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In this month's episode of Frasing the Bar we talk about the 2008 family blockbuster Journey to the Center of the Earth, enjoy!!

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Anonymous

As a geologist this was a fun watch and listen. Last night was movie night at camp and we happened to watch this movie so we could critique the geological accuracy. Imagine my happy surprise to see this come up on the Patreon. I don’t know a better place to give our take-aways from the movie so here we go. Overall, we all loved seeing geology and geologists being portrayed in an action movie and the attempt at using science as plot points was endearing. We also noticed the production leaning heavily into the 3D element and found the frame rate very jarring. Several scenes had us laughing out loud at their geological attempts. Setting aside the obvious unbelievable premise of hollow volcanic tubes leading to the core (which is solid nickel and iron), their use of geology was cute, but hilariously misguided.

Anonymous

1. The first moment was the Frase seeing schist. Not only was the setting very unlikely to have schist, but the rock her was looking at definitely was not schist. It was a nice use of a classic geo joke though. 2. That gem cave they find is completely impossible. Diamonds, emeralds, and rubies all together, in Iceland? I can barely begin to wrap my head around how that would work. You would need a kimberlite to intrude through an evolved pegmatite, that also had an epithermal deposit, all somehow on top of the mafic, volcanic site that Iceland is 😂. We did laugh at the Frase calling out feldspar. Not only because it is an extremely common, and unremarkable mineral, but also because it almost surely would not be found in a volcanoe in Iceland. 3. The muscovite floor the fall through. Calling muscovite a “rock formation” got the biggest laugh from the geologist filled crowd. Muscovite is a mineral, not a rock formation. It also is too felsic to be found in that environment, biotite would be more believable. Furthermore, mica doesn’t crystallize in thin sheets like what they fell through. It forms in what’s called “books”. Layers of thin, phyllosilicates that may be brittle and breakable, but not a thin sheet one could break through. 4. Combustible magnesium veins? How did pure magnesium precipitate in veins in an Icelandic mine? It would have to be an extremely anoxic environment. Technically possible…..maybe, but as Matt stated, magnesium burns in water and the final plot device doesn’t make sense. However, these inaccuracies only added to our enjoyment of the film. It was great to see an attempt to dramatize our profession. However, no self respecting geologist would say “I hate field work”. Going out to exciting (sometimes dangerous) locations to see cool rocks is why we do what we do! 😊

Anonymous

The original version of this movie, from around 1958, has been one of my favorites for a long time. I love the old special effects, and there's a duck named Gertrude! It stars James Mason and Pat Boone. I think it's a fun watch. It's on Disney+ and I encourage anyone to watch it!