Geology and Earth Science News and Information

How did the Hawaiian Islands Form? The power of a moving plate over a stationary hot spot.

Lightning Strikes Map by NASA shows the worldwide distribution of lightning activity.

Geology Tools Rock hammers, field bags, hand lenses, maps, hardness picks, gold pans.

Kyanite is a metamorphic mineral used to make porcelain, abrasive products and gems.

Abandoned Mine Accidents kill several people every year. Education can prevent deaths.

Hardness Picks - Mohs hardness testing with precise and easy-to-use hardness picks.

Emerald is the most popular green gemstone in the United States and most of the world.

Rock & Mineral Kits The best way to learn about rocks and minerals is with specimens!

Know the Rules before removing rocks, fossils or minerals from public or private property.

Olivine - Abundant in Earth*s mantle. A constituent of meteorites. The gem peridot.

Obsidian - the volcanic rock that cools so quickly that it becomes a natural glass.

Geology.com News contains news about geology and earth science from around the world.

Wall Maps - Wall maps of the world, continents, states and the USA.

Colored Diamonds are diamonds with a noticeable body color. They can sell for over $1M/carat.

Granite - The intrusive igneous rock that underlies continents and countertops.

Bear Attacks - Knowing how to react to a bear encounter or attack could save your life.

Free Google Earth software allows you to browse seamless world satellite images. Free.

The Rock Used to Make Beer - Geologists are beer experts and should know about this rock.

Sand is a diverse material. This gallery includes photos of sand from around the world.

Magnesite is a carbonate mineral used for chemicals, fire bricks, magnesium metal and more.

Geology Dictionary - contains thousands of geological terms with their definitions.

Chalcopyrite - The most important ore of copper for over five thousand years.

Ethiopian Opal - The new opal heavyweight that might give Australia a run.

Garnet is best known as a red gemstone. It occurs in any color and has many industrial uses.

What Is The Moho? The Mohorovicic Discontinuity is the mantle/crust boundary.

Topo Maps - The DeLorme Atlas is an entire state of topo maps in one convenient book.

Fluorescent Minerals and rocks glow with spectacular colors under ultraviolet light.

Geodes look like ordinary rocks on the outside but can be spectacular inside!

Petrified Wood is a fossil that forms when silica replaces and infills the cavities of wood.

Republic of North Macedonia is the new name of what was formerly Macedonia.

Quartzite is metamorphic rock formed when sandstone is subjected to heat and pressure.

Green Diamonds - one of rarest and most valuable diamond colors.

Oil Fields from Space - Night views of Earth show the distribution of oil field activity.

Diamonds - Learn about the properties of diamond, its many uses, and diamond discoveries.

Homeowners Insurance might not cover the types of damage that you think it should.

Labradorite is a feldspar mineral that sometimes exhibits an iridescent play-of-color.

Gemstones - Colorful images and articles about diamonds and colored stones.

Ammolite is a fossil and a gemstone. It is shell material from fossil ammonites.

Fool*s Gold is a name used for pyrite when its brassy color fools people looking for gold.

World*s Largest Diamonds Records for the largest rough, faceted and carbonado diamond.

What Is Earth Science? The study of Earth and its neighbors in space. Learn more!

Geology Books - A variety of books for reference, field trips, reading and more.

The East Africa Rift System - The extensive fault system that is tearing Africa apart.

Portable UV Lamp - Short and long wave UV for fluorescent mineral viewing.

Meteorites - Rocks that were once parts of planets or large asteroids.

Peridotite is a chromite host rock, a source of diamonds and a possible carbon dioxide sink.

Lapis Lazuli - a metamorphic rock and the most popular blue opaque gemstone in history.

What is Geology? The study of Earth materials, structures, processes and life over time.

Ant Hill Garnets - tiny gems that ants haul to the surface and discard on their anthill. Honest!

Rhyolite An extrusive igneous rock with a high silica content, produced from granitic magma.

Types of Volcanic Eruptions - A description of the most common eruption types.

Blue Flames and the largest highly acidic lake in the world at Kawah Ijen Volcano.

Crater of Diamonds - The only diamond mine in the world where you can be the miner.

Largest Hurricanes Are they determined by wind speed, value of damage, most deaths?

Facts About Copper - Information about copper uses, production, resources and more.

Shale - The rock that has quickly transformed the oil and gas industry.

Mineral Rights - Who owns the minerals under your land? Who wants to buy them?

Steamboat Geyser - The world*s tallest geyser has erupted three times this year.

Soapstone is a metamorphic rock with properties that make it suitable for a variety of projects.

Corundum is the third hardest mineral. It is also the mineral of ruby and sapphire.

Diamond Misconception - Many people think that diamonds form from coal. Not True!

Dowsing is a method used to find underground water that is rejected by most geologists.

Tourmaline - an extremely colorful mineral and gem material.

Moldavite is a gem material born about 15 million years ago when a pair of asteroids struck Europe.

100+ Gems - Photos of over 100 beautiful gems ranging from the popular to the obscure.

552 Carats - Dominion finds the largest diamond in North American history at Diavik.

Tallest Tsunami - A wave with a run-up height of 1720 feet occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska.

Volcanoes - Articles about volcanoes, volcanic hazards and eruptions past and present.

What are Glaciers? Learn how glaciers form, flow, advance, retreat, and change over time.

The Uses of Marble are numerous and diverse. You will be surprised by how it is used.

Ticks are a problem for geologists in some areas. Learn to recognize and avoid them.

World Record Lightning - this lake has more lightning than any other place in the world.

Rare Earths - Special materials used in electronics, defense, medical & many other products.

Sliding Rocks Mystery - What causes these rocks to slide across a playa in Death Valley?

Crushed Stone - About four tons per person is used each year in the United States.

Teacher Resources - K-12 resources for teaching about earth science.

Rock Art - People have been marking on rocks for thousands of years.

Tallest Mountain - Everest has rivals in tallness, altitude and distance to the center of Earth.

Turquoise - A bluish-green gem material that has been used for over 6000 years.

Mineraloids are amorphous naturally-occurring inorganic solids that lack crystallinity.

Largest Volcano - That title is shared by Tamu Massif, Mauna Kea and Ojos del Salado.

Phytoplankton Blooms from space. Images of spectacular blooms from NASA satellites.

Cave of the Hands is a cave where ancient people painted hands about 9000 years ago.

Gem Silica is a blue chalcedony colored by copper. It is the rarest and most valuable chalcedony.

Mohs Hardness Scale is a set of reference minerals used for classroom hardness testing.

How Are Hurricanes Named? There is a plan for naming tropical storms.

California Earthquake Maps - A collection of isoseismal maps for earthquakes in California.

Debris Flows are moving masses of loose mud, sand, soil, rock and water.

What is a Maar? The second most common volcanic landscape feature on Earth.

Extraterrestrial Gems - A number of materials from space are used as attractive gems.

Diamond Production leaders include: Botswana, Russia, Angola and Canada.

The Acid Test - Geologists use dilute hydrochloric acid to identify carbonate minerals.

Coal Through a Microscope - Coal is more than a black rock. It is THE most interesting rock.

Range of Bear Species - Where you might encounter different types of bears.

Rocks - Galleries of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock photos with descriptions.

Ruby and Sapphire are the 2nd and 3rd most popular colored stones in the United States.

Rock Tumblers - All about rock tumblers and rock tumbling. Read before you buy a tumbler.

Tanzanite was unknown until a few decades ago but it has erupted into wide popularity.

Azurite Granite ? A white granite with blue orbs of azurite. A new material from Pakistan.

Expansive Soil causes more damage than floods, hurricanes & tornadoes combined.

Hand Lens A 10-power folding magnifier in a metal case. A frequently used lab and field tool.

Rhodochrosite - a manganese mineral used as an ore, a pink gem and an ornamental stone.

What is a Geyser? Photos and information about geysers in many parts of the world.

The Richest Meteorite Field - More meteorites found here than anywhere else on Earth.

Rock-Forming Minerals - most of Earth*s crust is made-up of a small number of minerals.

Talc is a soft mineral used in cosmetics, paper, paint, ceramics and many other products.

Hematite - The most important ore of iron. A source of mineral pigment since prehistory.

Field Courses - Over 80 field courses for undergraduate geology students.

United States Gemstones Small mines in the U.S. produce a diversity of gemstones.

Troglobites are creatures that have adapted to a permanent life in the darkness of a cave.

Mount Etna - The most active volcano in Europe continues an eruption that started in 2001.

Solar System Volcanoes - Earth is not the only location of volcanic activity.

Azurite - Used as an ore of copper, a pigment, ornamental stone and gem material.

Volcanic Explosivity - Rating volcanic eruptions based upon the volume of tephra ejected.

Chalk is a variety of limestone formed from fine-grained marine sediment known as ooze.

Minerals - Descriptions, photos, articles, properties and uses for common minerals.

Gold Pans and Panning Kits - classifiers, snuffer bottles. Learn how to pan for Gold.

The Many Uses of Gold - Unique properties make gold one of the most useful metals.

Sunstone - A gem feldspar with aventurescence caused by light reflecting from platy inclusions.

Fire Opal is a transparent to translucent opal with a yellow, orange or red background color.

Arctic Ocean Seafloor Map - The ridges, basins, shelves and rifts defining the Arctic seafloor.

June 6, 1912 - The most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

Kilauea Eruption - photos of the 2018 eruption in the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano.

US Diamond Mines - Did you know that diamonds have been mined in the United States?

Pele*s Hair and Pele*s Tears are two unusual types of lava found at Kilauea and other volcanoes.

Horizontal Drilling has opened new resources and significantly improved productivity.

Landslides A USGS fact sheet about landslides and events that trigger them.

Methane Hydrate deposits contain more fuel value than all other fossil fuels combined.

Molybdenite is the primary ore of molybdenum which is used in superalloys and as a lubricant.

Herkimer Diamonds Doubly-terminated quartz crystals used as specimens and gems.

Zircon is the primary ore of zirconium and a gemstone that is available in many colors.

Mount Vesuvius - geology, history, maps, facts and more about the Vesuvius eruptions.

Mount Cleveland is an active volcano in the Aleutian Islands and a threat to air traffic.

Frac Sand - A specialty sand used to maintain porosity in hydraulic fracturing.

Helium is a byproduct of the natural gas industry. Its most important use is in MRI.

Variscite is a yellowish green to bluish green mineral. It is similar to turquoise and cut as a gem.

Ilmenite - The primary ore of titanium and source of most titanium dioxide.

Utica Shale is confirmed as a major source of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The Next Hawaiian Island could be growing in the Pacific Ocean right now. Its name is Lo'ihi.

Canadian Diamond Mines produce some of the largest and highest quality diamonds!

Salt Domes - Salt structures that are often associated with oil and natural gas accumulations.

What is LNG? The use of LNG as an energy source is growing rapidly. Learn more about LNG.

Pictures of Opal - A collection of different types of opal from all around the world and Mars too!

Waterproof Paper - Don't take chances with your field notes and maps. Use waterproof paper.

Plate Tectonics - Articles and maps about plate tectonics and the interior of Earth.

Hydraulic Fracturing increases well yield by fracturing the reservoir rock with fluid injection.

Eagle Ford Shale - One of the most prolific oil and gas producers in the United States.

Largest Earthquake ever recorded - Magnitude 9.5. Chile, 1960.

Rhodonite - a manganese silicate used as a minor ore of manganese and as a gemstone.