Evolution of Large Flightless Birds

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

Andes Volcanism

The eruption of the Calbuco Volcano in southern Chile this week is that peak's first significant activity since 1972 and the most recent...

The Casiquiare Connection

We humans have long dug canals to connect watersheds, thereby improving irrigation or shortening navigation routes.  Examples range from sma...

Geologic History of Trinidad & Tobago

The islands of Trinidad and Tobago lie offshore the coast of northeastern Venezuela, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles chain.  Unli...

Geology of Rio's Domes

Watching coverage of the World Cup, one is struck by the spectacular natural setting of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hemmed in and partly bisecte...

Grass Plovers at Eagle Bluffs

Thanks to a heads-up from a friend and fellow birder who was arriving at Eagle Bluffs as I was leaving, I was fortunate to observe four upla...

Oil & Wilderness

Yasuni National Park, in eastern Ecuador, lies on the eastern slope of the Andes in the upper Amazon Basin.  It protects one of the most bio...

The Guiana Shield

Two billion years ago, the Continent of Columbia included what are now the Amazonian Platform and the West African Craton in addition to oth...

Copahue Volcano Eruption

The Copahue Volcano, in the Andes on the border of Argentina and Chile, is erupting once again, sending a cloud of ash one mile into the atm...

The Nature of Patagonia

Ecologically diverse, sparsely populated and rich in spectacular landscape, Patagonia covers 800,000 square kilometers across southern South...

The Falklands & South Africa

When geologists first explored the Falkland Islands, 250 miles off the coast of southern Argentina, they found rock strata that did not corr...

The Pantanal

The Pantanal, thought to be the largest, undeveloped wetland complex on Earth, covers almost 70,000 square miles at the junction of Brazil, ...

The Extreme Desert

A desert is generally defined as an area that averages less than ten inches of precipitation per year. None is more dry than the Atacama Des...

Peru's Subduction Quake

Yesterday's earthquake in central Peru developed along a subduction zone. The Nazca Plate, a remnant of the Farallon Plate, is being pu...