Geologists and Geologic Content in Genre Fiction: Part 1

"...there undoubtedly is a considerable opportunity to enlarge and improve the influence of geology upon human thought and literature. Though it is rarely given to us to combine high scientific and literary abilities, we each have the gift of verbal expression in some degree. We can strive some part of the way toward the heights of literature." (Collins 1935)

Introduction

The quotation above is from the 1934 presidential address of W.H. Collins to the Geological Society of America. Although mostly a plea to make geological publications more accessible to the general public, Collins also compares geologic investigation with detective and mystery stories. He stated that "The essence of the mystery story consists in leading the reader to solve the mystery himself. He becomes so interested in it that he examines the evidence for himself, experiences for himself its preplexities(sic), and anticipates the climax. Even so with geological problems. Every geological problem is a potential mystery story..." (Collins 1935, p. 358-359).

Geology and geologists in the popular literature of the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries have been addressed by Pangborn (1961), Martínez-García (2018), and Ordaz-Gargallo (2023). These authors cite early works by Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other authors and describe tales of geologic fantasy (e.g., A Journey to the Center of the Earth). Such stories include themes such as reconstituting extinct organisms, time travel or the discovery of refugia of extinct creatures. Many of these works address interactions between humans and a variety of ancient creatures. Geologic hazards such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes also appear in the early geologically themed body of literature, though the science is questionable at best in some of these stories. Pangborn (1961) also discusses the rare early novels in which geologists are protagonists or essential characters. Pangborn lamented that in many cases, geologists are portrayed in less than favorable light. More recent examples of this genre are Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World. There are geologic aspects also in the seven books described by Newitz (2019) in Reactor Magazine, though these novels deal mainly with various transformations of the Earth.

Pangborn's (1961, p. 52) prescient comment that "We can hope that the geologist, too, will receive similar attention(like other professionals portrayed in fiction) from thoughtful writers, whether scientist or professional novelist" presages the rise of genre fiction novels in the last decade of the twentieth century and early decades of the twenty-first century. In these novels geology plays a central role and geologists are protagonists, and, in some cases, antagonists. Some of these works were written by authors who are geologists. These more recent novels are the subject of this contribution.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series that examines the portrayal of geologists and the presentation of geologic content and concepts in recent genre fiction. Part 1 discusses the novels of authors Sarah Andrews, Jack DuBrul, Sibella Giorello and Toni Dwiggins. Part 2 will address these same aspects in the works of five additional novelists. Part 2 also explores some common threads among all of the novels described in the two parts of this series.

Sarah Andrews

"It can be said that Sarah Andrews personifies, to a greater degree than other authors, the interrelation between geology and literary fiction in current times: a geologist who writes novels" (Jorge Ordaz Gargallo 2023, p. 84). Andrews' novels feature geologist Em Hansen as protagonist and contain geologic content in varying degrees.

Overall, Andrews' novels may be viewed as a character study of Em Hansen as her career in geology progresses from mud logger in Tensleep, to petroleum geologist (Tensleep, A Fall in Denver and succeeding novels) and finally a forensic geologist (Dead Dry and Rock Bottom). Hansen is portrayed as a person who is observant and intuitive, but likes to keep a low profile, is socially awkward, self conscious and plagued with self doubt. In Andrews' later novels (e.g., An Eye for Gold) Em Hansen gains confidence and grows as a person and is finally at peace with herself and confident in charting her own course in Earth Colors.

Although author Sarah Andrews was a geologist, her Em Hansen novels contain little in the way of forensic geology. Instead, Andrews uses a broader definition of forensic geology to include knowledge of various geologic industries, the nature of geologists (e.g., Bone Hunter) and use of geologic materials such as field notes, topographic maps and aerial photos.

In A Fall in Denver, Bone Hunter, and Mother Nature Em Hansen functions more as a detective than a forensic geologist. She uses her knowledge of the geology of two oil fields in A Fall in Denver to establish motive for a series of crimes, but there is no use of forensic geology in the modern sense. Hansen uses air photos and property documents to establish motive in Mother Nature. The lack of any description of seismic hazards in engineering reports is significant in Fault Line, but does not figure directly in resolution of the plot. Forensic geology does play a larger role in some of Andrews' later novels. Sediment embedded in shoes provides an important clue in An Eye for Gold. Dead Dry has a very good description of the use of geophysics in locating clandestine grave sites. Carbonate sediments as forensic evidence provide guidance in locating the whereabouts of antagonists in Killer Dust.  Phenocrysts, penguin guano and glass fragments from Ernest Shackelton's Antarctic camp are collected for forensic comparison to materials found in the boot treads of the perpetrator in Andrews' last novel In Cold Pursuit, in which a new protagonist is introduced: graduate student Valena Walker.

In some novels, Andrews paints vivid pictures of landscapes and regional geology (e.g., Only Flesh and Bones, Killer Dust and Dead Dry). Lucid descriptions of geologic concepts and processes are included in some of Andrews' later novels such as An Eye for Gold, Dead Dry, and In Cold Pursuit. Formation of ore deposits, processes of prospecting and environmental impacts are described vividly in An Eye for Gold. A detailed and very understandable description of the formation of the Rocky Mountains and processes of the rock cycle are present in Dead Dry. This book also contains an excellent discussion of aquifers, groundwater mining and induced subsidence in places with limited recharge of aquifers. Andrews' novel In Cold Pursuit contains a very understandable description of the use of stable isotopes and ice cores as tools in reconstructing paleoclimate.

Some of the Em Hansen novels include minor misconceptions or misrepresentation of geologic concepts. For example, in Tensleep, Andrews refers to the Pennsylvanian as an era rather than a geologic period. In Fault Line (p. 168) Andrews seems to imply that the entire mantle is liquid. Andrews refers to NASA as the National Atmospheric and Space Administration, rather than Aeronautics in Killer Dust (p. 23). In Dead Dry (p. 12), Andrews describes what can only be a periglacial delta (kame) but Em Hansen nods in agreement when another character calls it an alluvial fan. She also describes falling gravel (p. 17) as an avalanche, a term that is only applied to mass movements of snow. Andrews refers to andesite as the extrusive equivalent of granite in Rock Bottom (p. 176), whereas rhyolite would be more accurate. These inaccuracies are relatively insignificant compared to misconceptions presented by other authors (below).

Jack Du Brul

Jack Du Brul is the author of a series of action adventure/thriller novels that feature geologist Philip Mercer. Though educated as a geologist, Mercer is sometimes referred to as a mining engineer without distinguishing that these two professions have vastly different training and responsibilities. Mercer is an action hero who combines a very few geologic insights with the instincts of James Bond and the derring do of John McClane (recall the Die Hard movies). Du Brul's Philip Mercer series focuses more on the heroic actions of the protagonist than on geologic content. Mercer's character is best summarized by a young woman in The Lightning Stones when she asks him "Who are you? Seriously. What geologist can shoot a gun like that?"

Vulcan's Forge, the first novel in the Philip Mercer series, features a Cold War era undersea nuclear test that creates a new alloy that is the center of international intrigue and the machinations of multiple nefarious entities all competing for the new, invaluable resource. Mercer uses archival seismic records to identify the location of the nuclear detonation that triggers formation the new alloy and the undersea volcano which will eventually bring the alloy to the ocean's surface. Otherwise, there is no geology described in Vulcan's Forge. Similarly, Charon's Landing, the second novel in the Philip Mercer series, does not have any geologic content, though the plot revolves around crude oil. Again, Du Brul describes Mercer as a mining engineer, though Mercer calls himself a geologist in a confrontation with his arch nemesis.

The Medusa Stone, the third in the Philip Mercer series, involves the possible existence of a diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe in Eritrea. Mercer engages in field reconnaissance and follows a dry stream bed (he refers to it as a watershed). He uses ground-penetrating satellite imagery to locate the abandoned underground workings of an ancient mine. There is a general description of the formation of kimberlite pipes, but otherwise, the geologic content takes a back seat to the intrigue involving several competing factions and Mercer's heroic actions.            

Pandora's Curse is set in Greenland and features chilling descriptions of the continental ice sheet and the bitter and dangerous weather conditions associated with it. The use of geothermal heat to generate electricity on Iceland is also described. Otherwise, there is no geoscience in the story, which is again built around the heroic actions of Philip Mercer.

River of Ruin is the fifth novel in the Philip Mercer series; it begins with deadly carbon dioxide emissions from a caldera lake. There is a good description of the dense gas hugging the ground and funneling into low spots in the topography. In the final chapter, there is a brief discussion of angle of repose and a bit of hydraulics as related to erosion.        

Deep Fire Rising opens with an evocative description of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa and associated tsunami. In a later chapter (p. 168-173), the melting and undersea eruption of a methane hydrate mass is described. Protagonist Mercer tangles with a mysterious group that possesses an oracle capable of predicting the location and time of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions decades to centuries prior to each event. The devastation that could result from possible mega-tsunami triggered by a mass movement of material on one of the Canary Islands is described on pages 280-286 (Du Brul 2003).

The nexus of Du Brul's Havoc is the existence of a natural occurrence of plutonium and the competing interests that covet the element. The ancient mine from which the ore is extracted is a location of contention for several groups spanning centuries. Again, this novel is an action adventure/thriller with limited geology and no specifically geologic insights from geologist/mining engineer protagonist Philip Mercer.

In The Lightning Stones, a fictional mineral from a large geode in a cave in Afghanistan has a peculiar ability to attract lightning and possesses other bizarre electromagnetic properties. These properties will enable an evil corporate CEO to alter Earth's magnetosphere and accelerate global warming so that he can sell more of his company's alternative energy sources. There is a general description of some of the factors that influence Earth's climate and a discussion of the politics versus the science of climate change, but otherwise there is very little geoscience in The Lightning Stones.

Because there is so little geology in Du Brul's Philip Mercer series, there are very few errors. However, several are worth noting. In describing the gravel brought to a site of a scam gold mine on page 273 of River of Ruin, Mercer says, "I recall it seemed high in quartz, one of gold's trace elements so it probably came from an active gold mine." This is the opposite of the case in nature, where gold is a trace element and quartz-rich pegmatites are commonly the host in hydrothermal veins. On page 377 of Deep Fire Rising, the Earth's mantle is described as liquid. On page 190 of Havoc, one of Du Brul's characters refers to the plunge pool at the base of Niagara Falls as a sinkhole. There is a mixed message regarding economic geology on page 27 of The Lightning Stones. The rock above an abandoned copper mine is referred to as "a thousand-foot-thick slab of iron ore. Though not commercially viable to mine..." (Du Brul 2015). By definition, an ore is commercially profitable to mine, otherwise it is not an ore. On page 348 of The Lightning Stones, a hair-brained idea is referred to as a theory, ignoring the scientific meaning of the word and instead using the word theory as synonym for idea as is all too common in daily usage.

Sibella Giorello

Siberia Giorello earned a bachelor's degree in geology but pursued a career in writing. Her novels follow the professional life of protagonist Raleigh Harmon as she progresses from a career in forensic geology to becoming an FBI special agent, to becoming a private investigator after leaving the FBI. Harmon's personal life, including dealing with a mentally ill mother, is an exploration of the character with some similarities to Sarah Andrews' exploration of her protagonist Em Hansen.

Giorello's first novel, The Stones Cry Out, is set in Richmond, Virginia and is largely an urban tale. The forensics in this story revolve around fibers, concrete and synthetic particles from a landfill such that the geologic aspects are minimal, though Giorello provides a clear description of the forensic utility of mineral grains. The Clouds Roll Away, also set in Richmond, and is another urban tale. Unfortunately, forensic geology does not play a role in the resolution of the crimes in this novel. In Giorello's later novels, forensic geology plays more of a role. Forensic examination of soil and sediment provides significant evidence in solving the mysteries in The Rivers Run Dry and The Stars Shine Bright. Fluorescent gems are at the nexus of the crimes and the plot in The Mountains Bow Down. This novel also includes forensic comparison of the diatoms and insulation from a safe with similar debris found on several garments.

Two of Giorello's novels include vivid descriptions of geologic phenomena and concepts, but some of her books contain serious misconceptions of geologic concepts. In the opening of chapter 14 of The Stones Cry Out,  Giorello uses the history of the Appalachians as an engaging description of the rock cycle. However, this narrative includes two misconceptions. She attributes part of the erosion of the western Virginia part of the Appalachian chain to glaciers, without qualifying that these were most likely alpine glaciers and not the extensive continental ice sheets of the Pleistocene Epoch. Further, she describes the sandstone cliffs along Chesapeake Bay as made up of "pieces of the Appalachian chain, mineral artifacts that traveled more than two hundred miles before being cemented by time, heat, and pressure." The process of lithification is a result of growth of mineral crystals in the pore spaces between grains of sediment. Heat and pressure do not play any role in the process of lithification. Giorello also invokes "pressure" in the formation of sedimentary rocks in The Wind Will Howl with the following sentence: "The other island soils were a colluvium of marine sedimentary rock - stones cobbled together by oceans, time, and pressure." This statement is doubly fraught as colluvium is not lithified.

In The Stars Shine Bright, Giorello describes the Missoula Flood and formation of the channeled scablands along with the gradual acceptance by the geologic community of the novel interpretation of this landscape by J. Harlen Bretz (p. 133-135). However, she refers to uniformitarianism as a "pervasive theory in geology" and equates uniformitarianism with gradualism. Uniformitarianism is not a theory, rather it is a statement of methodology (Albritton 1967; Goodman 1967; Gould 1980; Shea 1982). Without regard to thermodynamics, Giorello asserts that the Montana ice sheet that caused the Missoula Flood melted in less than 24 hours. In describing the mineral composition of a sediment sample, Giorello refers to calcite and zircon as cubic minerals (p. 137- 140), which they are not. In this same section, she conflates the heavy metals uranium and thorium with dense minerals as settling out of suspension in a density separation of minerals for further analysis. Page 261 in this novel includes a diatribe against the theory of evolution.

In chapter 4 of The Moon Stands Still, Giorello accurately describes the igneous process of cooling magma in the formation of a pegmatite, but she refers to this rock as metamorphic rather than igneous. She repeats this misinterpretation in chapter 26. Further, in chapter 4, Giorello indicates that "pockets of air were available that allowed the crystals (in the pegmatite) to grow unimpeded," clearly missing the process by which pegmatites crystalize from saturated hydrothermal fluids that are too hot to contain included air.

Lesser errors in geology are also present in some of Giorello's works. In The Rivers Run Dry (Chapter 25), Giorello describes the sky as "so blue it was malachite," which is actually a green mineral. In chapters 2 and 8 of The Waves Break Gray, Giorello conflates wind-blown loess with varved clays deposited in standing water. In chapter 45 of this novel, she mentions the radius of an object but proceeds to describe the diameter of said object. The protagonist Raleigh Harmon tentatively identifies a green mineral as olivine in a rock that contains abundant quartz in The Moon Stands Still, which is impossible as these minerals are geochemically incompatible. Giorello conflates minerals with chemical elements in chapter 9 of this book and in chapter 47 of The Wind Will Howl. Giorello refers to the Miocene as an era, rather than an epoch in chapter 14 of The Moon Stands Still. Giorello's heroine Raleigh Harmon also admits to confusion in distinguishing between biotite mica, a crystalline mineral, and obsidian, a glass that lacks crystalline structure in a sample of sediment collected for forensic analysis in The Wind Will Howl.

Giorello also authored the Young Raleigh Harmon Mysteries: Stone and Spark, Stone and Snow, Stone and Sand, Stone and Sunset. Intended for a younger audience, these books have not been reviewed for this contribution, but it seems likely that similar misconceptions are prevalent in these books.

Toni Dwiggins

Toni Dwiggins is the author of the Forensic Geology series of mysteries. Although not a geologist, Dwiggins presents geology accurately and thoroughly in her works, unlike the two authors discussed above. The first novel in the series is Quicksilver, which introduces forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws. The story unfolds through Oldfield's voice, while her mentor Shaws provides experience and insights gained through that experience. Quicksilver has good descriptions of ore geology, the formation of hornfels, and deposition of placer deposits.

Dwiggins' second novel Badwater includes accurate descriptions of the structural geology of the Death Valley region and the hydrology associated with the alluvial fans that spread into the valley. Dwiggins also describes the "bathtub rings" of evaporite minerals that precipitated around vanished lakes in the valley. Forensic geology plays a central role in following the movements of the prime suspect.

In Dwiggins third novel Volcano Watch, Oldfield and Shaws delve into a murder mystery with the added complication of explosive volcanic eruptions. As with her other works, the geology described in Volcano Watch is accurate throughout.

Skeleton Sea, the fourth novel in the Forensic Geology series, includes a detailed discussion of the shapes and degree of rounding in water- versus air-abraded grains of sand. Sediment grain size is also related to the size of waves on various beaches. There is a very good description of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) producing ocean hypoxic events which expand to shallower depths on the shelf and the consequences that these events hold for marine life.

Unlike the first three of Dwiggins' novels, there are a few, minor geologic discrepancies in Skeleton Sea. Chapter 9 includes description of a basalt "with a few microscopic quartz crystals," which is not possible owing to the geochemical incompatibility of quartz with the mafic minerals that comprise basalt. Similarly, chapter 13 mentions calcite as a constituent of dacite, which is unlikely to occur in nature unless the calcite is a secondary filling of vesicles, fractures or other open voids.

Set in the Grand Canyon, River Run contains good descriptions of the stratigraphy of the Grand Canyon with some hydrogeology. Chapter 33 includes the following geologically accurate and poetic description of the Vishnu Schist as comprising "cliffs of twisted dark rock, black as night, lightless, rock forged in the bowels of the earth by terrible pressure and heat, deep-time rock nearly half the age of the planet, unyielding rock, contorted with edges sharp as knives. Vishnu Schist - basement rock of the Grand Canyon."

In Lands End, Dwiggins weaves a complex tale of forensic geologic evidence, history and archaeology in the San Francisco Bay area. The forensic team of Oldfield and Shaws collect a variety of soil samples, the analysis of which enables them to track the last movements of a murder victim. This tale includes clear descriptions of the Franciscan melange and the tectonic setting of the Bay area.

Conclusion

The four works described above in Part 1 of this series showcase an assortment of geologists and various geologic concepts. Part 2 of this series continues this exploration of geologists and geologic content as depicted in the novels of Samuel Marquis, Susan Cummins Miller, John B. Olson, J.P. Totman and Sharon Lyons. Part 2 also highlights some common threads among all of the novels described in this series.

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