PRESENTATIONS

ABC News interviewed Hofstra University professor and Dukelabs Principal Dr. Charles Merguerian on his views concerning the economics of quarrying operations in New England. Hear Dr. Merguerian explain how quarrying operations in decorative and building stones pay for themselves. 

It is one of the most man-made spaces on the planet, but everything in New York from the height of the skyscrapers to the way the subway was constructed to the position of the harbor is governed by the extraordinary forces that ultimately shaped this city. According to Dr. Charles Merguerian of Hofstra University and Duke Geological Laboratory, “You can tell the geology of Manhattan at a glance by looking at the skyline. The skyscrapers of Midtown and Downtown are built on hard granite and schist; the low-rise buildings in between are built on a soft, gravelly soil left over from the Ice Age.” Learn how New Jersey and North Africa were neighbors 250 million years ago, how the rocks New York are built on are the remains of mountains that 450 million years ago were as tall as the Himalayas, and how Long Island is covered in rubble that remained as ice sheets retreated 10,000 years ago.

 History Channel aired a documentary special called Super City: New York.  The show peels back layers of time showing Manhattan Island as it looked when it was discovered by Henry Hudson in 1609, then examines how people and the geology have changed the landscape and speculates on the city's future. Hear Dr. Merguerian explain his work on the World Trade Center site in NYC and how this new data helps geologists envision the formation of the Appalachian ch