Coming in Spring 2010...

From the cool salt deposits deep beneath the plains of Kansas to the sun-baked muds of Texas and the great folds of limestone in Oklahoma, the rocks and landscapes of the United States’ South Central region tell an amazing story. From Precambrian granites to Pleistocene glacial deposits, it is a story that crosses much of Earth’s history. And with everything from corals to dinosaurs, the region’s fossils provide glimpses of life’s grand past.  But beyond our curiosity of prehistoric beasts and landscapes, understanding modern-day processes within the region, like coastal erosion and flooding, will have significant effects on human populations—current and future.

 

Turner Falls is located in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma.  Part of the Ozark-Ouchita Uplift, the great anticline of the Arbuckles resulted from the formation of Pangaea during the late Paleozoic Era.  Today, Turner Falls is actively cutting through the center of the folded rock.

 

Coming in Spring 2010, the Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the South Central United States will serve both formal and informal educators with a “go-to” reference that will provide a comprehensive overview of the area’s history and features, answering the question: Why does this place look the way it does? Standard textbooks make few references to the geology of any one area because of their nationwide audiences, and popular geology literature concentrates on a particular state, often failing to show how local geology fits into a regional context. The Teacher-Friendly Guide will fill this need. Intended as a curriculum supplement, the guide will provide educators with the content and tools necessary to introduce local and regional Earth system science into their classrooms. Although targeted for 8-9th grade Earth science teachers, the guides are appropriate for anyone who incorporates Earth science into their curriculum, from elementary school through college.

 

Chapters slated for the South Central guide are: 

  • Geologic History
  • Rocks
  • Fossils
  • Climate & Glaciers
  • Topography
  • Mineral Resources
  • Nonmineral Resources
  • Soils
  • Energy Resources
  • Earth Hazards

For all of the Teacher-Friendly Guides, the regions are divided into broad areas based on natural geological divisions.  For the South Central guide, these divisions are the: Central Lowland; Ozark-Ouchita Uplift; Coastal Plain; Great Plains; and the Basin and Range Province.  The history of these areas is recorded in their rocks; together, they tell the history of the South Central region.