This document summarizes Nicholas Fiegel's geology assignment around their house. The assignment involved observing and documenting geologic changes, identifying three specific rock types, and documenting a geologic law or unconformity. Fiegel documents finding pumice, conglomerate rock, and hornfels in their property. Background information is provided on the geology of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Fiegel also summarizes finding fossils and observing present-day animals like dogs, pine trees, and dragonflies. The document discusses the laws of superposition and examples of angular unconformities.

1. Finding Geological
Evidence
All Around My House
By: Nicholas Fiegel

2. The What, Where, and How
• This assignment consists of observing and documenting the many geologic changes
that I will find during this assignment; Identifying three specific rocks beyond their
general classification of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary; And finally,
documenting one of the three laws of geology– The Law of Superposition, The
Law of Original Horizontality, and lastly The Principle od Fossil Succession. I will
also need to document one of the three types of unconformities – angular
unconformity, nonconformity, and disconformity.
• This assignment took place around my house in my side lots. This assignment was
assembled by carefully following the directions and answering all of the questions to
the best of my ability.

3. Background
I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Recent
evidence has shown that this mountain range is
(>80 ma) According to scientists, the crustaceous
landscape of this range is due to “three Miocene
tectonic events, each followed by ∼2–5 Myr of
subduction-induced magmatism and
sedimentation during a period of relative tectonic
quiescence.” (Busby, 2009)
Busby, C. J., & Putirka, K. (2009, July 8).
Miocene evolution of the western edge of
the Nevadaplano in the central and
northern Sierra Nevada: Palaeocanyons,
magmatism, and structure. RetrievedJuly 19,
2018, from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10
0/0020681090298265

4. The Animal
Kingdom
The animal that I find most often
where I live is my dog swoops. Most
dog breeds of today’s society are
descended from the mighty Grey
wolf (Stoop)
Stoop, B. (n.d.). The history of dogs.
Retrieved July 19, 2018, from
http://animalfreedom.org/engli
sh/opinio
/pets/history_of_the_dog.html

5. Dogs: Then and Now
The first fossil evidence has led scientists to believe that
wolves were first domesticated wolf 27,000 to 40,000 years
ago.
Scientists believe that the first wolves were attracted to
human camps because they were hungry. They would then
proceed to “scavenge” or pilfer the leftovers. According to
Scientists domesticated dogs first originated in China
(Jackobson, 2016).
Jacobson, L. (2016, August 26). The History of Dogs as Pets.
Retrieved July 24, 2018, from
https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/history-dogs
pets/story?id=41671149

6. Wolves of the
Past

7. The Big, Bad Wolf!
•Fossil evidence has been found of dogs being tamed by
humans that dates back 10 to 15 thousand years. Since
scientists don’t know exactly when dogs were tamed by men,
this fossil evidence gives scientists a good estimation of
when exactly dogs were tamed. Scientists speculate that
humans may have found a wolf cub on a hunting trip and
decided to take it with them. The cub would have been very
“puppy like at an early age.” (History) When it grew up, it
would not be as trustworthy as the dog of today, but it would
have been less dangerous.
History and Evolution of Dogs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26,
2018, from http://www.mans-best
friend.org.uk/history-evolution-dogs.htm

8. If a Tree Falls In the Forest and
No One is Around…
This tree is in my side lot. This is a specific kind of
pine tree called the Jefferey Pine Tree. As you can see
by the pictures that I have provided, this tree has
been through a lot. There is a diagonal gash in the
side of the tree that seem to suggest that the tree was
either slashed by a knife or at sometime during its life
span it had a rope or some other device tied really
tight around its middle that may have constricted its
growing and so therefore the mark was made. There
is also a deep hallow in the base of the tree that may
have been cause by a lightning strike, a fire, or it may
be home to ants. This tree is a monster of a tree. It is
taller than my two-story house. The seed that this
tree grew from has been pollinized by many animals
and insects over the years.

9. Does it Make a
Sound?
The Pine tree is said to have evolved
around 153 million years ago. However, the
estimates do have a very wide range. Today,
there are about 250 different species of
pines (Pine, 2015).
Pine Trees. (2015, May 22). Retrieved July
19, 2018, from
https://basicbiology.net/plants/gymnos
erms/pine-trees/

10. That Tree is
Old!
Pine trees date as far back as 140mya.
This was around the Crustaceous Period.
This fossil of the oldest pine tree we
know of is older than 11 million years.
Scientists say that the pine trees have
“evolved to burn an spread wildfires so
that there pinecones can germinate
without competition.” (Kirger, 2016)
Kiger, P. J. (2016, March 10). Oldest
Pine Tree Fossils Discovered.
Retrieved July 24, 2018, from
https://www.seeker.com/oldest
pine-tree-fossils-discovered
1771048389.html

11. Shoo Fly! Don’t Bother Me!
I found this dragonfly at Tahoe Paradise Park in
Myers. Dragonflies were one of the first flying insects
to evolve. This was over 300 million years ago. The
dragonflies of today have a wingspan of 2 to 5
inches. Fossil evidence has been found showing that
the Dragonflies of the past had a wingspan of about
2 ft. Some scientists theorize that the high oxygen
levels of the past allowed the Dragonflies to grow to
enormous sizes (Zielinski, 2011)
Zielinski, S. (2011, October 05). 14 Fun Facts About
Dragonflies. Retrieved July 25, 2018, from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/14-fun-facts-about-dragonflies-96882693/

12. Lord of the
Flies
This is a fossil of
Meganeuridae which is the
largest dragonfly that we
have evidence of.

13. Part 2

14. Rock and Roll
Baby!
This rock I found in my side
lot. It is pumice. Pumice is a
volcanic, Igneous rock. Pumice
is known to be extremely
porous. I came to the
conclusion that this rock is
pumice because is extremely
porous. The pours that are all
around the rock are called
vesicles. These vesicles are
actually gas pockets.

15. Many Rocks All in One
Place
This rock I found in the river that is by my
house. I live in Christmas Valley right by the
Truckee river. This rock is a conglomerate
rock. I can tell that this rock is conglomerate
because a conglomerate rock is made out of
many rocks and this rock is brown, tan, black
and clear. My rock looks like it is made up of
quartz, crystals, pyrite, and lots of sand. I
think that the sand is the base ingredient for
this rock. Conglomerate rocks are Sedimentary
rocks made up of small fragments of minerals
and other eroded rocks. This is how I know
that my rock is conglomerate.

16. All that
Glitters is
Not Gold
This rock was also found in the
Truckee River. If I am not mistaken,
this rock is a metamorphic rock
called Hornfels. I know this because
a metamorphic rock is a rock that
has its features changed into layers
and this rock has many layers.

17. Part 3

18. Stop! In the Name
of the Law!
The Law of Superposition is
a way of ordering rock layers
from oldest to youngest with
the youngest on top and the
oldest on the bottom. Back
before radiometric dating
techniques were a thing, the
Law of Superposition was a
way to assign relative ages to
rock layers.

19. Truth, Justice, and the American Way!

20. What’s Your Angle?
An Angular Unconformity is the
tilting of older rock layers under the
addition of new younger sediment.
One of the best examples that
scientist found of an Angular
Unconformity is the Grand
Unconformity in the Grand Canyon
in Arizona (Unconformities)
Unconformities. (n.d.). Retrieved
July 26, 2018, from
http://www.indiana.edu/~geol
05b/images/gaia_chapter_6/u
conformities.htm

21. Work Cited
Busby, C. J., & Putirka, K. (2009, July 8). Miocene evolution of the western edge of the Nevadaplano in the central and northern Sierra Nevada:
Palaeocanyons,magmatism, and structure. Retrieved July 19, 2018, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.100/0020681090298265
History and Evolution of Dogs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2018, from http://www.mans-bestfriend.org.uk/historyevolution-dogs.htm
Jacobson, L. (2016, August 26). The History of Dogs as Pets. Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/historydogs
pets/story?id=41671149
Kiger, P. J. (2016, March 10). Oldest Pine Tree Fossils Discovered. Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.seeker.com/oldestpine-treefossils
discovered1771048389.html
Pine Trees. (2015, May 22). Retrieved July 19, 2018, from https://basicbiology.net/plants/gymnoserms/pinetrees/
Stoop, B. (n.d.). The history of dogs. Retrieved July 19, 2018, from http://animalfreedom.org/english/opinio/pets/historyofthedog.html
Unconformities. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2018, from http://www.indiana.edu/~geol05b/images/gaia_chapter_6/unconformities.htm
Zielinski, S. (2011, October 05). 14 Fun Facts About Dragonflies. Retrieved July 25, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/14-fun
facts-about-dragonflies-96882693/