By THIRSTY
William Glassley is a geologist at
the University of California, Davis, and an emeritus researcher at Aarhus
University in Denmark, focusing on the evolution of continents and the
processes that energize them. In
his new book, A Wilder Time, Glassley
explores Greenland and comes away with unexpected insights into the origins of
myth, the virtues and boundaries of science and the necessity of seeking the
wilderness within each of us. The author of over seventy research articles and
a textbook on geothermal energy, he lives in Santa Fe, NM, where Stay Thirsty Magazine visited with him for
these Five Questions.
STAY THIRSTY: In your book, A Wilder Time, you emphasize the wonders and mysteries of the natural world and the importance of discovering things that no one else has seen. When were you first aware of this “calling,” and what guided your path to becoming a geologist?
WILLIAM GLASSLEY: My family always lived at the edge of town, our
backyard butting up against lemon orchards. Hills and river valleys were never
far away. I discovered at a young age that I could find surprises almost every day
if I wandered off
into those settings. I became addicted to the adrenaline rush
of such moments. But I had no idea even greater surprises and majestic stories
were written in rocks until I went to college, where a couple of professors
exposed me to the dramatic storylines written in Earth’s geology. Once I
experienced the thrill of reading rocks, I was hooked forever.
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| William Glassley (credit: Anton Brkić) |
STAY THIRSTY: Although there are many articles about science in the
popular media, we seldom see the work of geologists represented. What is it
about geology that makes it a subject worthy of more public awareness and
scrutiny?
WILLIAM GLASSLEY: It is a science that provides perspective on our origins
and what we are in a most immediate and honest way. The backdrop of time that
stretches billions of years into the past is intellectually incomprehensible,
but geology makes it concrete: holding a three-billion-year-old rock in your
hands is humbling. Humbling and incomprehensible, as well, is the story of the
interaction and evolution of life and our physical environment that geology
allows us to piece together: the simplest cells that
formed on early Earth were the consequence of rock and water interacting. The
geological record traces, in minute detail, how that earliest chemistry
eventually became noisy animals, swaying trees, and philosophical humans. It’s
all there, and geology is the set of tools that allows us to read that story
and stand in awe. But it also provides the ability to consider the future. An
old adage in geology is “The present is the key to the past,” meaning the
processes we see playing out around us today were also happening in the past.
Using that knowledge of the present allows us not only to unravel the stories
contained in rock but also to project into the future and thoughtfully consider
what the consequences of our actions will be. Geology is the knowledge base
allowing us to grasp, in detail, how best to conduct ourselves so that we honor
Earth, not devastate it.
STAY THIRSTY: During your expeditions into the wilderness of
Greenland, were you ever fearful for your life? Looking back, how did being “off
the grid” change your perceptions once you returned to civilization?
WILLIAM GLASSLEY: The vast wilderness we worked in nearly always
presented a beguilingly beautiful, mysterious, and serene face. That surface
was, of course, a façade; it cloaked natural forces so powerful that life could
be lost quickly with a simple misstep. We had several experiences where we
could have died, but they always happened so suddenly that one had little
chance to be fearful. It was more a matter of standing in awe of the simple
fact that, despite our species’ frailty, we have assertively survived.
In wilderness, there is time to
ponder and reflect because external demands for attention are absent.
Consequently, you delve much more deeply into whatever is at hand. You have
time to follow threads of thought that take you somewhere deeper than a cursory
reflection would allow. As a result, since time is available and attention not
distracted, you can dissolve into an experience and reach a deeper
understanding of its content, living in an almost meditative state. After
existing that way for weeks at a time, returning to “civilization” is
wrenching. Adjusting to the superficiality that results from having to live
with multi-tasking and rapidly shifting demands is difficult. Life that has
been almost serene is replaced by existence that only minimally allows or
encourages thoughtful reflection. After returning from wilderness, this new
perspective makes it seem our society persistently sacrifices opportunities for
contemplative wonder. Perhaps an increased ability to be patient resulted from
that?
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| William Glassley in the field (Greenland 2002) |
STAY THIRSTY: Your daughter, Nina, played an important motivational
role in your writing of this book. What did she teach you about your work?
WILLIAM GLASSLEY: Be present. Immerse yourself in what you are doing at
the moment. Suck from each second the deepest experience you can access,
unfiltered by expectations or regrets. Be open to the intensity that being
alive offers. Laugh whenever you can. Because of her developmental delays, she
will forever remain a young child, barely aware of past or future but exquisitely
in the present. Caring for her required me to accept her simple view of the
world—that was a gift.
STAY THIRSTY: As the world is faced with the reality of climate
change, what did you see during your expeditions that worried you the most? Did
you see any benefits in the process of global warming?
WILLIAM GLASSLEY: The Inuit towns and villages are all along the coast.
Theirs has been a subsistence lifestyle for centuries, depending on sea life
and wildlife for food and resources. As climate change evolves, the villages
will be impacted by rising sea level, and I saw many instances of already eroded
tundra plains along coastlines. This will affect village houses close to the
water. At the same time, the marine ecosystems will be altered in unpredictable
ways, and reindeer migration paths will be modified. Arctic foxes will have to
adjust to changing landscapes. Cormorants will be affected. All of this will
impose on the indigenous peoples pressures to change when they already exist in
a setting difficult to survive in. Those are the things that worry me the most.
What positive things will arise
will have to be assessed from some future perspective; because of the
intricately woven net of interdependencies in the natural world, it is
exceedingly difficult to identify or gauge the magnitude of specific benefits. Nevertheless,
what is clear is that nature will exuberantly evolve in response to climate
change. If there is a benefit for present generations, one of them must be the
opportunity to observe, respect, and honor that resilience.
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