The Room Problem (and how Geochronology solves it)

The Room Problem (and how Geochronology solves it)

July 2, 2026 · 55 min · Season 6 · Episode 15

About this episode

This episode discusses the 'room problem' in geology and how geochronology helps to understand magma placement in the crust.

Granite is everywhere — it makes up much of the continental crust beneath our feet; yet, for over a century geologists were stuck on a deceptively simple question: where does all that magma find room? In this episode, Jesse and Dr. Mike Ackerson pick the granite series back up to tackle the "room problem" — the puzzle of how you wedge a magma body tens of kilometers wide into solid crust. Using California's Tuolumne Intrusive Suite (the fruit fly of igneous petrology) and the landmark Coleman...

People in this episode

Host: Jesse

Guest: Dr. Mike Ackerson

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, Coleman

Places: California

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