Robert G. Raynolds

Developing and Applying a Set of Earth Science Literacy Principles

ABSTRACT The 21st century will be defined by challenges such as understanding and preparing for climate change and ensuring the availability of resources such as water and energy, which are issues deeply rooted in Earth science. Understanding Earth science concepts is critical for humanity to successfully respond to these challenges and thrive in the decades to come. As part of efforts to address this, a new program called the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI) was formed in 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Its task was to create a succinct document outlining what citizens should know about Earth science. This document, called the Earth Science Literacy Principles (ESLPs), has applications in both public and private arenas. For example, the ESLPs have been used to define the core ideas of both a middle school textbook program and a new set of K–12 science education standards. The ESLPs, which are founded in a broad representation of the geoscience community, based upon current research, and endorsed by major government, industry, and academic geoscience organizations, represent an effort by the Earth science community to create a coherent and fundamental set of big ideas and supporting concepts that represent our fields.

Earth history along colorado's Front range: Salvaging geologic data in the suburbs and sharing it with the citizens

the Denver Basin preserves >800 m of laramide synorogenic strata, which record basin accommodation, orogenic topography, and resultant orographic climatic effects. the basin also records the cretaceous-tertiary boundary event and the subsequent recovery of terrestrial ecosystems. Outcrops in the basin are modest and commonly consist of temporary constructionrelated excavations. the Denver Museum of nature & Science has coordinated a decade-long multidisciplinary program that includes paleontological research, stratigraphic studies, aquifer analyses, and basin evolution studies in this area. As part of this effort, the synorogenic strata were continuously cored in 1999. Unusually diverse floras exhibiting rainforest physiognomy, episodic sedimentation linked to pulsed orogeny, and stratigraphic controls on aquifer distribution and quality have emerged from beneath the urbanizing landscape. results of this work, summarized in painted reconstructions, have helped colorado residents and museum visitors gain insight into past climates and settings, and have helped inform decisions regarding the ongoing development of the region. INTRODUCTION the enigmatic laramide Orogeny can be analyzed through evaluation of the sedimentary debris shed from uplifted regions into adjacent basins. While the plate-scale genetic mechanisms responsible for the orogeny remain obscure (english and Johnston, 2004), increased precision in the analysis of synorogenic sediments can reveal patterns and trends that improve our understanding of regional tectonic development (Dickinson et al., 1988). During the laramide Orogeny, abrupt uplift of the eastern flank of the rocky Mountain Front range led to the dispersal of fluvial distributary systems carrying coarse clastic debris into the asymmetrically subsiding Denver Basin (Fig. 1) on the eastern periphery of the rocky Mountains. As the Front range mountains rose, >800 m of nonmarine strata accumulated in the basin. these sediments form the bedrock aquifers that are currently mined to supply drinking water to many communities along the Front range urban corridor. these same rock layers are also extremely fossiliferous: almost any excavation in the rapidly urbanizing Front range area yields exciting evidence of past flora, fauna, and landscapes. Fresh excavations are commonly only briefly available, so geological and paleontological work needs to be done on an opportunistic and expedient basis. For the past decade, a team of researchers from the Denver Museum of nature & Science (DMnS), supported by local, state, and national Science Foundation funding, has salvaged newly discovered fossils and worked to assemble the geologic history of the Denver Basin. During the same period, colorado’s population increased by 30%, with 80% of the state’s population concentrated in the Front range urban corridor (Mladinich, 2006). Dinosaurs are found in people’s basement excavations, and leaves from fossilized rainforests litter road cuts along busy freeways. Volcanic ash layers are found in city parks, and stratifigure 1. Geologic base map of the synorogenic strata in the Denver basin showing fossil plant localities and the K-t boundary. this map is a compilation of over 25 geologic maps with additional boundary information obtained by intersecting three-dimensional subsurface models created by using over 1400 oil, gas, and water well electric logs with the digital elevation model. Small outcrops of post-orogenic Castle rock rhyolite and Castlewood Conglomerate have been omitted for clarity.