Geological Mysteries with Ed Clifton (Closed)

Course Description:

Apr. 4: Plate Tectonics
Residents of California are frequently reminded that the movements of the earth’s crust are real and potentially catastrophic. The theory of plate tectonics has helped explain most of the geological processes that shape the earth, including the formation and continued evolution of our home state. However, one key question remains: What is the driving force
behind the process?

Apr. 11: When the Ocean Dies
“Dead zones,” areas of the ocean that lack sufficient oxygen to support a bottom biological community, exist where urban or agricultural runoff over-fertilizes the surface waters of the coastal sea. Today, dead zones continue to expand as the oceans warm. Although we now know how to mitigate dead zone occurrences, we are still trying to understand incidents recorded sporadically in the geologic record of widespread oceanic anoxia.