Evolution of Large Flightless Birds

Looking at the current distribution of ratites (large flightless birds including ostriches, rheas, emus and cassowaries) and understanding t...

Zealandia

Zealandia is a long, relatively narrow fragment of continental crust that split from Antarctica early in the Cretaceous Period (about 120 mi...

Formation of the Indian Ocean

About 200 million years ago (MYA), the Tethys Sea split Pangea into Laurasia (the northern continents) and Gondwanaland (the southern contin...

The Stable Continent

Though it appears static during our brief human life spans, Earth's surface is continually molded by natural forces and many of these on...

The Tasmanian Bridge

During the Triassic Period, about 200 million years ago (MYA), the supercontinent of Pangea split into Laurasia (the northern Continents) an...

Australia's Devonian Reef

The Kimberley Plateau of Australia, which forms the northwest corner of that Continent, is composed of ancient Precambrian rock.  During the...

Australia's Great Central Ranges

While the Great Dividing Range runs up the east edge of Australia and various highlands are scattered along its periphery, the Continent is ...

Australia's Largest River System

Most of Earth's Continents are known for their major river systems; there is the Amazon Basin of South America, the Mississippi Watershe...

Australian Volcanism

Most of the active volcanoes on Earth occur along subduction zones of the Pacific Rim and western Indonesia.  Others rise above hotspots (bo...

Human Colonization of Australia

Current DNA evidence suggests that humans evolved in East Africa about 130,000 years ago and did not migrate from our home continent until 8...

The Evolution of Corals

Corals are a diverse group of marine invertebrates that first appeared in the Cambrian Period, some 550 million years ago (MYA).  Fossils of...

Australia's Great Basin

The Lake Eyre Basin of east-central Australia is a vast topographic bowl within which streams drain toward the lowest part of the basin, nev...

Geology of Australia's Blue Mountains

The beautiful city of Sydney, Australia, sits on a thick slab of Triassic Hawkesbury sandstone, some 200 million years old. Below this bedr...

A Message from Christchurch

Today's tragic earthquake, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is just the latest reminder that the surface of the Earth continues to evolve a...

La Nina & the Australian Floods

The massive flooding across eastern Australia, which began in November, has been associated with the La Nina phenomenon, which tends to peak...

New Zealand's Quake

Mention earthquake zones and most of us would think of Japan, Sumatra, Chile or Southern California; others might include western China, Pak...

Isolation Lost

The land that would become New Zealand formed along the western coast of Gondwanaland throughout the Paleozoic Era. Beginning 500 million y...

Island Refuge

Marsupials are pouch-bearing mammals such as opossums, kangaroos and wombats. After fertilization, the fetus initially grows within the uter...