OLLI0136 - Stories Told by Nashville Rocks and Earliest Fossil Inhabitants

Course Description

This course will relate fundamental Earth characteristics and processes that have operated for its entire history to the rocks, records of past life, and landscapes of the Nashville area. We will explore how Nashville’s geographic and environmental setting more than 450 million years ago and subsequent events are the proximal causes of its environmental challenges, including lack of suitable landfill sites, susceptibility to flooding and landslides, and changes in patterns of development and population distribution. Fort Negley’s well-exposed rocks will be investigated, and participants will collect, identify, and interpret the lifestyles of the ancient animals found in in Fort Negley’s fossil-rich rock pile provided by Vulcan Materials Company. This course will be recorded.