This Blog has moved!

Please go to www.scquest.org

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Report On The Geology Of The Henry Mountains by Grove Karl Gilbert


Before you read anything below, I want to ask you a question.
Can you describe a mountain for me?

If your description culminated with "big" or "rocky" than you should take a few tips from this book.

Report On The Geology Of The Henry Mountains
by Grove Karl Gilbert
Product Details
Hardcover: 152 pages
Publisher: Arno Press (reprint 1978)
Date Published: 1877

Point: Though isolated and relatively useless for monetary value, the Henry Mountains in Southern Utah have geological significance
Path: Following an extensive evaluation of the Henry Mountains, Gilbert submitted a report to the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. The main portions of the book include and introduction to the location of the mountains, their structure, a detailed description of the mountains themselves, land structures explained, and the general worth of the mountains.
Sources: Intensive study and observation
Agreement: Chapter three, the detailed description of the mountains, was very interesting. It captured my attention not because of something inherently exciting about the mountains themselves, such as majestic waterfalls, sheer cliffs, or deep caves, but because they were interesting to the author. His description of the Henry Mountains made me want to visit them. He described the peaks and the valleys, the cliffs and the plateaus, as though they were special. They were special, not because they were extraordinary, but because they were there.
Disagreement: I disagree with the general presupposition of the age of the mountains, and that the past has been uniform in erosion.
Personal App: I want to see the Henry Mountains. I want to sit and contemplate a feature of the geography which I have so quickly passed over. I want to imagine what workings are going on below the surface of this angry, shaking earth as it pushes lava upward to stain the surface.
Favorite Quote: “Coal, building sone, gypsum, and timber have no value for lack of a market, either present or prospective; gold and silver are not found; and there is little or no land that can be successfully farmed. Only for grazing have the mountains a money value” (152). But yet he spends 152 pages describing the mountains - because they are there!
Stars: 3 out of 5 - this is tough, because taken for the purposes written, I am sure this is valuable. But for the average reader, is this a must read? I doubt it.

2 comments:

Caleb Gates said...

That's a different book than you usually are reading. Sounds interesting. I have read more about the geology the last few years. What do you mean by this statement:
"Disagreement: I disagree with the general presupposition of the age of the mountains, and that the past has been uniform in erosion."

Unknown said...

I believe in a young earth.
I believe there was a global flood, which would make erosion work at different rates. His chapter on erosion was good, but one can't assume it has been consistent.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8)