Creation of Knowledge in the Geosciences

knowledge (‘nal – ij)

4. the sum of what is known; the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by mankind.

2. the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association

3. [Archaic] sexual intercourse

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary

Observations• Curiosity

• Hypothesis

• Technology

Hypothesis• Sci. Climate

• Observations

• Synthesis

KNOWLEDGE

Society/Politics• History

• Sci. Climate

• Funding

Interpretation• Sci. Climate

• Imagination

• Technology

“We blend the intuitive, subjective and objective to uncover truths.”

Example: Plate tectonics and sea floor spreading(ca 1965)

Society/Politics

1940s World War II, submarine warfare

1950s Exploration of the oceans

1950s- Cold War

1957 Sputnik

1960s Concern about nuclear testing

Technology

1957 Project Moho (drill through the crust)

1960s Mass spectrometers to date rocks

1960s Ocean drilling project

Observations

Topographic ridge

Ridge height = 3 km

Ridge width = 3000 km

Central valley at ridge axis

Ridge offsets along broad fractures

No sediments at ridge axis

Progressively thicker sediments away from ridge

Observations

Entire seafloor composed of lava rock

Below lava rock is basalt dikes (crack-filling lava)

Sediment age increases away from ridge

“Facts are not knowledge. Facts are facts, but how they form the big picture, are interconnected and hold meaning, creates knowledge. It is this connectivity, which leads to breakthroughs …”

Observations

Most of Earth is aseismic

Earthquakes happen in narrow belts

Marine earthquakes occur on oceanic ridges

Detailed studies show ridge earthquakes restricted to axial valley and ridge offsets

Observations

Magnetic stripes

Stripes are parallel to the ridge

Stripes are symmetric about ridge axis

Ages of seafloor at magnetic stripe boundaries consistent for all oceans

Hypothesis

Seafloor Spreading - Earth’s outer layer made of rigid plates. New seafloor created by lava at ocean ridges, where plates are spreading apart.

“In Anderson, Krathwohl and colleagues revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning, they put creativity, the ability to reorganize elements into a new pattern, structure, or purpose, at the pinnacle of learning”

Observations/Interpretations

Topographic ridge; 3km high, 3000 km wideHot thermally-expanded ridge

Central valley at ridge axisLocation of spreading center

No sediments at ridge axisProgressively thicker sediments away from ridgeSeafloor age zero at ridge

Observations/Interpretations

Entire seafloor composed of lava rockAll seafloor created at ridge axis by lava extrusion

Below lava rock are basalt dikes (crack-filling lava)Dikes form in the crack created by seafloor spreading

Sediment age increases away from ridgeSeafloor age increases away from ridge

Observations/Interpretations

Most of Earth is aseismicEarth is divided into solid plates (plate tectonics)

Earthquakes happen in narrow beltsAction happens at plate boundaries

Earthquakes occur on oceanic ridgesRidges are divergent plate boundaries

Ridge earthquakes restricted to axial valley and ridge offsetsEarthquakes occur where there is relative motion

Observations/Interpretations

Magnetic stripesSeafloor magnetized during lava cooling; stripes produced by field reversals

Stripes are parallel and symmetric about ridge axisStripes produced at ridge axis and transported by seafloor spreading

Observations• Curiosity

• Hypothesis

• Technology

Hypothesis• Sci. Climate

• Observations

• Synthesis

KNOWLEDGE

Society/Politics• History

• Sci. Climate

• Funding

Interpretation• Sci. Climate

• Imagination

• Technology

“We blend the intuitive, subjective and objective to uncover truths.”

Creation of Knowledge in the Sciences

• “Why do we as humans…seek knowledge and or truths? First, we as a species are naturally curious.”

• “Seeking knowledge is an effort to understand the world that surrounds us.”

• “Putting these pieces together is much like a jigsaw puzzle. Only certain pieces go with others. It’s like magnetic words on a refrigerator door that get put together many times until sense is made of the words.”

• “All of this is what keeps me up at night. It’s trying to solve a problem you don’t quite understand. It’s trying to understand a language you don’t fully speak. But the need and desire to know more … remains. It can become an obsession; it is the engine that drives the creative process.”

Creation of Knowledge in the Sciences

• “Why do we as humans … seek knowledge and or truths? First, we as a species are naturally curious.”

• “Seeking knowledge is an effort to understand the world that surrounds us.”

• “Putting these pieces together is much like a jigsaw puzzle. Only certain pieces go with others. It’s like magnetic words on a refrigerator door that get put together many times until sense is made of the words.”

• “All of this is what keeps me up at night. It’s trying to solve a problem you don’t quite understand. It’s trying to understand a language you don’t fully speak. But the need and desire to know more … remains. It can become an obsession; it is the engine that drives the creative process.”

Creation of Knowledge in Modern Dance

Professor Steve Koester, February 2004

Creation of Knowledge in the Geosciences

http://thermal.gg.utah.edu/links

David S. Chapman

Department of Geology & Geophysics