Romania ROCKS!

If you are a geologist, Romania rocks! Considering its size (about 238,000 km2, or similar in size to the state of Oregon), Romania has an amazingly diverse geography and geology.  The picture below, courtesy of Google Earth, shows some of that diversity. The South Carpathians fold-and-thrust belt is in the center and separates the Transylvanian Basin to the North (left) from the Southern Carpathians Foredeep to the South (right).  Far in the distance, to the East (or top of the image) is the Danube Delta and the Black Sea continental shelf.

Romania is an ideal playground and a "natural sandbox" for the passionate geologist who can experiment with, and test most geological concepts.  It is also one of the best examples of how geology and history intertwine. After all, its complex geology gave the country the beauty and the resources that made it the target of empires and superpowers, and the playground of fancy political footwork.