(Part 2) Best products from r/geology

Ok... my geology field trips would have been an entirely different experience without booze and other recreational activities. I don't recommend it. My undergraduate geology degree and 6-week summer field were almost exclusively desert camping, with some high mountains (10k+ feet in the Sierra's and Mt. San Jacinto Peak). Sure, there was the occasional hangover, but it was worth the experience. I remember getting absolutely plastered in Bishop CA with my professor and class, then hiking up a Moraine at Convict Lake with the worst hangover of my entire life. WORTH IT!!!

Just drink a ton of water while you are hiking. I had a 3-liter camelbak with side pouches carrying another 2 1-liter nalgene bottles, and there were times I'd empty it all in a day of mapping and hiking. That was summer so you won't be evaporating as much, but the air is still dry so you still need to keep hydrated.

I don't think you should have to worry about an expensive 4-season tent, despite the winter desert camping. Sure, the temperature might drop below freezing, but a decent sleeping bag (I'd go with one rated to 0-degrees F) should more than make up for it. The one thing with desert camping is you want a tent that holds down well under a heavy wind. Nothing worse than coming back to your camp and having your tent blown away (never happened to me, but happened to a friend). I would recommend a nice small tent that is easy to set up in the dark (happened a lot to my classes). I have an older iteration of this tent http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Sundome-2-Person-7-Feet-5-Feet/dp/B004J2KDH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1382886793&sr=1-1&keywords=sundome+2 and it has been perfect. Easy to set up, sturdy, repacks easily, doesn't take up much room, and cheap!! For comfort, I'd also suggest a cheap air mattress. They are way more comfortable than pads, and will make a big difference in getting you off the cold hard ground.

You'll start out cold in the mornings, so a decent jacket is a good idea. I used to have a nice windbreaker shell and layer it with a hoodie that I could take off as hiking started warming me up. By the same token I liked convertible pants that I could open up at the knees as I started getting hot and sweating.

Outside of that, I picked up a cheap hammer loop for my rockhammer, but had to adjust it so it didn't slap against my knee while hiking. There is a cool way to make an easy map board using a few pieces of plexiglass, duct tape, and bulldog clips, message me if you are interested.

Have fun! I definitely miss those days!!!

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 haven't read Basin and Range, but I remember enjoying Meldahl's Rough-Hewn Land, which is also primarily about the geological history of the West. If I recall correctly, the chapters are actually in a West-to-East order, (starting with the ophiolites visible in San Francisco and gradually working across to the Plains. It's also got a bit of cultural history splashed in, which makes it much less dry than a straight-up textbook.

I really like Roadside Geology of Colorado; the maps are clear and the descriptions are concise but informative. However, that series is definitely written in a style that's meant to be helpful for somebody actually driving along the routes described, rather than reading about it from your living room. If you can't go out and see the features in person, it would lose something. And it doesn't really do justice to the "big-picture" geology that shaped the whole region. Ultimately, probably a bit dense for casual reading.

As a wildcard, you might also enjoy something like Blown to Bits in the Mine by Eric Twitty. It's primarily a history of explosives and how they radically changed the face of mining, so the geologic history aspect is tangential at best. But if you're at all interested in the history of mining or enjoy reading /r/OSHA, it's a pretty fun read anyways. Fun fact: if you're always having issues with your dynamite freezing (who doesn't??), just throw that sucker in a pot of water on the stove! As long as the nitroglycerine doesn't sweat out,, you'll be ready to get to blasting in no time!

Well, the way I learned how was by getting yelled at by our field instructor until we knew what we were doing...Something that has a reasonable way to look up cleavages, colour, hardness, and lustre is just about what you need. The DK one seems reasonable enough, beyond most of that information, it's just practice, practice, practice.

http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Minerals-Peterson-Guides/dp/039591096X < I thiiiink this may be the one we had, but I honestly don't remember. I kept my optical mineralogy text because it's also has good hand sample descriptions, but I think I sold my pretty field guide because I needed to buy next year's texts...

Since we usually got a preamble before any trip, we got pretty lazy and didn't need it that much. We were usually only differentiating between 4-5 minerals, it stayed in our bag most of the time. (Great students, I know. Fact is that if you can ID quartz, the feldspars, pyroxene, and amphibole, you're pretty well off. XD)

Obviously, as an enthusiast, you don't have the 'luxury' of an old furry man yelling at you, but the fact remains that books will only go so far, and you just need to practice seeing cleavage, lustre, and all that. Getting an eye takes time, but it's a lot of fun. :D

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!

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.

These are by and large my favorites. Totally worth the cost. My only complaint is that the screw needs pretty frequent tightening, but overall it's really sturdy. Honestly, I've never found anything over 10x to be particularly useful.

This is one of my favorite rock referance books

It has great pictures, and is very well laid out. Small enough to bring with on any rock hounding adventures.

Not really a guide book, but a very excellent resource on the geology of the plateau, Geological Evolution of the Colorado Plateau. Other than that, all I can recommend is the Roadside Geology book series. There is one for each of the states around the Four Corners, and more!

Read The Deep Hot Biosphere by Thomas Gold. I used to subscribe to the biogenic origin theory, but I'm not so sure now. In his book Gold describes not only the formation of oil, but how a deep origin would describe a lot of other natural phenomena in our world. It's definitely worth a read whether it convinces you or not. I have a feeling as technology further develops and we can drill deeper and deeper we may find Gold wasn't that far off the mark.

Deer, Howie and Zussman - the fathers of modern petrography! This is the petrography book, so if you want to learn this will help.

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Rock-Forming-Minerals-2nd-Edition/dp/0582300940/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333687591&sr=8-1

Also, this is a great optical mineralogy book that is like 80 years old, but is still suuuuper relevant and awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/Optical-Mineralogy-Paul-Francis-Kerr/dp/0070342180/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333687673&sr=1-2

I use the Nesse book (amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Optical-Mineralogy-William-Nesse/dp/0199846278 ) and it's set up pretty well with the first half of it being like an instructional text and the second half just being a giant reference of minerals and their properties. If that one's too expensive, you can pick up the previous edition for ~$30 or so. Definitely a book worth owning.

I'm a professional mineralogist and I have that book at my desk, It's a pretty helpful guide sometimes. I also recommend Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks & Minerals and Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals

Using Geochemical data is an excellent reference guide for anyone starting out working on geochem projects. It sounds like you need to dip into some specialist papers, here, and here are a few places to start off.
Remember to read the references lists of those papers you find most informative/ applicable. Follow the trail and you can't go far wrong.

EDIT: SPAG

I'm taking petrology right now and this is the book my professor swears is the best:
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Optical-Mineralogy-William-Nesse/dp/0199846278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473474969&sr=1-1&keywords=optical+mineralogy

Update: I see someone has already posted an older edition by the same author, definitely go for something by Nesse.

Seconding Blakey. I purchased [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Landscapes-Colorado-Plateau-Blakey/dp/1934656038) book while on my last trip to the Colorado Plateau and it is just fantastic.

If you're interested in this, I would recommend looking around because the price on Amazon is about twice of what I paid.

This is the mineral "bible" that I used during my degree. I had the second edition, but a new one came out a couple of years ago. I think it's got pictures now. Either way, it's got absolutely everything you need in it.

Publisher Link - best for a summary of what's in the book. I think it's also cheaper from there directly too.

Amazon Link

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!

I can't emphasize enough on getting decent safety glasses (even if you already wear glasses). I use my Estwing (a 13 lb-er I think) for geode cracking and the shards did like to aim for your eyes.

To OP; I would hit up any recent rock hounding books on your area on amazon. I have both [Gem Trails] (http://www.amazon.com/Trails-Northern-California-James-Mitchell/dp/1889786284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372461605&sr=8-1&keywords=gem+trails+of+northern+california) and [Rock Hounding in California] (http://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-California-2nd-Guide-States/dp/0762771410/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372461690&sr=1-1&keywords=rock+hounding+california) in my collection for when I visit eventually.

I would recommend looking into local rockhounding groups for your area. Here's is a book on California rockhounding. Here is also a list of musems and geological sites to visit in Cali. I'm not American but this is how my parents helped me when they found i was into the subject and now i'm doing it at University! :)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789491060?selectObb=new

The textbook used for my Minerology class. This is the first textbook I kept because I wanted thought the information would remain relevant, rather than the buyback price too low.

I use the simon and schuster book for a field guide in ny daypack. Super useful for reference.

I bought this and it was used A LOT during Min. It's pretty cheap and totally worth it!

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

Best textbook on the matter

Deer, Howie and Zusmann is the best single reference for chemical, structural and optical properties. (It will not tell you how to use a petrographic microscope nor why substitution occurs as some mineralogy texts do).

You could watch terribly made movies and write papers about all of the inaccuracies and possibly the stuff that the movies got right. Some examples are: Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York, Magma: Volcanic Disaster, Earthstorm, 10.5 , 10.5: Apocalypse, Category 6 - Day of Destruction, Category 7: The End of the World, 2012: Supernova, Magma: Volcanic Disaster, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, The Volcano Disaster, Countdown: Armageddon, and Megafault.

Fun fact: All volcanoes have felsic eruptions with mafic lava flows.

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

If you live in the west, this book is awesome. Still awesome if you don't...

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 know exactly what you are looking for! I bought this book from the Island in the sky visitor center in Canyonlands.

Geological Evolution of the Colorado Plateau of Eastern Utah and Western Colorado https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607810042/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_STT4DbRENHHCR

I am not a geologist either but try to keep learning new things in this field. This book has served me really well.

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.

This book is really good. Find it in your school's library, or get it over inter-library loan.

Best quality for the money and it comes with a lanyard. Buy nice or buy twice.

This one is on my wish list at the moment:

Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau

It's by Ron Blakey, but I'm in the general area of the US (Colorado at least) that it's in my area. Some of my upcoming field camp is going to be around the Colorado Plateau, so I want to get a copy. If you notice, even the used copies rank now between 80-100+ for the book.

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

Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation. This book is invaluable if you are working with analytical data.

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