Geology
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Date of ancient volcanic eruption finally pinpointed using fossilised tree ringsThe Changbaishan eruption, one of the most violent of the last two millennnia, has been dated to within three months of the winter of 946 AD
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The geological oddity that is Sarn WallogCountry diary: Cardigan Bay, Ceredigion Made up of water-rounded cobbles graded in size, this ‘causeway’ looks beguilingly like the work of our ancestors
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Inside Britain's deepest dry valleyCountry diary: Devil’s Dyke, West Sussex I carefully descend the muddy paths down to the bottom, where it is strangely quiet
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How ice creates mini-mountainsWeatherwatch In frozen regions, ice can force the ground into mounds called pingos – conspicuous landmarks in flat landscapes
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Jon McQuilken obituaryOther lives: Geoscientist who published widely on the petroleum systems of North Africa
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Is palaeontology a waste of public money?In these austerity-hardened times, why should palaeontology be funded over health research, team sports and performing arts?
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The river gushes through a gorge where the Romans quarriedCountry diary: Gelt Woods, Cumbria The modern river has sunk down into a narrow channel, carving the rock into strange shapes like rolling muscles or slumped candle wax
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Trowel blazers: women have been digging geosciences longer than you thinkScience has a diversity problem. Role models matter, so Raising Horizons aims to re-set imaginations by sharing two centuries of pioneering women geoscientists
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Why you can thank geology for your morning songbird chorusNew research shows how geology drove the diversification and spread of songbirds, the world’s most abundant bird group
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The natural wonder that holds the key to the origins of life – and warns of its destructionStromatolite-building bacteria once ruled the Earth, then changed its climate so much they nearly became extinct. Michael Slezak visits the world’s largest surviving colony in Hamelin pool, Western Australia
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The Making of the British Landscape by Nicholas Crane review – how the sun shaped the landThis magnificent book, ranging from the ice age to the present, considers the influence on the countryside and cities of climate, geology and a long history of immigration
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How the domestic chicken rose to define the AnthropoceneOver the past 70 years, the bird has become a global staple, and could be the key fossil evidence for human-influenced epoch
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Adventures in wild Britain No stone unturned: my search for the pebble hunter's holy grail