Geology Links

General Geology Links

USGS publications

The USGS map database is at

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/,

and publication search at

http://usgspubs.georef.org/usgsns.htm

General geology

The USGS layperson's guide to geological time is at

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/

The University of California at Berkeley has a number of introductory pages on aspects of geology:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/geology.html

Rock units and stratigraphy

One of the most valuable resources on the Web is the USGS GeoLEX database, which contains terminology and references for all the rock units in the U.S.:

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/.

For the International Stratigraphic Guide and the most current geologic timescale, the International Commission on Stratigraphy site is

http://www.stratigraphy.org/.

The North American Stratigraphic Code (rules for nomenclature) is at

http://www.agiweb.org/nacsn/code2.html

Some notes on sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are at

http://geoscience.tripod.com/generalg/sedimentary_metamorphics.html

And another set on sedimentary rocks at

http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/historical_lab/sedrockslab.php

Paleontology

USGS has a glossary of paleontological terms at

http://geology.er.usgs.gov/paleo/glossary.shtml.

The University of California at Berkeley’s tutorial introduction to fossils is at

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/fossil/9to12/intro.html

(Note that this interactive site works with Internet Explorer, but not with many other browsers.)

Another good tutorial on fossils is

http://www.dmns.org/main/minisites/fossil/index.html

There are good photographs and materials on a number of fossil sites, especially paleobotany sites, at

http://www.paleocurrents.com/

Plate tectonics

The University of California at Berkeley’s plate tectonics site is

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html.

And there is an introductory Web site on plate tectonics at

http://www.platetectonics.com/book/index.asp

There is an excellent set of images, animations, and explanatory text on the past movements of the plates at

http://www.scotese.com/.

This is Christopher R. Scotese’s site. Scotese is a respected researcher, as well as a pioneer in developing computer simulations and visualizations for both scholars and laypeople. The site includes good references for the scientific basis of the material, a rarity on the Web.

Ron Blakey has produced a number of reconstructions of terrain maps over time from the Precambrian to the present with an emphasis on southwestern North America, extending into our area. The starting point is

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/.

Some of Blakey's paleogeography images can also be found at

http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/Resources/PzPaleoMovie.html

MARGINS, based at Washington University in St. Louis, has a Web site at

http://www.margins.wustl.edu/

It is the initiative of various active researchers on plate tectonics, and makes both technical information and material for the general public available.

Minerology

There is a good minerology site at

http://web.wt.net/~daba/Mineral/index.htm,

And one on Bowen's reaction series (order of mineral crystallization) at

http://maps.unomaha.edu/Maher/geo117/bowens.html

Historical geology and other geological topics

Pamela Gore at Georgia Perimeter College has an online lab manual on historical geology at

http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/historical_lab/contents.php

Darren Beckstrand at Portland State University has a geoscience page with a number of subjects at

http://geoscience.tripod.com/

Other resources

There are many other resources on the Web. A good starting point is

http://geosurvey.state.co.us/Default.aspx?tabid=77

Another one is Geology Central:

http://welcome.to/geologycentral

Publications

Geological Society of America, one of the most important professional societies, has all its journals since 1995, and some before, available for searching at

http://www.gsajournals.org/gsaonline/?request=search-simple

You can only display abstracts, unless you are a GSA member who subscribes to the publications.