June 17, 2016
Geology shaped outcomes of Civil War battles
About 10 years ago, Scott Hippensteel decided to trace the footsteps of an ancestor who fought in the Civil War at the Battle of Antietam near …
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Geology
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1236 articles · Page 28 of 52
June 17, 2016
Geologic Column: The dog days of July
As months go, July has some distinctive qualities. For one thing, it is one of only two months in the Gregorian calendar named for a person; in …
June 17, 2016
Comment: What's a map worth? The big cost and bigger benefit of three-dimensional elevation data
High-resolution topographic data are critical for a number of tasks — from managing flood risks to ensuring aviation safety to mapping hiking …
June 16, 2016
Iron meteorites likely hidden below Antarctic ice
Despite the fact that meteorites fall relatively evenly across the surface of the planet, most meteorites retrieved by humans have come from …
June 16, 2016
Slow-moving super-eruptions still travel great distances
When Hollywood movies depict the destruction unleashed by volcanic eruptions, they usually focus on red-hot lava, but even more dangerous are …
June 16, 2016
Weak magnetic field may have triggered Earth's first mass extinction
For about the first 3 billion years of life, the only living organisms on Earth were microscopic. The Ediacaran Period, between 635 million and …
June 16, 2016
Take a stand (or sit) for better water quality management
The average person urinates four to seven times over a 24-hour period, producing about 1.5 liters of urine per day. Here are some things you can …
June 16, 2016
'P' is for phosphate: Could urine solve a fertilizer shortage?
Whether you’re enjoying a juicy burger from a fast-food drive-thru or digging into a brightly colored salad at a backyard barbecue, your meal …
June 15, 2016
Searching for the ancestors of meandering rivers
It might be difficult to imagine Earth devoid of vegetation, but for billions of years the sun shone, winds blew and rivers flowed on a planet …
June 15, 2016
A new gravity map of Earth
Gravity differs from place to place around Earth because of the uneven distribution of mass across and within the planet. Scientists can study …
June 15, 2016
A labyrinth of silver mines uncovered on the shores of the Aegean Sea
By the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., silver mines under the ancient Greek city of Thorikos, now known as Lavrio, were the most important mines …
June 14, 2016
Geomedia: Television: 'NOVA' for the earth science enthusiast
“NOVA,” the weekly prime-time science series that airs on PBS, is known for producing high-quality TV documentaries on subjects ranging from …
June 14, 2016
Benchmarks: September 21, 1930: Alfred Wegener begins a fateful polar expedition
In September 1930, 15 polar explorers set out from their base camp at Kamarujuk on the west coast of Greenland. The team was carrying much-needed …
June 1, 2016
Getting there and getting around Turkey
Turkey has two major airports — Istanbul and Ankara — and many smaller regional ones. Istanbul Ataturk Airport offers nonstop flights on Turkish …
May 26, 2016
Benchmarks: June 4, 1783: The era of aviation launches with the first balloon flight
In the small French town of Gonesse in August 1783, a large, spherical and nebulous object painted with red and yellow stripes fell from the sky …
May 20, 2016
Seeing the seafloor in high definition: Modern mapping offers increasing clarity on Earth's vast underwater landscape
Gliding through pitch-black waters 50 meters off the ocean bottom, the “D. Allan B” can sense the seafloor below in striking clarity, despite the …
May 20, 2016
Ice (Re)Cap: June 2016
From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, …
May 20, 2016
Underwater Roman marble traced to Greece, Italy and Turkey
From the first century B.C. to the third century A.D., the city of Baiae, located on the west coast of Italy, near Naples, was the preferred …
May 20, 2016
Social trends and shifting climates had complex effects in medieval Italy
It’s easy to anecdotally pin environmental changes and their societal impacts on shifting climates. But when scientists and historians came …
May 19, 2016
Above oil seeps, photosynthetic life flourishes
The direct effects of oil and gas releases in the ocean are typically negative — as in the case of 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster, …
May 19, 2016
Measuring rising seas is tricky in deltas
Earth’s stratigraphic record offers a patchwork diary of how different parts of the planet have formed and changed over time. Some of the most …
May 19, 2016
Lack of fungi did not lead to copious Carboniferous coal
The Carboniferous Period is famous for supplying Earth with an abundance of coal deposits. According to one hypothesis, the formation of all this …
May 16, 2016
Radar reveals unmarked graves
The occasional excursion to Death Valley or mineralogical study of bloodstone notwithstanding, geoscientists don’t often delve into the macabre …
May 11, 2016
Mesa Arch's 'hum' measured to track health of rock structure
For decades, structural engineers have listened to the tiny vibrations of buildings and bridges to detect internal damage or weakness. In recent …