A VIDEO SERIES TO EXPLAIN THE CRUST AND SEDIMENTARY BASINS BENEATH THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS ASSESSMENT

Understanding the geophysical and geologic nature of US continental crust and its sedimentary basins are essential knowledge any geoscience student or professional should have. But most college geoscience students have never seen a simple E-W cross-section across the US, from Moho to the surface. We reviewed 10 introductory geology textbooks but have not found any that show a cross-section across our nation. This is surprising, considering the major investments made by the National Science Foundation and the United States Geological Survey to describe the crust and sedimentary basins of the US. Geoscience students need this information for future prospecting jobs, seeking new strategic mineral resources within the US that we need for our shift toward sustainable energy. We think the best way to remedy this weakness is to develop a series of three short instructional videos, composed for students in introductory geology classes, that show and explain the crust of the US in cross-section from coast to coast. Like other videos made by University of Texas at Dallas Geoscience Studio (UTD/GSS), these will be 5-10 minutes long and include animations of key processes. Intended videos will include:

1. how does geophysics map US crustal thickness, and what does this reveal about its composition?
2. what do geologic studies reveal about how and when US continental crust formed?
3. where are the sedimentary basins within and around the US; and how and when did these form?

We will interview students to assess how effective the videos are in explaining these concepts. We will post the videos on the UTD Geoscience Studios YouTube channel, and promote them on other social media platforms, disseminating them to students and instructors worldwide. We welcome partners who want to be involved in developing and assessing the videos.