4.6 billion years is an incredibly long time. If you’re feeling overwhelmed even thinking about how long that is, and where geologic events fit on it, have no fear. In this bonus episode of Backyard Geology, Serena talks about the geologic time scale and how famous geologic processes and structures across Canada fit into it. The study of time and rocks, known as chronostratigraphy, details the history of the Earth based on clues left behind on the surface, and in the subsurface, of today’s...

Studying mountains is a mammoth task, pun intended, as Dr. Kyle Larson explains in this bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition. The Canadian Cordillera, made up of the Coast Range and the Rockies, must be studied with an interdisciplinary approach from the largest to the smallest structures. Tune in to learn more!

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Kelowna to look at western Canada’s resident mountains. The Canadian Cordillera are a series of mountain chains formed by different types of tectonic processes on the margin of the North American Plate starting about 200 million years ago. Learn about the uplift of Canada’s famous Rockies and the Coast Mountains and how they can be distinctly separated based on the geologic processes that formed them.

The present is the key to the past, and in the case of placer mining in the Yukon, the past is the key to the present! Sydney Van Loon is a geologist and historian who works with Canadian gold mining archives to explore mine sites today. Join Serena and Sydney to learn about placer mining in the Yukon and how the works of gold stampeders are fueling modern exploration efforts.

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Whitehorse, Yukon. Today, the Miles Canyon, passing through Whitehorse, is home to spectacular views of columnar basalt and a hydro electric dam. But before the dam, the Miles Canyon was a memorable point of passage for those traveling north to Dawson City in the height of the 19th century Gold Rush.

Bones are not the only thing that geologists use to paint a picture of the Cretaceous period. Tune in to this week’s bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition to hear Serena’s talk with fossil enthusiast Dr. Jon Noad. Dr. Noad touches on other forms of fossils found throughout the Alberta badlands and the stories they tell. For more information on neoichnology, check out this talk Dr. Noad gave at the Royal Tyrrell Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3TT0yWYePk

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Drumheller, Alberta, home to the largest known assembly of cretaceous fossils, including those of dinosaurs. Sedimentation on the coastal region of the Western Interior Seaway about 70 million years ago preserved the remains of dinosaurs, amphibians and fish and more recent erosional processes have uncovered these fossils to be excavated and studies by paleontologists. Today, Drumheller is a popular tourist destination for its fossils,...

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories. Here, a field of kimberlite dikes host Earth’s famous hitchhikers: diamonds. Learn how diamonds made their way to the Northwest Territories and how kimberlites rule the world of hard-rock mining. 

Geologists have eyes for the subsurface, and that is especially true for geophysicists like Dr. Fiona Darbyshire who studies the complicated structure of Earth’s crust. Parts of the Canadian prairies hide the remnants of an ancient, colossal mountain building event, preserved in the crust. Dr. Darbyshire explains how geologists study these events by examining the subsurface.

In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Regina, Saskatchewan to explore one of the greatest puzzles in Canadian geologic history. The Trans-Hudson Orogeny was a massive Paleoproterozoic mountain building event that built a large portion of North America. Over a billion years of erosion now conceals the Himalaya-sized event in the flat landscape of the Canadian prairies. Learn about how the movement of continents has changed over time and how North America came together...

Geology students: this is NOT an episode to miss! Check out Serena’s talk with geologist and businesswoman extraordinaire Dr. Catherine Farrow. In this bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition, Dr. Farrow shares her experiences working alongside mining companies and her rich career history here in Canada. 

Episode summary introduction: In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Sudbury, ON where a massive meteorite impact 1.85 billion years ago left an economically significant scar on the terrane. Now one of the top global producers of nickel, Sudbury’s owes it fame to Earth’s own natural smelting event that brought precious metals up to the surface where they can be mined today. Resources: Barnes, S.J., Holwell, D.A. and Le Vaillant, M., 2017. Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits....

The more rocks you talk about, the more you learn! Tune in for another bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition where Serena talks with Henry Gage, who studies freeze-thaw weathering in the Niagara Escarpment. When it comes to urban landscapes, geologists play a key role in predicting, understanding and preventing  geohazards. Host Information: Serena is a Canadian graduate student currently studying geochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research...

Episode summary introduction: In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to Hamilton, ON to look at the sedimentary structure that locals call “The Mountain”. The Niagara Escarpment is a steep cliff face that bisects southern Ontario. The cliff face is home to scenic hiking trails and countless waterfalls. For geologists, the Escarpment showcases over 100m of relatively undisturbed sedimentary rock beds, hosting fossils from an ancient tropical sea that once existed on the edge of...

We can’t get enough of fossils, and I hope we can say the same about you. That’s why Serena met with fossil lover and fellow Traveling Geologist team member Noelle Lin to follow up on the wonders of Mistaken Point. Check out this bonus episode of Backyard Geology: Canada Edition to learn about paleoenvironmental reconstruction! Host Information: Serena is a Canadian graduate student currently studying geochemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research focuses on...

Episode summary introduction: In this episode of Backyard Geology, Serena takes you to St. John’s Newfoundland. The southeastern tip of the peninsula, 130km down the coast from the city, host to the oldest known forms of large, complex life dating back 565 million years ago from the Ediacaran Period. The exposed sedimentary rocks, which make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, provide a window into the elusive and understudied inhabitants of the Precambrian sea floor. Resources: Darroch,...

Episode summary introduction:​ ​In this episode of Backyard Geology, Chris explores the incredible variety and flow of lava! Not everyone’s backyard is a place to see lava, but that doesn’t mean that lava flows are uncommon. Chris will explore the major types of lava as well as share some unbelievable, and in some cases, catastrophic […]