Turn Around, Don’t Drown
Oh my! The images and videos of the August 2022 flooding in Death Valley, California, are certainly impressive. Only 1.46 inches of rainfall were recorded at the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center, but that was...
Mike Strickler Geologist
The number you have reached…
…is not in service at this time. This one isn’t about the earth — at least not directly — but I feel it’s important anyway (and there’s nothing that says I can’t veer off...
Lithium and Green Energy
I saw an article this morning about a lithium prospect in the Alvord desert of southeastern Oregon. The company that was exploring for the metal — used in batteries for electric vehicles, consumer electronics,...
Wildfire
We all have those times of the year that we really enjoy. For myself I love the late fall when the rain machine here in southwestern Oregon (usually) turns on (if we’re lucky) and...
Cut Banks and Point Bars
It’s funny: water is nearly incapable of going in a straight line when it’s moving across the land. Think about it. Any little thing — or nothing — will divert the flow. I once...
Kinetic Energy
Susie and I were married in our teens, and by the beginning of our third year at the university we were broke — flat busted and living on ramen and bean burritos (love can...
Do geologists know what they’re doing?
I got an exceptionally apt question a while back on my GeoMania website: “Are geologists sure that they’re right about how the earth works?” This is a tough one to respond to without sounding...
As simple as black and white
I am absolutely convinced that we are all born geologists. I mean, really, what kid doesn’t have a rock collection? Sadly, most of us lose the love by middle school when the burdens and...
Here Comes the Sun…
I spent much of my high school years on a surfboard. It became a full-throated obsession during my senior year when the school test-drove a new program called “Self-Imposed Scheduling.” If you were in...
Climate Change?
Europe — indeed much of the northern hemisphere, thanks to five separate high-pressure domes — is sweltering under an unprecedented heat wave: airport schedules disrupted because runways are buckling… older folks dying from heatstroke…...
