The vast stalactites and stalagmites found in caves take millennia to form. Mineral-rich water seeps down the icicle-like stalactites and then drips onto stalagmites below, each drop depositing a little Keep reading
Tag: geology
Inside the Earth’s Mantle
Plate tectonics is a relatively young scientific theory, only gaining traction among geologists in the late 60s and early 70s. One key tenet of the theory is subduction where plates meet and one Keep reading
Anak Krakatoa Landslide
Last December, the collapsing flank of the Anak Krakatoa volcano caused a deadly tsunami in Indonesia. Using satellite imagery, scientists have now constructed a timeline of the island’s dramatic restructuring. In the Keep reading
Volcanic Plume
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured this dramatic image of Raikoke Volcano’s eruption in late June. This uninhabited Pacific Island is part of the Kuril Islands off mainland Russia. The Keep reading
Pluto’s Subsurface Ocean
Since the New Horizons probe visited Pluto in 2015, scientists have suspected that Sputnik Planitia (a.k.a. Pluto’s Heart), shown above, may hide a subsurface ocean. But it’s tough to explain Keep reading
Earth, Moon, and Magma Ocean
Among objects in our solar system, the Moon is rather unusual. It’s the only large moon paired with a rocky planet, and only Pluto’s Charon boasts a larger size relative Keep reading
Rays in Craters
On bodies around the solar system, there are craters marking billions of years’ worth of impacts. Many of these craters have rays–distinctive lines radiating out from the point of impact. Keep reading
Anak Krakatoa Tsunami
In late December 2018, a landslide on the island Anak Krakatoa triggered a deadly tsunami in Indonesia. The island (upper left, pre-landslide) lost an estimated 300 meters of height in Keep reading
Recreating Pyroclastic Flow
One of the deadliest features of some volcanic eruptions is the pyroclastic flow, a current of hot gas and volcanic ash capable of moving hundreds of kilometers an hour and Keep reading
Prehistoric Seiche
Sixty-six million years ago, a meteorite impact in modern-day Mexico wiped out the dinosaurs and most other living species of the time. To call the event catastrophic feels like an Keep reading