WNC Sierra Club

Join us Feb. 4 as we host geologist Richard Wiener for a talk about the topgraphy, bedrock geology, and evolution of our beautiful and intriguing slice of Earth in western North Carolina. The talk will highlight how the Blue Ridge mountains have impacted the course of tropical storms, including Hurricane Helene to devastating effect. We will also discuss the clues in the bedrock that enable us to unravel how the jigsaw puzzle of the southern Appalachians was constructed.

Finally the plate tectonic and geographic evolution of the Southern Appalachians and North America will be described from one billion years ago to the present, including continental collisions, continental breakup and ocean formation, marine flooding and formation of inland seas, creation of volcanic island arcs, ocean basin destruction followed by additional continental collisions resulting in Himalayan-scale mountains, and finally erosion and rejuvenation of the Appalachians to our present landscape.

Richard Wiener is a lifelong geologist with experience in university teaching, research, and the petroleum industry. He received his BA from Colgate U. and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from U. of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has been teaching classes in geology, energy, and climate at OLLI on the UNCA campus since 2012.