A National Science Foundation press release gives a quick look at efforts to predict long-term sea level rise in Miami

In most countries all mineral resources belong to the government. This includes all valuable rocks, minerals, oil or gas found on or within the Earth. In the United States ownership of mineral resources was originally granted to the individuals or organizations that owned the surface. These property owners had both “surface rights” and “mineral rights”. Since then the owners have enjoyed the freedom to sell, lease, gift or bequest these rights individually or entirely to others. Now a single plot of land on the surface can have several different subsurface owners!

Tana Clymer, a 14-year-old from Oklahoma City found a nice canary-colored diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas last fall. She recently sold it for $20,000.

Related: Diamond Mines in the United States.

The oil production from Eagle Ford Shale has caused a large increase in volume at Corpus Christi port – so much that they have built a new petroleum dock and consider a plan to widen the shipping channel.

“Did life first arise on Earth in warm, gentle springs on the sea floor?

Researchers are putting together the chemical pieces of how this process might have occurred.” Quoted from the NASA press release.

Graduate students at West Virginia University are using LiDAR, a high resolution mapping technology, to detect and map historic and prehistoric landslides. The maps can then be used to avoid landslide areas prior to construction and identify areas where mitigation might be considered.

The Arizona Geological Survey has published Chapter 4 of the Proceedings of the 48th Annual Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals in their online archive. It is a paper by Mark Cocker: Lateritic, supergene rare earth element (REE) deposits.

The Niger Delta is one of the best-producing oil patches on our planet but the people of Nigeria are often scrounging for gasoline.

The monthly newsletter for Earth Science Week is available. Don’t wait until fall to prepare for Earth Science Week 2014 (October 12-18)!

National Geographic has a video of a rarely-seen oar fish swimming in shallow in the Mexican state of Baja California. Staff from the Shedd Aquarium filmed the video.

There are no pipelines delivering crude oil to California. The state with more cars than any other receives all of its oil by ship or from domestic production. Some analysts believe that 25% of the state’s crude oil will arrive by rail by 2016.

Researchers at the University of Calgary and Duke University found that homes within 1 kilometer of a shale gas well on a private water supply fell by over 20 percent in value compared to those on public water supplies. This loss can offset gains made through mineral rights sales.

Related: What is Hydraulic Fracturing?

The Bureau of Land Management has a great image of the Milky Way from Sonoran Desert National Monument.

Higher Resolution image by Bob Wick, BLM

The ability to identify rocks and minerals in the field is a very important skill. The Geology.com store has a selection of rock, mineral, fossil and gem mineral kits that can be used for learning and practice. Testing tools are also available.