Geology and Earth Science News and Information

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

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

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

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

The Science of Fireworks Metal oxides are what produce the bright colors of fireworks.

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

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

Geology News including: Earth science, mining, gemology, maps, metals, archaeology, and more.

Angel Falls in Venezuela is the tallest waterfall in the world - it is 3212 feet tall.

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

Fossils are remains, traces or imprints of ancient life. They reveal Earth's biological history.

Tourmaline - an extremely colorful mineral and gem material.

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

Cinnabar - the only important ore of mercury. Used in pigments until its toxicity was realized.

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

Grape Agate is a popular mineral specimen with the color and the shape of a bunch of grapes.

The Doorway to Hell is a flaming sinkhole seeping natural gas that has been burning for decades.

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

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

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

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

Birthstones are gems assigned to the month of a person's birth. They are popular gifts in the U.S.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Andalusite is a metamorphic mineral and a strongly pleochroic gem.

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

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

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

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

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

Rock Salt is a sedimentary rock composed of the mineral halite. It has many uses!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lab-Grown Diamonds? What are they? Can people really make diamonds? Are they real?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the San Andreas Fault? Map, photos and description of the fault.

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

Map of the Oceans - showing the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocks on Mars Many of the rocks found on Mars are not very different from Earth rocks.

Great Lakes : Map of the Great Lakes with surrounding states and provinces.

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

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

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

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

Types of Maps - Explore some of the most popular types of maps that have been made.

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

13 Gemmy Facts About Spinel - Is spinel the world's most overlooked gem?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaching Plate Tectonics with easy-to-draw illustrations is fun and effective.

Sand from Around the World . A photo gallery showing the diversity of the material we call "sand".

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strawberry Quartz is a red to pink quartz with inclusions that look like strawberry seeds.

Cinder Cones are the smallest, simplest, and most common type of volcano.

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

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

Crystal Habit is the external shape displayed by a crystal or an aggregate of crystals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Novarupta - The most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century occurred in the U.S.A.

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

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

Deepest Point in the Ocean The deepest point in the ocean is in the Mariana Trench.

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

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

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