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 The
Benedum Hall of Geology illustrates the dynamic, ever-changing nature
of planet Earth. Three striking, Earth-like domes highlight geological
time and dating, fossils, shaping the earth, and Pittsburgh geology.
A fourth dome explores the origin, location, and economic development
of coal, oil, and gas. The hall is a celebration of geology. It
is also a tribute to the vital role that the rock record of Pennsylvania
and the Tri-state area has had and continues to have in the development
of the geological sciences.
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 While
the entire hall is dedicated to interactive features that allow the
public to learn about geology, a few highlights are:
• "Shaping the Earth" - This video theater introduces
visitors to the notion that the surface of the earth is constantly
shifting, sliding, crumpling, being worn down here, and build up there—anything
but "rock steady." The program uses the Pittsburgh area
to show a piece of the earth that has undergone drastic change.
• Stratavator - This simulated elevator ride takes you 16,000
feet down into the Earth below the museum. Visitors enter the elevator
cab, and meet their tour guide, a miner, seen through the cab's "window"—a
video screen. The stratavator stops at the museum's basement storage
rooms, a coal mine, a limestone cave, and other geological features.
As the cab vibrates, rock strata whiz by between stops.
• Local Stratigraphy - Geological data about your neighborhood
is available from this interactive video exhibit. Touching any part
of the map will bring up information for that area. The exhibit covers
southwest Pennsylvania, the West Virginia panhandle, and eastern Ohio.
• Fossils and Fossilization - Fossils are a prominent part of
the museum's earth science exhibits. These remains or traces of past
life formed in a variety of ways. This exhibit shows how fossils tell
many things about past life, and how they yield information about
ancient geography and climate. |
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 A
strong emphasis is placed on Pennsylvania geology, including fossil
fuel formation. Benedum Hall of Geology explains the geological processes
that shaped Pennsylvania and its neighbors, Ohio and West Virginia.
The hall's fourth dome takes a close look at the geology of the Pittsburgh
region. It shows how remains of immense quantities of Paleozoic plants
preserved as coal, and of microorganisms, preserved as oil and gas,
literally fueled the economic development of the area. |
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 The
remainder of the hall contains interactive features that teach people
about radiometric dating of rocks and fossils, the movements of
continents, the layered stratigraphy indigenous to Pennsylvania,
and other geological information. The Coal Forest in Benedum Hall
was the museum's preexisting Carboniferous forest. Carnegie Museum
of Natural History cleaned the diorama up and added new plants and
animals. The current diorama shows what Pittsburgh looked like just
300 million years ago. Another feature, the Geologic Map, is of
Pennsylvania's complex geology and shows rocks dating from the PreCambrian
to the Pleistocene.
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Take
an online
tour of the internationally famous dioramas that make up Carnegie
Museum's Paleozoic Hall. |
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 Geology,
the study of earth science, has undergone great changes since it
began. New discoveries and theories have radically altered our understanding
of the planet's foundation. The Theory of Plate Tectonics suggests
that the outer layers of the Earth are organized in plates that
move both absolutely and relative to one another. Where plates come
into contact a range of interactions can occur; the results of the
interactions include volcanism, earthquakes, and mountain building.
Historical events
that establish Pennsylvania as a key contributor to economic geology
and earth sciences include Drake's oil well who, in 1859, drilled
into rocks near Titusville, Pennsylvania, and marked the beginning
of the world's oil industry.
There is no
city in the world quite like Pittsburgh. There are other hilly cities,
such as San Francisco and Hong Kong. But geologically speaking,
none is hilly for the same reason. What hasn't happened here is
almost as important as what has. Over the years, Pittsburgh has
been the hinge or nodal point for one geologic event, phenomenon
or process after another. The Pittsburgh area lay for so many millions
of years on the shifting edge of a shallow sea, so it has been on
the boundary of many other geologic "catastastrokes."
Pittsburgh's topography is strictly caused by erosion in bedded
rocks that have been lying flat and undisturbed, except for minor
uplift since they were formed 250 million years ago. There are very
few places on Earth where that is true. |
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Carnegie
Science Center
Carnegie
Museum of Art
The
Andy Warhol Museum