Geology News
Wyoming Current Events

The Heart Mountain Landslide of Wyoming is the largest known subaerial landslide that has been recognized on Earth. The largest submarine slide is the Storegga slide off the coast of Norway.

Three Triceratops skeletons are being excavated near Newcastle, Wyoming. The largest of the three is one of the most complete specimens of Triceratops ever found.

Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.

The Wyoming Geological Survey has published: “Rare Earth Elements in Wyoming”, a report that investigates the production and geologic occurrence of rare earth elements in Wyoming.

Since 1972 the “Roadside Geology” series has provided introductory information on the geology of states and small regions of the United States.

The books provide a combination of maps, travel logs, photos and commentary for the geology that can be seen along highways or visited at parks and public viewing areas. They are popular with geologists, teachers, students and others who are interested in the Earth.

Geology.com and RockTumbler.com are both GeoShops.com websites.

Lots of people enjoy going to fee mining sites where you can prospect inactive surface mines, mine tailings, soil, sediments or outcrops and keep any rocks, gems, minerals or fossils that you find. Examples include: Herkimer Diamond Mines where you can search for doubly-terminated quartz crystals, and Crater of Diamonds where you might be lucky enough to find a real diamond.

You have probably heard of the Richter Scale for measuring earthquakes, the Saffir-Simpson Scale for hurricanes and the Fujita Scale for tornadoes. The Volcanic Explosivity Index is used to compare the size of explosive volcanic eruptions.

Three of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in geologic history occurred at a place now visited by nearly four million people a year: Yellowstone National Park.

Two large coal mines in Wyoming accounted for 20% of United States coal production in 2012.

The Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana contains about 162 billion short tons of recoverable coal from a total of 1.07 trillion short tons of in-place resources according to a new USGS assessment.

The United States Geological Survey has published: New Vitrinite Reflectance Data for the Wind River Basin, Wyoming. “The purpose of this report is to present new vitrinite reflectance data collected mainly from Cretaceous marine shales in the Wind River Basin to better characterize their thermal maturity and hydrocarbon potential.” Quoted from the USGS publication announcement.

The folks at MyTopo.com are now printing supersized topo maps; large enough make a huge 8′ x 5′ (or 5′ x 8′) map that will look fantastic on the wall of your office, conference room, lobby, cabin or den. These maps are custom-centered on any location that you pick using their online map-making tool.

We are affiliates of MyTopo.com and receive a commission on sales.

“The United States Geological Survey has published: In-Place Oil Shale Resources Examined by Grade in the Major Basins of the Green River Formation, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.”

Petrified Forest National Park is the most famous location in the world for observing petrified wood. It is one of several government and private parks in the United States that feature petrified wood.

Radioactive Spring?

Drilling to Earth’s Mantle

Eruption at Shilveluch

Analysis of Martian Soil

Mars Geologic Map

The Size of the Next Yellowstone Eruption Second Week!

Drought-Induced Crop Lines

USGS has published: Saturated thickness and water in storage in the High Plains aquifer, 2009, and water-level changes and changes in water in storage in the High Plains aquifer, 1980 to 1995, 1995 to 2000, 2000 to 2005, and 2005 to 2009.

Erik Klemetti explains why the next volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone area will probably be much much smaller than news reports might have people believing.

This CNN video explores the impact that a concentration of rare earth elements might have on the small town of Sundance, Wyoming.

Federal hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure regulations are not needed according to Matt Mead, Governor of Wyoming, where disclosure requirements are already in place.

US Topo is the new generation of digital topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey.

New US Topo maps for Wyoming and South Dakota are available, with the introduction of Public Land Survey and other new data.

Twenty-two states are soliciting bids for natural gas vehicles that will be used in state government auto pools.

Mountain Press Publishing has released a new book by Albert B. Dickas titled: 101 American Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See.

It provides a two-page presentation on each site that features photos, text and a map. It is a good way to get a quick glimpse of these 101 fantastic sites. It sells for $23.99.

See a table of contents.

“Helium is produced by the decay of uranium and thorium in granitoid basement rocks. The liberated helium is buoyant and moves towards the surface in porosity associated with basement faults. The helium then moves upwards through porous sedimentary cover until it is trapped with natural gas under beds of anhydrite or salt.” Quoted from the Geology.com article.

The leading states for natural gas production during 2011 were: Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Together they produced 65% of US natural gas.

A seismic event in Wyoming that USGS reported with a depth of zero was actually a quarry blast.

With the price of natural gas at $2 or below lots of coal-fired power plants are converting to natural gas – and the price of Wyoming coal has fallen by 45 percent.

William Fritz and Robert Thomas have completed a second edition of the popular Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country. This 6″x9″ paperback has 311 pages that are packed with detailed information about Yellowstone Geology.

The current fossil energy boom in the United States is natural gas from shale. The next one could be oil shales.