The Ultimate Geography&Geology Resource Page

From the Greek, geology combines geo and logos, and is the study of the Earth. Most broadly, geography is the study of the changing nature of the Earth's surface and its inhabitants, humans, animals and plants. Since both fields focus on the Earth, geologists and geographers sometimes cross paths. While geology focuses on the physical composition of the earth and the processes that have changed it over time, geography is about people, places on the planet's surface and their interaction.

Geology Resources
Divided into two over-arching areas called historical geology and physical geology, the study of geology is further subdivided into many specialties such as sedimentology, paleogeography and paleontology. Physical geology includes the study and research of Earth?s physical materials and processes within or on the surface of the planet. Historical geology focuses on the evolution and origin of the Earth, its land masses, life, atmosphere and oceans. Internet resources for geology are readily available and include websites of societies and associations that have been formed to support the field, publications and study materials from geologists and professors.

• United States Geological Survey: A part of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS is responsible for doing research and monitoring earthquakes, volcanoes and the earth's magnetic field. The USGS website provides information on these hazards, plus astrogeology, geologic mapping and natural resources.


• British Geological Survey: The British Geological Survey (BGS) was founded in 1835, making it the oldest national geological survey. BGS online resources include a geological timechart, geological timeline and popular geology topics for the public, as well as other educational materials.


• OneGeology: Uniting the geological surveys of the world, OneGeology aims to make earth's geological mapping data accessible to all.


• The Geological Society: Founded as the Geological Society of London in 1807, this society not only offers support to more than 9,000 Fellows, its online public educational materials are extensive and include photo galleries, e-book collections list and the Geoscientist Online magazine with its in-depth and beautifully illustrated articles.


• Geological Survey of Canada: The GSC is Canada's agency for geosciences. Among the information its website offers are geological maps, virtual tours and "Geoscapes" that explain the landscapes, natural resources and hazards of communities across the country.


• British Society for Geomorphology: The BSG is the professional society for geomorphologists in Great Britain. This cross-disciplinary field is all about landforms and landscapes. The BSG says that these specialists sometimes call themselves "landscape-detectives" because they work to discover the history of a landscape.


• Geological Society of America: The GSA was founded in 1888 and works on behalf of its professional earth scientists, but says it is also for students, educators and the general public.


• American Geophysical Union: Established in 1919, the AGU promotes the geophysical sciences through individual work and a collaborative relationship with other scientific organizations.  


• American Association of Petroleum Geologists: The AAPG, said to be the largest society of geological professionals in the world, got its start in 1917. Goals of the organization include the advancement of geology and the promotion of technology and scientific research.


• American Geological Institute: The AGI represents almost 50 associations and 120,000 geologists and earth scientists. Resources available online include slide shows and downloadable environmental awareness publications.


• International Association of Sedimentologists: For more than 50 years, the IAS has promoted the study of sedimentology and international cooperation in research.


• Online Geology Magazine: From geology in the news, to geologic maps of the states and articles that explain things like what a geologist does, it's all here.


• Society for Sedimentary Geology: This professional society offers its publication, The Sedimentary Record, online from the present issue back through Volume 1, No.1, published in May 2003.


• Geology Photo Gallery: The Department of Geological Sciences at Cal State L.A. offers a geology photo gallery that covers glaciers, deserts, San Andreas Fault and several other topics.


• GeoScienceWorld: This non-profit offers geosciences online information from its member organizations.


• American Institute of Professional Geologists: The AIPG supports more than 5,500 members. One of its purposes is to establish and certify qualifications for professional geologists.


• Earth Magazine: From the American Geographical Institute, this is the online version of Earth that covers topics in the geosciences. An extensive archive is available.


• The Dynamic Earth: This interactive presentation about the forces that formed the Earth and the Solar System is the online version of the print book from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.


• Undersea Geology&Geophysics: The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution offers undersea stories in geology and geophysics. Topics include hydrothermal vent systems, volcanoes and earthquakes.


• Sedimentology: Virtual field trips, geologic images from around the world and online learning materials in sedimentology, vocanology and environmental geology are available here.


• UGA Stratigraphy Lab: Integrating paleobiology and sequence stratigraphy is the focus of this University of Georgia lab.


• IASPEI: The International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior works in support of the study of the processes, structure and properties of the Earth.


• History of Geology-Geologists: A listing by time period of geologists from the Ancient through the 20^th Century.


• Profiles of Earth Scientists: Extensive profiles of contemporary earth scientists are archived here.


• Victorian Geology: The Victorian Web offers an overview of geology in the Age of Victoria, along with biographies of the founders of geology. Some of the biographies include links to writings of that geologist that are available online.


• IAMG: The International Association for Mathematical Geosciences promotes informatics, statistics and mathematics in the Geosciences.


• WorldWide Groundwater: IAH is an international organization that works on the research and promotion of the protection and management of global groundwater resources.


• Geology at UCMP: The Museum of Paleontology at UC Berkeley offers this tour of its Geology Wing. Presentations include a geologic time machine and the plate tectonics exhibit.


• Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: In addition to professional paleontologists, this society counts among its members, artists and preparators, as well as those who are just interested in vertebrate paleontology.


• The Paleontological Society: In 2008, this society celebrated its centennial by continuing to work to expand the knowledge of worlds long gone.


• Paleontological Research Institute: The PRI, home to the Museum of the Earth, is entrusted with a collection of specimens numbering between 2-3 million. Its publication, Bulletins of American Paleontology, has been published since 1895.


• The Palaeontological Association: This association makes available online the journal Paleaeontology and the its newsletter, both current and past issues.


• The Groundwater Foundation: The mission of this nonprofit is to promote the protection and sustainability of the world's groundwater. Some issues of the publication Aquifer are available on the site.


• Groundwater Interactive: Virginia Tech provides interactive resources for learning about ground water hydrology and pollution.


• National Ground Water Association: This organization is dedicated to advancing the knowledge of groundwater.


• Geosciences at Scripps: With lots of educational materials, plus links to other resources, Earthguide is rich in information about the geosciences.


• Association of Women Geoscientists: This association, formed to support women in the geosciences, represents 43 specialties. Educational information, including the video Women Who Walk Through Time are available online.


• The London Topographical Society: This society which was founded in 1880 is dedicated to publishing information about London, its topography, growth and history.


• OpenTopography Portal: The mission of this project is to provide wide online access to the high resolution topographic data now available.


• Bathymetry, Topography & Relief: Information on land elevations, coastlines and ocean depths is available from the National Geophysical Data Center at NOAA.


• All About Glaciers: The story of glaciers, along with an extensive image gallery and other resources for glacial study can be found here at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.


• National Park Glaciers and Glacial Landforms: From active alpine glaciations to channeled scablands, the National Park Service knows about glacial landforms in the places it cares for. A tour of glaciers in the national park system is offered here.


• Glacial Landforms: A Geomorphology from Space chapter on glaciers and glacial landforms with extensive graphic and satellite views.


• PALEOMAP Project: Earth History and Climate History are illustrated here through paleogeographic maps.


• Geology and Ancient Landscapes: The in-depth information about geologic history of the Colorado Plateau, continental drift and plate tectonics ancient landscapes offered in these pages is enhanced with extensive photographs and map reconstructions.


• Plate Tectonics: A short course is the forces that change the surface of the earth, mainly plate tectonics and how and why they move.


• Walter Geology Library: Many online geology resources are available here, including virtual field trips.


• Online Earth Science Literature: Called the Lyell Collection, this site presents a wealth of resources in the study of geology and earth sciences.


• Geology of the National Parks: This online course in the geology of the national parks across the United States uses many of the resources available to teach the geosciences via the Internet.


• Historical Geology: This course website offers an overview and extensive materials for the study of historical geology.

Geography Resources
Geographers describe Earth's spatial dimensions, how places and human interaction differs in time and space. Like geology, the field of geography is divided into two broad areas, physical geography and human geography. Overtime, many specialties like urban geography and environmental geography, have evolved. Physical geography is the study of landforms, vegetation, soils and hydrology. Human geography tackles special analysis of social, economic and cultural systems. Online resources in geography include professional organization websites, statistical information that supports study and research, plus college level course materials.

• National Atlas: This user-friendly mapping system presents layers of geographical information about the United States with a link out to the Global Mapping Project. Eleven layers are available, including agriculture, boundaries, map reference and people. Articles about geography of the country enhance the usefulness of the map layers.


• History of Geography: History and a succinct overview of the branches of geography are a part of the information covered on this page.


• Places OnLine: The Association of American Geographers offers this clickable world map which links to its lists of recommended place-based websites.


• Geography at USGS: The Geography pages of the USGS online present information vital to the understanding of the land and the American people. "Geography for a Changing World" is the focus through the year 2015.


• National Geographic Society: Since 1888 this society has been on a mission to contribute to the geographic knowledge and understanding of Planet Earth.


• Geographical Society of New South Wales: Supporting the advancement of geography in New South Wales and all of Australia is the mission of this society. It publishes the journal Australian Geographer (some articles are free online) and a newsletter which can be downloaded.


• Canadian Association of Geographers: This professional organization for geographers also focuses on students who comprise nearly one-third of its members.


• Royal Geographical Society: With the Institute of British Geographers, this society serves its 15,000 members around the world and the general public through online education and outreach programs. Its long history dates back to 1830.


• Royal Canadian Geographical Society: Founded in 1929, this society was formed to promote knowledge about Canada and its people.


• Geographical Association: With its mission to further geography through teaching and learning, this association offers extensive resources on its website.


• Association of American Geographers: Among the AAG's deep online educational materials is Careers in Geography that makes available information about working the field of geography. Sample jobs and careers, salary trends and profiles of real life geographers are examples of the many sections of this online geography career guide.


• Geography in America Timeline: This timeline covers geography events in America from circa 1000 through the year 2002.


• GIS Timeline: This Geographical Information Systems timeline begins with 1959 with the MIMO and traces its history through 1999.


• NRCS Soil Geography: Understanding soils is the focus of this Natural Resources Conservation Service website. Soil moisture, suitability, temperature and much more is presented here.


• American FactFinder: Geographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau is available through both reference maps and thematic maps.


• Geography of Waters: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains this WATERS data site based on the physical features of how the watershed works.


• Statistics at the UN: Economic, demographic, social, environmental and energy statistics of nations around the globe are available here.


• Portals to the World: This site provides links to authoritative sources of information about regions and countries of the world.


• Power of Place: This college level geography course is presented in 26 half-hour videos, along with the companion website.


• Nations of the World: All the countries of the world are covered in news and statistics on this site. Information on languages, currencies, airports and airlines, cities and populations are readily available.


• Country Profiles: Facts about individual countries and their leaders, along with archived BBC audio and video are offered here.


• CIA World Factbook: With a section about what's new in the factbook, this site presents regularly updated information pertaining to 266 entities of the world. From people to government and geography, it's all here.


• GeoData: This is the U.S. government's one-stop site for national, state and local geographic information. Categorized and linked to appropriate sources of data, it offers in-depth materials.


• Geography 109: This Weather & Climate course website at Indiana University is an overview of information presented in an environmental geography course.


• Internet Weather Source: The place to learn about what's happening in weather from NOAA's National Weather Service.


• Office of Population Research: The landing page for Princeton University's OPR data archive. It's easy to find the most recently added population information or search the archive.


• Geography 101: Here are lecture outlines for a course in World Human Geography and text links to definitions in a glossary of geographic terms.


• AP Human Geography: This Advanced Placement course website provides extensive human geography materials, including the four traditions and five themes of geography.


• American Planning Association: This association's website provides an overview of what it takes to develop flourishing communities. It also offers a wide range of educational materials.


• Capacity Global: On a mission to assure a clean and healthy environment for the communities of the world, this organization's website offers downloadable materials from its library.


• Urban Geography Commission: A part of the International Geographical Union, this commission is tasked with the mission to encourage research in the field of urban systems. Urban geographers from around the world are involved in this collaborative effort.


• Urban and Regional Planners: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has included this section on jobs in urban and regional planning in the 2010/2011 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook.


• USAID: Urban management and planning topics are covered in this section of the Making Cities Work website.


• Urban Environmental Management: Expansive resources on urban problems and solutions are made readily available here.


• Urban Development: UNESCO offers information about its Urban Development Programme that focuses on social transformations in cities.


• The Codes Project: Arizona State University is working on the project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. This archive of historical documents relating to urban environments included selections from around the world and through different time periods.


• Important Geographers: This list includes those historical figures who have made significant impact in the field of geography.


• Society of Woman Geographers: This organization welcomes all women who wish to add to the world's geographical knowledge. Their website provides access to the ISWG Oral History archive.


• Physical Geography: This website offers two physical geography eBooks, a glossary of geographic terms and links to other geography-related material.


• The Physical Environment: This online geography textbook uses not only text, but graphics, photos, video and audio to provide a complete learning environment.


• Lovell Center: This environmental research center is a part of the Texas State University's Department of Geography. In addition to onsite materials, links to other resources around the world are included here.


• Australian Geographer: This journal from the Geographical Society of New South Wales focuses on issues affecting Australia, the Antarctic, and western Pacific.


• Canadian Geographic: The online version of Canadian Geographic magazine offers extensive information about the geography of Canada.


• The Geographical Journal: Since 1893, the Royal Geographical Society has published this academic journal.


• Urban Geography: Published semi-quarterly, Urban Geography focuses on the problem-solving issues being worked on by geographers and other scientists.


• The Home Planet: From the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, this collection of images and animations offers the geographer access to information about the Earth as seen from space.