On August 10, 2025, a colossal landslide in Tracy Arm fjord unleashed a half-kilometer high mega-tsunami. Newly released photos reveal the scale of destruction and the science behind one of the largest landslide-generated waves in modern history.
Queensland has been shaken by its strongest earthquake in half a century. The magnitude 5.6 tremor struck near Kilkivan, west of Gympie, and was felt across Brisbane, Bundaberg, the Gold Coast and even into northern New South Wales. It is a rare reminder that even Australia’s most stable state is not immune to powerful geological forces.
The flood arrived under cover of darkness. It hit with a sound like thunder, a great rushing roar. When the rising water came into view, it was taller than the cottonwoods along the river—a wall of water, shining and white-capped in the glare of search-and-rescue helicopters.
During the Triassic Period, Australia and Antarctica were joined as part of Gondwana. Powerful braided rivers carried quartz-rich sand from highlands in East Antarctica across a vast connected landscape, through what is now Tasmania and Victoria, and into the Sydney Basin. Over millions of years, these deposits became the Hawkesbury Sandstone, the golden rock that now shapes Sydney’s cliffs, valleys, and harbor foreshores.
For centuries, the dream of turning base metals into gold belonged to alchemists and their mythical Philosopher’s Stone. Today, that dream may have found a home in the heart of a fusion reactor. Marathon Fusion claims its innovative design could transform mercury into pure gold while simultaneously generating clean, limitless energy — a marriage of ancient ambition and cutting-edge science.
The expansive Western District volcanic plains stretch across southwest Victoria, a flat and windswept region capped by volcanic basalt flows. Although largely void of gold at the surface, buried beneath the basalt cover could be a different story: original goldfields, obscured by lava for millions of years. These hidden riches, potentially rivaling the exposed goldfields further north in origin and richness, remain tantalizingly out of reach.
South-east of Melbourne lies one of Australia’s most remarkable extraterrestrial discoveries — the Cranbourne meteorite field. Scattered across the basalt plains of Victoria, these massive iron meteorites are fragments of a colossal asteroid that fell to Earth thousands of years ago.
The first recorded discovery came in 1854, when settlers unearthed an enormous metallic mass while ploughing farmland. Over time, more pieces were found — some weighing over 3 tonnes — making Cranbourne home to one of the world’s largest known iron meteorites.
Composed primarily of iron and nickel, these meteorites display the striking Widmanstätten pattern when cut and polished, revealing their slow crystallisation within the core of a long-destroyed planetary body. For the Boonwurrung people, the meteorites were already part of their cultural landscape long before European settlement.
Today, most of the Cranbourne meteorites reside in museums and collections, but their story remains a spectacular link between Victoria’s volcanic plains and the wider cosmos.
Local legend claims that Reedy Creek’s gold was carried down from distant mountains by ancient glaciers. It’s a romantic story—but geologically impossible.
Victoria, Australia, has never been covered by continental glaciers large enough to transport gold-bearing gravels over such vast distances. The gold at Reedy Creek is instead the product of localised erosion from nearby quartz reefs, part of the region’s Paleozoic goldfields formed during the Devonian–Carboniferous orogenies. Over millions of years, weathering released gold from bedrock, allowing it to wash into the creek beds where miners later found it.
Geological mapping shows no evidence of glacial striations in the Reedy Creek area. Instead, the sediment layers match typical alluvial systems, where gold has been concentrated by stream action, not by ice. The truth is less mythical but far more fascinating—a story of local geology, erosion, and the steady hand of running water shaping one of Victoria’s most famous gold-bearing streams.
Beneath the waves of Bass Strait lies the Bassian Plain, a vast submerged shelf that once connected mainland Australia to Tasmania. During the last ice age, when sea levels were over 120 metres lower, this area formed a land bridge across which plants, animals, and early humans migrated.
Stretching between Victoria and Tasmania, the Bassian Plain is part of the Southeast Australian continental shelf, composed of ancient sediments and marine deposits. Today, it’s covered by relatively shallow waters averaging only 50 metres deep, but sonar mapping reveals old river channels and dune systems frozen in time beneath the seafloor.
This sunken landscape is crucial for understanding past climate changes, human migration routes, and marine biodiversity. It’s both a geological archive and an underwater ecosystem rich with marine life, shaped by powerful currents and seasonal upwellings.
Deep in the heart of the Northern Territory lies Gosses Bluff, known to the Western Arrernte people as Tnorala. This striking ring-shaped mountain range, 22 km across, is the eroded remnant of a massive asteroid impact that occurred around 142 million years ago during the early Cretaceous.
Originally, the impact crater may have been up to 24 km wide and several kilometres deep. Over millions of years, erosion has stripped away much of the original structure, leaving a dramatic central uplift—a feature common in large impact craters. The bluff’s distinctive circular form is visible even from space.
For the Western Arrernte people, Tnorala holds deep cultural significance, woven into Dreamtime stories that speak of a fallen star. Scientifically, it offers an invaluable window into Earth’s violent past and the role of cosmic impacts in shaping our planet’s surface.
A wave of media hype has recently misrepresented the Melanesian Border Plateau as a looming supervolcano. But geologists aren’t buying it.
Located northeast of Australia, this vast underwater plateau is indeed volcanic in origin—but it’s not a hidden Yellowstone. The Melanesian Border Plateau is the product of hotspot volcanism and back-arc tectonics, forming mostly during the Cenozoic era through scattered submarine eruptions and seafloor spreading.
Unlike true supervolcanoes, which are defined by catastrophic caldera-forming eruptions ejecting over 1,000 km³ of material, the plateau shows no such eruptive history. Instead, it's a diffuse volcanic province, more comparable to the Ontong Java Plateau or Hikurangi Plateau, both massive yet stable oceanic features.
So no, it’s not about to erupt and end the world. It's a fascinating volcanic relic—but not an apocalyptic threat.
In the late 19th century, gold recovery was revolutionized by a chemical breakthrough: cyanide leaching. Before this innovation, miners could only extract gold efficiently from rich, visible ore. Fine gold locked in sulfides or low-grade ores was often discarded as waste.
That changed in 1887, when Scottish chemists John MacArthur, Robert, and William Forrest patented the cyanide process. This method allowed gold to be dissolved from crushed ore using a dilute cyanide solution—a far more efficient and scalable process than mercury amalgamation or gravity separation.
The impact was immense. Cyanide made low-grade deposits economically viable, triggered global gold rushes, and remains at the core of gold mining operations today. While effective, the process also raised new environmental and safety concerns, leading to modern regulations and alternatives like thiosulfate and glycine leaching.
In a stunning geological discovery, two ancient calderas have been identified in the Bara Range of central New South Wales, rewriting the volcanic history of eastern Australia. These volcanic craters—formed by cataclysmic eruptions over 300 million years ago—are among the oldest preserved calderas on the continent.
Previously thought to be a region of modest tectonic activity, the Bara Range now reveals a far more explosive past. The new findings suggest a late Paleozoic volcanic arc, with pyroclastic flows, rhyolitic domes, and collapse structures hidden beneath weathered sandstone plateaus and vegetation.
These calderas not only provide a window into ancient continental volcanism, but may also hold clues to hidden mineral systems, including potential epithermal gold and rare earth element deposits. A game-changer for Australian geological mapping.
Hidden deep in Australia’s Red Centre, the Petermann Ranges are among the oldest mountain chains on Earth. Formed over 550 million years ago during the Petermann Orogeny, these rugged ranges tell the story of massive geological forces that once rivaled the Himalayas.
Unlike more familiar mountain belts, the Petermann Ranges are remnants of an intra-continental collision—where central Australia buckled under pressure from opposing landmasses. Today, these low-slung yet striking ranges offer a rare glimpse into Proterozoic tectonics, metamorphic belts, and some of the oldest exposed rocks on the continent.
Geology enthusiasts visiting this region will find ancient gneisses, granulites, and evidence of intense crustal uplift, all surrounded by sweeping desert landscapes.
Jutting out into the Tasman Sea like the jagged spine of a prehistoric creature, Cape Hauy (pronounced hoy) is a geological marvel on the Tasman Peninsula. The cape’s signature vertical dolerite columns rise abruptly from the ocean, forming some of the tallest sea cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere. These striking formations are remnants of Jurassic-aged dolerite intrusions that cooled slowly beneath the Earth’s surface and were later exposed by relentless coastal erosion.
Cape Hauy is part of the larger Tasman National Park, which also includes the famed Three Capes Track—a multi-day hike that offers panoramic views of sea stacks like the Candlestick and Totem Pole, two iconic dolerite pillars prized by climbers. This coastline isn’t just visually breathtaking—it also tells a dramatic story of Australia's deep-time volcanic activity and the slow sculpting power of the Southern Ocean.
What looks like a plain rock at first glance is actually hiding an incredible secret—pure gold in fine particles, locked within the hard matrix. In this article, I reveal how to identify this type of high-grade ore, explain why it’s so easy to miss, and show the surprising gold recovered from just a small crushed sample.
Long before the continents settled into their modern forms, eastern Australia nearly tore itself apart. In this video, we unravel the dramatic geologic event that almost saw New South Wales and Queensland break away from the rest of the continent — a failed rift system that shaped the very foundation of eastern Australia. Discover the tectonic forces, basin formation, and ancient crustal stretching that left behind a legacy visible in the landscape today.
The Centralian Superbasin was one of the most dramatic geological features in Australia's ancient past—an enormous inland sea that once covered nearly a quarter of the continent. Formed during the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, this vast basin recorded everything from microbial reef-building to global ice ages and mountain-building events. Its legacy lives on in the rocks beneath the Outback, revealing a time when central Australia lay beneath warm, shallow seas teeming with early life.
Australia’s serene landscapes hide a violent past marked by towering stratovolcanoes and supercharged eruptions. In this article, we uncover the final days of subduction-driven volcanism on the continent—when the New England Orogen roared with fire, and caldera-forming eruptions reshaped eastern Australia. Discover how these ancient volcanoes formed, why they vanished, and what traces remain today in the rocks beneath our feet.
Beneath a tranquil valley lies a story of ancient erosion and hidden riches. This painting-inspired illustration captures the essence of the Bland Creek palaeovalley — a lost river system once filled with gold-laden gravels, now buried beneath layers of sediment. Titled “The Hidden River of Gold,” the image sets the tone for a journey through deep time, where geology, mystery, and mineral wealth converge beneath the Australian landscape.
On June 2, 2025, Mount Etna erupted with a fury not witnessed in over a decade, unleashing a towering ash column and a searing pyroclastic flow that tore down its eastern slopes. This wasn’t just another paroxysm from Europe’s most active volcano—it was a full-scale display of Earth’s raw geologic power. As molten rock and volcanic gases surged skyward, the mountain reminded Sicily and the world why it has been both feared and revered for millennia. But beneath the spectacle lies a story of deep tectonic forces, ancient names, and a volcano that never sleeps.
Manganiferous gossans are the blackened crusts of weathered ore bodies, where manganese oxides mix with iron rust, precious metals, and base metals. These striking gossans don't just stain the surface—they lock in chemical clues that reveal the hidden mineral systems buried beneath.
Hydrothermal breccia-hosted gossans form when sulphide-rich rocks fracture, weather, and oxidise near the surface, leaving behind colourful, iron-stained zones enriched with secondary minerals. These vibrant crusts are more than just geological curiosities—they’re rich records of past fluid flow, redox changes, and mineral transformation.
Gossans form when metal-rich sulfide ores near Earth’s surface weather and oxidize, leaving behind vivid caps of iron and secondary minerals. In carbonate rocks, this process produces colorful mixtures of iron oxides, lead and zinc carbonates, and copper stains—offering geologists a surface-level glimpse into the chemistry of buried ore.
Gossans are the weathered remains of sulfide-rich ore bodies—natural “iron hats” that form when oxygen and water transform underground metal ores into iron-stained, mineral-rich surface rocks. These rusty outcrops not only reveal Earth’s geochemical story but often lead to valuable discoveries hidden just below.
When an asteroid slams into Earth, it does more than create a crater—it reshapes the crust. These cosmic impacts unleash shockwaves, heat, and hydrothermal systems that can concentrate valuable minerals like nickel, copper, platinum, and even diamonds. In craters like Sudbury and Vredefort, ancient destruction has left behind enduring economic treasure.
Supervolcanoes don’t just reshape landscapes—they forge mineral wealth. From lithium-rich clays in ancient caldera lakes to rare earths, gold, and pumice along fractured ring faults, supervolcanic systems concentrate critical elements in the Earth’s crust through powerful geothermal and magmatic processes.
Only three supervolcanoes on Earth have unleashed VEI-8 eruptions and remain geologically active today: Yellowstone, Toba, and Taupō. Though currently quiet, they show subtle signs of life—uplift, heat, and seismic murmurs—reminding us that Earth’s most powerful volcanic systems never truly sleep.
Antimony-rich gold ores are the ultimate challenge for gold recovery. Unlike other refractory ores, stibnite doesn’t just trap gold—it actively sabotages extraction, forming chemical barriers that block leaching and foul up solutions. Learn why these ores are gold’s toughest companions and what makes them so uniquely difficult to crack.
Gold deposits come in more flavors than you might expect—veins in ancient mountains, invisible gold in desert sediments, or nuggets weathered into riverbeds. From orogenic systems to Carlin trends and IOCG giants, this deep dive explores the full spectrum of Earth's golden fingerprints and the geologic forces that shaped them.
Gold-in-quartz veins are more than just beautiful specimens—they're the end result of deep-earth alchemy. Learn how molten fluids, fractured rocks, and shifting pressures combine to deposit precious metal in milky white quartz. From mountain roots to shallow hot springs, discover the science behind one of nature’s most captivating mineral pairings.
What if rare earth elements were hiding in plain sight—in old iron ore volcanoes? Scientists recreated a mini-volcano in the lab and discovered how magmas naturally split and stash rare metals in iron-rich melts. The process could help unlock new sources of critical elements for the green energy revolution.
What if a volcano could whisper before it erupted—and we could hear it? New research from Iceland shows how tiny shifts in seismic waves, caused by underground cracks, can reveal when a volcano is preparing to blow. From quiet unrest at Askja to Bárðarbunga's explosive show, learn how listening to the Earth might help forecast the next eruption.
So I was doing my usual science reading when I came across a headline shouting: “New Supervolcano Discovered Beneath the Pacific Ocean!” Naturally, I clicked. And like any geologist with half a brain, I dug deeper — only to find out it’s total clickbait. Yes, something big was discovered — a massive underwater volcanic structure called the Melanesian Border Plateau — but no, it’s not a supervolcano in the catastrophic Yellowstone sense. It’s a slow-built basaltic province formed through effusive eruptions over millions of years. No ash clouds. No VEI-8 eruption. No doomsday scenario. Just media hype wrapped around misunderstood geology.
In the shadow of every great cataclysm, Earth bears silent witness at its farthest point. When a large asteroid slams into the surface, shockwaves reverberate through the planet’s core and mantle, sometimes converging with uncanny intensity at the antipode—the exact opposite point on the globe. Though Earth’s complex internal structure scatters much of this energy, simulations and planetary analogs suggest that under the right conditions, this seismic convergence can fracture the crust, trigger earthquakes, and in rare cases, awaken dormant volcanic systems. The haunting possibility that Chicxulub’s impact helped unleash the Deccan Traps reminds us that even the far side of Earth can feel the violence of a distant cosmic blow. Antipodal echoes may be subtle, but they are real—a testament to the planet’s dynamic interconnectedness.
Campi Flegrei isn’t your typical volcano—it breathes, heals, and occasionally groans with earthquakes. New science reveals how rainwater, trapped steam, and self-repairing rock drive its periodic unrest, and what we can do to reduce the risk of sudden eruptions in a densely populated area.
A fiery fissure erupts at dusk, casting molten lava into the darkening sky—a powerful reminder of Earth’s deep seismic rhythms. Dive into our blog exploring how even small quakes can disrupt the quiet harmony of tectonic tremors, and what that means for predicting big earthquakes.
How deep is magma stored beneath Hawaiian volcanoes—and how does that change as the volcanoes age? A new study reveals the secret life of Hawaiian magma, showing how storage plunges from shallow crustal levels to deep mantle reservoirs across a volcano's lifespan. From Kīlauea’s fiery youth to Diamond Head’s twilight resurgence, explore the evolving plumbing of paradise.
In the late 1800s, gold mining was nearing its limits. Miners had exhausted rich surface deposits, and mercury amalgamation could no longer keep up with the fine gold locked inside sulfide ores and discarded tailings. But everything changed with the discovery of the cyanide leaching process—a scientific breakthrough that sparked a second gold rush across Australia. This innovation allowed miners to extract gold from low-grade ore and old waste heaps with remarkable efficiency, reshaping the economic landscape of mining towns and pushing recovery rates beyond anything previously possible. In this article, we explore how cyanide revolutionized gold extraction, why it outperformed mercury, and how it led to one of the most significant transformations in the history of gold mining.
Two massive ancient calderas — the Bara Creek and Three Hills calderas — have been discovered buried beneath central New South Wales. These Permian-age volcanic giants, hidden for nearly 290 million years, were uncovered through seismic and geophysical surveys near the Bowdens Silver Deposit. Their preserved structures offer major insights into Australia’s volcanic history and reveal incredible mineral potential, including silver, gold, lead, and zinc. This discovery could reshape mineral exploration across the region and rewrite part of the continent’s deep-time geological story.
Beneath the red dust of central Australia lies the forgotten story of a vanished mountain range that once rivaled the Himalayas. The Petermann Ranges, now little more than subdued ridges near the Northern Territory’s western edge, were born from a violent geological upheaval over 550 million years ago during the Petermann Orogeny. This intraplate orogeny shattered the ancient crust of the Musgrave Province, thrusting deep rocks skyward and forming east–west mountain chains across Australia’s interior. But just as quickly as they rose, these mountains were torn down by erosion, leaving behind iconic sedimentary features like Uluru and Kata Tjuta — geological monuments built from the debris of those lost peaks. Explore how tectonic forces, sedimentation, and time shaped one of Australia’s greatest but least known geological epics.
Gold isn’t just found in creeks and rivers — some of the richest finds come locked in quartz veins deep in the rock. In this blog, I share my latest hard rock gold discoveries from the Australian bush, highlight the geology behind the finds, and explain how visible gold and sulphides revealed promising new zones for exploration.
South Australia’s pink beaches are more than just beautiful — they’re geological time capsules. These vibrant sands were formed from eroded rocks once part of a mountain range in what is now Antarctica. In this blog, we trace the surprising journey of these grains across ancient supercontinents and explore how geology shaped one of Australia’s most stunning coastlines.
Scattered across the southern hemisphere lie fragments of a once-connected geological past. In this blog, we explore the ancient rocks that connect Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and New Caledonia — from shared terranes to matching fault lines — and what they reveal about the supercontinents that shaped Earth’s history.
The Earth is 4.54 billion years old — but where are its oldest rocks? In this blog, we explore the ancient zircon crystals from Jack Hills, the Acasta Gneiss in Canada, and other ancient formations that push the limits of geological time. These rocks don’t just mark Earth’s beginnings — they hold clues to the planet’s earliest crust, oceans, and even possible signs of life.
New research reveals a tectonic connection between the cratons of Northern Australia and Northern China — a link forged over a billion years ago when Earth’s landmasses were arranged in ancient supercontinents. In this blog, we explore the geological evidence that ties these two regions together and what it means for reconstructing Earth's deep-time history.
A new gold discovery just outside Melbourne has confirmed visible gold within a quartz vein hosted by granite — a rare find in this region. In this blog, I share the geology behind the discovery, what makes it significant, and how this find adds to Victoria’s growing profile as a modern gold exploration hotspot.
The Kanowna Deep Lead is one of Western Australia's most remarkable geological gold discoveries — a buried ancient river channel rich in gold hidden beneath layers of sedimentary rock. In this blog, we explore how these paleo-alluvial systems formed, how they were discovered, and why they continue to be prime targets for modern gold exploration.
Over 2.6 billion years ago, a colossal asteroid slammed into what is now Western Australia, triggering the Jeerinah Impact Event. This cataclysm unleashed a 5-kilometre-high megatsunami and reshaped the ancient Pilbara landscape. In this blog, we explore the geological evidence, impact scale, and why this event is considered one of Earth’s most powerful asteroid strikes ever recorded.
Geologists have discovered the world’s oldest asteroid crater in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, dating back 3.47 billion years. This impact predates the previously confirmed Yarrabubba crater by over a billion years and may have shaped the early Earth's crust and atmosphere. In this blog, we break down how this discovery rewrites the timeline of asteroid impacts — and why it matters for understanding Earth's early evolution.
Who needs fire, pressure, or a $1,000 lab kit when you can wander creeks collecting orange slime? In my latest gold recovery adventure, I ditched the furnace and embraced Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans—acid-loving bacteria that quietly digest sulfides and unlock hidden gold. Sounds insane, right? It kind of is. But with no toxic fumes, no roasting, and no high-pressure drama, bioleaching might just be the future of backyard gold extraction. Here's how I went from panning to microbial mining—mud, gumboots, and all.
The discovery of Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada didn’t just reveal a new gold province — it revolutionized our understanding of how invisible gold forms deep underground. In this post, we explore how microscopic gold in sedimentary rocks changed the game for global gold exploration and helped turn Nevada into the top gold-producing region in the U.S.
Long before Pangaea or Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent Vaalbara ruled Earth’s surface. In this blog, we explore the formation of Vaalbara over 3.3 billion years ago, the evidence found in ancient cratons like Pilbara and Kaapvaal, and what this tectonic pioneer reveals about the early evolution of Earth’s crust and life itself.
Australia’s most iconic base metal deposit lies beneath the outback town of Broken Hill. In this post, we explore the geology, origin, and global importance of the Broken Hill Silver-Lead-Zinc orebody — a rich, ancient deposit formed over 1.6 billion years ago and mined for more than a century. Discover what makes it unique, and why it remains a model for exploration worldwide.
A recent seismic swarm beneath Santorini has reignited interest in the island’s volcanic past — and its potentially explosive future. In this post, we explore the geologic triggers behind the activity, the caldera’s history of eruptions, and what these tremors might mean for residents and scientists monitoring one of the world’s most famous volcanoes.
Before the Himalayas or Andes, there was Nuna — Earth’s earliest known supercontinent — and with it, the Nuna Supermountain, a colossal range that may have stretched thousands of kilometers. In this article, we dive into the ancient tectonic forces that built this primordial mountain chain, its role in shaping early life, and how remnants of it are still visible in Australia’s geological record today.
Cape Hauy, located on the southeastern edge of Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula, is one of Australia’s most striking geological formations. Towering dolerite cliffs plunge into the Tasman Sea, remnants of a Jurassic magma intrusion that solidified into near-perfect columns and was later sculpted by erosion and rising seas. This natural fortress of rock tells a story of Gondwana’s breakup, tectonic uplift, and marine weathering—and offers a stunning glimpse into the geological forces that have shaped Tasmania over hundreds of millions of years.
Located in northwest Queensland, the Cannington Silver-Lead-Zinc Mine is one of the most mineralogically significant and economically valuable deposits in Australia. This blog explores the geological evolution of the deposit, which formed during the Proterozoic in a volcanogenic-sedimentary setting. The Cannington deposit is hosted within high-grade metamorphic rocks and is believed to have originated from hydrothermal fluids that introduced massive sulphide mineralization—particularly galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), and native silver—into structural traps and lithological contacts. Over millions of years, intense pressure and metamorphism concentrated these minerals into one of the world's richest known silver-lead-zinc systems. We break down the mineralogy, host rock context, and the tectonic processes that made this deposit globally significant.
The rocks beneath Heathcote, Victoria hold a rare geological marriage: chromium and gold occurring in close proximity, a combination that puzzles and fascinates geologists alike. This blog explores the tectonic and magmatic history behind this pairing, tracing it back to ancient ultramafic intrusions and greenstone belts that form part of Victoria’s Paleozoic accretionary complex. Chromium, hosted primarily in spinel-rich serpentinites and chromitites, was emplaced during deep mantle upwelling, while hydrothermal fluids later introduced gold into nearby fracture systems—often along shear zones or faulted contact zones between mafic and ultramafic rocks. The result is a geochemical and structural overlap where two vastly different ore types were concentrated by overlapping geological processes. Heathcote isn’t just a goldfield—it's a cross-section of Earth’s deeper plumbing.
Hidden in the rugged outback of Western Australia lies one of Earth’s most dramatic reminders of cosmic violence — the Shoemaker Crater, a massive impact site carved into the crust by an asteroid over 1.6 billion years ago. Once thought to be volcanic in origin, this ancient structure stunned scientists when unmistakable evidence of a meteorite impact was uncovered: shocked quartz, rare minerals, and telltale signs of colossal pressure. The scale of the impact that formed Shoemaker Crater rivals nuclear detonation zones, offering a sobering glimpse into the destructive power of space rocks that have shaped our planet's history. Today, it stands as both a geological curiosity and a planetary warning.
What if the Santorini caldera erupted today with the same explosive force as the Minoan eruption—a cataclysmic VEI 7 event? This blog explores a realistic simulation of that apocalyptic scenario: towering ash columns piercing the stratosphere, pyroclastic flows engulfing the island, and regional tsunamis crashing into the Aegean coastline. Air traffic across Europe would grind to a halt, global temperatures could dip from sulfate aerosols, and the Eastern Mediterranean’s geopolitical and humanitarian landscape would be thrust into chaos. From atmospheric disruption to infrastructure collapse, this eruption would become a modern disaster with ancient echoes—rivaling Tambora or Krakatoa in both scale and consequence.
Deep beneath the hills of New South Wales, Burning Mountain holds a fiery secret: it's the site of the world’s longest-burning underground coal seam fire, estimated to have been smouldering for over 6,000 years. Located near the town of Wingen, this slow-moving subterranean fire has transformed the landscape, warping the ground and emitting heat and smoke through surface vents. Once mistaken for a volcanic phenomenon, Burning Mountain is a remarkable example of how natural coal deposits can ignite and burn for millennia—without any human intervention. This blog explores the geologic origins, current movement, and global significance of one of Earth's most quietly dramatic natural features.
In 2018, deep within the Beta Hunt gold mine near Kambalda, Western Australia, miners broke into a quartz vein unlike anything they'd seen before—laden with visible gold. What they uncovered was a once-in-a-generation find: over 24,000 ounces of gold extracted from just a few cubic meters of rock, worth more than $38 million AUD at the time. The so-called "Father’s Day Vein" was a reminder that even in a thoroughly explored region, nature can still deliver jaw-dropping surprises. This blog explores the geology of Beta Hunt, the tectonic forces that created its gold-rich structures, and why this bonanza pocket stunned even the most seasoned geologists.
In 1538, after centuries of dormancy, the Earth ruptured open near the Bay of Naples to unleash one of Europe’s most remarkable volcanic events—the formation of Monte Nuovo, a brand-new volcano born in just a matter of days. This eruption within the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) caldera reshaped the landscape, buried Roman ruins, and served as a stark reminder that this ancient supervolcano was far from dead. Though small in scale, the 1538 eruption signaled a reawakening of deep magmatic forces in one of the most dangerous volcanic regions on Earth—where the next eruption could dwarf the last. This blog explores the geologic drama behind Monte Nuovo’s sudden birth and why Campi Flegrei remains under constant scientific watch.
On the morning of September 23, 2009, residents of Sydney awoke to a surreal sight: the entire city bathed in an eerie red-orange glow. The Red Dawn dust storm, one of the most severe in Australian history, swept millions of tonnes of topsoil from the drought-stricken interior across New South Wales and into coastal cities. At its peak, the storm reduced visibility to just a few hundred meters, halted flights, and triggered air quality alerts across the east coast. More than a bizarre atmospheric event, Red Dawn was a wake-up call about land degradation, extreme weather, and Australia’s fragile relationship with its arid interior.
In the early 1960s, Australia came shockingly close to becoming the testbed for one of the most radical engineering experiments in history: using nuclear explosions to blast a harbor at Cape Keraudren in remote Western Australia. Part of the U.S.-driven Project Plowshare, this proposal aimed to demonstrate peaceful uses for nuclear weapons—by literally carving infrastructure into the landscape with atomic bombs. The Cape Keraudren plan never came to fruition, but it remains a haunting "what if" scenario in both environmental and geopolitical history. This blog unpacks the science, strategy, and controversy behind one of Australia's most startling near-misses with nuclear technology.
Asteroid 99942 Apophis is a 370-meter-wide space rock that will make one of the closest flybys of Earth ever recorded when it passes within 32,000 km of our planet in April 2029—closer than some satellites. Originally feared to be a potential impact threat, Apophis has since been ruled out for collision, but its passage offers a once-in-a-lifetime scientific opportunity to study near-Earth asteroids up close. This ancient fragment of the solar system is more than a celestial curiosity; it’s a wake-up call about planetary defense, orbital dynamics, and the unpredictable dance of cosmic objects.
Beneath the dry heart of Australia lies one of the planet’s most extraordinary geological treasures: the Great Artesian Basin. Spanning over 1.7 million square kilometers, it is the largest and deepest artesian water system in the world. This vast underground reservoir formed over 100 million years ago, as rainwater seeped through porous sandstone layers during the time of dinosaurs. Today, it continues to sustain life across arid inland Australia, feeding natural springs, supporting agriculture, and offering rare insights into ancient hydrological systems sealed beneath layers of impermeable rock. The Great Artesian Basin is not just a water source—it’s a dynamic record of geological history hidden below the outback.
The Flinders Ranges Rift Zone in South Australia is a geological marvel. A place where Earth’s crust cracked open over 500 million years ago, giving rise to a dramatic landscape of folded mountains, fault lines, and fossil-rich seabeds. Once part of an ancient ocean basin, this rift system reveals the tectonic tensions that shaped not just the ranges but the very foundation of the Australian continent. From the Ediacaran fossils of Nilpena to the towering quartzite ridges of Wilpena Pound, the Flinders Ranges offer a window into the deep-time processes that sculpted one of Earth's oldest and most dynamic terrains.
Towering 100 meters above the desert floor, Kings Canyon in Australia’s Northern Territory is a geological masterpiece carved over 400 million years. With its sheer sandstone walls, fossil-rich layers, and the breathtaking Garden of Eden at its heart, Kings Canyon offers a rare glimpse into Earth’s deep time. As you walk the iconic rim trail, each step traverses ancient seabeds and tectonic scars, revealing the powerful forces that shaped this natural wonder within the Watarrka National Park. Whether you're a geology enthusiast or a traveler craving awe-inspiring landscapes, Kings Canyon stands as one of Australia’s most profound geological and scenic treasures.
Once stretching across one-third of the Australian continent, the Eromanga Sea was a vast inland ocean that flooded the landscape during the Early Cretaceous. Beneath today’s dry outback lies the legacy of this prehistoric sea — recorded in fossils, opal-rich sediments, and the mighty Great Artesian Basin. In this post, we explore how the Eromanga Sea formed, what lived within its waters, and how it continues to shape Australia’s geology and groundwater systems today.
Once stretching across the heart of Australia, the Larapintine Sea was a vast inland ocean that existed over 500 million years ago. This ancient seaway transformed the arid outback into a thriving marine ecosystem, leaving behind fossils, sedimentary basins, and the aquifers that still support life in the desert today. Discover how tectonics, sea level rise, and early life came together to shape one of Earth’s most forgotten oceans.
Buried deep in Tasmania’s west lies one of the world’s most visually stunning minerals — crocoite. With its fiery orange-red crystals and rich geological history, crocoite has captivated collectors and geologists alike. In this video, we uncover the story of Tasmania’s legendary crocoite deposits, from their unique formation alongside chromium-rich rocks to the breathtaking specimens found in the Adelaide and Red Lead mines.
After weeks of searching, sampling, and persistence, I have finally located the true source of the rich talus gold found along the hillside.
Just a quick update on the hard rock gold deposit. I intend on releasing the video on it around mid to late May which is when my crusher will be complete.
Over the last month, I’ve been on one of the most exciting adventures of my prospecting life — a journey that, against all odds, led me to the discovery of a hidden hard rock goldfield.
