Geologic History of Cuba

As the Atlantic Ocean began to open, some 160 million years ago (MYA), the North and South American Plates were forced westward, a tectonic ...

Zealandia

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

Geology of Vanuatu Archipelago

This past week, the Vanuatu Archipelago of the southwestern Pacific Ocean has been in the news due to massive destruction wrought by Typhoon...

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...

Gonzalo rakes Bermuda

Forty million years ago, Bermuda, 640 miles ESE of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, was part of a volcanic island chain that towered above the...

Bonaventure Island National Park

Following a 24-hour delay due to rain and high winds, we climbed onto a crowded tour boat to Bonaventure Island National Park, off Perce, Qu...

Longboat's Quiet Season

Longboat Key, off Sarasota, Florida, is primarily a residential community.  During the warmer months, many home and condo owners head for no...

Hotspot Fields and Ridges

A volcanic hotspot is produced by a mantle plume, which pushes up into the crust, melting bedrock and, in most cases, erupting at the surfac...

The White Pelicans of Sarasota Bay

From our condo, on the west edge of Sarasota Bay, two white lines shimmer near the bay's central channel, giving the appearance of brigh...

Formation of the Philippines

The Philippine archipelagos represent one of the most complex geologic regions of our planet.  Composed of numerous microplates and terranes...

Polynesian Migration

When humans first reached Southeast Asia, some 70,000 years ago, most of Indonesia was a broad peninsula; in like manner, due to the lower s...

The Society Islands

The Society Islands of the South Pacific mirror the Hawaiian Chain, 2700 miles to their north.  They too are a linear archipelago that forme...

Longboat's Shifting Beach

Longboat Key is a long, narrow barrier island off the west coast of Florida, stretching between Anna Marie Island, off Bradenton, and Lido K...

A New Canary Island

The Canary Islands are a volcanic island chain off the northwest coast of Africa. Current geologic evidence suggests that this Spanish arch...

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island is an erosional remnant, carved from Devonian limestone by the forces of ice, wind and water. It sits in the Mackinac Strai...

Vancouver Island Earthquake

Along the Pacific Coast, from southern British Columbia to northern California, three small tectonic plates lie between the Pacific and Nort...

Japan's Quake & Tsunami

Northern Japan lies on a southward projection of the North American Plate and, off its east coast, the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath i...

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...

Madagascar and its Primates

As Pangea continued to break apart, Madagascar split from Africa, some 160 million years ago. Drifting to the south, it merged with the rem...

The Heart of Volcanism

The great majority of Earth's volcanoes are found along subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is dipping beneath another; the lower...