Doug's Geology Journal

In red rock country the Earth’s crust has been pushed up by the collision of two tectonic plates, lifting the land in one large block. Doug explores the rocks layers laid bare by eroding forces that sculpt the rising crust. Among the multi-colored rocks are arches, hoodoos, and canyons both grand and narrow, where Ancestral Puebloan structures and petroglyphs are safely tucked.

Sicily is a rugged island forged from the collision of two tectonic plates, with Europe’s most active volcano puncturing those plates. Doug ascends the erupting snow-capped Mount Etna and roams Sicily's rocky coast and the hill towns and mountains of the interior. Durable limestone, originating at the bottom of the sea, has been a mainstay of Sicilian art and architecture for millenia.

The Basin and Range geologic province is where the Earth’s crust has been raised up and stretched and broken apart into parallel blocks of rock, creating a repeating series of rugged mountain ranges with valleys between them. Doug descends into California's Death Valley and climbs high into the wilderness mountain ranges of Nevada, before descending into another far-flung basin.

Doug is well acquainted with California's San Andreas Fault, having lived on top of it for many years. He takes us to quake-stricken locations like San Francisco as well as places like Santa Barbara, created by the grinding action of the two tectonic plates that meet at the fault. Movement on the fault has shoved rock formations hundreds of miles and built mountain ranges and coastal terraces.

A volcano is erupting on Iceland, and Doug arrives just as fountains of lava bring up from the depths rare materials as old as the Earth itself. Iceland is defined by its geology, and Doug explores gargantuan waterfalls roaring over ancient lava flows; ice caps, glaciers, and geysers; and how the island is split down the middle by the parting of two massive tectonic plates.