It's so nice to see some, not entirely serious, non-scientists taking
an interest in geology:
"An enormous 35-mile-long rift which "unzipped" in "just days" across
the face of Ethiopia has now been confirmed by boffins as the
beginning of a process which will see Africa split in two by a new
ocean.
Geologists around the world, including some at Leeds Uni in the UK,
came together to analyse the startling event in which a volcano named
Dabbahu caused the mighty crack to open in the face of the Earth...."
-- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/03/africa_unzipped/
hat tip to the Volcanism Blog
Barb
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"Apart from its healthful mental training as a branch of ordinary
education, geology as an open-air pursuit affords an admirable
training in habits of observation, furnishes a delightful relief from
the cares and routine of everyday life, takes us into the open fields
and the free fresh face of nature, leads us into all manner of
sequestered nooks, whither hardly any other occupation or interest
would be likely to send us, sets before us problems of the highest
interest regarding the history of the ground beneath our feet, and
thus gives a new charm to scenery which may be already replete with
attractions."
— Sir Archibald Geikie, "Outlines of Field-Geology" (1900), 251-2.