaurs and all sorts of other organisms.

You might find it somewhat unsatisfying in that it is covering such a vast amount of material that it can't go too in-depth proving its points every step of the way, but it does a pretty good job considering it's scope, and has lots of good photos of fossils and/or diagrams.

As a single book aimed at understanding Earth's history, I'm not sure you could do much better.

The most obvious answer is all of the civilizations that spanned the period when Noah's flood was supposed to have happened:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Global_flood#Things_that_happened_during_the_Great_Flood

We have ice cores from places like Greenland:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data/datasets/ice-core

Ice sheets are like enormous layer cakes. You get layers for the seasons. The layers trap what-eve is blown in on the wind. The wind carries dirt and pollen from across the world.

We have uninterrupted records of what was happening on the planet that reach back over 150,000 years:

http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2010/07/31/oldest-greenland-ice-core-recovered/

We have very similar data from lake sediments:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data/datasets/lake

And we have the same kind of data from sea floor sediments.

And we have rivers sediments. The rivers bring sediments into their deltas and that stuff stacks up thousands of feet deep for big rivers like the Mississippi.

We have very clear data that tells us that there was no global flood and no rearranging of the Earth's crust beyond the very slow plate tectonics that moves things at about the same rate that your fingernails are growing.

> I was under the impression that the many of the younger scientists have shifted away from uniformitarianism, and that the major difference between young-earth supporters and the long-age supporters is the timescale of events preceding the most recent series of global catastrophes.

Nah, that's just creationists trying to move the goal post.

Geology happens over periods of time that are mind boggling huge. Yes, there will be small events that happen suddenly. A volcanic eruptions here, a ruptured glacial dam there.

Aside from extremely rare events, things that happen on a >100 million year interval like the Chicxulub impactor ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_impactor ) there simply aren't 'global catastrophes'.

There are things that happen over millions of years that can have big effects but it's moving the goal post to call those 'global catastrophes'. Firstly because they happen in a small region and their effect spreads out very slowly. And secondly, they're a long series of events that can literally span millions of years. There are very few example of this kind of thing. The Siberian Traps are probably the best know example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_Traps

'Global Catastrophes' are the work of fiction.

Here's a link to what's probably the most enjoyable book I've ever read about how the field of geology evolved from the older fashioned views to the current view:

https://www.amazon.com/Assembling-California-John-McPhee/dp/0374523932

John McPhee has written an number of excellent books about Geology and a bunch of other fields. But I'd start there if I wanted to know more about the question you just asked.

Whilst I don't know where you could learn online, I highly recommend looking up publicly available field courses in basic geology. You would learn alot and be able to go out hiking!

If you're interested in sedimentary geology, Gary Nichol's book is excellently written, organised, and I would say is very accessible by the layman.

I'd also recommend the different Geology Field Guide Books as they are small, easily looked through and designed to be taken into the field. They have one for sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic and structural I think, very good books that would definitely get you through at least the first 2 years of an undergrad bachelors in Geology.

EDIT: on further investigation I think I meant the Field Description book series. Either look pretty good for a basic grounding.

EDIT 2: I also forgot to mention they're relatively cheap compared to most academic texts!

Thanks! I just wish I could say there were more good things on the list.

And thanks for the Patton recommendation, I'll check that out.

I do recommend anything by John McPhee in the strongest possible terms. It's all non-fiction, and always interesting and often very funny, and about a tremendous range of topics.

Like fishing? Read The Founding Fish, which is all about the American Shad, and I mentioned before.

Like boats? Looking For a Ship is about the merchant marine.

Planes, trains, and automobiles (and more boats)? Uncommon Carriers deals with all of them, and why almost all lobster eaten in the US comes from Kentucky.

Care for tales about why New Orleans is doomed, pissing on lava , and debris flows in LA? The Control of Nature covers those.

Fruit? How about Oranges?

Geology? The Annals of the Former World is a compilation of several shorter books more or less following I-80 across the US.

Sports? Tennis (and basketball to a lesser extent). He's also written about lacrosse in various magazines.

...And a ton of other stuff, ranging from bears to farmers markets to nuclear energy to lifting body airplanes to Switzerland.

Outcomes of the Life of a Geologist is an excellent narrative introduction to geology that I think would pique your interest.

For a more rigorous or sciency introduction, you could look at intro geology textbooks. this was the one my course used (now in 10th edition).

But perhaps a better way to approach this, depending on where you're going to school, might be to just try to learn some things about the local geology. This will help you to get more out of your courses, if they have field components. The local rocks can be a gateway to all kinds of interesting topics, since they are marked by all the crazy shit that's happened to them over thousands to millions of years. For example, lots of rocks in New Hampshire have striations from the last glacial maximum. Let me know if you would like help finding sources/guiding an inquiry in this vein.

PS don't let this subreddit scare you in terms of careers. But DO take the excellent advice here in mind moving forward. You will have many opportunities to distinguish yourself to professors/employers through courses, internships, supervised research...take advantage of these!

Best of luck

If you live in the US, try a book in the Roadside Geology series from your state or one you can drive to. If not, try looking for books on local geology or guidebooks to nearby parks and natural attractions that have a good description of the geology in them.

The best way to learn about the rocks is to have your nose pressed against them, so go out and do some fun geological things with a guidebook in your hand telling you what everything is.

Another good book is The Practical Geologist which is an inexpensive basic guide that was similar to my Geology 101 lab book. Though I never read the whole thing in it's entirety; the only reason I bought it was because I sat in the arch on the cover once...

I second Dinosaur Ridge (make sure to also check out the Lykins Stromatolites across the road at Red Rocks while you're there). For a definitive compilation of other local sites I highly recommend this book co-written by CU prof. Lon Abbott. Back when I was at CU we taught our intro field classes using Lon's curriculum based around many of the sites he talks about in there. You can access a truly amazing variety of geologic history within an hour or so of Denver using that book as your guide. Assuming, like /u/mokoroko points out, that snow doesn't foil your plans. Hope you have a great visit!

I honestly think you're making this harder than it needs to be. A few good books should tell you all you need to know about the region. Buy now and read for the next 9 months, and you will appreciate the place so much more. The 'roadside geology' series is generally quite good. https://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Yellowstone-Country-William/dp/0878425810/
There are dozens of hiking guides, and more than a few books dedicated to the wildlife and fauna of the region.

Depending on the length of your vacation, you might consider also camping in an adjacent national forest. I camped for 5 days in the Wind River mountains to see the eclipse and saw moose, antelope, badgers, etc., in a gorgeous setting. And even with the eclipse pending, the people density was orders of magnitude lower than any place in Yellowstone. The Beartooth mountains NE of the park are some of the prettiest in the region.

In addition to those mentioned I would add:

Colliding Continents by Mike Searle is a fantastic read! Both from a geology and mountaineering perspective.

Annals Of The Former World by John McPhee is also good, currently making my through it, very accessible and covers a lot of ground in North America.

Also, more for its humour value than anything: Exploration Days: An A-Z of Ways of Dying in Mineral Exploration by S.J. Waddell is a good, light read written by a former exploration geologist working in SE Asia in the 60's and 70's, can be had on iBooks for about $5.

The best book I have yet seen that actually focuses on what graduate school is like and what it takes to succeed (as opposed to focusing more on the application process) is Gregory Semenza's <i>Graduate Study in the Twenty-First Century</i>. It's focused primarily on the Humanities but I suspect it would be generally useful for STEM prospectives as well. If I had to recommend one book to someone considering graduate school or just wanting to know what it is like to be a graduate student, this is the one.

http://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Study-Twenty-First-Century-Humanities/dp/0230100333

If you bothered to read the Springer link you would have learned of the different dating methods used and you would have seen that the article was supported by independent studies.

Attempts to link the Bible and geology were ended long ago. It’s only recently where creationist have regained a voice. Largely because of their ability to publish something online without a peer-review process.

So let’s look at his sources (that aren’t creationists). Most of his sources are from the small and discredited creationist community. They are discredited because the blatantly misrepresent the geological and larger scientific record.

Purdue source:

>The fluctuations we're seeing are fractions of a percent and are not likely to radically alter any major anthropological findings," Fischbach said. "One of our next steps is to look into the isotopes used medically to see if there are any variations that would lead to overdosing or underdosing in radiation treatments, but there is no cause for alarm at this point. What is key here is that what was thought to be a constant actually varies and we've discovered a periodic oscillation where there shouldn't be one."

The ENCODE project has been criticized for its liberal interpretation of the word “functional”. They have since defined the term

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENCODE#Criticism_of_the_project

What is interesting about the Purdue article is that it establishes the scientific community’s pursuit of the truth regardless of what the truth is. If you look at the history of earth dating methods, you’ll see one scientists after another trying to confirm the work of the previous scientist. As time went on, the older ideas and discoveries were supplanted by better ones. And each time the earth was determined to be older than previously thought. The attempts to date the earth go way back to 1700s and even then it was realized that age of the earth was at least millions of years old.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/geohist.html (note the diverse sources)

A creationist first believes the Bible and sets out to prove it. They discard what doesn’t fit, massage other data to fit and come back to same conclusion.

You’re entitled to your religion, but not your facts.

Challenge your beliefs and read this
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Earth-G-Brent-Dalrymple/dp/0804723311

Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762783656/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_6X26wb5VVT2AP

Rockhounding New York: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762779004/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_KY26wbYF584VV

Roadside Geology of New York (Roadside Geology Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0878421807/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_dZ26wbRZZCT7B

The Collector's Guide to the Minerals of New York State (Schiffer Earth Science Monograph) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764343343/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_DZ26wbH96TSC2

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I've found rockhounding books usually have good intros and brief explanations which is good for beginners.

Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Geology-Underfoot-Death-Valley-Owens/dp/0878423621

My personal favorite experience was hiking through an old mining valley (sorry I don't remember the name of it) where we found huge chunks of kyanite and stuff.

Death Valley is beautiful if you can appreciate it and there's a good amount of stuff you can see by just stopping at road cuts or doing scenic routes like artist drive.

That being said, if your party doesn't want to experience heat and you drag them out to hike in Death Valley in the summer, they will probably hate you-it gets hots. I'd recommend keeping it restricted to a drive through experience, get out and see the salt flats and stuff but avoid long hikes.

It's definitely worth the detour either way though. But it's certainly possible I'm not giving it as good of a review as it deserves. I've only been a few times and it's a very large area. Wait for more responses before you let mine affect your enthusiasm.

Annals of the Former World by John McPhee is the best introduction to geology that I've ever read. McPhee, a geological layman, recounts his travels across North America in the company of several geologists, trying to understand the history of the continent and the forces that have shaped it. I have two degrees in the subject and I still find it a fascinating read, since McPhee weaves in human history as well; the result is one of the least dry science books out there.

> Really, I just want to work in pretty country and find gold

Yeah that would be awesome. At least in the US you'd get to do a lot of work in NE Nevada and Alaska.

I know you've been working environmental for quite some time, how are you with mineral ID (sulfides and ig/met minerals specifically)? Did you take an economic geo classes? If you want to drop $100 on a text book the Geology of Ore Deposits is the quintessential economic geology text.

Scotty?

Johnson knew it was a scam and still was friends with Scotty, Johnson willfully built the castle because he fell in love with the area and the climate and lifestyle helped his health.

http://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/death-valley-scotty.htm

Also, with the huge size of the park and the drastic geological differences that occur within the boundaries, there are many different elements present.

Here are some good books about the geology of the area/history and hiking.

http://www.amazon.com/Geology-Underfoot-Death-Valley-Owens/dp/0878423621

http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Death-Valley-Natural-Wonders/dp/0965917800/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427481871&sr=1-1&keywords=hiking+death+valley

http://www.amazon.com/Important-California-history-autobiography-detailing-ebook/dp/B00AQN23CY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427481886&sr=1-1&keywords=death+valley+in+49

https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Alteration-Petrographic-Hydrothermal-Minerals/dp/0919216595

https://www.amazon.com/Ore-Textures-Interpretation-Roger-Taylor/dp/3642017827

These two are basically picture books with heaps of photos of altered rocks. Honestly though, recognising alteration is 90% experience, because your rocks will never look exactly like the photos. Everyone struggles a bit straight out of uni. Its harder now, but ideally move around a bit early in your career so you can see different rocks (and learn different ways of doing things).


https://www.amazon.com/Geology-Ore-Deposits-John-Guilbert/dp/1577664957

Guilbert & Park is good on alteration in terms of the minerals and chemical reactions involved, but its text with a few B&W diagrams.

BTW, G. Brent Dalrymple, PhD (the author of the paper at that link) is not just your average internet expert - he is a renowned expert in geology and radiometric dating. A President's National Medal of Science winner, former Asst Chief Geologist at the USGS and a principal investigator on the NASA team that analyzed the lunar rocks brought back on Apollo 11 to 13. He literally "wrote the book" on radiometric dating and the age of the Earth.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Earth-Brent-Dalrymple/dp/0804723311

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Earth-Skies-Cosmic-Surroundings/dp/0804749337

Are you looking for a textbook? I like "Introduction to Mineralogy" by William Nesse. It's pretty comprehensive on mineral ID and info, including occurrence, alteration, uses, cleavage, etc.

Buy and read some textbooks that cover the required undergrad courses at a university. Here are a few that come to mind: structural geology and tectonics, sedimentology/stratigraphy, geophysics, earth materials (mineralogy), earth systems, petrography and petrogenesis, field methods and maybe volcanism and oceanography.


But back to your question... If you're mainly concerned with rock formations (sed/strat) then just read this book or this one, they will help you tremendously. Hope this helps!

Even if you're not exactly in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the Roadside Geology book for the park is a great one, Amazon has lots of other books that look good too.

I haven't read The Rockhounding Guide to the NC Blue Ridge mountains, but I think I will before next vacation....

I as well am currently using this book for an ore deposits class. it is well written and easy to fallow. Another book I have for more technical indepth descriptions of specific deposits is The Geology of Ore Deposits by Gilbert and Park, this book has just about everything.

I'd start reading books such as Geology of the SF Bay Region and, one of my favorites, Assembling California. You might be able to borrow these from your uni.

These will give you a good start/background and from there find more detailed publications with maps on USGS website.

Glad to help. There's also this https://www.amazon.com/Earths-Climate-William-F-Ruddiman/dp/1429255250

Which is where your image is from

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Earth-Donald-Prothero/dp/0072826843

Best textbook on the matter

You're not gonna find 'rocks' like what you're thinking of here for the most part.

Depending on how long you have before you come and if you're gonna be driving, search out "Roadside Geology of Louisiana" by Darwin Spearing for an interesting read.

This is a great sedimentology book I used during my geology degree:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Sedimentology-Stratigraphy-Wiley-Desktop-Editions-Gary-Nichols/1405135921

Just remembered another book that's worth looking into - Sedimentation and Stratigraphy if you want a good summary of sedimentary rocks etc

It appears you are interested in geology. I would suggest picking up a copy of Roadside Geology of New York. This well-written series of books provides great geology background for each state. The questions you have posted above are very broad and difficult to answer...

Reflected light microscopy is a bit of a lost art. I was never taught it formally, and had to learn it later. You'll want to look for old used books, but for most silicates reflected light isn't the way to go. Are you looking at ore samples? Because that is really when it becomes useful.

This is my go-to book for mineral identification:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199827389/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0199846278&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=JH49Y9MM8HG4CQ9X8A0G

Try a historical geology class.
Here's a [historical geology textbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Geology-Reed-Wicander/dp/1111987297) used for several, and a freebie historical book, although this looks like a combination of Physical and Historical more than strictly historical.

Course slides with excellent diagrams for the basic principles of how rocks are deposited.

List of Internet resources for historical geology

Some would argue there is no better book you can read than Graduate Study for the 21st Century. Many of my professors recommended it for anyone going into grad school for the humanities. Beware though—it is extremely honest.

Thirding the suggestion for Nesse. I have this version, but the old text we keep in the lab has also been incredibly helpful, although it's nice to have coloured charts and more detailed diagrams. A new edition's supposed to come out soon from what I understand, but I could be wrong. Probably isn't going to be too different, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Geology-Underfoot-along-Colorados-Front/dp/0878425950/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373737070&sr=1-1
I personally love this book. Lon Abbott is able to explain things very clearly, and not just in this book that is about the geological history of the Colorado front range, but in any of his books.

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Introduction-Physical-Geology-8th/dp/0131148656/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331078232&sr=1-12

I've been self studying this book for some of my competitions - DOE science bowl/science Olympiad (high school senior) and I really like it. I found it recommended in this subreddit a while ago and decided to give it a go.

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Introduction-Physical-Geology-Edition/dp/0131148656

One of my Geology Texts - OK I was 2nd Ed. However, for my degree it wasn't great. I personally thought a good 16-18yr old book when studying geography and geology - when I got to Uni I bought the book and I'm not sure I got more from it than 10 or 20 pages.

When I was starting as an undergraduate geologist, I bought this book. It is very basic, and does a very good job at explaining things. Now, as a teacher, I lend it to any student who seems to be struggling with the basic concepts. It's a start, a very good one at that.

I can't believe nobody mentioned John McPhee. I enjoyed all of his geology books; the four were republished as one volume in Annals of the Former World. http://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734

John McPhee's geology books are quite entertaining. Annals of a Former World is four-books-in-one, tracing the geology of the US across the 40th parallel, more or less. You learn some geology, some geography, some personal history, and US history.

Something along the lines of Bill Ruddimans Climate Past and Future

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earths-Climate-NA-N/dp/1429255250/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Its an introductory testbook covering the basics.

David Archers courses are also for basic introductory level

http://forecast.uchicago.edu/classes.html

MITs open courseware has lots to chose from

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/earth-atmospheric-and-planetary-sciences/

McGuffies Climate Modelling Primer is another introductory work for those with a basic knowledge of physics.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Climate-Modelling-Primer-Kendal-McGuffie/dp/111994337X

​

Start by getting a grasp on the radiative transfer model (which is discussed in Archer and Ruddiman works). And also basic atmospheric and ocean dymanics.

Be able to explain the 3 cell model of the atmosphere, describe the development of depressions, tropical storms and other basic weather phenomena. Be able to describe the basics of ocean circulation, the ENSO and its links to Walker Circulation, what the mixing layer, Eckman Transport and bottom water formation are.

Then be able to describe paleoclimate, what caused the recent glaciations, what the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximus was and so forth.

McGuffie should be a good over view of modelling.

Most of the books should be available in a uni library the courses are free to peruse though I have not checked if they are still open atm.

Brent Dalrymple's book, Age of Earth is also a good read.

A mineralogy textbook would be a good start, this is the one we used when I took the class (https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Mineral-Science-Cornelis-Klein/dp/0471721573). Or maybe this (https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mineralogy-William-Nesse/dp/0199827389), although I haven't read it myself.

You might look at the age of the earth or plate tectonics. There is a good book on the age of the earth that goes through all of the evidence.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Earth-Brent-Dalrymple/dp/0804723311
I can't think of an equivalent book on plate tectonics, but a number of geology textbooks go through the evidence for it.

What part of geology are you interested in? Annals of the Former World is the go to book when this comes up on /r/geology

Ninja edit: I haven't read it, but it's on my list of things to read.

Genre: Science/Geology

Author: John McPhee

Title: Annals of the Former World (Amazon link)

A few quotes from the book to provide some food for thought:

> If you free yourself from the conventional reaction to a quantity like a million years, you free yourself a bit from the boundaries of human time. And then in a way you do not live at all, but in another way you live forever.

and:

> If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose: The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.

Before I took any classes on resource geology, I purchased an older book that was pretty handy here, but is far out-dated now (the PDF provided by Paaatrick_Baaaby_Boy is probably far more applicable).
For Cu porphyry systems (recommended to read up on these two papers by industry and a fellow who ran his own min-ex company) one of the go-to papers can be found here by Sinclair and another by Sillitoe can be found here.

How the Earth was Made

Geologic Journey

2 minute Geology

Annals of a Former World

When Life Nearly Died

Go for the whole series:
http://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734/ref=pd_sim_b_5

Geology of Ore Deposits is still around! New edition though: http://www.amazon.com/Geology-Ore-Deposits-John-Guilbert/dp/1577664957/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341627306&sr=1-1&keywords=geology+of+ore+deposits

This isn't really what you're after but may do the job - http://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734 (Pulitzer Prize).

I am reading Assembling california by John Mcfee

Here is the mobile version of your link

https://www.amazon.com/Annals-Former-World-John-McPhee/dp/0374518734

Honestly if your not already well versed as a geologist (I’m not) you might find some sections to be a bit of a slog (I did) but my recommendation is that if you feel yourself struggling through a passage, just skip along until you find more readable prose. There’s a hell of a lot of book to get through, so even if you miss out on something the first time, you’ll still learn and enjoy a ton of it, and maybe you catch that piece you missed on a second reading a few years down the line