One-Syllable State of Maine Rocks: Underappreciated Silurian Age Stones

     
      Take a close look at these exquisite Silurian rocks from the state of Maine, USA. (How did I just realize Maine is our only monosyllabic state?) The Silurian, an underappreciated time period, without the cachet of say, the younger Jurassic, is part of the Paleozoic era between the Ordovician and Devonian. Silurian rocks are 443 million years to 416 million years old.

      A significant evolutionary milestone during the Silurian was the diversification of jawed and bony fishes. 

   
       Life also began to appear on land during the Silurian in the form of moss-like, vascular land plants that grew beside bodies of water. Small terrestrial arthropods also began to appear.

       These Maine rocks of the Kittery Formation are old. They show the results of millions of years of deposition, igneous activity, faulting, tectonics, and metamorphism. 

      However, in researching this week's topic, I discovered the "Silurians," a fictional race of reptile-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction tv series Doctor Who? Those first Silurians are depicted as prehistoric and scientifically advanced sentient humanoids who predate the evolution of man.

      The creatures were called Silurians, after their supposed origins in the Silurian period. However, author John Pertwee claims that "properly speaking", the Silurians should have been called the "Eocenes" (part of the much more recent Cenozoic era.)

     Perhaps Dr. Who needed a geologic consultant to the tv show. E. O. Seen and heard? Background music by Diana Ross and the Eocenes?!

Just call me,
Silurian Steph

Bonus question: without googling or duck duck going, name all current countries of only one syllable.

Revisiting Iceland: A Kentucky-Sized Place Where Geology is in Your Face at Every Turn

         A friend's trip to Iceland the past two weeks has reinspired a look at this Kentucky-sized land. My friend's description of her trip included words about geology staring one in the face at every turn. Young, changing, extraordinary geology is located next to the much older geology of Greenland.

     "Iceland is a manifestation of plate tectonic activity along a 10,000-mile underwater mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The island, which is about the size of the state of Kentucky, is only 15-20 million years old, making it one of the youngest landmasses of its size in the world, according to Ari Trausti Guðmundsson, a geophysicist, poet, and former Iceland presidential candidate."

     “If you hop over to Greenland, the bedrock is over 3,000 million years old,” says Guðmundsson, who guided Pitcairn during his expedition to Bárðarbunga and wrote the text, including 120 poems, in his book. “In comparison, Iceland is an infant.”

     "The Mid-Atlantic Ridge gives rise to Iceland’s volcanoes, one of its signature geological features. The country boasts 30 volcanic systems, which contain hundreds of active volcanoes. The natural upwelling of magma from beneath the ridge, as well as a mantle plume located almost right under the middle of the country, send billions of tons of lava surging through the bedrock annually, causing the country to expand about one inch per year, on average, according to Guðmundsson.

       Additional information about this geologist's dream country is located at this link. Hoping to get to Iceland before too many of the glaciers have melted.

        I am also fascinated by the unusual diacritical marks in the place and author names. It's also fun to see a geologist poet who ran for the presidency of Iceland! With a small population, I guess residents wear many hats. . .

        How about you; what about Iceland fascinates you?

Steph