The Arizona Geological Survey has a new article by Michael Conway titled: Landslides – Mitigating a clear and present danger.

The Arizona landscape is no stranger to landslides. The entire spectrum of landslide types – debris avalanche, debris flow, earthflow, creep, rock fall, rock slide, topple, rotational and translational landslides – are encountered here.

Here is a really nice educational guide from the Arizona Geological Survey Repository. One of the best educator documents that we have seen.

“What makes the Redwall Limestone a unique and important stratigraphic unit in the Grand Canyon? This is one of the questions asked and answered in this guide to the Redwall. Written to assist guides in describing the geology of Grand Canyon, this colorful product should be of use to professional geologists, geophiles and people generally interested in geology.”

This Reuters article describes some of the problems associated with the massive landslide that killed perhaps 2000 people in Afghanistan.

As part of their GeoFacts series, the Ohio Geological Survey has fact sheets on some of their geologic hazards. These include: mine subsidence, landslides and earthquakes.

Related: What your homeowner’s insurance does not cover.

Researchers searching for a shipwreck site discovered what appears to be a tar volcano on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. Video and article.

BP paid $41.6 million for the right to drill on tracts in the Gulf of Mexico that total to an area about twice the size of Maine.

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries expanded its online public database that identifies the location of tens of thousands of known landslides across Oregon.

An article in The Columbus Dispatch explains how a study of leaves might reveal ancient climates in parts of what is now southern Saskatchewan.

Mineral hardness picks are pencil-like tools that have points made from materials that match the hardness of minerals in the Mohs Hardness Scale. With them you can easily test the hardness of mineral grains in a rock and test the hardness of small-size specimens. In our opinion they are easier to use than pieces of minerals and allow you to obtain more accurate results. They also do not contaminate your specimen with particles of the hardness mineral.