Wearing
Stilettos in the Grass:
or how to simulate a planet in your lab
Friday,
8 June 2007
Dr.
Elizabeth Cottrell, a research geologist
in the Department of Mineral Sciences,
kicked off her quirky, energetic lecture
with a challenging assignment: draw a
diagram of the basic radial structure
of the Earth. Not all students could determine
"what's down there anyway?"
(the assignment's amusing title) and so
the fun and learning began!
Students
eagerly awaited an explanation of this
and other mysteries of Earth science in
Cottrell's off-beat, memorable lecture,
"Wearing Stilettos in the Grass:
or How to Simulate a Planet in your Lab."
Creating an interactive learning experience,
Dr. Cottrell spurred students to engage
in discussions with each other about Earth
structure and Earth exploration, inviting
them to posit guesses as to how deep into
the Earth scientists have explored. Paleobiology
RTP intern Kris Rhodes wasn't far
off the mark with his estimate; surprisingly,
the deepest explored is 10.8 km or just
0.2% of the Earth's depth!
Cottrell
encouraged students to think about how
we know about the Earth's core in light
of the fact that we have no samples of
it. She cited five interesting avenues
of evidence: meteorites, seismic energy
from Earthquakes, Earth's magnetic field,
moment of inertia, and her own specialty:
experiments at extreme conditions. Giving
students insight into how she conducts
her high-pressure/temperature simulation
experiments, using gas-mixing, piston
cylinder, multi-anvil, and diamond-anvil
cell techniques, Dr. Cottrell passed around
samples of her specimens and showed slides
of the instruments she uses.
You
may be asking yourself where and how stiletto
heels fit into the topic of the Earth's
core. It's that sort of thinking and guessing
which Dr. Cottrell fosters and greatly
encourages! She memorably explained to
students that if you understand how stiletto
heels increase pressure by reducing surface
area, (and the women certainly did), you
understand how her instruments in the
lab simulate the high pressure conditions
of the Earth's core. Dr. Cottrell's dynamic
enthusiasm and clever analogies gave the
RTP students a keen understanding and
appreciation for planet simulation and
"what's down there, anyway!"
-
Morgan Little
