My trip to the Iowa Historical Museum included a fascinating journey through Iowa's geological as well as natural history. I started at the geological exhibits and learned that the geode is the state rock. Geodes are unique mineral objects within a rock layer of different composition. It was declared the state rock in 1967by the Iowa General Assembly. Geodes are very interesting in how they are made the following is a very good explanation that I found on the internet.
How Geodes Are Created.
"Geodes begin as bubbles in volcanic rock or as animal burrows, tree roots or mud balls in sedimentary rock. Over time, the outer shell of the spherical shape hardens, and water containing silica precipitation forms on the inside walls of the hollow cavity within the geode. The silica precipitation can contain any variety of dissolved minerals; the most common being quartz, but amethyst and calcite are also found. Over a period of thousands of years, layers of silica cool, forming crystals of different minerals within the cavity. Different types of silica cool at varying temperatures, thus creating layers of different types of mineral crystals." (http://www.desertusa.com/magjan98/jan_pap/du_rock_geode.html).
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Other Geological Findings From My Adventures.
Iowa soil and rock has formed over millions of years of geological processes. They have been formed in times that most would never suspect that the land of Iowa has went through. Such as, our rich top soil come from the glacier movements that Iowa experienced during the Ice Age. The limestone comes from a time when Iowa was covered in sea water and was nothing but as sea floor for the world (hard to imagine). The coal that is here was produced from the time when it was swamp land, I wonder if there are any remnants of alligators from ancient times or if reptilians even existed then. The shallow seas of the Paleozoic era represented a great changing age for this land.
I watch the weather reports a bit closer now. Others laugh when they find out I have bottled water and canned food stacked in my pantry. I have flashlights and candles in a waterproof box high upon a shelf. I have very few real plants and a pet that requires very little water. Others laugh at me. I ...
He has two step-brothers, two step-sisters, and two natural brothers ("Biography of Jesse James"). ... The best of Jesse James activities had taken place throughout Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Kentucky, and Minnesota. ... On July 21, 1873, the James Gang robbed the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad at Adair, Iowa. ... On January 31, 1874, one of the most famous train robberies in history occurred at Gads Hill, Missouri on the St. ...
Throughout The Sound of Mountain Water Stegner relates his experiences traveling in the western United States, and in the second part reflects upon the ties of the western writer to history. ... Wallace Stegner was born in Lake Mills, Iowa in 1909, and spent his childhood and young adult years living in various locations around the western U.S. ... In fact, all of Stegner's earlier works are pervaded by a sense of awe at the beauty of the west, and the history of the region. ... Stegner is saddened by the loss of the natural canyon, its wildlife and the ruins of ancient cultures hidden in...
Throughout The Sound of Mountain Water Stegner relates his experiences traveling in the western United States, and in the second part reflects upon the ties of the western writer to history. ... Wallace Stegner was born in Lake Mills, Iowa in 1909, and spent his childhood and young adult years living in various locations around the western U.S. ... In fact, all of Stegner's earlier works are pervaded by a sense of awe at the beauty of the west, and the history of the region. ... Stegner is saddened by the loss of the natural canyon, its wildlife and the ruins of ancient cultures hidden in...
Through sports, women were able to rise up, challenge the status quo and rewrite the history books. ... Monica has had to work hard to establish herself as a presence, while Quincy was born with natural star potential. ... A Brief History of the WNBA On April 24, 1996 women's basketball announced "We Got Next" as the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to begin play in June 1997. ... The history of the WNBA follows: Before a player was signed or a staff member was in place, the league announced its broadcast partners...
Three years later, the State University of Iowa followed in Penn State's footsteps and began offering five radio courses eligible for college credit ("Distance Education Timeline - Baker's Guide to Christian Online Learning"). ... The next obvious phase was to educate students over the phone and, thus, the University of Wisconsin began to offer telephone-based courses throughout the state in 1965 ("Infographic History of Distance Education"). ... A couple years later, an entirely online curriculum was offered by CALCampus in 1994, the first of its kind ("Infographic History of Dista...
Daily and Katherine Ellison give a detailed history of the evolution of carbon credits in chapter 2 titled : How to Make Carbon Charismatic. ... A group of energy companies in British Columbia paid these Iowa farmers a few dollars per acer per year to reduce plowing on 2.5 million acers of land. ... Rising temperature meant the odds of climate related disasters would increase. " We believe that climate changes will increase the frequency of natural disasters, primarily weather related ones, so we've dedicated ourselves to acting responsibly and trying to be proactive (54)." ...
Through history, Property Rights is an important issue in the systems of the indigenous institutions. ... Through history, inappropriate property rights institutions have often had destructive consequences on the environment. ... The history of private property in the U.S. is fascinating, and a view in this country of an individual's rights is far more liberal than in most other countries. ... Organizations Concerned with Property Rights are many .Some of it are American Planning Association, BOMA International, The Cato Institute, Institute for Justice, Iowa State University Extension...
If presidential nominee Howard Dean had not had the outburst in Iowa which was broadcasted repeatedly on news stations such as CNN approximately 600 times as of February 8, 2004. ... Immediately after that long speech Abraham Lincoln spoke to the crowd for about two minutes, in one of the most memorable speeches in the history of America. ... Since Chauncey was such a plant lover he would be enraged by the idea of cutting down the rainforest as a natural resource. ... Some people believe that the cutting down and devastating natural resources is appalling and unnecessary. ...