Seismograph
by The Amoeba People
Deep beneath the surface
Where tectonic plates collide
The crust is slowly shifting
From the heat on the inside
The pressure builds up
Year after year
Till the pressure's so strong
Something's got to give
Then the plates finally slip
And the energy's released
And the ground begins to shake
Right beneath your feet
Here come the P-waves
Here come the S-waves
Here come the surface waves
Oh no,
What's that?
Did you feel that?
Well it's an EARTHQUAKE!
(and the seismic waves are moving)
Well it's an EARTHQUAKE!
(the clock is falling off the mantel)
Well it's an EARTHQUAKE!
(just stay calm, try to relax
as the seismologists keep track
as it scratches on the seismograph)
The earth's rocky crust
Is broken into plates
They're moving all the time
But at a very slow rate
Convection currents from
Deep in the mantle
Push on the crust
Till it's hard to handle
But every now and then
The plates get stuck
And the pressure builds up
And the pressure builds up
credits
released 28 October 2013
Written by Ray Hedgpeth
Performed by The Amoeba People
A p-wave is a primary, or compressional wave. They move through the Earth at higher velocities than other seismic waves, so they are what you would feel (or see on a seismograph) first, following any earthquake or seismic event. An s-wave is a secondary, or shear wave. These waves follow the p-wave at somewhat slower velocities. The shearing motion (think of scissors... or shears) will be less pleasant so the p-wave is your cue to seek a safe place, should you ever experience a significant earthquake. After the p- and s-waves, you see various surface waves which, as you might imagine, travel along the surface of the crust, rather than diving deep into the Earth. These are things like Rayleigh waves and Love waves (honest! named after mathematician and geodynamist A.E.H. Love).
"The sad but true story of the man who proposed the idea that the continents had once been joined together in a single landmass he called "Pangaea." Time, and new data, finally vindicated Alfred Wegener and his hypothesis of Continental Drift. A posthumous triumph indeed."
Continental Drift (or: the posthumous triumph of Alfred Wegener)
by The Amoeba People
In the year of 1910 there was a scientist
whose name was Alfred Wegener
He noticed that the continents looked just like
pieces of a broken puzzle
By 1915 he called it Continental Drift
It caused a rift
With his fellow scientists
Who sang:
Ha! Ha! Alfred Wegener!
You are a crazy man!
Ha! Ha! Alfred Wegener!
You are a crazy little man!
They reminded him he had no proof for how or why
the continents could do this
And until you show just how or why
you merely have one interesting hypothesis
Until this evidence we see
You don’t have a theory!
Ha! Ha! Alfred Wegener!
You are a crazy man!
Ha! Ha! Alfred Wegener!
You are a crazy little man!
In the year of 1930, on an expedition to Greenland
Wegener got caught in a blizzard
When they finally found him, it was much, oh much too late
And they buried him in an icy mausoleum
Thirty years after he died
A new idea came to light
(Plate Tectonics, Plate Tectonics)
It changed the way geologists saw the world
And brought Continental Drift back to life
Now everybody sings:
Yee haw! Alfred Wegener!
You are a brilliant man!
Yee haw! Alfred Wegener!
You are a brilliant, brilliant man!
Continental Drift! Alfred Wegener’s theory!
Continental Drift! Alfred Wegener’s theory!
Continental Drift! Alfred Wegener’s theory!
Continental Drift! Alfred Wegener’s brilliant theory!
credits
released 02 August 2013
written by ray hedgpeth
performed by the amoeba people
The Geologists Are Coming!
by The Amoeba People
They carry tiny hammers,
They're chipping at the crust.
Like a John Fante novel
They're inclined to ask the dust.
Converging on the continents,
They're fearless and they're brave,
Cruising down through canyons
And exploring every cave.
Uncovering the mysteries
Of the planet's history,
Deep into the Cambrian
For all the world to see.
The geologists are coming!
Yes, they're trudging down the hill.
When they say that mountain's young
They're talking ten to twenty mil.
They're classifying rocks
From destruction to rebirth
The geologists are coming!
They're converging on the Earth!
The G is for granite,
The E is for eon,
O is the outcrop
Which they're inclined to be on.
L is for the layers
Showing how things have evolved
The O is for "Oh, my!
Another puzzle to be solved."
The second G is meant to give
A little bit more insight
For nine times out of ten
A granite rock is granodiorite
The I is for igneous,
The S is for sand,
T is for the timeline
That they're holding in their hand.
The geologists are coming!
They're emerging from their tents,
Braving steep volcanoes
To explore volcanic vents.
They take note of the processes
That shape the planet's crust.
They're driven to inquire,
Explore this Earth they must!
The geologists are coming!
Yes, they're trudging down the hill.
When they say that mountain's young
They're talking ten to twenty mil.
They're classifying rocks
From destruction to rebirth.
The geologists are coming!
They're converging on the Earth!
credits
released 06 April 2012
written by Ray Hedgpeth
The Amoeba People have many other science songs written about other fields and a Kickstarter campaign to launch a musical science show.
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