Author: Kristen Rahilly

This week’s post will cross over into the sphere of gemstones and jewels. Things may get weird, things may get a little bit confusing….but that’s truly what makes the differences between the gemological and the geological so fascinating.  A couple of months ago I found myself somewhere I never thought I would be: in New…

You know that feeling you get when you are just in desperate need of a sieve for an unexpected day of sifting through creek sediments for 75 million year old shark teeth? No? Well, I didn’t either until last weekend when I found myself in this very situation. However, being in Mississippi for the weekend…

All artwork depicting Yellowstone research beautifully illustrated by: Gabrielle Vance Picture this: you are a geologist (or any scientist, really) with a scientific question. How do you go from your initial question to actually attempting to find an answer? Then, how do you share your science with others so that you can contribute to our…

Earthquakes: movement of the Earth’s crust that can cause extreme property damage and loss of life. Most of us think of earthquakes as occurring in very specific locations around the world: California, Japan, Chile, Alaska, and most recently the devastating earthquake in Haiti. These earthquakes are generally larger and release more energy, indicated by a…

This week, we are going to take you into the role of a field geologist: looking at clues to figure out how geological structures formed. Even though the structures we’ll talk about in this post are not likely found in your backyard, a key player in this story is something you may have recently sprinkled…

Something that we love to do here at Backyard Geology is lead trips into the field to experience geology live and up close. This week, we visited the banks of the Rio Grande River as it passes through Albuquerque, New Mexico to bring you our very first “vlog” (video blog)! First, we’d like to give…

This week we will talk about two-legged predators that first evolved during the Mesozoic era (248-65Ma). Their distant relative roamed the ancient world with a ruthless hunger for prey and at a terrifying size of 5 – 8 tons1, making it one of the main antagonists in this Hollywood blockbuster. Of course, what else could…

Inspired by last week’s post on the use of granite (and what is called “granite” but not really granite) in countertops, we are going to focus this week’s post on another rock that you may have heard of in the commercial sector: slate (and rocks pretending to be slate). You are likely most familiar with…

Would you like to impress your friends with a really cool sounding geological term? While we here at Backyard Geology make it our mission to convince you that everything about geology is cool and impressive, there really is something special (and just a little random) about a term that translates to “sausage” in French1. That’s…

It’s spring here in the Northern Hemisphere! The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and the pollen is….everywhere. For allergy sufferers, pollen is an ever-present reminder that spring has sprung….and it’s here to make you just a little bit miserable. But, you’re in luck! We here at Backyard Geology have found the cure to…