STUDENT’S VOICE
Figure 3. From top left to bottom right: Tre Cime di Lavaredo; entrance of trench/cave; Cortney inside the cave; gun port; exit of trench/cave.
For further information, see
https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/291147142_Grotta_Gigante.
Above the Karst: Tre Cime di Lavaredo
While the caves play coy, the Dolomite mountains which lend their name to the mineral, dominate the landscape for miles, otherworldly in their majesty as they seemingly spring suddenly from the earth. Indeed, the highlight of my experi- ence in Italy was hiking around the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, three distinctive tower-like peaks glorying over a nature park named after them (Fig. 3). I won’t belabor the park’s beauty, leaving photographs to attempt it, even if they, too, fall short of that task, but I do want to mention that the park, which witnessedthe World War 1 front between Austria and Italy, provides a solemn testimony to the intersection of geology and warfare. Soldiers carved gun ports in the steep mountain walls and dug trenches and caves in the carbonate bedrock, all easily visible on a standard hike around the park (Fig. 3). Other war uses of the geology included tunneling and the use of explosions to trigger fatal rock slides. Further discussion of the military geology of the Dolomites can be found at https://
www.aipg.org
blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/accretionary- wedge-36war-geology/.
Making Connections
My beloved Appalachians are in many ways the spiritual ancestors of the Dolomites; visiting the Dolomites felt akin to glancing back at the Appalachians in their heyday and has enriched my understanding of them. A different academic experience saw me in Turks and Caicos, which allowed me to better envision the carbonate platform that was churned into the Karst Plateau and the Dolomites. As H. H. Read time- lessly exhorted, “The best geologist is he who has seen the most rocks.” Every trip continues to aid me in piecing together the picture not just of deep time and geology in general but also specifically of local geology. In closing, I would like to encourage undergraduates interested in this specific intern- ship opportunity to contact the Department of Earth Science at North Carolina Central University—but of course, always keep your eyes out for other opportunities to travel and learn!
About the Author: Cortney Cameron recently earned a master’s degree in earth science from North Carolina Central University and accepted a position as a hydrogeologist in Florida.
Jul.Aug.Sep 2017 • TPG 57
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