Favorite Presentations

One of my favorite presentations was the one on the three famous and fascinating caves. I had no idea any of them existed, or that such things could exist in the first place. The best one was the Cave of Crystals in Mexico.I had no idea that the selenite crystals could trap gasses and could dissolve in air so quickly. I also did not know that such a pretty cave like the Blue Hole was so close to where we live, since it's still in Texas.

The weather rarities presentation was also fascinating. I had never experienced any of the phenomena talked about in the slides, but now I really hope that one day I do. Out of all of those, the optic events were the most interesting, because it is amazing how random things can produce such beautiful effects. However, all of the things talked about were amazing, even the dangerous ones like the derechos.

The Stone Forest was interesting as well. It is amazing to see what simple erosion can do in the right circumstances, unlike all the damage it can also do. It was also interesting to see how people in the Chinese culture that lived around the stone forest created a myth and a festival around it. I wish the presentation had gone more into that however. I hope one day I will be able to visit it for myself.

Canyon Lake Gorge

Canyon Lake Gorge was absolutely amazing. The entire place was absolutely gorgeous and fascinating, especially all the fossils. The tour guides were also very informative and helpful. On a whole, the entire experience was very worth the almost slipping and falling from mud and holes involved with the entire experience.

The rocks and fossils in the gorge were amazing. I had never exactly understand how faults and the hanging and foot wall worked, but after seeing them myself, and walking on them made me start to really get it. The same thing happened with seeing the sedimentation of rock, as well as the difference between normal position and when rock layers and soil horizons are shifted by different geological events like fault shifts. The sheer amount of faults was also amazing. The fossils were incredible. I had never heard about the species of dinosaurs that left tracks, and the fact that there were so many tiny fossils of urchins, algae balls, and


crustaceans blew my mind, and that they were so exposed and easy to find. I could not believe that so many organisms were fossilized so well for millions of years.The formation of the gorge itself was also incredible. So much geological and paleontological information was uncovered just because of one storm, without which the faults and thousands of fossils down in the gorge would not be seen.