Screen capture from about 1:30 PM Hawaiian local time on April 1, 2025  If you have not been watching the live WebCam from the Kilauea volcano, check it out here. Spectacular fountaining going on. HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT U.S. Geological Survey Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 11:22 AM HST (Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 21:22 UTC) KILAUEA (VNUM #332010) 19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m) Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE Activity Summary:  The high fountain phase of episode 16 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu ..read more

With the Antarctic Peninsula 600 miles to our stern, the Seven Seas Splendor approached and docked in Ushuaia Argentina on February 5, 2025. This former penal colony (which now houses a fantastic museum), is commonly known as our globe's southernmost city. It is located along the shores of the Beagle Channel on the island of Tierra del Fuego. I've walked the streets and hills of Ushuaia many times, so instead of doing that  again I signed up for a trek into the heart of its rugged mountains. Part 1 - An Inland Trek on Terra del Fuego The approach to Ushuaia with Tierra del Fuego's mounta ..read more

From sweltering Rio de Janeiro and its 92°days to a frosty 34° in Antarctic days and "nights", this voyage has had its variety! We have been lucky with the weather and seeing exceptional views. The crossing from the Falklands to the Peninsula was rather smooth and Seven Seas Splendor takes any motion quite well. Suddenly, the frozen landscape began to appear. We approached Antarctica by way of the South Shetland Islands, transiting the Nelson Strait and motoring southward toward Greenwich and Livingston islands. These "outer bands" of rocky islands are composed of volcaniclastic material (sed ..read more

Rio de Janeiro  RDJ - it seems to me now -  is a place that I used to know. Back in the 1990s, I came here a lot and stayed a month or two at a time. That seems like a different life and I am a certainly a different person now. But the memories of this unique combination of a giant megapolis situated within and upon a stunning landscape still holds enchantment for me. That is, if you can ignore the sweetish-smell of rotting fruit permeating the air or the polluted water in the very restricted and closed basin that is Guanabara Bay (one of the original Seven  ..read more

  For the next 42 days, this will be my home, the Regent's Seven Sea's Splendor. One of my old Antarctic colleagues has asked me to serve as lecturer and Expedition Leader on two cruises. Splendor can carry up to 750 passengers, definitely the biggest ship I have ever boarded and sailed on.  Cruise #1 began in Rio de Janeiro (where the photo of Splendor at dock was taken), visiting three other ports in Brazil, two in Uruguay, Buenos Aires, the Falkland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula, then back to Tierra del Fuego at Ushuaia and Punta Arenas and through the southern Chilean fjords ..read more

Dust cloud coming from the eastern rim of Grand Canyon near Carbon Creek Canyon. Temple Butte is the high-standing pyramid left of the dust cloud and Carbon Creek Canyon is hidden in front of it. On November 21, 2024 the National Park Service at Grand Canyon National Park reported a large rock fall that occurred just downstream from the confluence from the Little Colorado river. National Park Service personnel were on a river trip stopped over on River left at River Mile 66 and Espejo Creek. They looked upstream and saw a huge dust cloud coming down the west-facing slope of the east r ..read more

"Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau", first published in 2008, is now available in a fully revised and completely updated 2nd Edition! Published by the Grand Canyon Conservancy, it is being featured as a special Holiday offering here. The book will make a fantastic gift for your Earth-minded friends and family! (I recommend buying directly from here as proceeds go to support Grand Canyon National Park.  New cover of the 2nd Edition of "Ancient Landscapes" We continually have to answer the age-old question, "So if I own the 1st Edition, why should I buy the new edition?" H ..read more

Next stop on this trip was the Shetland Islands - the northernmost part of Scotland. We anchored off of the largest city, Lerwick. It has a population of about 7,000 but I did not experience it as I selected a trip that moved south along the east shore of the North Sea to an archaeological site called Jarlshof. Near there, we hiked a short distance to Sumburgh Head, a spectacular sheer cliff with a lighthouse that faces the Scottish mainland. Map of the destinations on this 8-day trip - Glasgow, Fort William, Portree, Orkney's, Shetland's and Sognefjord Map of the Shetland Isla ..read more

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory has issued a report on the hydrothermal blast in the Biscuit Basin area of the Park on July 23. I have copied their news release in its entirety here. It was NOT a volcanic eruption, but rather water turning to steam at shallow depths. Damaged boardwalk near the steam blast (Creative Commons courtesy of Yellowstone NP) YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT U.S. Geological Survey Wednesday, July 24, 2024, 3:43 PM MDT (Wednesday, July 24, 2024, 21:43 UTC) YELLOWSTONE (VNUM #325010) 44°25'48" N 110°40'12" W, Summit Elevation 9203 ..read more

Recently, I was fortunate to represent the Smithsonian Institution's travel program, Smithsonian Journeys, as a geologic lecturer for 145 guests. We sailed from Glasgow Scotland to Bergen Norway, stopping at six delightful and very scenic destinations. What an honor it is to represent the Smithsonian in this way and to to further a wider understanding of earth history and print day earth processes to the traveling public! This post just covers the first two stops in Scotland - I will post the rest of Scotland and Norway in subsequent posts. These are the three formal lectures I gave onboa ..read more