Not long ago, time was a constant preoccupation for both of us, with meetings and deadlines filling the calendar, milestones setting the pace, and so many activities and obligations to be fitted into each day. Like for most people, our “free” time clustered around weekends and holidays. The usual complaint was that there was never enough time. At least, that was the easy excuse for procrastinating.
When we retired, we began to carve out a new relationship with time. We now revel in our “do as you will” time; not as a retreat from the concerns of the world but a freer and more deliberate type of engagement.
In February, we made a list of subjects we know truly little about. The list was very long. One of the topics on the list was geology. We began exploring that subject and soon stumbled on the concept of deep geological time. Our notion of time was challenged again in an exciting and awe-inspiring way.
Whatever knowledge we may have acquired about geography and earth sciences in high school decayed a long time ago. So, we set out, like explorers on a quest, to discover what we could about geology with the help of readily available resources. Our curiosity soon became insatiable, with each new finding leading to more questions and further research.
We immersed ourselves in books and geology-focused websites, downloaded rock identification apps and visited three natural history museums in one month (the Bancroft Mineral Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Royal Ontario Museum). These museums all had impressive educational panels on the evolution of the planet, in addition to fabulous exhibits of rocks and minerals.
We watched the twenty-four episodes of a Wondrium course titled “Practical Geology” delivered by a brilliant teacher, Professor James Cotter. His approach to knowledge transfer takes the form of an invitation to discover the physical world, given that everything around us is essentially a geological record that can be “read” with some basic knowledge of geology.
He taught us that our planet is 4.6 billion years old. Everything on earth has been shaped and re-shaped over unfathomable periods of time. No matter how fixed and solid any element (e.g., a rock, a mountain, or a familiar landscape) appears to be, it is in constant motion. For example, the Atlantic Ocean is widening at the same speed as your fingernails are growing.
Our information quest to date has impressed on us how small we are in the grand scheme of things. If the whole history of our planet was expressed in terms of a calendar year, humans would have appeared on the scene in the last few minutes of December 31st.
“Geology is not the study of stones. It is the study of time. Rocks are the ticking clocks that measure the age of Earth.”
Ian Lendler, The First Dinosaur: How Science Solved the Greatest Mystery on Earth
The Grand Canyon (our feature image) illustrates beautifully the passage of time, with its numerous strata of different-coloured sedimentary rocks. In 1788, James Hutton, the “Father of Geology,” made an observation about strata that changed the scientific conception of the earth’s history. Prior to Hutton’s observation at Siccar Point in Scotland, most people believed the earth was less than 10,000 years old.
What we have learned so far about geology has enriched our appreciation of, and our respect for, the natural world. These days, we even have fun picking up tiny rocks from the ground to look at them closely and try to identify them. Beauty can be found everywhere if we only take the time to look.