Physical Geology, H5P Edition is not just one book, not just one project, and not just one person.

This edition was supported by a BCcampus H5P OER Development Grant. It benefited immensely from technical support, insights, and encouragement by Alan Levine and Clint Lalonde of BCcampus. The blame for getting me started with H5P and making me aware of its potential falls squarely on the shoulders of JR Dingwall, instructional designer and edtech guru at the University of Saskatchewan. Modifications to the textbook were also supported by UBC Okanagan’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographic Sciences as part of an on-going project to further adapt the book. Tireless and extensive logistical and administrative support were provided by Pearl Glute and Jeff Myhre.

H5P Edition is an adaptation of the First University of Saskatchewan Edition of this textbook. My work on that edition was supported by a grant from the University of Saskatchewan Open Educational Resources Fund to myself, Joyce McBeth, and Tim Prokopiuk of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. Joyce adapted Chapters 14, 15, and 17, and contributed invaluable edits and feedback. Tim contributed edits and selected rock samples for me to photograph from the department’s collection. Lyndsay Hauber assisted with updates to image attributions for the chapter on plate tectonics. Donna Beneteau and Doug Milne of the College of Engineering, and Zoli Hajnal of Geological Sciences gave me a tour of the Geological Engineering Rock Mechanics Facility, and helped me to photograph their experiments. Heather Ross and Nancy Turner at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning were instrumental through their support and encouragement on this project and through discussions with them about open textbooks and OER.

The First University of Saskatchewan Edition owes its existence to the original version of Physical Geology by Steven Earle, written for the BCcampus Open Textbook project. It has been a comprehensive and solid foundation upon which to build adapted works.

Image Sources

This project would not be possible without the generosity of many individuals and organizations who shared their work with a Creative Commons license or under other open licensing terms. The following is a list of valuable image resources, as much as it is an acknowledgement of contributions:

Roger Weller has made available thousands of his high-quality rock and mineral photographs through his website hosted by Cochise College, and granted permission for their non-commercial educational use. His photos have been used extensively throughout this project. Roger’s usage stipulation has led to thoughtful discussions about what the appropriate way is to license derivative materials that make use of non Creative-Commons content. I have concluded that the best way to ensure that his wishes are respected is to license materials I make with his photographs as CC BY-NC-SA. This permits free sharing and remixing, but stipulates no commercial use, and that all derivative works must be shared with a non-commercial license.

James St. John is a geologist and paleontologist who has contributed (as of August 2021) 80,190 high-quality geology-related photographs to the photo-sharing website Flickr. His photographs cover a wide range of rocks and minerals, and rarely has there been an image that I needed but couldn’t find in his work. His Flickr account is remarkable for the abundance and quality of photographs, but also because he includes detailed descriptions of his images, making it possible for me to verify that an image is what I think it is, and gather useful background information. He has shared his images with a CC BY license, which I appreciate greatly because it allows me to combine them with content having more restrictive licenses. You can find his teaching website here, and video footage from his Yellowstone geyser project here.

The U. S. Geological Survey has contributed innumerable images to the public domain. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in particular is my go-to source for both the latest in volcano photos, and for fascinating historical images. Data and images from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Latest Earthquakes map have been invaluable.

I have used NASA images for views of Earth as much as I have for views of space and other planets. It is truly remarkable that in spite of the vast resources and expertise needed to acquire these photographs, they are free to view, use, and learn from.

Among the many teaching resources offered by IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) are beautifully designed images for explaining earthquakes and seismology.

When all other sources failed, the odds were good that Robert Lavinsky (www.iRocks.com), Mike Norton, or Michael Rygel had contributed exactly the right photograph to Wikimedia Commons.