By Mac Malambri
I am writing this at Denver International Airport on the plane, preparing to depart. After 11 hours of travel complete—beginning at 3–and with 7.5 left, I am quite tired. Nevertheless, I am excited to begin this adventure.
Over the past week, I am learned the basics of geology. In summary, there are two competing forces involved in earth processes. The tectonic movements create and destroy rock at the conflict zone between plates, while the climate system results in weathering rocks. All of this results in a cycle in which new rocks are created through cooling lava, transformation of other rocks, or compression of small minerals into rocks. They are destroyed by reintroduction into the magma layer or weathering.
Hawaii specifically has created by a hot spot—pool of extra hot magma near the crust. This hot spot causes the geologic processes ini Hawaii despite it’s distance from the boundaries of any plates; it’s in the center of the Pacific plate. The hot spot stays constant, even as the plate moves, which is why there are many Hawaiian islands as well as seamounts northwest of the hotspot.
As for a summary of my travels so far, I awoke at 2:35 AM. I met my class outside Graham-Lees Residence Hall at 3 AM for an early ride to Dulles. It is crazy to see just how quite the Shenandoah Valley is before dawn. Meanwhile, the highways outside of DC are not quiet before dawn. Somehow, we were briefly at a stand still in traffic before 6 AM. Back in Socastee, you could drive all over and only see a couple other cars. Getting into Dulles was mostly smooth with the exception of one girl who’s ID barely differed from her ticket and had to go through an extensive verification process. We had a 2 hour layover in Denver. Even the airport, the beauty of DEN and the Rockies is just incredible. I am now about to depart for Kona. Let the adventure begin!
