Reddit mentions: The best specific locations geology books

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.

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.

I would get her some good geologic maps (in poster size) to put on the wall. Since you are in California I would recommend this one from the CGS. Additionally, the North American Tapestry of Time and Terrain is a beautiful map that you can order from the GSA. In my opinion, the best global geologic map is the GCMW which you can order here.

The great thing about geologic maps is that they are loaded with information and you can study them for hours on end. If your daughter is really interested in geology she can teach herself a lot by looking at maps, asking questions (e.g. why is there a bend in this mountain range), and then researching that question. Even just studying the legends on the maps is useful since it will give her an idea of what kinds of rock are typically found together.

Also, pick up a copy of Geology Underfoot in Southern California.

I can't speak for any specific trails or such, but I do recommend looking for the book Minnesota's Geology published by University of Minnesota Press. It is written by Dr Richard Ojakangas and Dr Charles Match, both former geology professors at University of Minnesota Duluth. It covers a lot of the interesting geology found in the state, with great coverage of the different bedrock types found throughout and how they relate to geologic history and Minnesota's place in it.

Here's an Amazon link to the book too: https://www.amazon.com/Minnesotas-Geology-Richard-Ojakangas/dp/0816609535

Another one you might like is called Roadside Geology of Minnesota, again by Dr Ojakangas: https://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Minnesota-Richard-Ojakangas/dp/0878425624

Chert is formed as deep ocean sediment which is lithified (compressed into rock by pressure of burial) then it gets uplifted and exposed as part of an accretionary wedge (scrapings off the ocean floor in a subduction zone). And that all happens over millions of years. If your interested in Geology I recommend a Roadside Geology book of your state. Pretty easy to read and helps you understand geologic processes.

Books like this

Ron Redfern - Making of a Continent

Older book, but well written with some really good photos illustrating the text.

There's plenty of places near Payson where you could go fossil hunting. Not exactly Mesa, but it's a bit cooler up there. There's a place literally right off 260 where you can pull marine fossils from the side of a road cutout.

Paleo Site (Google Maps)

There's also a place on top of a hill between Payson and Pine where you can pull coral fossils out of the ground. I'm about 95% sure it's on private property, however. Go to this at your own risk on this one.

Coral Site (Google Maps)

Apart from that you can find lots of interesting places around the site in this book I highly reccomend. You may want to brush up on your Geology terms, though.

Roadside Geology of Arizona

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'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.

Not OP, but...

Wikipedia is a good place to start https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floridan_aquifer

The most common book is by Randazzo (UF) The Geology of Florida.

Geologic History of Florida: Major Events that Formed the Sunshine State is a bit more speculative but the graphics are more refined.

USGS has a lot of information on the geology and the SJRWMD has a lot of information on the hydrogeology hgdb.

It can be overwhelming. The important thing to note that we sit on-top of 500 ft or so of marine deposits, most of which are interbedded sand/clay, called the Hawthorne Group. It serves as the confining layer for the floridan aquifer. Some hydrogeologist call it the intermediate aquifer, most drillers call it “salt and pepper”. Most single family and irrigation well are here.

Below that is the mostly limestone floridan aquifer. The top 500-ish ft is the upper aquifer, mostly competent ocala limestone, followed by a semi-confining layer, then about 500 ft of the lower aquifer, mostly avon park. This formation is usually fractured and vuggy (voids) and very productive. It is also the source of saline upconing. Most municipal wells are dual zone, drilled through both. But, the new school of thought is more wells with less flow each that isolate one zone (upper or lower, not both).

Below that is another confining layer and then the highly saline fernandina formation. It’s not very thick, 50-100 ft, and not really a practical water source.

The floridan recharges in the center of the state, gainesville area, and south georgia. South of central florida it’s very saline and the biscayne aquifer outcrops. West is saline from drowned karst in the gulf.

"A resistant dolomite layer crops out at the bottom of a stone stairway leading down from a refreshment building near Picnic Area 5 and forms a low waterfall in the river. One layer in the rock here proved ideal for making water lime, a cement that would harden even underwater. Unlike the Silurian dolomites, just enough shale is associated with the layer of Devonian limestone to make high-quality cement. For thirty years, beginning in the 1870s, an important cement industry occupied this site, but the Milwaukee Cement Company quarries, crushers, and huge kilns were long ago replaced by a green park."

Dott, Robert H., and John W. Attig. Roadside Geology of Wisconsin. Missoula, MT: Mountain Pub., 2004. 269-70.

This is an excellent book https://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Washington/dp/0878421602

This would be a good book to check out IMO: http://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Minnesota-Series/dp/0878425624

I recommend this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Geology-Lake-Superior-Region-LaBerge/dp/0945005156

Don't forget a hand lens http://www.amazon.com/Carolina-Doublet-Magnifier-23-10/dp/B005WJIGIW

Here's another book you might like http://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Texas-Series/dp/087842265X

What does this book say??

I am reading Assembling california by John Mcfee