1 Cosmology and the Earth
2 Journey to the Center of the Earth
3 Drifting Continents and Spreading Seas
4 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
5 Patterns in Nature: Minerals
6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
7 A Surface Veneer: Sediments, Soils, and Sedimentary Rocks
8 Metamorphism: A Process of Change
9 The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
10 A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
11 Crags, Cracks, and Crumples: Crustal Deformations and Mountain Building
12 Deep Time: How Old Is Old?
13 A Biography of Earth
14 Squeezing Power from a Stone: Energy Resources
15 Riches in Rock: Mineral Resources
16 Unsafe Ground: Landslides and Other Mass Movements
17 Streams and Floods: The Geology of Running Water
18 Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
19 A Hidden Reserve: Groundwater
20 An Envelope of Gas: Earth’s Atmosphere and Climate
21 Dry Regions: The Geology of Deserts
22 Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
23 Global Change in the Earth System

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Earth: Portrait of a Planet

Geology in the News

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USGS Real-Time Earthquake and Plate Boundary Mapping in Google Earth™

Earthquakes happen all the time! Government agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, catalog these earthquakes and provide data that can be viewed in a variety of ways, including on a Google Earth™ globe.

Follow this link and simply click on one of the KML feeds to open it in Google Earth™. The maps will display earthquakes and plate boundaries, showing the latitude and longitude of the epicenter by a dot. The dot color indicates the depth of the hypocenter, while its size represents the magnitude of the event. Watch as the earthquakes of the last week pop up as dots on the map. Even though the map shows only a week's worth of data, you can easily spot the seismic belts that delineate plate boundaries, as well as the particularly active intracratonic seismic zones. Note that at lower elevations, your map will show a grid on the Earth's surface; the grid will disappear if you zoom out to a distance of over 9,500 km.

 

Science Daily NY Times

Deepest-living Fishes Caught On Camera For First Time - Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EDT
Scientists filming in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches have found groups of highly sociable snailfish swarming over their bait, nearly five miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. This is the first time cameras have been sent to this depth.

 

Potentially Toxic Flame Retardants Highest In California Households - Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EDT
In what may be an unintended consequence of efforts to make furniture safer and less flammable, residents of California have blood levels of potentially toxic flame retardants called PBDEs at levels nearly twice the national average, scientists from Massachusetts and California are reporting.

 

'Deadly Dozen' Reports Diseases Worsened By Climate Change - Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 EDT
A new report lists 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, with potential impacts to both human and wildlife health and global economies.

 

How Many Earthquakes Are There? - Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 EDT
Authors explore how ground motion measures scale with magnitude and explore the question: How many earthquakes are there?

 

Fishy Future Written In The Genes - Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:00:00 EDT
The roadmap to the future of the gorgeously-decorated fish which throng Australia’s coral reefs may well be written in their genes. Of particular importance may be to protect ‘pioneer’ fish populations which are able to re-colonize regions of reef devastated by global warming and other impacts or settle new areas as the corals move south.

 

 

One in 4 Mammals Threatened With Extinction, Group Finds - Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:14:45 GMT
One in four mammals is in danger of disappearing because of habitat loss, hunting and climate change, a global conservation body warned on Monday.

 

Findings: A Gift From the ’70s: Energy Lessons - Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:17:23 GMT
In the last few decades, there have been surprises on each side of the energy debate.

 

Observatory: A New Flexibility With Thin Solar Cells - Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:05:25 GMT
Scientists have come up with a method for creating extremely thin solar cells that can be combined in flexible arrays.

 

New Jersey Grants Rights to Build a Wind Farm About 20 Miles Offshore - Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:58:50 GMT
Regulators in New Jersey awarded the rights on Friday for construction of a $1 billion wind farm in the southern part of the state to Garden State Offshore Energy.

 

Catching Some Rays in Greater Numbers - Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:44:43 GMT
Driven by higher fuel costs and spurred by federal, state and local utility incentives, the use of solar energy on Long Island has surged in the last several years.