Updated Articles and Resources

By Andrew Alden, About.com Guide since 1997

Plate Tectonics - The World's Crustal Plates Created: Friday, December 23, 2005 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Earth's crustal plates, from the U.S. Geological Survey
Oldoinyo Lengai, World's Weirdest Volcano Created: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Oldoinyo Lengai erupts sodium carbonate--not quite a big rock candy mountain, but then nothing else about it is quite like the song.
How Many Plates Are There, Not an Easy Question Created: Saturday, April 25, 2009 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Teachers want one right answer to this question, but there isn't one.
Tectivity Map, Europe and Africa Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tectonic activity map for the last million years in Europe and Africa.
Tectivity Map, Asia and Australia Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tectonic activity map for the last million years in Asia and Australia.
Tectonic Activity Map, Americas Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tectonic activity map for the last million years in the Americas.
Tectonic Activity of the World Created: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Areas of tectonic activity within the last million years.
Map of the Mid-Ocean Ridges Created: Saturday, May 12, 2012 Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Schematic map showing the locations and names of the world's mid-ocean ridges.
Tectonic Plates with Topography, Western Hemisphere Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Topography of the Western Hemisphere with tectonic plate boundaries.
Tectonic Plates with Topography, Eastern Hemisphere Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Topography of the Eastern Hemisphere with tectonic plate boundaries.
About Plate Tectonics - Introduction to Plate Tectonics Created: Friday, December 31, 2010 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Start here to learn the basics of plate tectonics.
A Hotspot Alternative Created: Friday, February 01, 2008 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Mantle plumes--those big burps of superhot magma from the deepest mantle--aren't the only theory in town any more when it comes to hotspots.
Why the Expanding-Earth Animation Is Really a Plate-Tectonic Animation Created: Friday, August 13, 2010 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The familiar expanding-Earth animation is an optical illusion based on a conceptual illusion.
Tectonic Plate Boundaries, Western Hemisphere Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Plate boundaries of the Western Hemisphere: divergent, convergent, and transform.
Tectonic Plate Boundaries, Eastern Hemisphere Created: Thursday, September 22, 2005 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Plate boundaries of the Eastern Hemisphere: divergent, convergent, and transform.
Plate-Tectonic Features and Global Topography Created: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
A map showing the actual features that signify plate-tectonic entities.
Canadian Gneiss from New York State - Submit an Entry: My Metamorphic Rock Created: Monday, May 14, 2012 Updated: Monday, May 14, 2012
Augen gneiss cobbles from the shore of Lake Ontario, New York.
Geologic Destinations for California Tourists Created: Saturday, August 14, 2004 Updated: Sunday, May 13, 2012
If you're going to California, be sure to put some of these geologic attractions on your must-see list.
Map of the Tectonic Plates and Their Boundaries Created: Sunday, May 13, 2012 Updated: Sunday, May 13, 2012
Details of the world's major tectonic plates and their boundaries.
Basic Map of Earth's Tectonic Plates Created: Friday, May 11, 2012 Updated: Sunday, May 13, 2012
The classic basic map from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Map of Global Plate Speeds Created: Saturday, May 12, 2012 Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2012
A snapshot of the world's tectonic plate motions.
How Plates Die - Plate Tectonics and the Death of Plates Created: Sunday, April 22, 2012 Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2012
Basics of plate tectonics: what happens after subduction.
Measuring Plate Motion - How We Track Plate Tectonic Movements Created: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2012
The five ways we track the motion of the lithospheric plates.
The Tibetan Plateau Created: Friday, January 25, 2008 Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2012
The largest highest place on Earth is a showcase of plate tectonics.
Five Plate Tectonic Myths - Misconceptions about Plate Tectonics Created: Saturday, July 10, 2004 Updated: Friday, May 11, 2012
Even geologists are prone to these misconceptions about plate tectonics.
Landslides in a Nutshell Created: Thursday, February 09, 2006 Updated: Friday, May 11, 2012
Landslides make landscapes the way sculptors work: by removal.
About Geology - Geology Basics Created: Thursday, September 06, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 11, 2012
Whatever your interest is in geology, here's where to start learning about it.
Articles on Volcanoes Created: Friday, August 06, 2004 Updated: Friday, May 11, 2012
Articles about volcanoes and related phenomena, from your About Geology Guide.
Articles on Earthquakes Created: Friday, August 06, 2004 Updated: Friday, May 11, 2012
Features about earthquakes, seismology, and related phenomena from your About Geology Guide.
New York Fossiliferous Mudstone - Submit an Entry: My Sedimentary Rock Created: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012
A New York fossiliferous mudstone from an About.com Geology reader.
Limestone with Common Opal - Submit an Entry: My Sedimentary Rock Created: Saturday, January 30, 2010 Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Limestone with common opal
Michigan Concretion - My Sedimentary Rock - Submit an Entry: My Sedimentary Rock Created: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Updated: Wednesday, May 09, 2012
A reader shares the concretion she found.

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