Continental Rifting, New Oceans, and Passive Continental Margins for Beginners
This video presents some basic information about how rifts form, how they sometimes evolve to become new oceans, and how passive continental margins form as a consequence.It has been adapted from a previous video entitled "Continental Rifting, New Oceans, and Passive Continental Margins: Plate Tectonics Basics 2", which was intended for an upper division geoscience audience. This video was made for a lower division geoscience and is intended to amplify undergraduate education of plate tectonic processes.

The Geological History of Earth
This video discusses the major changes to the planet since its formation to the present day. We explain how Earth formed, where the Moon came from, how the atmosphere changed over time, where the water in the oceans originated, what the first life and fossils looked like, when more complex life forms began, a long period when little happened, when most of Earth became a snowball, and how extinction events allowed geologists to break down the most recent chunk of geologic time. You will learn the difference between an eon and an era, why we should be grateful for asteroid and comet impacts, and when oxygen started showing up in the atmosphere.

Glacial Landforms
In this video we review the principal landforms created by glacial erosion (cirques, arêtes, striations, U-shaped valleys, fjords) and deposition (till, moraine, drumlins, eskers, kettle lakes, outwash plain, erratics). We discuss how a pair of glacial erosion processes - plucking, abrasion - work to break down rocks and modify the landscape. We compare and contrast glacial deposits made up of an unsorted mix of clay, sand and boulders and those that have been generated by running water. Finally, we start and finish the video by trying to figure out how a giant boulder ended up jammed in among the trees in Yellowstone National Park. The video ends with a short review quiz that asks you to identify four images of different landforms.

Earthquake Hazards I: Ground Failure
This video describes the geological hazards that result when the ground is shaken during an earthquake. We consider various forms of ground failure such as shaking, liquefaction, landslides and surface ruptures. We include historical footage from the damage of two of the largest US earthquakes - the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Great Alaskan earthquake. We added short clips of two benchtop models of basic processes and larded the whole thing up with plenty of images to illustrate the features under discussion.

Convergent Plate Boundaries
This video describes the physical features that can be observed at three different types of convergent plate boundaries and explains the geologic processes that produce these features. We characterize the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes associated with convergent boundaries and relate them to subduction of the cold descending plate and the addition of water to the hot overriding plate. We describe the difference between a volcanic arc and an island arc, and discuss why the crust is much thicker where to slabs of continental lithosphere collide. Finally, we use hands and oven mitts to produce simple analogs of the three convergent boundary types. Really.

Metamorphic Rocks (& toast)
This video discusses the formation of metamorphic rocks, one of the three major groups of rocks on Earth and the bedrock under much of North America. We explain that toast is a metamorphic form of bread and describe the conditions necessary for metamorphism to occur (burial of rocks, proximity to magma, plate tectonic settings). You will learn about the metamorphic temperature window, how developing a foliation is similar to squeezing a marshmallow, the names of some common metamorphic rocks, and what happens when sandstone and limestone are subjected to higher temperatures and pressures.

Plate Tectonics Basics #1 introduction
Animation introduction of plate tectonics process.

Porosity and permeability
This video briefly introduces the concept of groundwater before explaining how two properties - porosity and permeability - combine to determine the availability of groundwater and the ease with which it travels through rocks and sediment. We show simple bench-top demonstrations to illustrate each property and we calculate what a reasonable porosity value would be for common sediments such as sand and gravel. Finally, we discuss which rocks would best serve as sources of groundwater and which are likely to be barriers to groundwater flow.

Divergent Plate Boundaries (or How do you make an ocean?)
This video describes the characteristics of divergent plate boundaries including the distribution of earthquakes, the elevation of the sea floor, and the age of the rocks along the oceanic ridge system. We spin some globes, fade some maps and label some sketches to show you what happens when a continent is split apart to form a new ocean basin. You will visit remote locations in east Africa and the Red Sea and figure out why the Pacific Ocean is wider than the Atlantic even though they are the same age and were formed by the same processes.

Transform Plate Boundaries
This video discusses the characteristics of transform plate boundaries where plates slide past each other. We examine four examples of transform boundaries between plates and describe how and why short transform segments offset the oceanic ridge system throughout the world's oceans. We take a closer look at the major transform boundary in North America, the San Andreas fault system and examine what the plate boundary looks like in the Californian desert and what might happen if it were to slip like it has done in the historical past. Finally, we give you an opportunity to see if you can identify the location of a transform boundary where it cuts across part of New Zealand.