Geological Sciences 100 Resources
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Geologic Glossary
Geological Dictionary
Geologylink Geology Glossary — Houghton Mifflin Publishers
1. Earth as a Planet
The Solar System
Exploring the Planets
The Living Rock: The Earth's Continental Crust (Windows Media)
This 1 hour 45 minute film provides a global tour of geologic processes through the eyes of several USGS scientists.
2. Earth's Materials: Atoms, Elements, Minerals, and Rocks
Moh’s Hardness scale – interactive game
Mineralogy database
Rocks (from USGS Geology in the Parks)
Rock pictures
Rocks and Minerals
3. The Rock Record and Geologic Time
Geologic time
Metaphors for Geologic Time
The classic analogy for illustrating the relative durations of parts of the
geologic time scale is the yardstick: Imagine that all the earth's history
is laid out on a yardstick. Recall that the original measure of the yard
was the distance from the king's nose to the tip of his fingers. If one
yard represents all of geologic time, then one swipe of a nail file across
the tip of king's finger will remove all of human history...
Geologic Time (online book from USGS)Geologic History
Understanding Geologic Time (U. of California/Berkley Museum of Paleontology)
4. Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory
Find out about Continental Drift (NASA)
Continental Drift, developing the theory (USGS)
Continental Drift – Sea Floor Spreading
Go ahead and test Wegener's hypothesis yourself. Can you reconstruct Pangea?
What is Plate TectonicsPlate Tectonics
5. Earthquakes and the Earth's Interior
Earthquakes
Structure of the Earth
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Earthquakes in Ohio
The Interior of the Earth (USGS book by Eugene C. Robertson)
6. Volcanoes and Igneous Rocks
Volcanoes
Volcano World
Volcano glossary – illustrated
How volcanoes work
Igneous Rocks
Igneous rock list with pictures and descriptions
Keys to igneous rock identification
7. Weathering and Erosion
Difference between weathering and erosion
Weathering and erosion
Rock cycle
Soils – introduction
8. From Sediment to Rock: Rocks that Form near the Earth's Surface
Sedimentary Rocks (USGS)
How Sedimentary Rock is formed
Sedimentary rocks – alphabetical list with links to pictures and descriptions
9. Folds, Faults, and Geologic Maps
Geologic maps (USGS)
10. Metamorphism: Making New Rock from Old
Rock Cycle
Metamorphic rocks (USGS)
How Metamorphic Rock is formed
Alphabetical list of metamorphic rocks — links to pictures and descriptions
11. The Rock Cycle Revisited: Where Different Rocks Form and Why
Rock Cycle
12. Water On and Under the Ground
Water cycle (USGS)
USGS Ohio Water Science Center
Aquifer basics (USGS)
13. Oceans and the Atmosphere
Altered Oceans — series on the crisis of the seas (Los Angeles Times)
Magic Mountain — take a trip to the sea floor (NOAA)
Ocean Planet — online Exhibition as it was presented at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History
Winds — measuring Oceans winds from Space
Ocean in motion — Waves (Office of Naval Research)
America’s coastlines — NOAA photo album
Shorelines — USGS and National Park Service
14. Deserts, Glaciers, and Climatic Change
Sand dunes — (USGS)
Deserts — (USGS online book)
Glaciers — (USGS)
Global Climate Change Research Explorer
Climate change model
15. A Brief History of Life on Earth
Understanding Geologic Time — U. of California/Berkley Museum of Paleontology
16. Earth Resources
Energy Sources — U.S. Dept. of Energy
Energy Quest — A fun site from the California Energy Commission
Geological Ore Deposits
Energy statistics from the US Government — U.S. Energy Information Administration
Compiled by Mary W. Scott, Geology Librarian, Orton Memorial Library of Geology
Designed by Michael C. Veres, Student Webmaster
Last updated: July 26, 2007