Stunning view of Elden Mountain – a 500,000 year-old dacitic-rhyolitic #volcanic dome, looming over Flagstaff, AZ. From Holm’s (2019) “Geology of Flagstaff and Geologic History of Rio de Flag, Northern Arizona with Trail Guides to Geology along Rio de Flag”. library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/DTES-16...

🌻A rare superbloom is underway in Death Valley National Park — transforming one of the hottest, driest places on Earth into a vibrant landscape of wildflowers. 🔗 Learn more about the remarkable geologic forces that make moments like this possible with Death Valley Rocks! geosociety.co/DVRocks

Ancient diabase dikes exposed in the walls of Salt River Canyon adjacent to AZ 77. These sills were intruded into older sedimentary/metamorphic rocks of the Apache Group. #IgneousIntrusion #Proterozoic #SaltRiver #Arizona

Climate science faces serious challenges — and the scientific community is fighting back. In @newrepublic.com , Robert Kopp highlights AGU’s role in supporting scientific workers and advancing climate research continuity. Read more: buff.ly/TwrHXCW

Breaking News: The Trump administration abandoned its efforts to impose potentially crippling orders against law firms that refused to bow to the president.

In @geoscientistmag.bsky.social, Brandon Jones, President of AGU, shares how connection can help scientists navigate today’s policy challenges. “Our resilience lies in holding onto connections, deepening them, and building new ones.” buff.ly/hz3QfQA #SciencePolicy #Geoscience #AGU

The Hassyampa River cuts through #mountain range 5 miles north of Wickenburg, AZ. This is a case of an #antecedent (existing) stream that cut through rocks uplifted to form the current mountain range. Uplift occurred after 17 Ma during Basin and Range extension. #BasinRange #Miocene

For the 2026 primary elections, NPR has collected deadlines and information on how to register to vote — online, in person or by mail — in every U.S. state and territory.

It's about time I announced a project that I've been working on in the last year... I wrote a book! 'Volcanoes: 10 things you should know' published by @orionbooks.bsky.social Seven Dials will be out in September. It's available to pre-order now. Links: linktr.ee/volcanologist

Hulls Canyon, north of Flagstaff, AZ, is a fine example of a small graben (depression) situated between two normal faults. Hulls Canyon trends NW-SE for 2.5 miles. Maximum width is ~ 1,000 feet and the graben is ~40 to 75 feet deep. #graben #volcanoes #sinkholes #SanFranciscoVolcanoes

Marvelous publication. #California #geology #geoheritage #megathrust #GeologicMapping

New roles just dropped on the GSA Geoscience Job Board. Whether you’re advancing your research, stepping into administration, or shaping the next generation of geoscientists—your next role could already be live. 🔎 Explore these and more: geosociety.co/JobBoard

The Permian-age Toroweap & Coconino Sandstone exposed at Fisher Point on Walnut Creek SE of Flagstaff, Arizona. The relief here is ~170 feet. The rocks are flat-lying; the apparent dip of the Coconino Sandstone is because the sands were deposited in large sand dunes. #sandstone #WalnutCanyon

A billion years of missing time continues to confound geologists. For @science.org, I covered a new find in northern China that complicates debates on the source of the Great Unconformity:🧪⚒️

How does magma move beneath slow-spreading backarc ridges? A new #GSABulletin paper reveals a reversed plumbing systembeneath the Marsili seamount—the largest submarine volcano in the Euro-Mediterranean. Read more: geosociety.co/Gennaro_et_al#GSABulletin#Volcanology #EarthScience Image: Fig 1 from the paper

This marvelous and somewhat puzzling roadcut crops out at Union Pass in Mohave County, AZ (35.21851 N, -114.39145 W). Geologist Shaun Willsey did a fine job describing the volcanic rocks in his ‘Random Roadcuts’ video series (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdv...). #VolcanicTuff #Miocene

The U.S. Geological Survey is taking the proactive step of establishing a strategy for applying artificial intelligence (AI) to their research protocols. The strategy document is 22 pages long and available at pubs.usgs.gov/publication/... #AI #Science

Are you exploring a career in the geosciences? Join us for two career advice webinars and learn from a panel of professionals! Dates: • Tuesday, 24 Feb | 12–2 p.m. PT • Wednesday, 25 Feb | 9–11 a.m. PT 🔗 Register below: • geosociety.co/SEDTuesWebinar • geosociety.co/SEDWedWebinar

Coastal dead zones were already a major ecological issue in the past. A new #Geology study found that the expansion of terrestrial plants in the Late Devonian stimulated primary productivity and the spread of euxinic waters, causing mass extinctions. Full article: geosociety.co/Li_et_al_2026

If paleobiology falls in your interest area, check out the “Paleobiology Database” at paleobiodb.org#/ . This database is well-resourced with more than 94,000 references, 517,852 taxa, 276,576 collections, and ~1,000 contributors. #Paleobiology #Organisms #HistoricalGeology

The #USGS 2025 mineral commodities report shows that Arizona is second overall in production of non-energy mineral resources. Arizona mineral production in 2025 totaled $10.4 billion. Major commodities: copper, sand & gravel, molybdenum, cement, gemstones. doi.org/10.3133/mcs2...

A new #Geology study finds eclogite-facies metamorphism in the continental crust at ca 2.8 Ga, which may provide a record of the transition from a pre-plate tectonic regime to one with an increasing role for stable subduction. Full article: geosociety.co/Huang_et_al#GeologyPhoto by Shujuan Jiao

Arizona's copper mines we produce ~60% of America’s copper. Aggregate and quarries vastly outnumber copper mines. Long live sand and gravel. To view Arizona mineral distribution – metals, gemstones, gypsum cinders, uranium and more tinyurl.com/AZ-Agg-Stone.... #Mining #Aggregate #Minerals

EarthCache Spotlight: Smithsonian Castle, Washington, D.C. Built in 1855, the Smithsonian Castle’s Seneca sandstone has weathered from lilac-gray to a warm red-brown. Blue-black manganese patches reveal geologic processes shaping this historic landmark. 🔗 Discover more: geosociety.co/EarthCache

Quaternary UK offshore data digitised for the first time. The dataset will help users, particularly those in the offshore renewables sector, and can be used for reference when completing site investigations. Learn more: www.bgs.ac.uk/news/quatern...

In a new study in #Geology, researchers Chris Lowery and colleagues calculated how long it took for novel single-celled marine species to appear after an asteroid impact 66 million years ago, and it’s surprisingly fast. Learn more here: geosociety.co/Lowery_et_al#GeologyImage credit: Chris Lowery

Today's anti-science pairing

Ocean waters of the frozen “snowball Earth” may have reached temperatures of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 C). About 717 million years ago Earth’s oceans were entirely mantled by ice – from the equator to the poles. Read on - tinyurl.com/Snowball-Earth

Black cinder cones and basaltic lava flows of the San Francisco volcanic field of northern Arizona mantled by snow in Jan. 2019. This is an active volcanic field with a high probability of future volcanic eruptions. Photo by Ted Grussing.

Cool, new map-making tool from the US Geological Survey. "Regional view. Reliable data. Meet the USGS 250K OnDemand Topo." #Map @USGS #Geology

Students applying for NSF funding are having their applications “returned without review” for being “ineligible,” despite their proposed research falling squarely within the application guidelines. eos.org/research-and...

Corridor of Cataclysm: The Perilous Geologic Journey of the Owyhee River. On 6 January 2026, Dr. Kyle House presented his research on landscape evolution and geologic hazards along Oregon’s Owyhee River to the Arizona Geological Society. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQF8... #volcanism =

The Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show at the Raddison on Cushing St. was loaded with mineral stands and crowded with people. Quartz varieties – milky, crystal, and smoky – from small to large (boulder-sized) were particularly abundant. But there were plenty other collectable minerals, gems, and fossils.

For a long time, the Cambrian explosion sounded like a clean success story. Life appears. Complexity rises. End of story. But around 513 million years ago, Earth’s first mass extinction quietly disrupted that narrative. 🧪 #SciComm buff.ly/T57hhdM

How does the presence of water affect voclanic eruptions? 🌋 In this new episode of the Geology Bites podcast, Dr. Michael Manga talks about the role water plays in volcanic eruptions on Earth and across the Solar System. 🎧 Listen now: geosociety.co/WetEruptions

512-million-year-old marine fossils highlight life and death at the Cambrian explosion’s close. https://scim.ag/4t6j94X

Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26020... These markings were originally discovered in the 1970s in pictures taken by the Viking Orbiter. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft that orbited Mars from 1996 to 2006 captured the featured picture.

135 years have passed since the preparation of the 1891 Preliminary Mineralogical and Geological Map of the State of California. This webpage walks you through the history and evolution of geologic maps of California. www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/rgm/hist...

Chuska Mtns, Apache County, Arizona, ca. 1917. West face of Chuska Mountains near near Lukachukai showing rincons and blind windows developed in massive sandstone. "Chinle formation is in the foreground, Tertiary sediments in background. The view includes vertical relief of 1,800 feet. (USGS-1917)

The Arizona Science Center’s newest exhibit, Pompeii: The Exhibition, memorializes the impact of the A.D. 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on the Roman city of Pompeii, near modern Naples. Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano. www.azscience.org

"… the US needs to rise above the raw power politics that has come to dominate the country’s relationship with China and recognize that all scientific knowledge is a public good, whatever its national origin," writes H. Holden Thorp in a new #ScienceEditorial. https://scim.ag/3Z1zmLc

AZ Geol Survey released a field trip guide by Haxel & others (2025). “Field Trip to a Laramide Shallow Subduction Channel: Orocopia Schist in the Gavilan Hills, SE California; 29 pages with map and a number of field and thin-section photos. library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/AGCR-17...

Colorado water officials plan for “exceedingly grim” drought forecasts, low reservoir levels As warm, dry conditions continue in the West, the forecasts for the amount of water flowing through the Upper Colorado River Basin keep dropping. #ColoradoRiver #drought 🧪 coloradosun.com/2026/01/28/c...

What controls gravel distribution in foreland basins over millions of years? This #GSABulletin study integrates provenance, tectonics, climate, and basin dynamics to build a predictive model from the Kuqa Foreland Basin, Northwest China. Read the full article: geosociety.co/Zhang_et_al#GSABulletinImage: Fig 4

Basalt dike Saguaro National Park East, Tucson, Arizona. A 2- to 3-meter thick basalt dike (black rock) cutting gneissic rock exposed adjacent to the loop road at Saguaro National Park East, in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, Tucson, Arizona.

👩🎓🚨 Attention Students! 👉 Discover the AGU Honors, Scholarships, and Grants open to eligible students: buff.ly/q0M1YXO

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

Former non-coal mine workings, particularly where shallow, may collapse and cause & cause surface settlement. The mining hazard (not coal) dataset provides a subsidence hazard assessment for those looking to identify & mitigate potential ground instability hazards. www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/min...

LAST CALL—applications close today. For 40 years, the GSA–USGS Congressional Science Fellowship has placed geoscientists where scientific expertise helps inform national decisions. The next cohort is about to be set. 🔗 Learn more + apply: geosociety.co/CongressionalScienceFellowship

Alex Pretti’s coworkers take a moment of silence this morning