Minerals and Crystals
Famous for engagement rings, this mineral ranks 10 out of 10 on the MOH's hardness scale, making it earth's hardest natural mineral?
What is Dimond
In the 1993 film Jurassic Park, scientists extract dinosaur DNA from a mosquito trapped in this hardened fossilized tree resin?
What is Amber
The Mesozoic Era is famous for being the age dominated by these gigantic extinct reptiles?
What are Dinosaurs
Rocks created directly from cooled magma or lava fall under this rock category?
What is Igneous Rock
The U.S. national park is known for its geothermal activity, a result of sitting on top of the country's largest volcano
Fool's gold gets its nickname because it looks like real gold, but its actually made of this iron-rich mineral?
What is pyrite
In the popular franchise Star Wars, the most important piece of a Jedi knights light saber which also gives the blade its striking color is a kybar ____
What is a Crystal
Radiocarbon dating lets scientists determine the age of ancient organic materials using this radioactive element?
What is Carbon
Smooth, elegant kitchen countertops and classical greek statues are often carved from this heat-transformed rock?
What is Marble
This U.S. wonder is partially known for what geologists call The Great Unconformity
What is the Grand Canyon?
This popular type of quartz cryatal is characterized by its purple hue?
What is Amethyst
In the animated film Ice Age, a prehistoric squirrel-like creature named Scrat, triggers massive geological events all because he was trying to bury this single nut?
What is an Acorn
Footprints, burrows, or fossilized animal droppings (coprolites) are known as "trace fossils" because they record animal activity rather than these hard body parts?
What are Bones
What is a Fossil Fuel
This mountain is actually the tallest volcano in the contiguous U.S.
What is Mt. Rainier
Corundum is and aluminum oxide mineral that rates at a 9 on the MOH's hardness scale, when trace amounts of chromium turn it red it's called a ruby, but when trace amounts of iron and titanium turn it blue its called this?
What is Sapphire
In the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indy searches for the scared Sankara Stones, which are modeled after traditionally gathered from this scared Indian river?
What is the Narmada River
Chemist and geologist Clair Patterson dedicated his career to exposing how this commonly used element was to blame for the heavy metal poisoning of citizens all across the U.S?
What is Lead
When felsic magma cools under extremely high water pressure, it forms this exceptionally course-grained igneous rock, often enriched with rare elements and huge crystals?
What is Pegmatite
This impact crater along the Golf of Mexico is thought to be from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs
What is the Chicxulub Crater?
This optical phenomenon, famously exhibited by Iceland Spar (calcite), spits a ray of light entering the crystal into two distinct rays traveling at different velocities?
What is Birefringence
In James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar, humans colonize pandora to mine this valuable room-temperature superconductor mineral, whose name is a real-life scientific term used for materials thought to be impossible or fictional?
What is Unobanium
The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer found in rock sequences worldwide contains abnormally high concentrations of this rare platinum-group metal, proving a massive astroid impact caused the dinosaur extinction?
What is Iridium
Sedimentary rocks that consist of rounded rock fragments cemented together is called conglomerates, whereas rocks consisting of angular, unsorted fragmanets are known as this?
What is Breccia
This infamous volcano erupted in 79 AD and resulted in the destruction of the city of Pompeii
What is Mount Vesuvius