The University of Nebraska State Museum presented a Sunday with a Scientist program for children and families about volcanoes and hotspots 1:30-4:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at Morrill Hall. Museum visitors learned about plate tectonics, new discoveries in geology, and the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park.
The program, "Volcanoes and Hotspots," was led by State Museum Educator Cindy Loope and David Loope, Professor of Geology in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The scientists shared information about the EarthScope program and the latest discoveries resulting from recent data collected from hundreds of seismic stations across the American West. By piecing together the Earth's tectonic plates and exploring Yellowstone's geologic record, visitors determined the direction the North American plate is moving. They investigated the boundaries where the plates meet, monitored volcanoes and earthquakes in real time and discovered the ties between Yellowstone's volcanic past and the fossil record of Nebraska mammals.
Most of Dr. David Loope's research has involved wind-blown sediments on the Great Plains (Quaternary) and on the Colorado Plateau (Pennsylvanian through Jurassic). His recent focus is on the Navajo and Entrada Sandstones in southern Utah.
The University of Nebraska State Museum presented a Sunday with a Scientist program for children and families about volcanoes and hotspots 1:30-4:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at Morrill Hall. Museum visitors learned about plate tectonics, new discoveries in geology, and the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park.
