Bedrock Geology for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCCVI

sample bedrock geology map

A not surprising number of the freelancers we feature in this forum have been nominated because they attempted to share information that, frankly, they didn't have before taking on their "assignment." True professionals – people who are on assignment for a reputable client – can spend weeks or even months researching their topics; but most of these hacks just go out and attempt to reword some website they don't even understand. This is, sadly, often true i the case of STEM topics when the writer has a liberal arts background... which is exactly the reason for today's nomination. Meet theater/screenwriting grad Jessica Ellis and her half-assed attempt to answer the question, "What is Bedrock Geology?" for WiseGEEK.com.

As one must, Ellis opened by attempting to explain the meaning of "bedrock":

"Bedrock geology is the study of the solid rock layers beneath movable surface material such as sand and soil."

Our staffers were amused both by the specificity of "sand" and by the replacement of "loose" with "movable" – Jess was clearly playing around at synonym.com. Unfortunately, things just got worse from here. Oh, we won't argue that much of what Jessica had to say was more or less true, just that she missed the point – and that she never actually finished a definition. We suspect that was mainly because of her ignorance. How else can you explain some of her more clumsy comments:

• "By studying bedrock geology, scientists can get a better understanding of the history of the earth beyond human recording capabilities, back to the ancient days of the planet." – Back to the "ancient days"? That's not to mention that this describes the science of geology in general...
• "Long before humans existed, the earth moved and changed shape." – We're pretty sure the planet has been spherical for all its existence. We guess this is Jessica's attempt to invoke plate tectonics. 
• "Depending on the type of rock and its susceptibility to forces such as erosion and glaciation, bedrock will often determine the path of moving water such as rivers and streams." – A) glaciation is a form of erosion and B) there's a lot more to it than the "type of rock."
• "Bedrock geologists spend a great amount of their time doing field surveys in order to produce bedrock maps." – That's just plain funny.
• "Geologists are often employed by civil engineering firms and large oil companies to point out the best and worst places to carry out their work." – Only those two industries? What about mining, education, and even medium and small oil companies?

While Ellis spewed factoids all over the internet in her drive to make everyone slightly dumber, the real fact is that she never actually explained bedrock geology. She nibbled around the edges a bit before attempting to answer the question by telling people why we study bedrock geology, but she never actually said what "bedrock geologists," as she calls them, are studying: Bedrock geology is the study of all aspects of the rock bodies at or near the surface. This includes detailed study of the types of rocks present and their relationships to one another. It includes examination of the petrology, paleontology, geomorphology, and structural geology of the bedrock. A bedrock map is a geologist's educated assessment of the geology that would be exposed if all of Jessica's "movable surface material" were stripped away.

Ellis had no idea what she was talking about here and, sadly, the poor suckers who read what our Dumbass of the Day had to say thinking she was an authority on the topic also know nothing about the topic. In other words, Jessica proved to be neither "wise" nor a "geek." Feh.

SI - GEOLOGY