Image of the Earth. Meet Earth. Your Home. Discover, explore, and investigate our world and its over 4.5-billion-year history with Earth@Home. Photograph of Taughannock Falls in Tompkins County, New York. Explore the Earth science of the United States Get started Simple map showing the physiographic regions of the western United States. Simple map of Hawaii. Five regions online now Simple map of the southeastern United States showing the boundaries of the Inland Basin, Coastal Plain, and Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions. Simple map of the south central United States showing the Coastal Plain, Interior Highlands, Central Lowland, Great Plains, and Basin and Range physiographic regions. Simple map of the southwest United States showing the Great Plains, Rock Mountains, Colorado Plateau, and Basin and Range physiographic regions. Image showing a cartoon snail and a banner that announces the Earth@Home Science Roadtrip Join Gilbert Photograph of a rocky beach in Door County, Wisconsin. Quick facts about the Earth science of each U.S. state Photograph of dinosaur skeletons on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Geologic and topographic maps Image showing geologic and topographic map of Arizona. State fossils, rocks, minerals, and gems Photograph of Natural Bridge in Virginia. Places to visit and more Explore Digital Encyclopedia of Earth Science Discover more about your world with our free, open-access Earth science textbook. Discover now Photograph of two people on a beach. Why does this place look the way it does? Virtual fieldwork can help you find the answers. Investigate now Photograph of some rugose coral fossils. Use our Digital Atlas to identify fossils and explore paleontology. Online textbook, 3D virtual collection, and field guides. Digital Atlas logo. Dig in Photograph of a woman looking at mountains. Want more Earth science in your inbox? Subscribe for updates about the latest additions to Earth@Home. Subscribe now

What's New?


Earth@Home is expanding!

April 24, 2023

Earth@Home is growing to provide coverage of additional topics related to Earth and its life, including Climate, Biodiversity, and Evolution. Explore below or by using the new navigation at the top of every Earth@Home page.


Image of clouds over a landscape.

Climate

Connects existing Earth@Home pages related to climate change and provides helpful resources for educators who teach climate science.

Explore
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Biodiversity

Introduction to the diverse plants and animals of Central New York State, as well as information to help identify different species

Explore
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Evolution

Initially focused on the biology and evolution of grasses and the domestication of important food crops like corn. Will expand to other topics later.

Explore

Climate Change Adaptation

November 18, 2022

People standing in sea water near the shore in Brooklyn, NY, handing each other bags of oysters as part of an oyster reef restoration project.

While it is imperative that we continue to expand our mitigation efforts to limit the amount of human-caused climate change, we also need to find ways to adapt to changes that are already happening. Adaptation will help us become more resilient to extreme weather and other climate hazards that we'll face in the future even as we work to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases.

This new chapter of the Digital Encyclopedia of Earth Science explores existing and proposed adaptation strategies for a variety of climate hazards and examines some of the challenges these strategies present.


Explore

Earth Science of the NorthwestCentral United States

November 2, 2022

Simple map showing the major physiographic regions of the northwest-central United States.

Explore the Earth science of the Northwest-Central United States, including its geologic history, rocks, fossils, topography energy, mineral resources, climate, glaciers, and Earth hazards.


Explore

Here on Earth: Regional Guides to Earth Science

The goal of this part of the Earth@Home project is to explain the Earth science of every region of the United States and provide necessary background information. Each region is divided into physiographic provinces: regions that are naturally defined by their modern topography and geologic history. The map below shows the major physiographic regions of the contiguous United States that we are recognizing in Earth@Home.


Map showing the major physiographic regions of the contiguous United States.

Regions of Here on Earth that are currently in development include:

  • Midwestern United States
  • Northeastern United States

Regional Guides

Digital Encyclopedia of Earth Science

Free, open-access Earth science textbook. Over the next several years, the Digital Encyclopedia of Earth Science will grow to cover most Earth science topics. Initial subjects covered include big ideas, minerals, fossils, climate, and climate change (links below). "Quick Introductions" provide brief overviews of that will be expanded upon in later Digital Encyclopedia chapters.

Newest chapter: Climate Change Mitigation by Dr. Ingrid Zabel.


Digital Encyclopedia

Virtual Fieldwork Experiences (VFEs)

Background information about Virtual Fieldwork Experiences (VFEs), VFE catalog, and tips for creating your own VFEs.


Virtual Fieldwork

Virtual Collections

Interactive 3D models of rocks, minerals, and fossils


Virtual Collections

Additional Resources


Earth@Home Science Road Trip

Image showing a cartoon snail and a banner that announces the Earth@Home Science Roadtrip

Follow Professor Gilbert D. Snail on his tour of the Earth science of the United States.


Crawl along with Gilbert

Earth@Home Workshops

Photograph of the Grand Canyon with the Earth@Home logo superimposed upon it.

Workshops about the resources on Earth@Home tailored to each major region of the United States.


Workshops

Fossils of the United States

Photograph of a trilobite fossil.

Find out about the fossils that have been found near the place where you live.


Fossils of the U.S.

U.S. Earth Science Quick Facts

Photograph of a rocky beach in Door County, Wisconsin.

Find out about the official state fossils, rocks, minerals, gems, and highest and lowest elevation of each state in the U.S.


Quick Facts

Geologic Time Scale

Image showing the geologic time scale, including a pie chart that depicts the relative proportions of time represented by each geologic eon.

The geologic time scale, including major Earth and life history events.


Geologic Time Scale

Geologic and Topographic Maps

Image showing geologic and topographic map of Arizona.

Geologic and topographic maps of each U.S. state that are free to use for educational purposes (under development). 


Geologic Maps
Topographic Maps