Indiana Geological and Water Survey

Want to have a BLAST this summer?

There are still spots available for the Bringing Life to Aggregates Summer Teacher's (BLAST) Institute on July 20-24!

All Indiana educators are invited to join the IGWS and Indiana Mineral Aggregates Association for five days of hands-on activities, industry demonstrations, and quarry visits. Register today at https://web.indmaa.org/events/BLAST2026%20%20Bringing%20Life%20to%20Aggregates%20a%20Summer%20Teachers%20Institute-7633/details.

Photo description: Gray rock dust sprays into the air during a blast demonstration at the Rogers Group quarry in Bloomington.

The IGWS Learning Lab will be closed this Thursday, July 16 to celebrate our Director upon his retirement.

Read more about the 16th State Geologist's career on our newsletter: https://igws.iu.edu/news/story/2026-thompson-retirement

Photo description: A yellow background with blue text that reads "The Learning Lab will be closed July 16 to celebrate the retirement of our Director and State Geologist." There is a photo of a hard hat, rock hammer, and a man wearing a yellow vest with hand lens hanging from his neck.

IGWS offices and Learning Lab will be closed this Friday, July 3 in observation of Independence Day. 🇺🇸

Photo description: Blue and red text on white background that reads "IGWS will be closed Friday, July 3rd for Independence Day."

Early this morning, a M3.5 earthquake occurred along the Illinois-Indiana border near West Salem, Illinois.

Residents in Evansville and Terre Haute reported feeling weak to light shaking. To report your experience and learn more about recent earthquakes felt in the Hoosier state, visit https://igws.iu.edu/outreach/recentearthquakes.

Photo description: A screenshot of the USGS "Did You Feel It?" Intensity Map for the June 29, 2029 earthquake. The image has blue response squares and contour lines on top of a yellow-green map.

Sharing 3 NEW publications in the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences. Find these and more in Volume 8 of the journal at https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/IJES/index.

"Indiana High-temperature Geothermal Assessment" reviews the potential for high-temperature geothermal energy for power generation in Indiana.

"Interpreting the Origins of Some Conical Body and Trace Fossils from Upper Ordovician and Middle Silurian Strata of Southern Indiana" describes noteworthy macrofossils from Ripley County.

"Geological and Historical Development of the Mount Baldy Dune, Indiana Dunes National Park" summarizes historical developments and ongoing hazards along the southern edge of Lake Michigan.

Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences The Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences is an open access serial publication of the Indiana Geological and Water Survey (IGWS), a research institute of Indiana University and the state-legislated archive for geologic and hydrologic data. While the journal serves as the primary outlet for scholarly com...

Thank you to everyone who attended the Grand Reopening of the IGWS Learning Lab!

It was great to share our hands-on rocks, minerals, and fossils with so many visitors today. We look forward to hosting your youth groups, students, and families on Tuesdays-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and third Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Photo description: A collage of 9 images showing visitors of all ages interacting with specimens and activities in the Learning Lab

The IGWS will be closed tomorrow, June 19, for Juneteenth.

The Learning Lab will be open on Saturday, June 20 for the Grand Reopening of the IGWS Learning Lab. Hope to see you then!

Photo description: White text on a black background that reads "We will be closed for Juneteeth Friday, June 19"

The IGWS Learning Lab reopens this week! We will be open for public visitation on:

🪨 Tuesday June 16th & Thursday June 18th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. These will be quieter, less busy days.

💎 Saturday June 20th, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is the grand reopening event, come ready to celebrate!

Wednesday 17th and Friday 19th will be closed for maintenance and Juneteenth. Find more about our open hours by visiting https://events.iu.edu/igws or the Visit Bloomington calendar.

Photo description: Light wooden shelving with rocks and fossils sitting above white specimen cabinets in the Learning Lab

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy competitively awarded Indiana University with research funding to collect and analyze data on the potential for Indiana’s bedrock to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) and provide Indiana stakeholders with technical information that can underpin policy decisions.

As a result, the Indiana Geological and Water Survey has released two NEW publications that evaluate and summarize geological sequestration potential in Indiana.

"Geological Carbon Sequestration in Indiana" is a StoryMap that summarizes the potential for Indiana’s bedrock to sequester carbon dioxide and provides an overview of geological sequestration, including its history, regulatory oversight, and associated hazards for a general audience.
https://doi.org/10.14434/ijes.v8i1.42880

"Characterization of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Potential of Indiana" is an in-depth, 196-page report that shares maps related to storage capacity of saline reservoirs and the sealing capacity of regional caprocks, as well as the mapped locations of parameters that may impact CO2 containment and feedback from communities where carbon capture and storage projects are proposed.
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/IJES/article/view/43084

These publications are freely available and part of our mission to disseminate information that contributes to the wise stewardship of the Indiana's energy, mineral, and water resources.

Photo Description: Photograph of a sandstone bedrock core from 3,340 to 3,351 ft underground in Jasper County that was collected in 1964 and reanalyzed in 2024 for this project.

67 cores reboxed and 1 kitten rescued! 🐱

The IGWS is working on a 3-year project to rebox the Bedrock Core Collection into stable, archival quality boxes thanks to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Preservation grant. We've completed 67 cores so far, approximating 8,400 feet of rock.

Bonus- A cute kitten found her way into the core facility this week and was saved by a few feline-friendly staff members. Collections staff can do it all!