One of the highlights of my recent trip to Central Texas ended up being a half-mile hike up a brushy river to a spot where there were eleven Acrocanthosaurus footprints all in a row, marching through the ancient beach sediment. 

Acrocanthosaurus was one of the biggest theropods ever to have lived -- it measured as much as 38 feet from snout to tail -- and was bipedal, using a large, heavy tail to counterbalance its head and upper body.

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Geology is a force of nature that most people fail to even think about, until the day it bursts free with terrifying force and destruction. One can never be entirely safe from everything, but when the dangers are there, it is important to be aware of what they are.

In Lake County, California, there is a lovely mountain rising up along the side of Clear Lake, which goes by the name Konocti. It's a pleasant and unassuming sight -- a shapely hill covered in chaparral and pines, adorned with vineyards and neighborhoods.

A glance through any of the local tourist brochures or real estate magazines will quickly tell you about the joys of vacationing or living beneath the shadow of this "extinct" volcano.

Just one small problem: that information is one hundred percent false.

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Every so often a fossil, generally a fossil shell such as a clam, will break open to reveal a hollow interior filled with crystals, like the inside of a tiny geode. They're usually calcite crystals that grew there, inside the empty shell, during the fossilization process. 
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The one above I found at Rio Dell, California -- I found it already broken open. It's likely some of my nice complete fossils have crystals within them as well, although I haven't wanted to break them open to find out!