INTRODUCTION My love affair with rocks began in summer 1961 in a place called Pottsville Pennsylvania I was five years old and visiting my uncle Joe’s farm at the time There were a lot of coal mines around Pottsville and I remember remember hiking up in the hills looking at those shiny black rocks that people collected and burned My uncle explained that the coal that they were digging up came from plants that grew in big swamps that had covered the area millions of years ago even before the dinosaurs were alive I thought he was making it all up After all the whole area was nothing but rocky mountains and there were no swamps anywhere in sight Then one day I kicked a big flat rock and it split open on the ground in front of me And that’s when it happened Inside there it was the perfect print of a fern leaf right there in the rock Uncle Joe hadn’t been lying I had discovered my first fossil and I was hooked After that every time I went for a walk in the woods or along a stream I was more interested in looking at the rocks on the ground than in watching where I was going Yes I got really wet and walked into a lot of trees I started collecting rocks everywhere I went and when I got home I put them in boxes with little labels I went to the library and found lots of books about rocks And whenever possible I would go to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City with my mom Other kids went to look at the dinosaurs or the giant blue whale which to be honest were pretty cool too but most of the time I went straight to the hall of rocks and minerals I loved learning about how the different rocks formed and what they could tell you about the history of an area By the time I got to middle school I knew that I wanted to be some type of geologist When I finally graduated college and started working as a soil specialist and hydrogeologist I was in heaven Being a geologist was a lot like being a detective but instead of hunting for clues about who committed a crime I got to hunt for clues about how the Earth around me had changed and how to keep people from damaging the environment After many years of working with rocks minerals fossils and my personal favorite soil I decided that I wanted to share my love of geology with other people who might not realize how important rocks really are That’s why I wanted to write this book It’s actually the fifth book that I’ve written for the folks at National Geographic but this one digs deeper than the others Ultimate Rockopedia has tons of facts and figures about the rocky world around us including profiles of rad rocks marvelous minerals and fantastic formations in all corners of the globe You’ll get the inside story on the features of our dynamic Earth including volcanoes earthquakes and hydrothermal vents You’ll journey to the top of the tallest mountains and to the deepest place on Earth Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading the book and will come away with a love of rocks too Keep rockin Steve The Dirtmeister Tomecek geologist and author of Ultimate Rockopedia 6
When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn New York a trip to the American Museum of Natural History opened up a whole new world to me It was filled with dinosaur fossils that had been around for millions of years and hundreds of different rocks and minerals from all over the world even some from outer space There were so many amazing specimens of all colors shapes and sizes I couldn’t believe it I became hooked on the subject that brought them all together geology Weekend trips to the Catskill Mountains exploring sandy beaches and rocky jetties all reinforced my fascination with rocks and Earth’s processes In college my fellow geology major rock hounds and I drove around collecting fossils and minerals from all over even stopping along brand-new roads to hunt for unique and freshly dug-up finds When I became a teacher there was nothing more awesome than hearing the oohs and aahs of my students as I cracked open a drab geode to reveal the sparkling colorful crystals looking that were hidden inside or as I split apart a rock to reveal a fossil for the first time Sharing my passion with my students for more than 30 years was a hands-on experience as I took them to the same places I had fallen in love with I spent my whole life chasing down specimens in the wild and studying geology What’s great about Ultimate Rockopedia is that it brings all of that fun excitement and wonder together for future generations of rock hounds It will get you hooked just like that kid in Brooklyn got hooked by seeing his first fossil in the American Museum of Natural History Back then I would have loved to have had a reference book just like this to help fuel my passion This book is a gem and I bet you’ll really dig it Jim Lucarelli expert consultant for Ultimate Rockopedia MY NIECE AND ME AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
ON THE ROCKS There are about 1,500 potentially active volcanoes on Earth Alaska has more earthquakes than any other U S state Earth’s tectonic plates are moving continuously at about the same rate that human fingernails grow 8
The largest known space rock on the surface of Earth is in Namibia Weighing an estimated 66 tons 60 t the iron-nickel Hoba meteorite was discovered in 1920 by a farmer when he was plowing his field The presidential heads carved in the granite at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota U S A are eroding at a rate of about one inch 2 5 cm every 10,000 years Yellowstone National Park in the western United States sits on top of a massive supervolcano Royalty in ancient China were buried in suits made of jade because it was believed the mineral would help preserve and protect their bodies in the afterlife A fulgurite is a tube-shaped rock structure that forms when lightning strikes sand causing the grains to melt and fuse together
