For my blog post, I decided to go to a meeting about hydrology in the Grand Canyon. The meeting took place on March 27^th in the Francis Marion hotel. The reason I chose to do my blog post on this speech is that hydrology and geology are fairly similar, and both interest me. For those who don’t know what hydrology is, it’s the study of the movement and properties of water. The lecture was done by women named Laura J. Crossey who is a professor at the University of New Mexico. She works in the department of Earth and planetary sciences and teaches geosciences at the university.

The lecture started out by explaining the different unconformities and rock types found in the Grand Canyon. All 3 types of unconformities can be found and the main rocks the canyon are made out of are limestone, shale, and sandstone. She went onto to explain these rock types are what cause the rivers distinctive color. The little Colorado river has a system of springs that run into the Grand Canyon. When the water first surfaces, it’s clear green. The farther down it goes, the more it becomes brown.

She also talked about carbonic springs that flow into the river system. A lot of people (including me) didn’t know that there are actually young volcanos forming near the Grand Canyon. Volcanos are one of the main distributors for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. These springs absorb the co2 which makes the water more acidic. Professor Crossey said it didn’t necessarily make it harmful for humans to touch but definitely suggested not to drink it. She then referred back to the little Colorado Springs and how local towns drinking water usually came from those areas and not near the carbonic springs. Since this is a natural process, there’s nothing we can do to stop it at this time. If the co2 issue continued and spread in that area, there could soon be a problem of where they could get there drinking water from. A higher carbon presence within the water could also be very destructive to the microorganisms in it and possibly larger animals in the environment.

The Grand Canyon is a large tourist attraction year-round. It nearly brings in 5 million people per year and is not getting any less popular. Professor Crossey explained that this high amount of traffic coming through the Grand Canyon could have a negative effect on the area. She then talked about how the hotels in the local area are starting to hurt the groundwater and spring systems in the Grand Canyon. A water treatment plant is helping expand the possible usage of the Grand Canyon as an aquifer, but the rise in tourism in the future might call for further action in order to keep the canyon safe.

In recent years, companies have begun to mine the Grand Canyon for its uranium. This is a big deal because of the contamination it could cause to the river below. Some companies have been known to make promises to the surrounding local towns that all waste is properly disposed of. Unfortunately, these towns later find that the promise of safe and responsible waste disposal was not upheld on part of the company. This ultimately results in contamination and pollution of the surrounding area and detrimental health effects to the wildlife. There are also Indian reservations downstream from the mining site which could hurt their community if anything was to happen.

citation:

Wilkinson, Bard. “Underwater Walls Could Stop Glaciers from Melting, Scientists Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 Sept. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/09/21/us/walls-glaciers-report-environment-intl/index.html.

• source: CNN
• what: A possible temporary solution using walls to keep glaciers from melting while we figure out something permanent.
• who: The European geoscience union. The research was done and published by them in the Cryosphere journal.
• where: This method could be used anywhere around the world it may be needed. At the moment, Antarctica seems to be the main focus.
• when: The idea is still in the works and has not been tested yet.
• Impact/relevance to society: Climate change is one of the biggest issues scientists are trying to solve at the moment. Even though this wall idea will not stop climate change, it will stop the sea level from changing drastically while we find a more permanent solution. There are many different ideas on how to slow down the melting of the ice, but this is by the cheapest and easiest way.
• relevance to the class: we’ve talked about the desire for sustainability and that’s exactly what these walls are being created to do. We are trying to make an effort towards sustaining the ice and keeping our sea levels at there current levels.
• questions raised: how would this affect the local ecosystem?

Keeping a strong relationship with the environment can be hard while living in the city as “doakrr” said. I live downtown and ride my bike to class every day but all I see is cars and sidewalks on a daily basis. Something nice about nature is the peace and quiet but all you get here is the sound of constant road rage.

I’m from Sandersville Georgia which is a very small town south of Atlanta. My father is a forester and would take me to cruise timber with him when I was younger. This is what I believe to be to the foundation of my relationship with the outdoors. He would take me out and let me tag the property lines and teach me the different tree species in Georgia.

In 2006, we moved to the suburbs in clover South Carolina. My house was smaller and surrounded by the constant noise of cars coming in and out. The forest was no longer my backyard and seemed to be like a 10×10 box that I was trapped in. My father was still a forester but was “promoted” to a desk job in Charlotte NC. This means he stopped cruising timber and instead sell the land he once inspected. I may not have realized at the time but my relationship with nature would start to deteriorate because of the move to South Carolina.

The move and new technology (such as an Xbox) had distanced my relationship with the environment. I wasn’t as happy as I was back in Georgia because when my friends asked me to come out and play, it was once to climb trees but was now to play in the streets. I had this desire to get out and go and so did my father. Me and my dad went to the blue ridge mountains to get away from the noise for a weekend. This was the first time I had ever been to the mountains and I had a blast.

We went to grandfather mountain and this was where I got reconnected to the natural world. I remember having such a good time that I never wanted to leave. Me and my dad began to go to the blue ridge every other weekend to hike and fly fish (I still suck at it). We began to get bored with that, so we then started flying out to the west coast to climb bigger mountains. We have climbed both Mt Saint Helens in Oregon and Rainier in Washington.

My relationship with the environment has had its ups and downs but I believe it’s here to stay from now on. I think it is very important for everyone to have some type of relationship with the environment. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should make it a lifestyle but should take some time to go out and hike or something of that nature. I especially think college students should connect with the outdoors because of all of the stress we go through. It often relieves me from my stress so it might also help anyone in need of a break.