Böcker av Tom Prisciantelli

Here, in simple, straight forward language, is an exploration of the events and geologic processes responsible for the stunning beauty of the deserts, plateaus and mountains in the American Southwest. After a brief look at the basics of geology and archaeology, the reader is taken on hikes that feature the most interesting geologic structures and the sites inhabited by Paleo-Indians thousands of years before Christ. The twelve hikes range from desert preserves in the middle of Phoenix, Arizona to remote mountains in northern New Mexico. The spectacular scenery tells a story of volcanic forces and ancient seas that sculpted plateaus and drove up the largest of mountain ranges. Five geologically related hikes cover Arizona, three are in New Mexico and one in Utah. The last three hikes, all in New Mexico, focus on geology and archaeology, covering the entry of the first nomadic hunter-gatherers, and their prey, into the Southwest. The book ends with a basic guide to geologic concepts and an introduction to rock identification for those who wish to learn more. * * * * * Tom Prisciantelli spent many years driving and researching the American Southwest and documenting those geologic and archaeological facts he found most interesting and accessible via hiking trails. His first exposure to geology was in the mid-1960s while attending college in New Mexico where he graduated. After a two-year stint in the Army, he moved back and forth between the East Coast and Southwest. Having spent most of his working life in the computer field, he started his own contracting business, eventually leaving it in order to actualize his dream-to travel and learn about the land. This book is a result of that dream and the desire to share it.

Here is an excellent opportunity to learn about the volcanic events and landforms of the American West while hiking ten trails through its most scenic mountains. Hikes in New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, California, Oregon and Washington reveal the fury of past events and demonstrate the power of volcanic activity today.In this book and on the trails, geology and archaeology intersect to tell a tale of landforms rising from the earth and the ancient people's struggle to persist and adapt. Geologists have died studying volcanic eruptions. Native Americans wrote gods into their history while watching fire burst from the ground. Hiking these mountains turns exercise into awe and respect for the energy still building under these massive ranges. The author explores the most interesting landforms, with some trails to summit craters and others through the innards of decapitated volcanoes still standing as high mountains.For more than thirty years Tom Prisciantelli has driven the roads and hiked the trails of the American West. In his first book, "Spirit of the American Southwest," he explored along hiking trails the geology of the Southwest and the arrival of the Native American's ancestors. From that exercise he was fascinated by a particular chapter in the geology lesson he learned on the road: that dealing with volcanoes. His research for this book took him along that path. The author and his wife live in a solar-powered adobe home in northern New Mexico, in full view and respect for one of the volcanoes about which this book was written.