Geology and Earth Science News and Information

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hardness Picks - Test for hardness with precise and easy-to-use hardness picks.

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

Tourmaline - an extremely colorful mineral and gem material.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Horizontal Drilling has opened new resources and significantly improved productivity.

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

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

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

Names Used for Great Britain, British Isles, United Kingdom, and Ireland. What they mean.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sonora Sunrise is a gem material of Mexico composed of red cuprite and blue-green chrysocolla.

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

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

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

The Unsung Mineral Hero - and the commodity upon which almost everything is built.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mined in America - Small mines in the United States produce a diversity of beautiful gemstones.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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