Plate Tectonics: A Revolution in the Earth Sciences

Lottery entry opens January 9 and closes January 16. Regular registration opens January 15.
Dates: March 3, 2025
Meets: M from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
 Location: Bozeman, MT - Museum of the Rockies
Cost:  $0.00

There are still openings remaining at this time.

Date Day Time
03/03/2025Monday3 PM to 5 PM

OR

Please note: This course program requires membership in a 2024-2025 OLLI at MSU Membership

Description

In the early 1900s, compelling geologic evidence indicated that continents in the southern hemisphere had once been in proximity. Still, this evidence had been soundly rejected by most in the geological community because the processes proposed to explain the drifting of continents were not deemed plausible. After WWII, resources and new technologies became available at a scale that enabled the synoptic exploration of the global ocean floor. These data revealed the sea floor's geological and geophysical characteristics, which served as the foundation for a planetary process called plate tectonics.

Course Takeaways

  • Better understand the geologic processes that integrate in space and time to create the distinctive character of Earth.
  • Recognize that facts about expressions of our planet's processes are immutable, even without understanding those processes.
Fee:  $0.00

Bozeman, MT - Museum of the Rockies

600 West Kagy Blvd
Bozeman, Montana 59717

Paul Fox

Paul Fox graduated with a B.A. in geology from Ohio Wesleyan University and received a Ph.D. from Columbia University specializing in marine geology/geophysics. He served on the earth science faculties of SUNY at Albany, the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and Texas A&M University. To better understand how our planet works, he spent 42 months at sea utilizing investigative assets to reveal the processes that shape the global ocean floor in time and space. He presently serves as Professor Emeritus in geology and geophysics at Texas A&M.