1. What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exchanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in the Reddit forums.
For the most part, people appear to posting pictures of landmarks such as gorges, canyons, mountains, and even rock formations on the Moon. Along with the pictures themselves, there is usually a question asking either how the landmark came to be formed via geologic processes (erosion, volcanoes, etc.) or what the landmark says about the geology of the area it is located in.
After seeing this, I can conclude that some of the people posting in this forum are either amateur Geologists looking to find out more information about landmarks that they've seen in their lives or expert Geologists looking for s discussion/debate about the field in general.
2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums? Hyperlink us to the two different Reddit threads and explain why you found those debates interesting. Be specific and honest and be yourself. I don't want you to blah-blah-blah this. I want you to really engage.
Rock formations on the Moon.
How did this river cut through this gorge?
Rock formations:
I found this thread interesting because the geology on the Moon is incredibly different from the geology on Earth. On Earth, rocks can be eroded by wind or water, volcanoes are active, and there is a thick atmosphere. On the Moon, the rocks are generally undisturbed, there are no volcanoes and no atmosphere. Knowing this, I expected the rocks in the photo to be smooth. However, they looked rough and hewn. One of the commentators on the thread mentioned that the Moon is hit by meteorites so much that the meteorite impacts actually weather the rocks on the surface. I found it incredible that despite the glaring lack of erosion forces, the Moon still had heavily weathered rocks.
River cutting through the gorge:
This story interested me because, living in Arizona, I am used to seeing my own backyard gorge: The Grand Canyon. The thread was asking how the gorge in question was formed. One of the commentators argued that the river had existed on a flat plain and that mountains were uplifted around the river. As the land rose, the river cut down through the rocks, creating a deep gorge. Surprisingly, this is basically the exact same way that the Grand Canyon formed here in Arizona. It was fascinating to me that two separate locations on Earth were shaped by the same geologic processes.
3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums? Were the people in those forums talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.
For the most part, commentators were rather professional on the forums. They were postulating hypotheses about various landmarks and processes and opening up discussion. I myself learned a bit more about geologic processes on the Moon by reading through the forums. Some unprofessionalism and jokes were apparent, however. On the thread asking about how the river cut through the gorge, the highest rated comment explained that the process happened very slowly. The comment offered no explanation of the process at all. Regardless, I was still amazed at the variety of discussion taking place. I was also very happy to see an independent thread on geology.
Grand Canyon National Park Service. Mather Point Pano 03. July 5th, 2012 via Flickr. Attribution License.
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