A Video Series to Explain the Crust and Sedimentary Basins Beneath the United States, and Its Assessment

Key concepts of the geophysical and geologic nature of the continental crust and its sedimentary basins are essential knowledge any geoscientist should have upon graduation. But most college geoscience students have never seen a simple E–W cross-section across the US, from Moho to the surface. We have not found one introductory text containing a cross-section of the whole country. I believe college students can learn and retain the key concepts of the crust and sedimentary basins of the US through visual learning. To test this hypothesis, I will make, assess, and post a series of short videos on these topics. The videos will show and explain the crust of the US in cross-section from coast to coast, the geologic evolution of that crust, and the sedimentary basins within and around it. Subsequent classroom assessment will help me to test my hypothesis by finding out how much the videos improved student understanding of the subsurface. The third video in the series will focus on US sedimentary basins. It will explain what these are and where they are found. The video will explain how geophysics and geology must be combined to understand the structure and lithology of basins, and why basins are always younger than the crust they form on. Formation mechanisms for the four main types of basins—rift, foreland, forearc, and cratonic—will be explained. Finally, the video will briefly summarize how and when each of the major US sedimentary basins formed.