Explore spectacular scenery and a geologic overview of Iceland in a virtual field trip on April 7 led by volcanologist Kirt Kempter, who has led more than 30 tours to the country for the Smithsonian since his first visit in 1995. Geologic highlights include the boundary between North American and Eurasian plates; unusual volcanoes that form beneath vast glaciers; famous volcanic eruptions including those of the small island of Heimaey in 1973 and ice-capped Eyjafjallajökul in 2010; and older historic eruptions that affected global climate and human populations. Kempter employs maps, photographs, diagrams, and Google Earth images to spotlight the key features that make Iceland a bucket-list destination for all geologists. This Smithsonian Associates program is $25 for Smithsonian members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org. Below: Kvernufoss waterfall in Iceland (Photo: Kirt Kempter)
The geologic time scale is one of the most difficult concepts in geology to grasp, yet is fundamental to our understanding of how Earth and life processes have changed the face of our planet over the past 4.6 billion years. In a Smithsonian Associates program geared to the layperson, world traveler, or aspiring geology student in awe of deep time and the geologic record, geologist Kirt Kempter offers a unique approach to making the topic approachable: He condenses the last three geologic eras into a humanly comfortable time frame of a single calendar year.
Within those 365 days, Kempter explores the evolution of life and land from the perspective of North America, beginning 541 million years ago at the start of the Paleozoic Era. He covers the formation of significant mountains, including the Appalachians and the Rockies, and the first appearance of major animal groups, such as amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Not surprisingly, the human story in North America takes place in just the last hour of this geologic year. Kempter’s approach to geologic time provides a simplified strategy to perceive and digest temporal connections among important events in the Earth’s history.
The program on February 12 at 7 pm Eastern is presented on Zoom and is $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Join geologist Kirt Kempter as he explores the geology of Western National Parks over the course of 2023, with an in-depth look at one location every month. Each Smithsonian Associates’ program’s content is enhanced by geologic maps, photos, and Google Earth imagery.
Please Note: Individual sessions are available for purchase. Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of each session.
Kempter explores the volcanic underpinnings of this stunning national park in West Texas. Volcanic rocks and landforms reveal the park’s explosive past, and are superimposed on deposits from the Cretaceous Sea, which once connected the Gulf of Mexico with the Arctic Ocean for more than 30 million years. The park includes the largest protected area of Chihuahuan desert ecology in the United States, protecting 1,200 plant species and 450 species of birds. The Rio Grande, which defines the park’s southern border, has carved impressive canyons through these Cretaceous Sea limestone deposits.
Southern New Mexico is home to these two iconic national parks, which oddly share a connection from the deep geologic past. Shimmering white dunes of gypsum sand define White Sands—the largest deposit of its kind on Earth—which hosts 45 endemic species living only in the park. The gypsum’s origin comes from limestone deposits preserved in the surrounding mountains, originally laid down by inland seas during the Late Paleozoic era. Approximately 260 million years ago, the seas’ coastlines were ringed by an extensive reef composed predominantly of sponges, bryozoans, and other microorganisms. Today at Carlsbad Caverns, this once deeply buried reef hosts a vast network of caves, passages, and spectacular speleothems, including the Big Room, the largest chamber in the United States.
A mile-thick package of sedimentary rocks from the Paleozoic Era is spectacularly exposed from the Grand Canyon’s rim to bottom. Each layer has a story to tell, revealing ancient oceans, rivers, and sand dunes that reflect drastically changing environments through geologic time. Kempter explores and interprets ancient Precambrian rocks now exposed in the inner gorge, along with a boundary known as the Great Unconformity, where more than a billion years of rock information is missing. When and how did the Colorado River carve the Grand Canyon? These questions, which are still being debated by geologists, are addressed in the program.
The package of three is $60 for Smithsonian Associates members, $75 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Join Smithsonian Associates and geologist Kirt Kempter online on April 11 at 7 pm for a fascinating survey of the African continent that covers a distinctive geologic history that extends from billions of years ago to today.
Enhanced by numerous maps, photos, diagrams, and Google Earth imagery, Kempter explores the big-picture geology of the continent of Africa before looking more closely at the Great Rift Valley, which traverses Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. The rift is actively tearing the continent apart, fostering grand volcanic landforms such as Kilimanjaro and the Ngorongoro caldera. In addition to rift-related volcanic activity, he examines sedimentary deposits within the rift, such as those at Olduvai gorge, that have preserved countless vertebrate fossils, including a variety of important hominin fossil discoveries over the past five decades. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Join Smithsonian Associates and New Mexico geologist Kirt Kempter on February 28 online for an exploration of the dramatic landscapes that captivated Georgia O’Keeffe. The artist had northern New Mexico homes in Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, separated by just 20 miles but worlds apart from a geologic perspective.
O’Keeffe’s home at Ghost Ranch was situated on the edge of the scenic Colorado Plateau, while the Abiquiu site was in the Rio Grande rift, a geologic tear in the crust of New Mexico. Her paintings depict rocks and landforms shaped by erosion, including her favorite mountain, Cerro Pedernal, and a canyon she called the “White Place.”
The geologic story of the area spans more than 300 million years and includes rock layers from ancient rivers, oceans, and sand dunes. The modern landscape of northern New Mexico is a result of widespread erosion during the Ice Age, as the Rio Chama and its tributaries relentlessly carved into the multicolored rock strata in the region that O’Keeffe called home.
$25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
