Earth Science · Planetary Archive

Every rock is a page of the Earth's chronicle.

Prepare to be wowed by the mysterious deep-sea wonders that are hydrothermal vents.

Inner Core

Outer Core

Mantle

Crust

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Mineral Clusters

A mineral hall of rotating specimens. Drag the shelf to turn, hover a crystal for its formula and Mohs hardness.

10 crystal specimens · drag to rotate

Drag to rotate · hover for details

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Fossil Excavation

An archaeological dig site: each grid cell hides a fossil beneath the sand. Hover to brush it clean.

6 fossil specimens · hover to excavate

The Wild World of Native Bees: Nesting Habits You Never Knew

Trilobite

Cambrian · 521 Ma

Coral Reefs in July: Underwater Wonders at Their Peak

Ammonite

Jurassic · 200 Ma

How Seasonal Light Shifts Shape Life on Earth

Dinosaur Bone

Cretaceous · 80 Ma

June's Peak Pollinator Season: A Meadow Comes Alive

Crinoid

Carboniferous · 320 Ma

How Plants Sense, Remember, and Talk to Each Other

Brachiopod

Devonian · 400 Ma

How Plants Sense and Respond to the World Around Them

Gastropod

Tertiary · 50 Ma

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Stratigraphic Column

A vertical core through deep time. Each colored band is a geological era. Scroll to drive the column, hover a marker for its age.

5 boundary markers · scroll to explore

Quaternary

Neogene

Paleogene

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

K-Pg Boundary66 Ma · Dinosaur extinction P-Tr Boundary252 Ma · The Great Dying O-S Boundary444 Ma · Ordovician extinction Late Devonian375 Ma · Devonian extinction T-J Boundary201 Ma · Triassic extinction

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Deep Sea Portholes

A submarine cabin wall: each porthole reveals a different deep-sea landscape. Hover to clear the glass.

8 portholes · hover to observe

The Surprising Problem-Solving Power of Forest Floor Decomposers

Black Smoker2,500 m

Signs of Spring: Nature's Awakening and Wildlife Returns in March

Manganese Nodule4,000 m

Vanishing Wildflower Once Thought Extinct Reappears in a Forgotten Meadow

Sediment Layer5,500 m

How Wildlife Endures the Deep Freeze of February

Hydrothermal Vent2,200 m

Heritage Breed Chickens Offer a Humane Alternative to Industrial Poultry Culling

Cold Seep3,200 m

Artificial Light Is Erasing Nocturnal Ecosystems at an Alarming Pace

Seamount1,500 m

Deep Underground, the Earth Forges Diamonds and Crystals Over Millions of Years

Trench Floor10,000 m

Nature's Own Packaging: How Plants and Insects Coat and Protect Themselves

Abyssal Plain6,000 m

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Plate Puzzle

Earth's tectonic plates as draggable puzzle pieces. Drag a plate to feel the seismic edge. Click a hotspot to read.

6 tectonic plates · drag to explore

Pacific Plate

Eurasian Plate

North American Plate

African Plate

South American Plate

Indo-Australian Plate

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Weather Balloons

Atmospheric probes floating at different altitudes. Hover to read their data, click to launch a story.

5 weather balloons · hover for data

Troposphere

Stratosphere

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

TroposphereAlt: 0–12 km
Temp: −56°C

StratosphereAlt: 12–50 km
Temp: −2°C

MesosphereAlt: 50–85 km
Temp: −85°C

ThermosphereAlt: 85–600 km
Temp: 1,200°C

ExosphereAlt: 600–10,000 km
Temp: Variable