Michigan Minerals

Halite's chemical formula is NaCl, sodium chloride. It is used for "salting the streets" to melt away snow. It is usually clear and it has a conchoidal fracture.

Gypsum's chemical formula is CaSO4·2H2O. It is used for fertilizer and it is used to make plaster. It is colorless to white, and can take on many shapes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum

Metamorphic Rocks

Slate was shale before it became metamorphoed. It is used for roof and floor tiles.

Marble was limestone before it became metamorphoed. It is used for building material.

Quartzite was sandstone before it became metamorphosed. It is used in road construction.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys/slate.html

http://blog.builddirect.com/slate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble

http://geology.csupomona.edu/alert/metamorphic/quartzite.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartzite

Igneous Rocks

Pumice is an Igneous Rock that can be used to scrape dry and excess skin off of the bottom of a foot. Granite is another Igneous Rock that can be used for countertops and flooring in modern-day homes. Obsidian is used for modern-day scalpels. Gabbro is mostly used for cemetary headstones. Basalt is used for making cobblestone, and statues. This is a picture of an obsidian scalpel.

Pumice, Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumice

Granite, Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite

Obsidian, Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian

Gabbro, Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabbro

Basalt. Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basalt

www.gc.maricopa.edu/.../obsidian_pictures.htm

Canada's Wind Farms

Putting Wind Farms in the Great Lakes is very controversial. If Canada installs them, the shoreline homes would have the property values changed. Also, the turbines would be on the migratory pathway for birds around the area. On the other hand, the wind turbines would help Canada in their new law about "going green", which could also help close the coal mines in under five years. I believe Canada should proceed with this. The beauty of the lake does not concern me. I don't believe that the wind turbines shouldn't be put up just because it would disturb the view of the sunset. It would help Canada to become more "green" and I believe that going green is more important than the property value of shoreline houses. If I opposed this idea, I could write a detailed, opinionated article, and publish it in the Grosse Pointe North High School Newspaper, and increase people's awareness of the matter.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100226/NEWS06/2260374/1322/Storm-brews-over-Ontario-winds
March 2009 Detroit Free Press Tina Lam

The Ring of Fire

On this map, the volcanoes both have convergent and divergent boundaries. The volcanoes can be ocean-ocean convergent, and divergent boundaries. They can also have continent-continent convergent and divergent boundaries. Volcanoes cannot have ocean-continent divergent boundries though. Volcanoes can only be created on ocean-continent convergent boundaries.

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/evolving_earth/evolving_earth.html
University of Michigan
http://map.ngdc.noaa.gov/website/seg/hazards/viewer.htm
NOAA Satellite and Information Service

Plate Tectonics

The breakup of Pangea was 225 million years ago. The continental breakup that almost happened in Michigan occurred 1.1 billion years ago. The kind of rock that now fills the Keweenawan Rift is basalt. During the Early Carboniferous period, 356 million years ago, Michigan was on the Equator. The Mediterranean Mountains will be north of Africa in the Future World. In 250 million years, North America will be joined with South America and Africa.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072402466/student_view0/chapter19/animations_and_movies.html
2003 Physical Geography
http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/rift_zone.html
Mid-Continental Rift Zone
http://www.scotese.com/earth.htm
Paleomap Project, Christopher R. Scotese 2002

Earthquakes

Today, Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010, there were so far 8 earthquakes. In the United States, the latest earthquake was on February 1st in Baja, California. According to past earthquakes in the United States, they occur mostly in the state of California. In South America, earthquakes usually occur on the western coast. As you travel from East to West across South America, the earthquakes become deeper.

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
http://www.iris.washington.edu/servlet/eventserver/map.do
2009 IRIS - Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology.
Sponsered by the National Science Foundation