Earth science

Articles about geology, climate, oceans and the planet.

Articles in this category: 823 Updated: April 29, 2026 Page 3 / 18

Clastic rock

Clastic rock: sedimentary rocks made of broken fragments (clasts)

Clay

Clay: composition, properties, origins, uses and engineering impacts

Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

Cliff

Cliff: steep natural rock faces, formation, types and notable examples

Climate

Climate

Climate: long-term patterns of weather, types, causes and relevance

Climate is the long-term pattern of weather in a region — averages and ranges of temperature, precipitation, wind and related conditions — shaped by geography, oceans and atmospher

Climate change

Climate change

Climate of California

Climate of California: regional types, causes, and impacts

Climate sensitivity

Climatology

Cloud

Cloud

Coal

Coal

Coal: composition, formation, uses, and environmental impacts

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from ancient plant matter; used for energy and industry, it shaped the Industrial Revolution and now raises health and climate concern

Coal ball

Coal ball (permineralized peat fossils)

Coal mining

Cobble (geology)

Coccolith

Coccoliths: microscopic calcium‑carbonate plates produced by coccolithophores

Cocos plate

Cold seep

Cold seep (cold vent)

Conglomerate (geology)

Continental crust

Continental drift

Continental margin

Convergent boundary

Convergent boundary (plate tectonics)

Coprolite

Coprolite

Coprolite — fossilized feces and what it reveals

Coprolites are fossilized animal droppings (trace fossils) that preserve dietary remains and ecological information; used by paleontologists to reconstruct ancient diets and enviro

Corundum

Corundum — the aluminium oxide mineral behind ruby and sapphire

Cotacachi Volcano

Cotacachi Volcano: Dormant Andean Peak in Imbabura, Ecuador

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi: Ecuador's high active stratovolcano

Crater

Craton

Cretaceous

Cretaceous Period: geology, climate, life, and the end‑Cretaceous event

Cryogenian

Cryosphere

Cryovolcano

Cyclone

Cyclone Kyarr

Cyclone Kyarr (October 2019)

Cyclone Yasi

Cyclone Yasi (2011) — Major Queensland tropical cyclone

Daikakuji Seamount

Daikakuji Seamount — extinct guyot in the Hawaiian–Emperor chain

Dark adaptor goggles

Dark adaptor goggles: purpose, design, and uses

Denudation

Denudation (geology): processes that lower and reshape Earth's surface

Deposition (geology)

Desert climate

Desert climate (arid climate): characteristics, distribution and significance

Devonian

Devonian Period (about 419–359 million years ago)

Dew

Diabase

Diabase (dolerite, microgabbro): composition, formation, and uses

Dinosaur Ridge

Dinosaur Ridge — Morrison Formation fossils and Dakota tracksite near Denver

Diorite

Diorite: Composition, Formation, Characteristics, and Uses

Dip slope

Dip slope (geology)

Dirt

Dirt: definition, composition, uses, and environmental concerns

Discharge (hydrology)

Discharge (hydrology): volumetric flow of water in rivers, lakes and streams