norton geology

Museum hours

Sunday–Thursday: 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

Friday–Saturday: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

You can find the Anderson Geology Museum inside Norton Geology on the east side of campus. Thousands of fossil, rock, and mineral specimens are housed inside the museum. 

What you'll find:

The bottom level: information about Geologic time and how the Earth has evolved over time, including a meteorite and fossils of past Earth environments.

Main floor: examples of the rock units found within Iowa, as well as examples of different types of rocks and fossils, and a nice topographic model of the Grand Canyon and the Grand Staircase region of Utah. Make sure to sign the visitor log while you're on this floor!

Upstairs: information about how we collect geological data using satellites (including a great satellite image of the contiguous United States), information about groundwater in Iowa, and information about how minerals are used, for example, in making cars.

Outside: We also have a rock pile behind the building in the loading dock area where we put our unwanted rock and mineral and fossil samples—the school kids know about this and stop to collect rocks as they walk over the hill!