Ocmulgee National Monument

A few weeks ago, our class took a trip to this national park, known for ancient Native American Artifacts and the great temple mounds.  Little did my group know, we would be isolated I(supposedly because I was late) and left to fend for ourselves in the wilderness.  We (Dan, Derrick, Derek,and me) couldn't find our class, so we set out on an adventure in search of them.  We went underneath an Indian mound, and climbed to the very top of one.  Our trek took us through hills, trails, and across a bridge.  We even saw a few deer and a really cool lizard!  Bees and ants even attacked us, but we prevailed.  Luckily, Dan's awesome iPhone was there to save the day and document our adventure.  These pictures are straight up taken from his blog, but I took them so it counts!!

Georgia Fall Lines

The Georgia Fall Line is a boundary of about twenty miles wide that separates north and south Georgia.  More specifically, it separates Georgia into two parts: the upland Peidmont region, and the Atlantic Coastal Plain.  Many big cities are located on the fall line because of the rivers, such as Macon, Augusta, Roanoke NC, Baltimore MD, and Philadelphia PA.

Community Gardens

When we visited the community garden, we used the Munsell Soil Chart to determine the type of soil we were looking at.  This method only uses sight for soil identification, which means it sometimes can be inaccurate.  Another method that can help is the flow chart.  It determines the soil by asking various questions about the texture and feel.

The community gardens in Macon was fun to experience.  It was interesting how the beds were raised to avoid lead contamination.  It is awesome to see that people are growing these different plants locally so we can help support local businesses and eat food in which we positively know where it comes from.

My Favorite Movie
All three movies were interesting to me, but I liked "Deep Sea, Deep Secrets" the most.   I was fascinated by Alvin, the research submersible.  I have always thought that no human could survive going that deep in the ocean due to the extreme pressure, but Alvin proves me wrong.  Three people can travel almost 15,000 feet to the ocean floor, where they find out what lives near the hydrothermal vents.  Surprisingly, various creatures survive and thrive there.  Wiggly tube-like specimens and fighting crabs were among the most interesting.  I really liked learning about Alvic and the ocean floor.

Gabbro is an intrusive igneous rock, meaning it is made of magma that solidifies inside of Earth's crust.  It contains many of the minerals we have already learned about: pyroxene, plagioclase, amphibole, and olivine.  Gabbro is coarse grained and porphyritic, meaning the size of the crystals vary.  

Rocks

 Quartz

 Obsidian

 Feldspar

 Hornblende

Mica

Maps!

First is my Georgia precipitation map.

This coropleth map shows the projected change in job growth and decline in America over a one-year period.  Georgia was projected to decrease between -0.1% and -1.0%.

This isarithmic map shows the temperatures and precipitations at a certain time point in the United States.

This is a dot density map of the population density of America.

This proportional symbol map shows the total traffic fatalities in 2007 in America.

The Cheesewring!  Cornwall, U.K.

This is a granite rock formation that was formed naturally by weathering.

The legend of its formation is, somewhat sadly, more popular than the actual geologic history.  Local legend says that the rocks were formed as the result of a contest between a man and a giant.  The giants who lived at the top of the mountain were mad that Christianity had been recently introduced, so they challenged a Christian saint to a rock throwing contest.  They each threw a rock that stacked perfectly on top of the last one until the Saint failed-- but an angel carried his stone to the top.