Articles Index

Touring the Earth

Get down to earth around the world through geologic tourism.

Look to the Skies!

Research on cosmic impacts has made us take a big gulp and thank our lucky stars.

About Liquefaction: Giving Ground

Liquefaction is a subtle and devastating effect of earthquakes that only now is being widely assessed.

About Mercury

The strange and hazardous element mercury is still of scientific interest.

About Quartz

Quartz is essential to the land as we know it.

What Are Minerals?

Minerals meet four criteria, more or less strict.

The Geology of Bricks

Brickmaking transforms low-strength mud into artificial stone.

Cement and Concrete

Cement is an artificial stone--or maybe lava.

About Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy exploits the Earth's heat budget.

Uranium in a Nutshell

The basics of uranium geology.

Granite and Its Geology

Granite is the signature rock of the continents.

Granitoids

How geologists sort out granite from the rocks that look like it.

About Sandstone

Sandstone is sand cemented together into rock.

Birth of the Earth

The straight story of how Earth began, as today's geologists tell it.

Volcanoes in a Nutshell

Volcanoes are places where lava comes from the ground and builds a pile.

Asbestos in a Nutshell

This mineral resource has been first a boon, then a bane in its century of commercial existence.

Phosphate in a Nutshell

This underappreciated substance is more important than you know.

What Is Geology?

The whole of Earth sciences, compressed to a nutshell.

A New Look in the Horse's Mouth

New instruments of fantastic accuracy give us a fresh look at an old fossil horse tooth.

Petroleum in a Nutshell

The basics about this important geologic commodity.

The Calcite Stress Gauge

Microscopic grains show the strain on a whole continent.

Saving Lives with Earthquake Engineering

Earthquake engineers are out there learning lessons from earthquakes.

Earthquakes and Schoolhouses

Nothing motivates earthquake safety like kids' lives.

Connecticut Geology

Born-and-bred Westerners may find that Connecticut's laid-back landscape is way cool.

What Is a Rock?

Everyone knows what a rock is, until you ask what it is exactly.