I love google. I love knowing where to find information. And I can't not know some things. This then comes back to my obsession
I had this instant-message conversation, just this morning:
(11:09:33 AM) Me: Casey asked me if the strait of gilbraltar were closing or opening -- I didn't know for sure.
(11:09:42 AM) Kimberly: : heh, no clue
(11:10:01 AM) Me: So now: Would you like to know about the geology of northern africa and the african/eurasian plate boundary? I had to find out.
(11:11:02 AM) Kimberly: : of course I would like to know!
(11:20:10 AM) Me: *grin* The African plate is moving north pretty fast, but most of the compression is happening in (causing, in fact) the Atlas Mountains, not closing the straits.
(11:20:49 AM) Me: The straits gradually opened from about 25 million years ago to 5 myo, but have been slowly, slowly closing since, with most of the compression happening elsewhere in the mediterranean, local N. African mountains, and 45% of it in the Atlas Mountains.
(11:21:43 AM) Me: I said to Casey, "You knew I couldn't not know, once I realized I didn't know." Casey said, "I know. It means I don't have to do my own research."
(11:21:52 AM) Kimberly: : lol
I'm sure some of the information is vague and/or inaccurate, and I certainly provide no citations. It was based on 15 minutes of reading from links I found via google. But still: This is how my life often goes.
1 comment:
I seem to recall the Mediterranian is hinged in the east (which is why Turkey gets so many earthquakes, and that's it's slowly pushing the jaw of the Mediterranean closed at Gibraltar.
But I had to think about it for a second.
-kat
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