Taxonomy term

The prospect of traveling to Italy might conjure romantic thoughts of stucco-covered villas surrounded by terraced vineyards, ancient visages carved in marble, fountains gurgling in cobblestone piazzas, and pasta smothered in tomato and basil. However, when I was asked to spend a semester teaching in northern Italy, these were not my first thoughts. As a geologist, I instead pondered the Dolomites in alpenglow, the exposure of the iridium-bearing Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (formerly known as the K/T) in Gubio, and the possibility of visiting some of Italy’s famous volcanoes — Mount Vesuvius and Mount Etna — to the south.     

Any minute now a giant sandworm will burst out of the ground and devour me, I thought as I collapsed on the sand. Just like in Frank Herbert’s book, “Dune,” about an alien desert planet. 

Few visitors to Colorado Springs, Colo., realize that the spectacular scenery on display at famous sites like Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, and the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy is largely the result of varied geologic processes spanning more than a billion years. Pioneering 19th-century geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden summed it up best when he said:  “I do not know of any portion of the West where there is so much variety displayed in the geology as within a space of 10 miles square around Colorado [Springs].” In fact, the city holds the rare distinction of hosting rocks from every geologic time period save one. The presence of this unusually complete rock history means that while enjoying Colorado Springs’ premier attractions, you can also take a tour of the geologic timescale.