GEO
Essays on the geology of Australia.
Short essays on the rocks, minerals, and deep time of the Australian continent.
Latest
10 July 2026 · 3 min
The 300-Million-Year-Old Forest That Died Standing Up
In New South Wales, a 300-million-year-old fossil forest preserves dozens of trees buried upright by a Permian volcanic eruption—an entire ecosystem frozen in ash.
Read essay
Recent
All posts →- 10 July 2026The 1.75-Billion-Year-Old Reef That Outranks the BarrierA 1.75-billion-year-old microbial reef in the Kimberley is the largest biological structure ever built by a single species, preserving a world without predators.
- 10 July 2026The 1.85-Billion-Year-Old Caldera That Still Feeds the FurnaceIn South Australia's Middleback Ranges, a 1.85-billion-year-old volcanic caldera collapsed and later became one of the world's richest iron ore deposits.
- 10 July 2026The 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Cones That Still Catch LightIn the Pilbara's Dresser Formation, 3.5-billion-year-old stromatolites preserve the oldest direct evidence of life on Earth—microbial mats that built layered domes in a volcanic caldera.
- 10 July 2026The 550-Million-Year-Old Frond That Died on PurposeA 550-million-year-old frond in the Flinders Ranges preserves the oldest known evidence of programmed cell death, recorded in the symmetrical decay pattern of Dickinsonia.
- 10 July 2026The 5-Million-Year-Old Cave Archive Beneath a Treeless PlainBeneath the treeless Nullarbor Plain, a labyrinth of limestone caves preserves five million years of Australian climate in sediment layers, fossil bones, and ancient air bubbles.
- 10 July 2026The 825-Million-Year-Old Rift That Failed But Built a WorldA failed 825-million-year-old rift left a 650-kilometre volcanic chain and sedimentary basin in South Australia that preserved the Ediacaran fossils and still shapes the landscape today.