Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit
Geology
Aeolian Landscape
Aeolian Landscape presents a swirling storm of sand inside a large chamber covered by a plexiglass top. A knob on the top of the exhibit rotates a sturdy fan set in the base of the chamber.
Bay Sediment Cores
Sediment cores offer clues to the many histories of the Bay.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Bay Windows
Five clear, rotating disks provide beautiful windows onto the motion of sediments in the Bay. Spin them to compare the behavior of gravel, sand, and fine silt—how the currents carry them and how they settle out of the swirling waters.
Where: Koret Foundation Bay Walk
Black Sand
At this simple but ever-popular exhibit, black sand from nearby beaches make spiky patterns that reveal the invisible magnetic field between the poles of two giant magnets.
Braided Stream
This artwork features air bubbling up through a fine powder constrained between two glass plates tilted at a 45 degree angle. The tilting creates a continually changing landscape evocative of aerial photographs of river drainage networks on Earth and on Mars.
Fluvial Storm
Swirling water sculpts elaborate patterns of underwater dunes.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Geysers
The timing of the eruptions of these geysers depends on water temperature and pressure.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
Library of Earth Anatomy
Library of Earth Anatomy, a collection of remarkable geological artifacts that invite and inspire us to see rocks in new ways. The Library employs unconventional classification methods to dissolve the usual boundaries between nature and culture, as well as between animal, vegetable, and mineral.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes
Magnetic Clouds
"Clouds" of iron particles dart and dance in a magnetic field.
Where: Gallery 2: Tinkering
Rift Zone
Rift Zone uses air bubbling up through fine sand to suggest a small-scale geothermal landscape. By turning a knob, viewers can change the pressure of the air rising up through the sand and alter the shapes and patterns of the landscape.
Seismograph
This seismograph is an earthquake detector that records the up-and-down motion of the ground—whether made by tectonic activity or by you.
Settling Column
Sand falling through water creates turbulence and complex patterns.
Watch Water Freeze
Ordinarily, water freezes too slowly to be appreciated. Here, polarized light and an ultra cold slab let you watch water crystalize rapidly in real time. The colorful mosaic of ice that forms is different every time.
Wave Organ
Sound at this wave-activated acoustic sculpture is created by the impact of waves against the pipe ends and the subsequent movement of the water in and out of the pipes. The sound heard at the site is subtle, requiring visitors to become sensitized to its music, and at the same time to the music of the environment.
Where: San Francisco Marina jetty
