Lesson 7: Science VS Religion

Lesson 7: Science VS Religion

The same laws of Godly time do not always coincide with those of the physical world.  Scientist see how things have happened and then try to find a reason to make them fit. I usually recognize science as an educated guess.  The scientists will change theories on how things work, but God's law is the same today, tomorrow and forever.

With the Gospel we are to remember that everything happens in order.

I think that when we look at the time line of the Earth from the science viewpoint, we can compare it and see the similarities to the creation that we read about in the scriptures.

In the book we read about the "Goldilocks Scenario".  Where everything had to be just right.  The creation of the Earth and Solar System did not happen by chance, it was thoughtfully considered and planned out from beginning to end. God does not make mistakes, and he created a very beautiful place for us to live while we travel through brief moment in time.

Lesson 6: Metamorphic Construction Materials

Lesson 6: Metamorphic Construction Materials

This weeks assignment is to find a metamorphic rock used in construction.  The field trip for this week was just short drive to the home improvement store.  Marble of the Deseret Limestone can be found naturally in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Below is a sample of marble. Limestone is the parent rock of marble, and is composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, and is nonfoliated. Marble that has been exposed to low levels of metamorphism will have very small calcite crystals. Marble is relatively soft, only a 3 on the Mohs scale.  This softness makes it easy to cut and form.

When impurities are found in the parent stone, the marble can take on the different colors of pink, gray, green, even black.  When the limestone has shale interbedded it appears banded and exhibits foliation.

 

Marble is commonly used in countertop construction and is usually polished to a high luster. This allows attractive pieces of marble to be cut, polished, and used as floor tiles, architectural panels, facing stone, window sills, stair treads, columns, and many other pieces of decorative stone.

Lesson 5: Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

 Lesson 5: Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

Our assignment this week is to find a Sedimentary Rock, so I called a friend and we were off on another Geology field trip.  Today we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon which is  just a few minutes southeast of Salt Lake City.  I've spent a lot of time running down this canyon so I knew exactly where I wanted to go to find my rock.

This area is found just a few miles up the canyon.  This picture shows the remnants of the old Bonneville lake.  The wall behind the sign is shale. Because shale is fine and crumbs easily and at the base you can see the shale crumbs from weathering .  If you look close in the picture below, you can see the silt and mud from the ancient shore. This build up of silt and mud then after compacted for millions of years results in Shale. Below are also the samples I found.  You can also see the thin layers in the shale.

Lesson 4: Intrusive and Extrusive Igneous Rocks

Lesson 4

Intrusive and Extrusive Igneous Rocks

Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

Mount Pinatubo is located just 54 miles northwest of Manila in the Philippines.   Mt. Pinatubo has been dormant for 500 years and belongs to the Cabusilan sub range which consists of Mt. Natib, Mariveles Mountain and Mt. Arayat. They are all Subduction volcanoes resulting from the Eurasian Plate sliding under the Philippine Mobile Belt along the Manila Trench. Before the eruption in 1991 the mountain had an elevation of 5,725 feet. The US had one of it's largest navel bases, Clark Air Base, at the base of the mountain.

On April 2, 1991 Mt. Pinatubo awoke, with phreatic eruptions near the summit along a mile long fissure.

On June 14, at 08:41, after several hours of small earthquakes, an eruption occurred with a column reaching 24 kilometers.  3 hours later the earthquakes began and continued until 13:09 when an eruptive blast generated a 21km (13 mi) high eruption.  The mountain had sent it's last warning, it was time to come alive.

Eruption on June 14 at 13:09

On June 15, 1991 the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century occurred. At 13:42 the massive eruption of Mt. Pinatubo began.  The summit collapsed and created a caldera of 1.6 miles in diameter causing several major earthquakes.  The peak of the mountain was reduced 853 feet to 4,872 feet. All the seismographs close to Clark Air Force Base had been rendered completely inoperative by 14:30 by super-massive pyroclastic surges.

Eruption on June 15, 1991

Measurements show that ash was ejected 21 miles high during the most violent phase of the eruption.  The entire eruption lasted three hours and the pyroclastic surges pouring from the summit reaching almost 10 miles away.

Unfortunately, the volcano wasn't the worst part of the day.  On that same day, Typhoon Yunya was passing just 47 miles north of the Volcano.  The typhoon rains mixed with the ash deposits causing more destruction with mud and massive lahars.

20,000 people were evacuated and only approximately 800 were killed.  10,000 people were left homeless. The combination of the Typhoon and ash destroyed most structures. The release of 17 megatons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere caused a global cooling of 0.5 degrees C between 1991-1993.

Mt. Pinatubo Hut

Mt. Pinatubo Caldera

Below is a link to a video on YouTube.  It goes into a lot of detail about the eruption.  The main eruption begins about minute 22:00.
https://youtu.be/x90v_cpAZI8

Lesson 3: Find a Mineral

Lesson 3: Find a Mineral

Our assignment this week is to find a mineral.  With one of the biggest mineral deposits in my back yard, I took my dog and went on a field trip to visit the Great Salt Lake.  The Great Salt Lake is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere. The lake is fed by the Jordan, Bear, and Weber Rivers but lacks a outlet river so the only outlet is evaporation.  The evaporation leaves behind it's high mineral content.

Below is sample of Halite that I found at the lake.  Some of the properties of this mineral would be: it has a cubical crystal structure and has a salty taste. Halite, or commonly known as salt, is naturally occurring in nature and is a solid substance. Halite has a streak color of white and a hardness level of 2.5, so you can scratch it with just a fingernail.

Below is a sample of Halite on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah