January 5, 2015
Geologic Column: February 2: A day long celebrated for its seasonal ties
February is an odd month. It is the only month not named for a god, a number or a Roman Emperor. It is named for a Roman festival, which seems …
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January 5, 2015
Energy Notes: August 2013-2014
U.S. Oil & Petroleum Imports (million of barrels per day) Oil and petroleum imports data are preliminary numbers taken from the American …
January 5, 2015
Mineral Resource of the Month: Antimony
David Guberman, the antimony commodity specialist for the National Minerals Information Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, compiled the …
January 4, 2015
Benchmarks: February 17, 1977: Hydrothermal vents are discovered
In early February 1977, as scientists aboard the research vessel (R/V) Knorr made their way across the Pacific waters off the northwest coast of …
January 4, 2015
Down to Earth With: Glaciologist Lonnie Thompson
As a child growing up in Gassaway, W.Va., Lonnie Thompson was poor. When his father died while Thompson was a senior in high school, he realized …
January 4, 2015
Travels in Geology: Navigating the rocks, reefs and waters of Bermuda
The Bermuda Triangle is not an actual scientific phenomenon. But if a family were looking for a place to disappear to for a week or so, Bermuda …
December 30, 2014
Pentagon report calls for military to prepare for climate change
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is charged with ensuring national security against threats, both domestic and foreign. Now the Pentagon has …
December 30, 2014
New tracers can identify fracking fluids
Hydraulic fracturing to harvest natural gas has been controversial due in large part to the potential for contamination of ground and surface …
December 29, 2014
The amazing minerals of the Larsemann Hills
Four minerals were discovered on Stornes Peninsula in the Larsemann Hills of East Antarctica based on fieldwork there from 2003 to 2004. In part …
December 29, 2014
Protecting the mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills
It was late November 2003 and not quite summer in Antarctica. As the Squirrel helicopter lifted off after delivering its last load, we set about …
December 22, 2014
Bare Earth Elements: Past and present directors dissect the future of USGS
December tends to be a busy time for geoscientists — likewise for those of us who cover and write about work in the field. Part of that annual …
December 19, 2014
Down to Earth With: Bruce Benson
In a remarkable career spanning nearly 50 years, Bruce Benson has held just two jobs. In 1965, a year after earning his bachelor’s degree in …
December 18, 2014
Satellites - not just Santa - see holiday lights
San Francisco — This year, when Santa makes his rounds, he won’t need Rudolph to light his way. In many U.S. cities, the intensity of nighttime …
December 18, 2014
Down to Earth With: Lawson Brigham
Lawson Brigham, a Distinguished Professor of Geography and Arctic Policy at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and retired U.S. Coast Guard …
December 17, 2014
Hazard lingers after South Napa earthquake
San Francisco — The magnitude-6 earthquake that shook buildings and rattled wineries in California’s Napa Valley on Aug. 24, 2014, continues to …
December 17, 2014
Down to Earth With: James Balog
Photographer James Balog is known for his groundbreaking environmental photography that examines intersections of humans and nature. His work has …
December 17, 2014
Down to Earth With: James White
James White contends that he has one claim to fame: He grew up just 50 kilometers from Dolly Parton in eastern Tennessee. His father worked as a …
December 16, 2014
Down to Earth With: Anna Henderson
Politicians and pundits communicate with talking points. In Washington, D.C., a catchy sound bite often trumps a filibustering speech, and a …
December 16, 2014
Down to Earth With: Tanya Atwater
When Tanya Atwater began graduate school in marine geology in 1967, it was considered unlucky for women to be aboard ships. Undaunted, Atwater …
December 16, 2014
Down to Earth With: Kirk Johnson
In 1967, at a family picnic in Casper, Wyo., 6-year-old Kirk Johnson stumbled across a fossil that looked to him like an ancient rattlesnake tail …
December 15, 2014
Benchmarks: Sept. 26, 1912: Birth of Preston Cloud, geologist who deciphered banded iron formations
Banded iron formations (BIFs) represent some of the earliest, and most controversial, evidence that the early Earth was devoid of oxygen. These …
December 15, 2014
Down to Earth With: David Montgomery
From the length and breadth of his body of work, you might assume that David Montgomery, a geomorphologist at the University of Washington in …
December 15, 2014
Down to Earth With: Past American Geosciences Institute Congressional Geoscience Fellows
The American Geosciences Institute’s (AGI) William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellowship provides an opportunity each year for a …
December 9, 2014
Down to Earth With: Naomi Levin
Stable isotope geochemist Naomi Levin, a native New Yorker, says she could easily imagine alternate career paths that would have been more in …