"Cataclysm" by Doug Huigen
I mentioned in Monday's Sand post that this was "book month" here at NOVA Geoblog. That means it's now time for a quick book review of CATACLYSM: When Human Stories Meet Earth's Faults, by Douglas W. Huigen...
When I was writing my Benchmarks piece for EARTH magazine about the Hebgen Lake earthquake and the Madison River landslide, I spoke on the phone to Doug Huigen, who was then just finishing a multiyear project learning about the geology of the Hebgen Lake area, and interviewing survivors of the event. He was very genial and shared some great information when we spoke.
Later in the year, my summer Rockies field course brought me out to the site of the landslide itself. Here's me and my students at the Earthquake Lake Visitors' Center, talking about the structure of the mountain behind us, and why it failed almost fifty years previously:
After I was done pontificating, we went inside and watched the compelling movie they show there, and then I noticed that Doug's book was for sale on the counter. I bought a copy.
Months later, I finally found the time to read it. For some reason, though, I've found it difficult to finish up with my "book review" blog posts. I started this one in late October, for instance. I'm hoping that by declaring February to be "book month," I can motivate myself to crank through these reviews.
Cataclysm is a nice introduction to the events of August 1959, viewed both through the people on the ground experiencing the earthquake and landslide, and through the perspective of modern-day geological insight. Huigen spoke to a great many survivors of the event, and relates their stories with compassion and an ear for colloquial language. The book is subdivided into three main sections: (1) stories of people during the event, (2) a bunch of photographs and graphics showing the area, the people, and the geology, and (3) a description of the geology underlying the earthquake and landslide. The story is very compelling, and I think it's worth reading this book if you're going to be visiting the Hebgen Lake landslide site.
The book is self-published by Huigen, so there's some issues with typos and formatting of photo annotations, but I guess that could also be seen as part of its charm. It's an excellent repository of a lot of information, and I learned some new things by reading it. I was particularly pleased with the image Huigen has on the inside of the front cover: a sketch of the major geological features in the area. The inside of the back cover is a gorgeous geologic map of the same terrain, but Huigen didn't include the map's explanation, so you have no idea what the various rock units actually are (unless you're already familiar with the area).
Bottom line: not the most amazing piece of literature in the universe, but an important compilation of data about the Hebgen Lake earthquake and landslide: data both of the geologic variety and the 'oral history' variety. I'm glad I read it.
When I was writing my Benchmarks piece for EARTH magazine about the Hebgen Lake earthquake and the Madison River landslide, I spoke on the phone to Doug Huigen, who was then just finishing a multiyear project learning about the geology of the Hebgen Lake area, and interviewing survivors of the event. He was very genial and shared some great information when we spoke.
Later in the year, my summer Rockies field course brought me out to the site of the landslide itself. Here's me and my students at the Earthquake Lake Visitors' Center, talking about the structure of the mountain behind us, and why it failed almost fifty years previously:
After I was done pontificating, we went inside and watched the compelling movie they show there, and then I noticed that Doug's book was for sale on the counter. I bought a copy.
Months later, I finally found the time to read it. For some reason, though, I've found it difficult to finish up with my "book review" blog posts. I started this one in late October, for instance. I'm hoping that by declaring February to be "book month," I can motivate myself to crank through these reviews.
Cataclysm is a nice introduction to the events of August 1959, viewed both through the people on the ground experiencing the earthquake and landslide, and through the perspective of modern-day geological insight. Huigen spoke to a great many survivors of the event, and relates their stories with compassion and an ear for colloquial language. The book is subdivided into three main sections: (1) stories of people during the event, (2) a bunch of photographs and graphics showing the area, the people, and the geology, and (3) a description of the geology underlying the earthquake and landslide. The story is very compelling, and I think it's worth reading this book if you're going to be visiting the Hebgen Lake landslide site.
The book is self-published by Huigen, so there's some issues with typos and formatting of photo annotations, but I guess that could also be seen as part of its charm. It's an excellent repository of a lot of information, and I learned some new things by reading it. I was particularly pleased with the image Huigen has on the inside of the front cover: a sketch of the major geological features in the area. The inside of the back cover is a gorgeous geologic map of the same terrain, but Huigen didn't include the map's explanation, so you have no idea what the various rock units actually are (unless you're already familiar with the area).Bottom line: not the most amazing piece of literature in the universe, but an important compilation of data about the Hebgen Lake earthquake and landslide: data both of the geologic variety and the 'oral history' variety. I'm glad I read it.
Labels: books, earthquakes, mass wasting, montana
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