"Understanding the Earth"

Series made in 1976 - Understanding the Earth by TV Ontario

The series host was Dr. David Pearson a renowned English trained, Canadian geologist residing in Sudbury, Ontario.

Dr. David Pearson lectured at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. This series was part of a extension course at Laurentian, i believe from 1976 to 1986.

Planet of Man Series -- Jigsaw Fit
Host; Tuzo Wilson
Plate Tectonics - Lesson 4 - Part 1 of 8
•Continental shift ole ideas -- like ships moving on a oceans
•6 major plates divided into series of plates -- comprised both in land and ocean
•Plates slide underneath, beside and overtop one another
•Andes of South America -- Multiple ranges of north America -- Mountains of the western pacific and Indonesia -- Great Himalayan belt from Asia to western Europe.
•Early recognition of the plates -- seismology was used to define narrow belts of earthquake activity.
•Earthquake activity followed the boundaries of the plate
•Animation of a world map, illustrating the earthquake centers caught by seismological equipment
•Also discovered all the active volcanoes were discovered along these earthquake centers
•Development of sonar (after WWII) they could now map the ocean floor
•What they found is huge mountain ranges, and series of very deep trenches.
• Early 60's they discovered the mid atlantic floor they were actually spreading -- sea floor spreading
•Thoughts -- if sea floor is spreading?..then there must be some place where the result of the spreading is ending up?... Mountain belts.

Planet of Man Series -- Jigsaw Fit
Host; Tuzo Wilson
Plate Tectonics - Lesson 4 - Part 2 of 8
•Early 70's plate tectonics -- enigma of mountains discovered with the theory of plate tectonics
•Animation illustrating the slabs of individual plates from around the world.
•Crust 60 miles thick
•Isostatic rebound from the last ice age.
• Hudson Bay is distingusished from this process by a indisntct shoreline and raised beach's
•Plate name -- Euarasian Indo-Australian, African, American , Antarctic, Nazca, Pacific Plates.
• Rock Types - Basalt at the tops of the spreading boundaries, upper layer of the plate, Perioditite (magnesium rich) lower layer of the plate.
•Underwater eruption -- lava come into contact with the cold water forms pillow like shapes "Pillow lava"
•Footage showing underwater eruptions.
•Iceland -- entirely created from the spreading ridge of an active zone.
•Iceland Geothermal uses
• Mid-Atlantic oceanic ridge follows the shorelines of both Africa and South America. 200 million years to open to its current width.
•Red Sea clearly shows also how Africa and Arabia fitted together/.
•East Africa -- Great Rift Valley, early separation of this process like the Red Sea separation. The entire Rift Valley has volcanism.
•Transform fault -- no mountains and no volcanoes but earthquakes are produced. It's the result of plates sliding past one another. These intense earthquakes occur mostly in the deep ocean basins. But sometimes they come on the continent -- San Andres Fault one example 700 miles long.
•Animation showing the transform fault movement.
•San Francisco earthquake lies along the San Andreas fault.
•Footage of the 1906 earthquake
•Entire city was destroyed

Planet of Man Series -- Jigsaw Fit
Host; Tuzo Wilson
Plate Tectonics - Lesson 4 - Part 3 of 8
•Scientists in the early 70's predicted another San Fran earthquake
•Two oceanic plates converge the point of contact is a deep trench
•Animation illustration two oceanic plates converging
•Molten rock produced from two oceanic plates is granitic
•Island Arcs produced -- Japan
•"Ring of Fire"
•These are violent volcanoes
•Earthquake fFootage of the Andes mountain system
•Andes mountain is the oceanic plate heads underneath the continental margin of South America. No Island arcs. Volcanic mountain ranges.
•Matchopeacho footage monument to a past civilization
•Excellent example of converging plates.
•Animation showing the formation of the Himalayas
•Alps and Pyrenees formed the same way
•Animation showing Pangaea and the formation of the present day continents

Planet of Man Series -- Jigsaw Fit
Host; Tuzo Wilson
Plate Tectonics - Lesson 4 - Part 4 of 8
Andes mountain is the oceanic plate heads underneath the continental margin of South America. No Island arcs. Volcanic mountain ranges.
•Matchopeacho footage monument to a past civilization
•Excellent example of converging plates.
Understanding the Earth - Plate tectonics
Host; Dr David Pearson
Plate Tectonics - Lesson 4 - Part 5 of 8
•Theory of Plate Tectonics
•North American geologists skeptical of the theory of the idea of continents moving
•Geologists of Europe were less skeptical

PART 6, 7 & 8 DESCRIPTION ARE ON THE YOUTUBE VIDEO.. THERE WASN'T ENOUGH ROOM FOR DESCRIPTION.

Lesson 11 -- Mountain Building
Processes and formation of mountain building. Also, a case study of Appalachians mountains
Processes and formation of mountain building. Also, a case study of Appalachians mountains

Part 1 Planet of Man -- Mountain Heritage 11-Part1
John McGlynn Geological Survey of Canada
•Generalized formation of the Appalachians.
•Pangea plate tectonic movement -- illustrated movement of the land masses
•Newfoundland land mass was once an ancient sea floor

Part 2 Planet of Man -- Mountain Heritage 11-Part2
John McGlynn Geological Survey of Canada
•Formation and processes of Newfoundland land mass was once an ancient sea floor.
•Proof showing of Newfoundland's volcanic past.
•Volcanic vent in Newfoundland
•Pillow lava additional evidence of vulcanism.
•Trilobites

Part 3 Planet of Man -- Mountain Heritage 11-Part3
John McGlynn Geological Survey of Canada
•Appalachian ancient continental margins; evidence showing collision of continental margins
•Soapstone carving on the side of a mountain possible ancient man or mechanical weathering?
•Mountain building creep slowly less than 100' per year
•Perspective of geological time and distance

Part 4 Planet of Man -- Mountain Heritage 11-Part4
John McGlynn Geological Survey of Canada
•Sea floor and a sandwich analogy
•Drilling through mantle rock -- too deep had to be abandoned
•Mediterranean ocean is closing, the pacific is closing

Mountain Building -- Detail at the boundaries of lithosphere plates (30minutes)

Host; Dr. David Pearson.

Part 5 Mountain building 11-Part5
•Mountains -- Ural, Rocky, Andes
•Features; kind of rocks -- limestone, folds, crossbreeding,
•Rocky mountains - thrust limestone
•Further west -- Selkirk; volcanic composition
•Detail explanation of the geological cross-section between Calgary to Vancouver using a clay model.
•Unfolding the Canadian rockies; 3 mountain belts.
•Deposition of the rockies

Part 6 Mountain building 11-Part6
•Continental shelf in eastern North America ie. New York
•20,000feet of sediment on the continental shelf
•Accumulation of sediments 1st stage
•Breaking of plates (oceanic lithosphere)
•Island arcs colliding with continental margin.
•Squeezebox experiment
•Examples of collision mountain belts; Africa, India

Part 7 Mountain building 11-Part7
•Mountain belt -- compression of ocean plate and molten material -- thermal belt Andes mountains
•Squeezebox example.
•Ancient mountain belts of Pangea
•Northern Appalachians -- Nova Scotia, Newfoundland
•Geological jigsaw puzzle of the maritimes.

Metamorphic Rocks - Geological Interpretation
Host; Dr. David Pearson.

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 1 of 6
•Heat,pressure and fluids processes
•Metamorphic types; Gniess, Schists, Slate, Serpentine, Garnets
•Basalt Meta equiv. Amphibolite
•Limestone Meta equiv. Marble
•Sandstone Meta equiv. Quartzite
•Contact metamorphism
•Contraction cracks, new minerals formed

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 2 of 6
•Pyroxene in limestone
•Succession of minerals dependent upon temperature, ie. High heat; pyroxene, Lower heat Olivine
•Metamorphic aureole
•Ore concentrations in metamorphic rocks
•Clarabelle Mill, Sudbury ON; Staurolite mineral outcrop
•Regional Metamorphism ie. Sudbury basin

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 3 of 6
•Schist
•Foliation - orientation of mica minerals in schists "Schistosity"
•Growth of minerals in liquids
•Experiment showing; growth of minerals in solid rock
•Series of rocks (heat and pressure); Shale---- Slate---- Phyllite---- Schist---- Gneiss---- Granite.

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 4 of 6
•Series of metamorphic rocks from Shale to granite (Shale---- Slate---- Phyllite---- Schist---- Gneiss---- Granite.
•Identification
•Phyllite
•Schist
•Gneiss
•Experiment showing; the plasticity of metamorphic rocks (marble) using hydraulic press
•Experiment showing; importance of time using silicon putty.

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 5 of 6
•Plasticity of rock continued..
•Experiment showing; simulated 20km pressure chamber and heating jacket
•Dislocation of minerals in metamorphic rocks
•Granite-

Metamorphic Rocks Lesson 8 -- 6 of 6
•Classification of metamorphic rocks
•Dynamic (Regional) (Shale, Slate, Phyllite, Schist, Gneiss, Granite)
•Geothermal (Regional) rocks; Sandstone, Quartzite, Limestone, Marble, Garnets, Amphibolite
•Contact (Marble, Quartzite)
•Hydrothermal rock types; Perioditite, Serpentinite, Soapstone
•Hydrothermal (Dynamic) Mylonite
•Location in Canada of metamorphic rocks
•Geological provinces in the Canadian Shield.