Geology In The Public Interest

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/16/magazine/grand-canyons-north-rim-wildfire.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UFA.6jnD.z3cxfgaT3XaN&smid=url-share

How Wildfires Transformed the Grand Canyon’s Secluded North Rim (Gift Article) A devastating wildfire forever changed the rare beauty of the secluded North Rim.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2026/03/16/resolution-copper-start-oak-flat-drilling/89153414007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z118823p119750l117450c119750e1170xxv118823&gca-ft=50&gca-ds=sophi&fbclid=IwY2xjawQlrSNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFob1Qzb3owNEN3VVdnb29tc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHomU7SXUUYpOI6wTGOd_CBQpDuWQcEGO612zuNvdjjOTHnyuN0aWMuqSx1RU_aem_YeYevildx4iTbgEsJN-GGQ&link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=69b8847180fc3f0001d94b8f&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Resolution Copper to start drilling at Oak Flat after court decision Resolution Copper is set to start exploratory drilling at Oak Flat after a long-sought land swap is completed.

The Great Unconformity is a major gap in the geologic record where more than a billion years of Earth's history appear to have been erased.

Scientists have long debated what geologic forces may have caused so much of the rock record to vanish. One theory proposes that during the icy Cryogenian Period, about 700 million years ago, a Snowball Earth glaciation event eroded kilometers of continental crust. The other attributes tectonic uplift from the formation and breakup of supercontinents as the main cause of erosion.

A new study by researchers including Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory geologist Nicholas Christie-Blick supports the latter theory: Tectonic forces associated with early supercontinent formation were largely responsible for the Great Unconformity.

Learn more: https://lamont.columbia.edu/news/earths-missing-billion-years-study-links-great-unconformity-early-tectonics

📷 The Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon separates ~1.75 billion year-old Vishnu Schist from ~505 million year-old (Cambrian) Tapeats Sandstone. Credit: Nicholas Christie-Blick

One reason to hire a geologist:

Homes in This California Enclave Come With a Catch: Living on a Landslide Complex (Gift Article) The soil keeps shifting in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. For the right buyer, that presents a great opportunity, at least for the time being.

The Waiau fault scarp formed on a section of the Leader Fault during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand. The fault scarp is about 200 m long and 3.5 m high.

Photo Credit: 2017. Dr Katherine Pedley

Waiau fault scarp — Science Learning Hub https://share.google/PNz949opFPcDQn2Mn

What you can do with a little elbow grease and some talented people:

Once-hidden gems now sparkling at Missouri S&T Mineral Museum A quiet hallway on the first floor of Missouri S&T's McNutt Hall is home to what could once have been considered thousands of hidden gems — but after recent updates to the Missouri S&T Mineral Museum, many have emerged from hiding and are now sparkling.

An elegant and simple explanation for something that we all need to understand:

Opinion | America’s Rare-Earths Solution Is Hiding in Plain Sight (Gift Article) The real threat to a secure and sustainable supply of rare earths is not that they are scarce, but that so much is wasted.

For those of you in the Seattle area: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article/doi/10.1785/0120250149/722780/High-Frequency-and-Region-Scale-Simulations-of?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=papers&fbclid=IwY2xjawPsxltleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFqeVpXYk1JSWpHaFlFOVRuc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqbyBYXEJ4F1HJMHVUpCQHbQjuLkGGDUHLUKcfmvLLPJqQKdy1ehobTKsxpH_aem_woLP84rtNG3i_I8vx-q8Ig

High‐Frequency and Region‐Scale Simulations of Large (⁠Mw 7+) Earthquakes on the Southern Whidbey Island Fault, Washington, USA | Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America | GeoScienceWorld Ian Stone, Erin A. Wirth, Alex Grant, Arthur D. Frankel; High‐Frequency and Region‐Scale Simulations of Large (⁠ 7+) Earthquakes on the Southern Whidbey Island Fault, Washington, USA. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2025; doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120250149

For decades, Greenland, through the Geological Survey of Denmark, has been inviting foreign investment and several Canadian and European companies are operating there now. Note the dates on these brochures. The next time a world leader threatens to invade Greenland in order to control the mineral production, you might ask "why not just stake a claim?"

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/us/politics/trump-mining-metals-company.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8E4.X0-9.Wr6oQl9pY_1A&smid=url-share

Trump-Era Pivot on Seabed Mining Draws Global Rebuke (Gift Article) Diplomats from more than 30 nations have criticized a proposal that could allow the start of seabed mining by 2027.