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Rocks

An atlas of rocks and minerals: each one a record of the conditions that made it.

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Opalized Fossils of Lightning Ridge

Introduction

In August 2013, an Adelaide opal buyer named Mike Poben...

June 14, 2026

  • Paleontology

Yellowstone Magma Cap Discovered at 3.8 km

Introduction

In the summer of 2020, with the park’s gates shut...

June 14, 2026

  • Volcanology

How Do Gold Nuggets Form? The Earthquake-and-Quartz Theory

Introduction

On the morning of 5 February 1869, in a shallow...

June 13, 2026

  • Geochemistry

Can You Really Drown in Quicksand? The Physics Behind It

Introduction

A man pushes through jungle undergrowth, machete in hand. One...

June 13, 2026

  • Geohazards

How Old Is the Grand Canyon? The 150-Year Scientific Feud

Introduction

In November 2012, Rebecca Flowers of the University of Colorado...

June 13, 2026

  • Geomorphology

Volcanic Lightning: Inside a Dirty Thunderstorm

A storm with no cloud

On the night of 15 January...

June 12, 2026

  • Volcanology

Santorini 2025 Earthquake Swarm Explained

Introduction

By late January 2025, the residents of Santorini had stopped sleeping well....

June 11, 2026

  • Geophysics
  • Volcanology

Kawah Ijen Blue Fire: Burning Sulfur, Not Lava

Introduction

Climb to the rim of Kawah Ijen at two in...

June 10, 2026

  • Volcanology

Vredefort Crater: Earth’s Oldest, Biggest Impact Scar

Introduction

Two billion years ago, a rock between 20 and 25...

June 10, 2026

  • Geophysics

Siberia’s Exploding Craters: The Gas Emission Crater Mystery

A hole that should not exist

In mid-July 2014, helicopter crews...

June 9, 2026

  • Geohazards

Banded Iron Formation: Earth’s Oxygen Record

Introduction

Put your palm flat against the wall of Dales Gorge...

June 9, 2026

  • Geochemistry

Carolina Bays: Mystery of Aligned Coastal Ovals

Introduction

In the spring of 1930, a pilot flying for Fairchild...

June 9, 2026

  • Geomorphology

Taam Ja’ Blue Hole: The Deepest Blue Hole on Earth

Introduction

The deepest blue hole in the world sits under a...

June 8, 2026

  • Geomorphology

Why Are There Seashells on Top of Mount Everest?

Introduction

Sometime between 1504 and 1510, in the Italian Apennines, Leonardo...

June 8, 2026

  • Paleontology

Fulgurite: The Glass That Lightning Leaves Behind

Introduction

In the summer of 1996, on a sandy military reservation...

June 8, 2026

  • Mineralogy

The Geology of Minecraft: How Accurate Is it?

Introduction

You hear it before you see it. A faint crystalline...

June 7, 2026

  • Mineralogy

The Mystery of Singing Desert Dunes Explained

Introduction

Sometime around 1271, a young Venetian crossed the desert east of the...

June 7, 2026

  • Geomorphology

How Diamonds Reach Earth in Explosive Eruptions

Introduction

The ground gave almost no warning. Somewhere beneath what would...

June 7, 2026

  • Petrology

The 26-Second Pulse: Earth’s Heartbeat No One Can Explain

Introduction

On 6 June 1961, the needles on long-period seismographs scattered...

June 7, 2026

  • Geophysics

Liminal Spaces in Geology: Earth’s Real Undergrounds Voids

You Have Noclipped Into the Earth

Stand in the middle of...

June 6, 2026

  • Geomorphology

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