Earth Exposed is a hands-on exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in which visitors can take control of the elements — in miniature, of course. Come face to face this summer with erupting geysers, crumbling mountains and wind-driven waves at the new 5,000-square-foot exhibition, opening June 19. Nature is a work in progress, and this collection of more than 30 exhibits will allow visitors to get up-close and hands-on with many of the fundamental forces that continually shape and reshape the planet. “Earth Exposed” is a traveling exhibition that condenses the patterns, forces and phenomena unfolding across the planet, often over time and distances too large to fully grasp, into interactive exhibits of a size and scale comprehensible to all ages. The center’s educational programing department will establish a lecture series this fall. Dr. Vic Camp from San Diego State University will broaden the scope when he discusses menacing and destructive earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and tornadoes. Camp, who specializes in volcanology and petrology research, said geologically, the earth has experienced five mass distinctive changes in 600 million years. “We’re encountering a sixth change now, largely in environmental terms of global warming, every bit as fast as the other five,” he said. “There are the usual major geological upheavals. As for earthquakes, the larger ones with magnitudes seven or greater average about 17 to 20 a year. They are more severe because of population growth. “On California’s side, there are many boundaries where two plates slide past one another. We probably wouldn’t experience tsunamis because those quakes are caused by vertical motion.” He said geologists have a pretty good track record in California on long-term probabilities in areas like the San Andreas fault, where there is likely to be an earthquake within a 30-year period. The short term prediction is the problem. “San Andreas fault is about the same as Haiti,” he said. “They are called transform faults and are relatively shallow earthquakes.” “As for hurricanes, we have a general idea how to chart them,” he said. “They move to the right-hand side, but high and low pressures make them unpredictable.” “Tornadoes are very rare anywhere else but the middle portion of the United States. In numbers maybe there’s not a dramatic increase. However, different weather systems cause the problem.” He agrees that geology doesn’t stop because there are always changes — slow changes. Mountains will disappear. “We’ll see a rise in the seas anywhere from five to 60 centimeters in the next 100 years,” he predicted. “May not seem like a lot but storms will be that much worse.” Meanwhile, center visitors can experience swirling sandstorms, rippling waves and rumbling quakes. In the Confused Sea segment, they can mimic the action of wind over the ocean by generating waves or, in another segment, mimic a volcano’s activity with air bubbling up through fine sand, suggesting a small-scale geothermal landscape. Visitors can experience the exploding eruption of a geyser by boiling water in a chamber so it shoots into the air. Then pour magnetic sand over an earth model and observe the particles lining up, demonstrating magnetic fields. The Avalanche will be an invitation to play with an intricately-cascading landscape of black sand. Exhibit admission is $10 for adults; $8.75 for juniors (3-12) and seniors (65+).
