Backyard Geology

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Whitehorse, Yukon. Today, the Miles Canyon, passing through Whitehorse, is home to spectacular views of columnar basalt and a hydro electric dam. But before the dam, the Miles Canyon was a memorable point of passage for those traveling north to Dawson City in the height of the 19th century Gold Rush.

Bones are not the only thing that geologists use to paint a picture of the Cretaceous period. Tune in to this week’s bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition to hear Serena’s talk with fossil enthusiast Dr. Jon Noad. Dr. Noad touches on other forms of fossils found throughout the Alberta badlands and the stories they tell.

For more information on neoichnology, check out this talk Dr. Noad gave at the Royal Tyrrell Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3TT0yWYePk

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Drumheller, Alberta, home to the largest known assembly of cretaceous fossils, including those of dinosaurs. Sedimentation on the coastal region of the Western Interior Seaway about 70 million years ago preserved the remains of dinosaurs, amphibians and fish and more recent erosional processes have uncovered these fossils to be excavated and studies by paleontologists. Today, Drumheller is a popular tourist destination for its fossils, badlands and spectacular sunsets. 

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories. Here, a field of kimberlite dikes host Earth’s famous hitchhikers: diamonds. Learn how diamonds made their way to the Northwest Territories and how kimberlites rule the world of hard-rock mining. 

Geologists have eyes for the subsurface, and that is especially true for geophysicists like Dr. Fiona Darbyshire who studies the complicated structure of Earth’s crust. Parts of the Canadian prairies hide the remnants of an ancient, colossal mountain building event, preserved in the crust. Dr. Darbyshire explains how geologists study these events by examining the subsurface.

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Regina, Saskatchewan to explore one of the greatest puzzles in Canadian geologic history. The Trans-Hudson Orogeny was a massive Paleoproterozoic mountain building event that built a large portion of North America. Over a billion years of erosion now conceals the Himalaya-sized event in the flat landscape of the Canadian prairies. Learn about how the movement of continents has changed over time and how North America came together through a spectacular accretionary event.

Geology students: this is NOT an episode to miss! Check out Serena’s talk with geologist and businesswoman extraordinaire Dr. Catherine Farrow. In this bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition, Dr. Farrow shares her experiences working alongside mining companies and her rich career history here in Canada. 

Episode summary introduction: In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Sudbury, ON where a massive meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago left an economically significant scar on the terrane. Now one of the top global producers of nickel, Sudbury’s owes it fame to Earth’s own natural smelting event that brought precious metals up to the surface where they can be mined today.

Resources:

Barnes, S.J., Holwell, D.A. and Le Vaillant, M., 2017. Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits. Elements, 13(2), pp.89–95.

Lightfoot, P., 2016. Nickel Sulfide Ores and Impact Melts: Origin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex. 1st ed. Nickel Sulfide Ores and Impact Melts: Origin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex.

Mungall, J.E., Ames, D.E. and Hanley, J.J., 2004. Geochemical evidence from the Sudbury structure for crustal redistribution by large bolide impacts. Nature, 429(6991), pp.546–548.

Natural Resources Canada, 2021. Minerals and Mining. [online] Government of Canada.

Host Information: Serena is a Canadian graduate student currently studying geochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research focuses on isotopic analysis of Hawaiian volcanos to understand the dynamic and complicated evolution of the Hawaiian mantle plume. She completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where the exposed sedimentary rocks of the Niagara Escarpment and enthusiastic professors quickly fostered a love for all things geology. Like other member of the Geology Podcast Network, Serena loves to talk rocks and is invested in sharing her love for our planet through podcasts, educational programs for kids, and even museum exhibits. Despite heavy seasonal rains in Vancouver, she is an avid cyclist, which unfortunately does not bode well with inevitable stop for round hounding, but is an excellent way to thoroughly explore the Earth and all its glorious geologic features.

The more rocks you talk about, the more you learn! Tune in for another bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition where Serena talks with Henry Gage, who studies freeze-thaw weathering in the Niagara Escarpment. When it comes to urban landscapes, geologists play a key role in predicting, understanding and preventing  geohazards.

Host Information: Serena is a Canadian graduate student currently studying geochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research focuses on isotopic analysis of Hawaiian volcanos to understand the dynamic and complicated evolution of the Hawaiian mantle plume. She completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where the exposed sedimentary rocks of the Niagara Escarpment and enthusiastic professors quickly fostered a love for all things geology. Like other member of the Geology Podcast Network, Serena loves to talk rocks and is invested in sharing her love for our planet through podcasts, educational programs for kids, and even museum exhibits. Despite heavy seasonal rains in Vancouver, she is an avid cyclist, which unfortunately does not bode well with inevitable stop for round hounding, but is an excellent way to thoroughly explore the Earth and all its glorious geologic features.