A High-Altitude Tour of North America’s Spectacular Volcanoes, Canyons, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters, and Peaks
by Mary Caperton Morton
Timber Press
Outdoors & Nature, Science
Pub Date 04 Oct 2017
FTC Reviewed ARC for Timber Press and Net Galley
Description
Sit back and enjoy a new view
Filled with fun facts, fascinating histories, and atmospheric photography, Aerial Geology is an up-in-the-sky exploration of North America’s 100 most spectacular geological formations.
Crisscrossing the continent from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to the Great Salt Lake in Utah and to the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico, Mary Caperton Morton brings you on a fantastic tour, sharing aerial and satellite photography, explanations on how each site was formed, and details on what makes each landform noteworthy. Maps and diagrams help illustrate the geological processes and clarify scientific concepts.
Fact-filled, curious, and way more fun than the geology you remember from grade school, Aerial Geology is a must-have for the insatiably curious, armchair geologists, million-mile travelers, and anyone who has stared out the window of a plane and wondered what was below.
My Thoughts
I’m not going to lie. I requested to review this book because of the title Aerial Geology. Truthfully, I'm not really sure when my interest in geology began. I do know, Dad purchased a rock and mineral book for me when I was in grade school and I carried it everywhere. In the years since then, I've become more fascinated. In part, due to the fact that our state is known for the Isotelus, on display in the Smithsonian. What is an Isotelus? It's a trilobite "three-lobed creature" that existed between 430 and 480 million years ago.
I digress. This book, Aerial Geology, begins with Geology 101. Here, you are introduced to the all-important subject of plate tectonics. This gives us all a better understanding of how the 100 spectacular formations in this book were created. And make no mistake, the images are SPECTACULAR. This book was made in part due to the Nasa's Visible Earth project.
As this will be a short review, I'll only point out a few of the 100 formations.
I paused a long time at the page on Mt. Denali "great one". For most of our lives, we've known it as Mount McKinley but the name changed back in 2015. The fact that it's rising a half an inch a year has aroused my interest. Anyway, the section on Wickersham Wall is well detailed and I now have an explanation for some questions I had about it.
My brother hiked the 2180 mile Appalachian Trail back in 1998. I forget now how many pairs of shoes he went through or rolls of duct tape for that matter. Regardless, I do not recall any articles that explain the trek to Mt. Katahdin or history quite like this. I absolutely love it! If you don't know much about the trail - just basically imagine getting on an old footpath and hiking - I mean HIKING- from Georgia to Maine.
My family is spread out to the East and South. So, when I travel, I gravitate towards those areas. With this said, I realize, I've limited myself to seeing many beautiful land formations. I would enjoy seeing a Meteor Crater. And while some people have been frolicking in Yosemite National Park, my only experience with it is through this book and the works of Ansel Adams.
Since I love fossils, it was wonderful to see the section on Walcott Quarry and the "Stone Bugs" image from Yoho National Park. That would be in my top 5 places. Others would be, Glacier Bay, Pictured Rock, Dinosaur National Monument, and the Canadian Rockies.
Bottom Line
In reviewing, Aerial Geology by Mary Caperton Morton, I was elated with all the images of North America's 100 most remarkable landforms. Team that, with Mary having a master’s in science writing and you've got a book that is a wealth of history and an outright pleasure to read.
For more details please view Author Mary Caperton Morton site