R. S. Dietz Museum of Geology

The Dietz Museum is open for scheduled events and visits by appointment, although renovations to the main gallery are continuing.

The R.S. Dietz Museum of Geology houses minerals, gems, fossils from Arizona and around the world. It also has a six-story Foucault pendulum; local fossils including Columbian mammoth remains excavated in 1985, 1997 and 1999; real dinosaurs, a giant-extinct fossil shark over 7 feet tall (to be featured on the National Geographic Channel in 2009) a rare T-rex brain cavity and cast and many other rare and extinct fossil mammals including saber-toothed cats.

The museum also features several large meteorites from the ASU Center for Meteorite Studies; Ore minerals and crystals from the many Arizona open-pit and underground mines, a gemstone exhibit and a 6-foot tall amethyst geode at the museum entrance.

Other exhibits include: Volcanology; Mineralogy, Geology of Arizona; Rocks of the Grand Canyon and Arizona's State Fossil: Fossil wood from the Petrified Forest proposed by 2 former ASU Geology faculty members in 1988.

Hours

• The museum is undergoing renovations. Though the main gallery of the museum is temporarily closed for renovations, a series of self-guided exhibits, including the Foucault Pendulum and artifacts from Arizona's petrified forest remain, open and are on display year round.

   

Address

Bateman Physical Sciences Center, F-wing, Room 186
Palm Walk and University Drive