 Shaping the Earth Australian MuseumWhat makes the Earth unique? Where does it fit in the Solar System and, ultimately, the universe? Take a look inside the Earth and find out what it is made from and how it is structured. Look at the processes that shape the Earth. |  Rocks National GeographicRocks are so common that most of us take them for granted—cursing when we hit them with the garden hoe or taking advantage of them to drive in tent pegs on summer camping trips. But what exactly is a rock? |  Times the Earth Tried to Swallow UsSinkholes—those terrifying natural phenomena known for gulping down unsuspecting houses, bridges, or even Corvettes—have been a hot topic in the news lately. Most of these newsworthy cave-ins are of the "cover-collapse" variety, in which soil beneath the surface begins to shift downward, leaving behind an increasingly large air pocket beneath a thin bridge of soil that manages to hold together until one day it doesn't, and suddenly: sinkhole. |
---|
 NASA Earth ObservatoryThe Earth Observatory’s mission is to share with the public the images, stories, and discoveries about climate and the environment that emerge from NASA research, including its satellite missions, in-the-field research, and climate models. |  50 Interesting Facts About The EarthAlien worlds may be all the rage, with their mystique and promise, but the orb we call home, planet Earth, has all the makings for a jaw-dropping blockbuster movie: from the drama of explosive volcanoes, past meteor crashes and catastrophic collisions between rocky plates to the seeming fantasy of the ocean's deep abysses swirling with odd life and tales of the coldest, hottest, deepest, highest and all-out extreme spots. |  BBC EarthEarth comes to life with stunning clips from the BBC's television archive. There is a lot to watch: See Mount St Helens erupt, the Earth form, and glaciers shrink. |
---|
 Planet Earth National Geographicarth, our home planet, is the only planet in our solar system known to harbor life. All of the things we need to survive are provided under a thin layer of atmosphere that separates us from the uninhabitable void of space. Earth is made up of complex, interactive systems that are often unpredictable. Air, water, land, and life—including humans—combine forces to create a constantly changing world that we are striving to understand. |  Geologic Time ScaleTake a journey back through the history of the Earth — jump to a specific time period using the time scale below and examine ancient life, climates, and geography. You might wish to start in the Cenozoic Era (65.5 million years ago to the present) and work back through time, or start with Hadean time (4.6 to 4 billion years ago) and journey forward to the present day — it's your choice. |  Death Valley's 'sailing stones'?Professor Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist, believes the rocks become encased in ice during the winter, then as the lake bed thaws and becomes muddy, the ice allows the rock to 'float' on the mud - making them easily blown around by strong desert winds. |
---|
 15 Most Amazing Landscapes ...Shaped and sculpted over millions of years, these stunning landscapes and rock formations hold invaluable clues to Earth's past and future. |  Grand Canyon National ParkGrand Canyon National Park, a World Heritage Site, encompasses 1,218,375 acres and lies on the Colorado Plateau in northwestern Arizona. The land is semi-arid and consists of raised plateaus and structural basins typical of the southwestern United States. Drainage systems have cut deeply through the rock, forming numerous steep-walled canyons. Forests are found at higher elevations while the lower elevations are comprised of a series of desert basins. |  Antelope Canyon Located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona, Antelope Canyon is an incredible place where water and time have eroded the rock and turned it into a slot canyon. The result is an incredible formation of smooth, flowing rock. In 1997 the Navajo Tribe turned the area into a Navajo Tribal Park, opening up Antelope Canyon for tourism. |
---|
 Inside a Volcanic EruptionA volcanic eruption is the ejection of molten rock, or lava, with ash, hot water, rock fragments, gases, and cliff soil through an opening in the Earth’s surface. |  Scientists Discover That Oahu Was...Scientists Discover That Oahu Was Made Of Three, Not Two, Volcanoes - It’s not often that a new volcano is discovered, especially in the United States. But scientists from the U.S. and France published a study last month saying they’ve found an underwater volcano near the Hawaiian island of Oahu that predates the island's other two by a few million years. |  Yellowstone SupervolcanoThe supervolcano that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park in the US is far larger than was previously thought, scientists report. |
---|
 Journey to the Centre of the EarthTwo Kyrgyzstan-based photographers, Andrew and Luda, run a joint Live Journal account where they post amazing photos of outdoor scenery, wildlife, and recently: active volcanoes. Earlier this year the duo trekked to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia where the volcano complex known as Tolbachik was in active eruption. |  Spectacular Neon Blue Lava You've heard of "red hot" and "white hot" to describe searing temperatures. But what about "blue hot"? That's the surreal hue of Indonesia's Kawah Ijen Volcano, which glows with an otherworldly "blue lava" at night. The mountain contains large amounts of pure sulfur, which emits an icy violet color as it burns, turning the rocky slopes into a hot, highly toxic environment. |  New Pakistan Quake Island Emits GasBarely half an hour after they were jolted by a major earthquake on Tuesday, people of the Pakistani coastal town of Gwadar had another shock when they saw a new island emerge in the sea, just over a kilometre from the shore. |
---|