In a news story in the Queen’s Gazette on September 10th, Victoria Klassen wrote a story about mountain-building events a billion years ago a period some geologists have dubbed as the “boring billion,” arguing that the earth’s very thin crust during this time was a sign that no mountain-building events were happening, thus delaying the evolution of life. Chris Spencer Professor of Geology at Queen’s University disagrees, believing this interpretation goes against the geological record.
In this episode, we chat with Dr. Spencer about his ground-breaking research about the earth, its crust and mountain-building events in the mid-Proterozoic period. We also get the scoop on how the science is done in the field and the implications for Spencer’s research for understanding Earth’s evolution let alone long-term climate change or the availability of natural resources such as minerals.