Sedimentary Rocks: Cave Diving

This week in class we learned about sedimentary rocks. One example of is type of rock is sandstone. Sandstone is made up of small pieces of rock, usually silicates such as quartz, that have been cemented together over time. 

Sandstone serves as the cap rock on top of the limestone Mammoth Cave was formed in.



     



Mammoth Cave







  Example of cave divers dropping in. You can see by the structure and color that the rock around them is not only sedimentary, it is sandstone.

Benefits of Community Gardens

Community Garden



There are many benefits to community gardens both for us, and for the environment as a whole. Some of the benefits include, but are not limited to: community organizing, crime prevention, cultural opportunities, teaching the youth, food production health, and green space.

Community Organizing:
Community gardens increase a sense of community ownership. They foster the development of a community identity and spirits well as bring people together from a wide variety of backgrounds. Community gardens build community leaders and offer a focal point for community organizing that can lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns.

Crime Prevention:
 Community gardens provide opportunities to meet neighbors, which allow for the building of block clubs (neighborhood associations). Community gardens increase eyes on the street and are recognized by many police departments as an effective community crime prevention strategy.
Cultural Opportunities:
• Community gardens offer unique opportunities for new immigrants to: produce traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally, take advantage of the experience of elders to produce a significant amount of food for the household, and provide inter-generational exposure to cultural traditions.
Community gardens offer neighborhoods an access point to non-English speaking communities. They allow people from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side on common goals without speaking the same language.
Youth:
Community gardens offer unique opportunities to teach youth about: where food comes from, practical math skills, basic business principles, the importance of community and stewardship, issues of environmental sustainability, and job and life skills. Community gardening is a healthy, inexpensive activity for youth that can bring them closer to nature, and allow them to interact with each other in a socially meaningful and physically productive way.

Food Production:
Community gardens allow families and individuals without land of their own the opportunity to produce food. Community gardens provide access to nutritionally rich foods that may otherwise be unavailable to low-income families and individuals. Urban agriculture is 3-5 times more productive per acre than traditional large-scale farming.
Health:
Studies have shown that community gardeners and their children eat healthier diets than do non-gardening families. Eating locally produced food reduces asthma rates, because children are able to consume manageable amounts of local pollen and develop immunities. Increasing the consumption of fresh local produce is one of the best ways to address childhood lead poisoning.
Green Space:
Community gardens add beauty to the community and heighten people's awareness and appreciation for living things. They filter rainwater, helping to keep lakes, rivers, and groundwater clean.
Scientific studies show that crime decreases in neighborhoods as the amount of green space increases. Community gardens have been shown to actually increase property values in the immediate vicinity where they are located.

8 Different Rocks/Minerals

This picture above shows different types of rocks/minerals that can be found walking around the Mercer University campus.

Graphing Elevations

Alpharetta/ Roswell, Georgia

Distance  (miles)	Elevation (feet)
0.75	950
1.5	1060
2.25	1065
3	1040
3.75	1050
4.5	1010
5.25	1170
6	1065
6.75	1120
7.5	1015
8.25	1115
9	1090
9.75	1050
10.7	990

X axis = Distance (Miles)

Y axis = Elevation (Feet)

Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents

Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents



When life took hold on the planet around four billion years ago, there was a vast network of hydrothermal vents, perhaps providing the geochemical energy to spawn and support life. There is now evidence that Earth was bombarded my meteors and asteroids; and the safest place to live may have been in the deep ocean. A deep sea mountain range, over 46,000 miles long known as the Mid-Ocean ridge system, marks where the great plates of the Earth's crust are spreading apart. All along this vast network, volcanic eruptions give birth to new ocean floor. Molten rock, deep under the sea bed, creates the scalding black smokers that stream from vents and chimneys. The both of a chimney starts when molten rock, deep below the sea beds, heats up water circulating through the cracks. The hot water rises, carrying dissolved metals such as iron, copper and zinc from deep within the crust. When this hot acidic fluid hits near freezing sea water, the metals come out of solution, creating the rocky walls of the chimney. Some of these chimneys are up to fifteen stories tall. The geology and chemistry of the vents have changed little. Although sunlight never reaches them, they are blanketed with life. Tiny single celled bacteria called microbes are able to produce food using hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals floating around the chimney. Like plants of the surface use the energy of sunlight, microbes use energy stored in chemicals to grow and multiply. Giant spider crabs, snails, sea stars, octopus and fish are all dependent on single-celled organisms, along with the volcanic fluids that flow from the rocks. This is a world where the energy for life springs not from the sun, but off the geothermal forces of the Earth itself. Within the chimneys, we may be able to find clues to how life itself was originated.

If you want to know more about deep sea hydrothermal vents, visit:

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/deep-sea-hydrothermal-vents/?ar_a=1

Lab #3 Top 2 Minerals

 Mineral:  Cinnabar 

Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) is the single most toxic mineral to handle on Earth. The name of the crystal means dragons blood, and it is the main ore of mercury. Forming near volcanos and sulfur deposits, the bright red crystals signal danger of the worst kind. Cinnabar may release pure mercury if disturbed or heated, causing tremors, loss of sensation and death. However, some ancient medical practitioners believed cinnabar held healing powers, and prescribed it for certain conditions.  

Link: http://listverse.com/2013/03/07/10-most-deadly-rocks-and-minerals/



  Mineral: Arsenopyrite

Arsenopyrite is arsenic iron sulfide, which is the same type of mineral as pyrite (fool’s gold, iron sulfide), but with a heavy addition of arsenic. If one attempts to heat or in any way alter the mineral, a strong garlic odor of arsenic will be produced as lethally toxic, corrosive and carcinogenic vapors are released. Just handling the mineral brings one into contact with unstable sulfuric arsenic salts. Interestingly, arsenopyrite may be identified by striking a specimen with a hammer. The powerful garlic odor of arsenic can be briefly detected as the sparks fly.

Link: http://listverse.com/2013/03/07/10-most-deadly-rocks-and-minerals/

Geology Lab #1

Stone Mountain. Red contour line represents elevation at 1,200 feet.