Geology

New Research

Ocean Current That Keeps Europe Warm Is Weakening

Two new studies show the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation has decreased 15 to 20 percent over the last 150 years

April 13, 2018

USGS Shares Archival Photo of Rare Domed Lava Fountain

The unusual phenomenon occurred in the midst of a five-year eruption on Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano

April 11, 2018

New Research

Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked

If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun’s position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places

April 9, 2018

Women Who Shaped History

The Rockstar Geologist Who Mapped the Minerals of the Cosmos

A professor told Ursula Marvin she should learn to cook. Instead she chased down meteorites in Antarctica

March 30, 2018

New Research

Ancient Humans Weathered the Toba Supervolcano Just Fine

New studies suggest the largest eruption in the last 2 million years didn’t push humanity to the edge of extinction as previously hypothesized

March 14, 2018

New Research

Researchers Find a Chunk of North America Stuck to Australia

When an ancient supercontinent broke apart the Queensland peninsula may have gotten left behind

January 24, 2018

Trending Today

Why Did Alaska’s Big Quake Lead to a Tiny Tsunami?

Geophysics, plate tectonics and the vast ocean all determine how severe a tsunami may be

January 23, 2018

Geology Makes the Mayon Volcano Visually Spectacular—And Dangerously Explosive

What’s going on inside one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes?

Updated: January 22, 2018 | Originally Published: January 19, 2018

Cool Finds

World’s Largest Underwater Cave System Discovered in Mexico

The 215-mile sunken freshwater labyrinth is a trove of ancient Maya artifacts

January 18, 2018

Cool Finds

World’s Fifth-Largest Diamond Found in Lesotho

The 910-carat gem is a D-color, type-IIa stone, meaning it is completely colorless and has no visible impurities

January 16, 2018

New Research

Scientist Autopsy the Aftermath of the Largest Underwater Volcanic Eruption of the Last Century

In 2012, miles of floating rock appeared in the Pacific. Now, scientists have studied the Havre seamount eruption that caused the mysterious pumice ‘raft’

January 15, 2018

New Research

At 3.5 Billion Years Old, Are These the Oldest Fossils?

A new analysis of this decades-old find suggests that they were indeed once biological life—but not all are convinced

December 20, 2017

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

December 18, 2017

New Research

Gaze Into a 530-Million-Year-Old Eye, the Oldest Yet Discovered

Found on an Estonian trilobite, the eye once processed 100 “pixels” of information

December 11, 2017

The Ten Best Travel Books of 2017

These reads will remedy even the direst cases of wanderlust

December 1, 2017

Trending Today

The Geology of Bali’s Simmering Agung Volcano

The high viscosity magma of stratovolcanoes like Agung makes them extremely explosive—and potentially deadly

November 27, 2017

New Research

Ancient Trees “Ripped Their Skeletons Apart” To Grow

Cross-sections of 374-million-year-old tree trunks revealed a complex web of woody strands that split and repaired themselves

October 25, 2017

Trending Today

Five Things to Know About the Yellowstone Supervolcano

There’s no need to worry: It’s unlikely it will blow anytime soon

October 23, 2017

Geologists Map the Plumbing Beneath Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Geyser

Without turning over a stone, geologists imaged the subsurface supply for this iconic geyser

October 11, 2017

New Research

This May Be the Oldest Traces of Life Yet Found

Bits of graphite, 3.95 billion years old, suggest life was churning away soon after Earth’s formation

September 29, 2017