Links
- Geology and Natural History Museums
- Fossils and Dinosaurs
- Minerals, Petrology and Gemstones
- Earthquakes and Volcanoes
- The Solar System
- Geology Societies and Organisations
- Local Geology
- University Departments of Geology and Earth Sciences (UK)
- Other Cambridge Museums
Geology and Natural History Museums
- The Natural History Museum (London, UK): A large national museum encompassing life and earth themes.
- Whitby Museum (Yorkshire, UK): An historically important geology museum displaying Jurassic fossils from the local coastline, and the famous Whitby jet.
- National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh, Scotland).
- The Manchester Museum(UK): Geology and Mineralogy.
- Hancock Museum, University of Newcastle (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK): Galleries include 'Earthworks' and 'A to Z of Geology', with links to the U.K. science curriculum.
- Australian Museum Online(Sydney): Galleries include displays about ecosystems, minerals, dinosaurs, insects and birds. Large, colourful website also features news stories and articles relating to exhibit themes.
- Smithsonian Museum (Washington DC, USA): The Science and Technology collections of this large national museum cover a broad range of areas.
- American Museum of Natural History (New York City, USA): Galleries include displays about fossils, oceans, minerals and meteorites, forests, planet Earth and human evolution.
- Museum of the Rockies (Montana, USA): Exciting exhibits explore geological time, moving continents, dinosaurs, earthquakes and the Ice Ages.
- Museum of Palaeontology, University of California at Berkeley(USA): Exploring Phylogeny, Geologic Time and Evolution.
- Monterey Bay Aquarium (California, USA): A museum exploring the biodiversity of the Monterey Bay region off California's southern coast. View live webcams of the sealife in the bay and find out about life in the oceans.
- For a comprehensive list of Natural History Museums around the world, try the listing on the Special Libraries Association pages at the University of Washington Library.
- Lyme Regis Museum (Dorset, UK): Built on the site of the home of Lyme's renowned palaeontologist Mary Anning, the museum is packed with fascinating displays including local fossils and geology.
Page up
Fossils and Dinosaurs
- UK Fossils.info: A comprehensive guide to the UK's fossil locations. Search by region, rock unit and location.
- DinoDictionary.com: The "most complete dinosaur dictionary on the web", this site will tell you everything you need to know about any dinosaur. Search by name, try the online quiz and listen to Dinosaur sound bytes...
- The Dinosaur Museum in Dorset is the only British Museum dedicated entirely to dinosaurs, offering hands-on activities using real fossils and reconstructions.
- BBC - Science & Nature: Prehistoric LifeFrom dinosaurs to human ancestors - this site has articles, games and information on BBC TV and radio programme's
- Discovering Fossils is a good starting point for finding out about British geology, fossils, and where to collect.
- Fossil Focus from the British Geological Survey is an online guide and starting point for learning about trilobites, echinoids, belemnites and other groups of fossils found in the UK.
- Devonian Times: This original newspaper style site tells the story of the Devonian fossils of Red Hill, Pennsylvania (USA).
Page up
Minerals, Petrology and Gemstones
- The Mineralogy Database is a rich source of information including definitions, classifications and a photo index. The level of information in this site requires some technical knowledge or science background.
- Rock and Gem magazine (US) and is crammed with information about every aspect of rock and mineral collection and identification.
- Minerals Under the Microscope complements the undergraduate teaching at the University of Bristol (see list of institutions below) but is equally useful as a standalone resource for geology undergraduates studying petrology. Clear explanations of essential concepts such as colour, extinction angle and twinning are supported by informative illustrations and images.
- Igneous and Metamorphic rock thin sections is an undergraduate teaching resource at the University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science (see list of institutions below). This part of the site looks at 17 different thin sections and provides links to their associated hand specimens. Moving the cursor simulates viewing the thin sections in plane and cross polarized light. Further sections provide clear photographs with detailed descriptions of various sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rock specimens - click the image to get a closer look.
- The Russell Society is Britain's leading society focusing on topographical mineralogy (the study of minerals by geographic location).
- The Gemological Association and Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain provides laboratory services to the jewellery trade, promotes the study of gems and offer courses and training in gemology.
Page up
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
- The USGS National Earthquake Information Center provides real-time information about seismic activity around the globe.
- British Earthquakes: This report by the British Geological Survey displays a complete list of all seismic activity within the British Isles for a 30-day period.
- Natural disasters, including earthquakes and their hazards, is one of the Hot Topics explored on the BBCi site. Includes an animation (requires Flash) that explains why earthquakes occur.
- Weekly Volcanic Activity Report: A partner project from the USGS Volcanic Hazards Program and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History reporting volcanic activity around the world. Find out about recent activity in known active areas, view a clickable world map and look at maps of major volcanoes by region.
- The ever popular VolcanoWorld is a source of information for all ages about all types of volcano, current activity, stories, games and educational resources.
Page up
The Solar System
- Welcome to the Planets is a collection of some of the best images of the solar system from NASA.
- Earth From Space is one of several archives of images from NASA. This valuable resource contains over 400,000 searchable photographs of the Earth from NASA missions. Categories include geographic features, human-Earth interactions, cities, weather phenomena and water features.
- The website of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is a good starting point for learning about the Earth, the Solar System, stars, distant galaxies and the technology that enables us to get there. Start finding out about the planets in the Solar System section and try the images directory for good visual resources.
- Windows to the Universe: Essential facts and profiles of all the planets and the Sun.
Page up
Geology Societies and Organisations
- Rockwatch (UK): The nationwide club for young geologists.
- Geologist's Association (UK), including a complete list of Local Groups with links to sites.
- Palaeontological Association (UK).
- Geological Society of London(UK): Founded in 1807, the Geological Society is the UK national organisation for geoscience. Includes information about careers in geology.
- The British Geological Survey
- Jurassic Coast Tours (UK): Guided field trips along the Jurassic coast of Devon and Dorset.
- United States Geological Survey
- Oceanic Research Group (USA): Includes a large photo library containing some beautiful images of coral reefs.
Page up
Local Geology
- Cambridgeshire Geology Club holds monthly lectures and field trips during the summer months.
- Geo-East Promoting geodiversity in the East of England. Be sure to look at their publications on local geology.
Page up
University Departments of Geology and Earth Sciences (U.K.)
- Aberdeen Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology
- Aberystwyth Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences
- Birmingham School of Earth Sciences
- Bristol Department of Geology
- Camborne School of Mines (University of Exeter)
- Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences
- Cardiff Department of Earth Sciences
- Derby Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Durham Department of Geological Sciences
- University of East Anglia School of Environmental Sciences
- Edinburgh Department of Geology and Geophysics
- Glasgow Division of Earth Sciences
- Greenwich Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Imperial College Department of Earth Science and Engineering
- Keele Geology Department
- Kingston School of Geological Sciences
- Lancaster Environmental Science Division
- Leeds Earth Sciences Department
- Leicester Geology Department
- Liverpool Earth Sciences Department
- Manchester School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
- Newcastle School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
- Open University Department of Earth Sciences
- Oxford Department of Earth Sciences
- Plymouth Department of Geological Sciences
- Portsmouth School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Reading School of Human and Environmental Sciences
- Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Department of Geology
- St. AndrewsSchool of Geography and Geosciences
- Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science
- Staffordshire Geology Department
- University College London Department of Earth Sciences
Page up
Other Cambridge Museums
- Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
- Museum of Classical Archaeology
- University Museum of Zoology
- The Whipple Museum of the History of Science
- Botanic Garden
- The Herbarium (open to researchers only)
- The Scott Polar Research Institute Museum
- The Museum of Technology
- The Fitzwilliam Museum (Fine Art and Antiquities)
- Kettle's Yard (Modern Art)
- The Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey
- Cambridge and County Folk Museum
Page up
