The USGS publishes a geological map that reveals the underground layers of the U.S. and supports environmental education and ...

Radiometric dating, utilizing the predictable decay rates of radioactive isotopes within rocks and other materials, is the primary method for determining the age of geological samples. Multiple ...

If you draw with a pencil, you can tell how soft the graphite inside is. Pieces of graphite break off to leave the pencil mark. But can you imagine drawing with a diamond? Diamonds and graphite are ...

Magma becomes lava when it rises up to the Earth’s surface, like when the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in the Democratic Republic Congo in 2020. Igneous rocks are formed when magma and lava solidify.

The formation of the Earth’s continents occurred during a fiery afterbirth known as the Archean Eon, which stretched from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. It was in this bubbling cauldron of ...

Earthquakes occur along fault lines between continental plates, where one plate is diving beneath another. Pressure builds ...