GEOSC 10: Geology of the National Parks

A Bit of Review…

As sung by Dr. Richard AlleyThe Pennsylvania State University

GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks

A Bit of Review:

Almost everything we’ve done, a few things we’ll do, a couple things we’ll miss, and some editorial comments in the chorus and the last verse that you don’t need to know.

Landslide scars across glacially scoured rocks scraped off a subduction zone, Tracy Arm, Alaska.

GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks

LEARNING HOW TO LIVER. Alley

The mountains scrape the rainfall from out the azure sky,And they send it down the rivers so the valleys aren’t dry,They send the silt that grows the crops that feed the folks in town,But in doing this must tear the mountains down.

Yet deep within the planet, two hundred miles below,In all their stately majesty the mantle currents flow,Upon their backs the continents go slowly drifting by,And they raise the mountains back up to the sky.

ChorusAnd we’re learning how to live with our mother,On this fruitful globe beneath the faithful sun,And the tale is ours to tell, if we learn our lesson wellWe can prosper; if we don’t, our best is done.

GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks

Earthquakes and volcanoes ride the currents of the deep,They’re the growing pains of mountains, and they keep the rivers steep,They tell us where they’ll happen, they may even tell us when,If we listen, we'll be ready there and then.

The rocks that make the mountains and the muds beneath the sea,And the fossils pressed inside them tell of Earth’s deep history,Formation and bombardment, blazing heat and bitter cold,Smoothed by living as the new builds on the old.

And we’re learning how to live with our mother,On this fruitful globe beneath the faithful sun,And the tale is ours to tell, if we learn our lesson wellWe can prosper; if we don’t, our best is done.

GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks

A little sun and water and CO2 can growOxygen up in the sky and plants down here below,We burn the plants with oxygen for sunshine’s energy,Add nitrogen to plants, that’s you and me.

Almost all the plants have been recycled through four billion years,Just a little bit was buried deep, but nothing disappears,The wheels of industry are driven by this fossil fuel,Though the CO2 could blow the planet’s cool.

Still we’re learning how to live with our mother,On this fruitful globe beneath the faithful sun,And the tale is ours to tell, if we learn our lesson wellWe can prosper; if we don’t, our best is done.

GEOSC 10 - Geology of the National Parks

Computer chips begin their lives as sand upon the shore,And the gold that makes the contacts--human sweat and ancient ore,The salmon and the brown bear are the plankton of the wave,Together, we can waste or we can save.

For she gives enough for all of us to live in harmony,From the tundra to the prairie to the forest to the sea,For pachyderms and people, clams and cedars, moose and mice,We can learn to sing along, or pay the price.

And we’re learning how to live with our motherOn this graceful globe beneath the glowing sun,And the tale is ours to tell, if we learn our lesson well,We can prosper; if we don’t, our best is done.Yes the tale is ours to tell, let us learn our lesson well,So we prosper, and our best is still to come.