The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and Geoscience Australia have launched a new website for AusGeoRef, a bibliographic database for Australian geoscience literature since the mid-19th century.

In the Late Quaternary, Australia was home to an array of megafauna. The half-ton Palorchestes azael, the rhinoceros-sized Diprotodon, and even the giant koala, Phascolarctos stirtoni, roamed Australia's interior. However, between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago, they all vanished. Although recent studies indicate human colonization as a potential cause of their extinction, the exact mechanism has never been resolved. Now, geologist Gifford Miller from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his colleagues believe they have uncovered the answer.

In Western Australia, visitors can tour two unusually accessible coral reefs. The reefs look similar enough to be fraternal twins, but they are separated in time by 400 million years. Ningaloo is a modern reef where visitors can snorkel amid spectacular reef-building organisms just a few meters from shore. It boasts one of the planet's healthiest reef environments, where 500 species of fish, 600 species of shellfish and more than 250 species of coral thrive. Ningaloo's twin," the now-dry Devonian-aged "Great Barrier Reef," is widely recognized as the world's best example of an ancient barrier reef, with creamy limestone layers providing an unparalleled window into the past."

The American Geological Institute (AGI) Workforce Program is hosting a free webinar co-sponsored by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) March 2, 2010 from 4:00 - 5:00 pm EST.

Through a cooperative agreement between the American Geological Institute (AGI) and Geoscience Australia, AusGeoRef, an online database of geoscience references is now available