Washington, D.C—The key to understanding Earth's evolution is to look at how heat is conducted in the deep lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 m
Photographs are a key part of most geological fieldwork. They can serve as an aide memoire , be used for image analysis to document c...
Geologists have for the first time seen and documented the Banda Detachment fault in eastern Indonesia and worked out how it formed. Lead researcher Dr Jona
Fragment of Acasta gneiss The oldest intact rock found on Earth to date is from the Acasta Gneiss Complex of northwest Canada. The Aca...
Scientists at the University of New Mexico conducted research to effectively study carbon emissions through fault systems in the East Afri...
Many of you may be wondering what to buy a geologist for Christmas/Newtonmas. Below I’ve listed a few suggestions of gifts I thi...
Mafic xenolith, Ontario, Canada, 2002. Photo Credit: Ron Schott. Note: Sorry for the re-post. This post was lost and then mangled somewhat in the blogger mishap last week. I managed to correct the post, but I had to re-post it under a new day and time. def. Xenolith:A foreign rock inclusion, usually in an igeneous rock. Xenolith literally means “foreign rock” coming from “xenos” (foreign) and “lithos” (stone) in Ancient …
Streams move downslope under the influence of gravity, the passage of water is called stream flow . Several factors control the amount...
Extensive underwater volcanism during ridge spreading led to rapid alteration of volcanic deposits and major changes in ocean...
Costesti, a small Romanian village, has some interesting and incredible stones known as trovants, which are believed to have life in them and trovants is a geological term in Romania which means cemented sand. Trovante, is not a part of any science fiction but geological phenomenon, consisting of spherical shapes of cemented sand which probably existed due to some powerful seismic activity. It is believed that the earthquake which took place around 6 million years back could have led to the creation of the first trovants. The most amazing discovery of these mysterious stones is that they grow as if they are alive after coming into contact with water from a heavy rainfall and these stones tend to grow from 6-8 millimeters to 6 -10 millimeters in size. They are compared to the famous rocks in Death Valley, California, where most of these stones even move on their own without any assistance of any kind and when they are cut, they reveal ellipsoidal and spherical rings which are similar to tree trunks. Another unique aspect of these stones is that though they vary in size, from a few millimeters to around 10 millimeters they are very much similar. Many presume that these trovants consist of stone core with an outer shell of sand and after a heavy rain, smaller stones form over the larger ones giving its name of `growing stones’, while others call them living stones which reproduce. Some believe that the trovants increase in size due to its high content of numerous mineral salts that are present under the shell and when the surface tends to gets wet, the presence of the chemicals begin to start spreading, thereby putting pressure on the sand that makes the stone to grow. However, despite great efforts being done, scientists have failed to come up with a valid logical explanation or a well documented research or experiment conducted on why these stones are having extensions similar to those of roots. These trovants behave like some unknown inorganic form of life which is amazing and mysterious though local residents did have an idea and were aware of these stones unusual properties for over 100 years but did not pay much attention to them and used these stones as building material as well as for tombstones. Presently this unique discovery remains to be a popular tourist attraction in Romania and Trovants Museum National Reserve which was inaugurated in the year 2004 is now protected by UNESCO.
All minerals have unique properties that aide in their identification. Some minerals have "unique" characteristics that have an appearance o...
A team of researchers recently discovered an ancient relic hidden within Earth: a tectonic plate resting beneath the southern Indian Ocean. Scientists have
Laguna del Maule (Chile) Laguna del Maule Volcanic Complex is a caldera measuring 15 km by 25 km over which sit several small stra...
One of the big mysteries in the history of the Earth is the development of plate tectonics. When exactly did these processes begin? Scienti
How did Madagascar once slot next to India? Where was Australia a billion years ago? Cloud-based virtual globes developed by a team led by University of Syd
NOAA/NGDC image of the Atlantic crustal age of the ocean floor. Geologists have detected the first evidence that a passive margin in the A...
Explore this photo album by The Arizona Experience on Flickr!
What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever met? When you shook its hand, did you notice the grip? How strong it was? I met a place in Utah, deep in red rock country, that still hasn’t let go of its firm hold, nor do I think it ever will. Not far past the Utah/Colorado state […]
The Bermuda Triangle The question about the triangle that swallows ships, planes and all the people with them still waits for its answer. So many ships and planes have disappeared and so many disas…
Explore Lisa Andres' 1861 photos on Flickr!
