
Super Volcanoes
What They Reveal About Earth and the Worlds Beyond
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Narrated by:
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Mike Cooper
About this listen
An exhilarating time-traveling journey to the solar system's strangest and most awe-inspiring volcanoes.
Volcanoes are capable of acts of pyrotechnical prowess verging on magic: They spout black magma more fluid than water, create shimmering cities of glass at the bottom of the ocean and frozen lakes of lava on the moon, and can even tip entire planets over. Despite their reputation for destruction, volcanoes are inseparable from the creation of our planet.
Super Volcanoes revels in the incomparable power of volcanic eruptions past and present, Earth-bound and otherwise, and explores how these eruptions reveal secrets about the worlds to which they belong. Science journalist and volcanologist Robin George Andrews describes the stunning ways in which volcanoes can sculpt the sea, land, and sky, and even influence the machinery that makes or breaks the existence of life. Traveling from Hawaii, Tanzania, Yellowstone, and the ocean floor to the moon, Venus, and Mars, Andrews explores cutting-edge discoveries and lingering scientific mysteries surrounding these phenomenal forces of nature.
©2022 Robin George Andrews (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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At various times in a span of fifteen years, John McPhee made geological field surveys in the company of Eldridge Moores, a tectonicist at the University of California at Davis. The result of these trips is Assembling California, a cross-section in human and geologic time, from Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada through the golden foothills of the Mother Lode and across the Great Central Valley to the wine country of the Coast Ranges, the rock of San Francisco, and the San Andreas family of faults.
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Subduction leads to orogeny zones in California
- By Darwin8u on 11-30-13
By: John McPhee
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Biogeography
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Mark V. Lomolino
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Biogeography is the study of geographic variation in all characteristics of life - ranging from genetic, morphological, and behavioral variation among regional populations of a species, to geographic trends in diversity of entire communities across our planet's surface. From the ancient hunters and gatherers to the earliest naturalists, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and scientists today, the search for patterns in life has provided insights that proved invaluable for understanding the natural world.
By: Mark V. Lomolino
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Stone by Stone
- The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls
- By: Robert M. Thorson
- Narrated by: Robert M. Thorson
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Stone walls tell nothing less than the story of how New England was formed, and in Robert Thorson's hands they live and breathe. Millions of years ago, New England's stones belonged to ancient mountains thrust up by prehistoric collisions between continents. Buried again over centuries by forest and soil buildup, the stones gradually worked their way back to the surface, only to become impediments to the farmers cultivating the land in the eighteenth century, who piled them into "linear landfills," a place to hold the stones.
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Encyclopedia of Stone Walls in Historical Context
- By David Elliott on 04-22-24
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The Modern Scholar: Geology
- The Story of Earth
- By: Professor Kate Zeigler
- Narrated by: Professor Kate Zeigler
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
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Geology is often thought of as simply the study of rocks. In reality, geology is the study of our planet on all scales, from microscopic to planet-wide, and ranging in time from almost instantaneous events, like earthquakes, to the glacially slow motion of the tectonic plates. Everything we know about our world from a geologic perspective is based on information locked into the rock record and the job of a geologist is to tease out that story through a wide variety of observations. This insightful course explores a range of topics that help to tell the story of Earth and to explain the discipline of Geology and the role of the geologist.
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interesting, informative and well presented.
- By Steven Mark on 01-09-16
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50 Great Myths of Human Evolution
- Understanding Misconceptions About Our Origins
- By: John H. Relethford
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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50 Great Myths of Human Evolution uses common misconceptions to explore basic theory and research in human evolution and strengthen critical thinking skills for lay audiences, listeners, and students. Includes myths such as: "Humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs"; "Lucy was so small because she was a child"; "Our ancestors have always made fire"; and "There is a strong relationship between brain size and intelligence."
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Best evolution book I have read.
- By Anthony W. Shallin on 07-02-18
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Dinosaurs Rediscovered
- The Scientific Revolution in Paleontology
- By: Michael J. Benton
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In Dinosaurs Rediscovered, leading paleontologist Michael J. Benton gathers together all the latest paleontological evidence, tracing the transformation of dinosaur study from its roots in antiquated natural history to an indisputably scientific field. Among other things, the book explores how dinosaur remains are found and excavated, and especially how paleontologists read the details of dinosaurs' lives from their fossils - their colors, their growth, and even whether we will ever be able to bring them back to life.
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Great overview of advances in dinosaur paleo
- By Keegan on 03-28-20
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The First Americans
- In Pursuit of Archaeology's Greatest Mystery
- By: J.M. Adovasio, Jake Page
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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J. M. Adovasio has spent the last thirty years at the center of one of our most fiery scientific debates: Who were the first humans in the Americas, and how and when did they get there? At its heart, The First Americans is the story of the revolution in thinking that Adovasio and his fellow archaeologists have brought about, and the firestorm it has ignited.
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Worth a read/listen
- By Thomas Gordon on 01-16-23
By: J.M. Adovasio, and others
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Krakatoa
- The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa - the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster - was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly 40,000 people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round die planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light.
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Great subject, great writing, great voice
- By rwise on 01-26-04
By: Simon Winchester
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Basin and Range
- Annals of the Former World, Book 1
- By: John McPhee
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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To geologists, rocks are beautiful, roadcuts are windowpanes, and the earth is alive, a work in progress. The cataclysmic movement that gives birth to mountains and oceans is ongoing and can still be seen at certain places on our planet. One of these is the Basin and Range region centered in Nevada and Utah.
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Wow.
- By Julie on 10-12-04
By: John McPhee
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The Nature of Plants
- An Introduction to How Plants Work
- By: Craig N. Huegel
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Plants play a critical role in how we experience our environment. They create calming green spaces, provide oxygen for us to breathe, and nourish our senses. In The Nature of Plants, ecologist and nursery owner Craig Huegel demystifies the complex lives of plants and provides listeners with an extensive tour into their workings.
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So informative!
- By Stephanie Mora on 08-17-22
By: Craig N. Huegel
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Antimony, Gold, and Jupiter's Wolf
- How the Elements Were Named
- By: Peter Wothers
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The iconic periodic table of the elements is now in its most satisfyingly elegant form. This is because all the "gaps" corresponding to missing elements in the seventh row, or period, have recently been filled and the elements named. But where do these names come from? For some, usually the most recent, the origins are quite obvious, but in others - even well-known elements such as oxygen or nitrogen - the roots are less clear. Here, Peter Wothers explores the fascinating and often surprising stories behind how the chemical elements received their names.
By: Peter Wothers
Interesting and fun
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best book
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So much better than I was expecting!
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Uncovering Earth's past and beyond
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Magma-nificent!
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So bloody interesting
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A solid entertaining book
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Good story poorly told.
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