Darwin's Dilemma

Darwins Dilemma looks at the geologically-sudden appearance of dozens of major complex animal types in the fossil record without any trace of the gradual transitional steps Charles Darwin had predicted. Frequently described as “the Cambrian Explosion,” the development of these new animal types required a massive increase in genetic information. “The big question that the Cambrian Explosion poses is where does all that new information come from?”





Jackson springs

On our trip to jackson springs we learned much about how Jackson Springs Park came about and most importantly we learned alot about geology.  We learned about certain types of metamorphic rocks. Metamorphic rocks are formed by being deep beneath the Earth's surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it. They can form from processes such as continental collisions, friction and distortion. They are also formed when rock is heated up by the intrusion of hot molten rock called magma from the Earth's interior. The study of metamorphic rocks provides information about the temperatures and pressures that occur at great depths within the Earth's crust. Some examples of metamorphic rock are:

Gneiss

Slate

Quartzite

Another one of the three types of rocks is sedimentary rock.  Sedimentary rock is a type of rock that is formed by depositing of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and organic particles to settle.  Particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulating are called sediment. Before being deposited, sediment was formed by weathering and erosion, and then transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, mass movement or glaciers. Some types of sedimentary rock are:

Sandstone

Siltstone

Shale

Indian mounds

For our lab we visited the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds.  Ocmulgee National Monument preserves traces of over ten millennia of Southeastern Native American culture, including major earthworks built more than 1,000 years ago by Mississippian culture peoples: the Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds, a burial mound, and defensive trenches.One of the things we were able to learn about was the Great Temple Mound at Ocmulgee which was built atop the Macon Plateau and rises 56 feet high from the surface of the plateau.  Because the mound was constructed on the edge of the plateau, the mound rises 90 feet from the river bank below.