04
Apr
Geology do-over: How the West was born
The super-continent Pangaea might have broken up differently than from we originally thought.
04
Apr
Geology do-over: How the West was born
The super-continent Pangaea might have broken up differently than from we originally thought.
10
Dec
Have humans caused a new geological era?
Sediment changes and chemical deposits are just two of the ways scientists are attempting to define the Anthropocene era.
28
Sep
The El Zacatón sinkhole is the deepest water-filled sinkhole in the world. It was long considered to be bottomless, but in 1997 NASA solved the pit’s mystery when it sent an underwater robot into the waters and found the depth of El Zacatón to be 1,112 feet. The clear, blue water is highly mineralized and has a sulphurous odor, and it’s quite warm — averaging 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The sinkhole’s name comes from the free-floating islands of zacate grass that blow across the lake in the wind.
13 amazing sinkholes
24
Sep
Shiprock gives the impression of having been volcanically thrust out from the sands of the Mancos desert, but this isn’t the case. Shiprock is indeed a volcano but of a class called a “diatreme”, having formed explosively from gas-charged magma escaping at great velocity. It possessed a crater at the surface called a “maar”, but erosion has long since removed it along with much of the sedimentary strata through which it erupted.
20
Sep
Will the real Chimney Rock please stand up?
President Obama will officially designate Colorado’s 4,700-acre Chimney Rock Archaeological Area as a national monument Friday. But Chimney Rock isn’t the only one that graces the landscape of the United States. Check out these similar geologic oddities that are equally impressive.
22
May
9 of the world’s most beautiful and unusual cave destinations
Whether you’re in Kentucky, New Zealand or somewhere in between, these underground beauties are worthy additions to any vacation.
11
Apr
Why the Indonesian earthquake didn’t spawn a tsunami
The earthquake was triggered by oceanic plates moving side to side, not up and down. This kind of an earthquake rarely triggers a tsunami.
27
Mar
Giant Sahara lava crater seen from space
Erosion of the various rock layers created the ring-like features of the sprawling structure.
29
Feb
15
Feb
Cenote Ik Kil (cenote means “natural well” in Spanish) is a large sinkhole on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that’s sacred to the Mayans. The hole is 90 feet deep, adorned in tropical vegetation and filled with clear blue water that Mayan royalty used for both relaxation and ritual sacrifices. Red Bull has held its Cliff Diving World Series at the sinkhole, and divers have leapt from the cenote’s surface and reached speeds of 40 mph before entering the water.
via scinerds
via rainbowbabylon