Geology news, features and articles

The Cascadia subduction zone is more complex than researchers previously knew. The new finding could help scientists better understand the risk from future earthquakes.

The Eye of the Sahara, also known as the Richat structure, stands out like an oversized ammonite among the sand dunes of the Sahara desert in Mauritania.

China's southwestern karst landscape is pockmarked with dozens of enormous sinkholes that look like they were made with a cookie cutter — and scientists keep finding new ones.

Ancient zircon crystals hold chemical clues that of freshwater may have existed on Earth soon after it formed.

Turkey's magical "fairy chimneys" in Cappadocia were carved out of an ancient volcanic landscape over millions of years before humans turned them into hiding dens.

A new study of seismic data from Antarctica finds that the mantle may be stranger and more variable than previously believed, with pieces of ancient crust that have been dragged down by tectonic forces.

The planet's magnetic field may have collapsed around 600 million years ago, enabling a major oxygenation event and perhaps supercharging evolution.

The Cave of Crystals in Chihuahua, Mexico, is buried almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) beneath Earth's surface and contains giant gypsum crystal beams that are up to 37 feet (11 m) long.

Scientists have yet to reach the bottom of the Taam Ja' Blue Hole in Mexico's Chetumal Bay, which new measurements hint could be connected to a labyrinth of submarine caves and tunnels.

Researchers suggest that the famed Golconda diamonds, including the Hope Diamond and Koh-i-noor, may have originated from a volcanic outcrop nearly 200 miles from where they were mined.