Geology Gallery

Continental drift after 250 million years

Continental drift after 250 million years, showing the supercontinent of Pangea Ultima, which was named for the ancient supercontinent of Pangea. Pangea began to break up some 200 million years before the modern era, and around 450 million years before the formation of Pangea Ultima. Some of the shapes of todays continents are still visible. Several such supercontinents have formed in the 4.5-billion-year history of the Earth

© MIKKEL JUUL JENSEN / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Krakatoa sunsets, 1883 artworks

Krakatoa sunsets. Artwork of the spectacular red and orange sunsets caused in London, England, by the August 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, a volcano thousands of kilometres away in Indonesia. The ash thrown up by the eruption caused sunsets like these for years afterwards. These three artworks are a sequence, showing twilight and afterglow effects at Chelsea, London, on 26 November 1883, at around: 4.40pm (top); 5pm (middle); and 6.15pm (bottom). These are among the thousands of sunset sketches made by the British artist William Ashcroft. Krakatoa's eruption prompted many reports and investigations. These artworks formed the frontispiece for The Report of the Krakatoa Committee of the Royal Society (1888)

© ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

First geological map of Britain, 1815 C016/5683

First geological map of Britain, detail of the north east coast (figure 8). This map was published in 1815 by British geologist William Smith (1769-1839). It shows rock layers (strata) in England and Wales and part of Scotland (key at lower left). Smith's work as a canal surveyor allowed him to study geology. He discovered that geological strata could be reliably identified at different places on the basis of the fossils they contained. Smith also proposed the principle of superposition, that if a strata overlays another then it was laid down at a later time. He is considered the father of English geology

© NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY