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“Most people look at a cliff and just see a pile of rocks. But when I look at a cliff I see millions of years of geological time.” says Zoe Shipton, Professor of Geology at Strathclyde University. She explains what … Continue reading
Category Archives: Geology
Analysis of data from the European Space Agency’s GOCE satellite, which flew during 2013, reveal deep plumes of mantle material rising from more than 2,000 km down. The images, generated by Dr Isabelle Panet from the Paris Institute of Earth … Continue reading
“The sun, like all main sequence stars, is getting brighter with time and that affects the Earth’s climate,” says Dr. James F. Kasting, professor of meteorology and geosciences at Penn State University. “Eventually temperatures will become high enough so that … Continue reading
Panguite is a new titanium oxide (named after Pan Gu, the giant from ancient Chinese mythology who established the world by separating yin from yang to create the earth and the sky) which has been discovered by scientists from the … Continue reading
For geologist Zalasiewicz, each and every pebble you find in your garden or on a shoreline is a “capsule of stories” which tell the dramatic history of the Earth. From the “pebble menagerie”, he chooses a piece of slate lying … Continue reading
Adam Rutherford presents an amazing three-part series on extinction on UK BBC Radio 4 broadcast on Tuesdays at 11:00 and Thursdays at 21:00 (GMT+1 hour). People living in the UK can listen on the BBC iPlayer. Others might be able … Continue reading
A useful overview of geological history, although a little inconsistent in use of some names, eg Euramerica is sometimes referred to as Laurussia, which I believe is the same thing. National Museum of Natural History Geologic Time Site. … Continue reading
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has a useful introduction to geological time. Geologic Time: The Story of a Changing Earth. … Continue reading
The oldest terranes, with ages ranging from 3.8 Ga to 4.0 Ga, have been identified in Canada, while Australian zircon crystals dated at 4.4 Ga represent the oldest dated minerals on Earth. The exceptional resistance of zircon grains to repeated … Continue reading
The researchers found that in the first 1.5 billion years or so of the Earth’s history, the average net rate at which new continental crust formed remained high, at about 0.7 cubic miles (3 cubic kilometers) annually, enough to establish … Continue reading