October 2014

Elestial Amethyst From Australia

Very large single crystal of milky quartz coated on three faces with lustrous bi-pyramidal smoky/amethyst crystals, many …

Ferrierite-Mg, Quartz (Var: Chalcedony)

Ferrierite-Mg, Quartz (Var: Chalcedony) Ferrierite-Mg System: Orthorhombic Colour: White, colorless, ... Lustre: Vit…

Magma pancakes beneath Lake Toba

Where do the tremendous amounts of material that are ejected to from huge volcanic calderas during super-eruptions actua…

Scientists Discover Carbonate Rocks Are Unrecognized Methane Sink

The sediment-based microbes form an important methane "sink," preventing much of the chemical from reaching t…

Reef-builders with a sense of harmony

Cold-water corals of the species Lophelia pertusa are able to fuse skeletons of genetically distinct individuals. Cred…

Putnisite: New Mineral Discovered in Australia

Crystals of putnisite (purple) . Image credit: P. Elliott et al.   The new mineral is named putnisite after Drs Chri…

Fox-sized relative of Triceratops discovered in Venezuela

An artist's impression of the dinosaur Laquintasaura venezuelae, which lived some 200 million years ago in what is no…

The beautiful colours of Harts Range Kyanite

Collected from various localities in the Harts Range region, these gemmy Kyanite crystals range from an "icy blue&q…

Amazing Saléeite with Strengite

Photo Copyright © Matteo Chinellato Saléeite Formula: Mg(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·10   System: Monoclinic Colour: Lemon-yellow, ..…

Ancient auditory illusions reflected in prehistoric art?

Here are prehistoric paintings of hoofed animals in a cave with thunderous reverberations located in Bhimbetka, India. …

Where did all the oil go?

This image shows hydrocarbon contamination from Deepwater Horizon overlaid on sea floor bathymetry, highlighting the 1,25…

How dinosaur arms turned into bird wings

Since early dinosaurs, birds have reduced the number of bones in their wrist, but the origins and identity of those rema…

Monte Roraima: Table Top Mountain

Monte Roraima is a tepui, a table-top mountain, located on the border between Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana. It is the highe…

A GPS from the chemistry set

A handy effect This process is an example of the Marangoni effect, which works because the acid distributed in th…

Desert Streams: Deceptively Simple

Dryland channels exhibit very simple topography despite being shaped by volatile rainstorms. That paradox has been…

Software models ocean currents for oil and gas search

Streamline visualisation provides a 2D generalised representation of recorded electromagnetic fields within deep oceans. …

Icelandic volcano sits on massive magma hot spot

Holuhraun fissure eruption on the flanks of the Bárðarbunga volcano in central Iceland on Oct. 4, 2014, showing the deve…