Geology News

Hidden Rift beneath Zambia May Be Tearing Africa Apart

Location map of the extensional zone within the Central African Plateau of Zambia. The Kafue Rift is connected to the Luano and Luangwa rifts to the NE, and the Western branch of the EARS at the Rukwa rift (RRB) and Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP). Image credit: Karolytė et al., doi: 10.3389/feart.2026.1799564.
May 12, 2026 by News Staff

Unusual gases rising from geothermal springs within the Kafue Rift of Zambia suggest a deep fracture in Earth’s crust could mark the early stages of a new tectonic boundary. Location map of the extensional zone within the Central African Plateau of Zambia. The Kafue Rift is connected to the Luano and Luangwa rifts to the NE, and the Western branch of the EARS at the Rukwa rift (RRB) and Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP). Image credit: Karolytė et...

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Microbial mat chips scattered on a Cambrian tidal flat surface. Image credit: Nora Noffke.

Why Geologists Love Pond Scum

Apr 27, 2026 by Kenneth C. Gass

If you’ve ever wondered how geologists know so much about ancient beaches and shallow oceans — from the paleoenvironment to the animals roaming...

Hadean Earth. Image credit: Alec Brenner.

Earth’s Lithosphere was Already Segmented and Mobile 3.5 Billion Years Ago

Mar 22, 2026 by News Staff

By tracing magnetic signals preserved in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia, geoscientists have found the oldest direct evidence yet that...

This perspective view from ESA’s Mars Express shows three of Mars’ famously colossal volcanoes (from left to right): Arsia, Pavonis and Ascraeus Mons. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

New Research Uncovers Hidden Complexity beneath Martian Surface

Feb 12, 2026 by News Staff

New orbital data reveal that the most recently active volcanic systems on Mars weren’t simple one-off blasts into space; instead, long-lived magmatic...

Two enormous blobs of solid, superheated material located at the base of Earth’s mantle affect the underlying liquid outer core. Image credit: Biggin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-025-01910-1.

Two Enormous Blobs of Superheated Material Help Shape Earth’s Magnetic Field

Feb 3, 2026 by News Staff

Two immense, ultrahot rock structures located at the base of Earth’s mantle, around 2,900 km beneath Africa and the Pacific, have been shaping Earth’s...

Early Earth. Image credit: Peter Sawyer / Smithsonian Institution.

Massive Undersea Volcanism May Explain Frequent Extinctions in Triassic Period

Jan 29, 2026 by News Staff

A team of geologists from China and Australia has found evidence that episodic eruptions from vast marine large igneous provinces (LIPs) drove repeated...

Example photographs of primary, mixed, and secondary halite inclusion assemblages. Image credit: Park et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2513030122.

Scientists Find Ancient Air Bubbles in 1.4 Billion-Year-Old Salt Crystals

Dec 22, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have found ancient gases and fluids trapped in 1.4-billion-year-old halite crystals from northern Ontario, Canada. Their analyses directly...

The illustration shows a cutaway revealing the interior of early Earth with a hot, melted layer above the boundary between the core and mantle. Image credit: Yoshinori Miyazaki / Rutgers University.

Geoscientists Find Explanation for Mysterious Structures within Earth’s Mantle

Nov 24, 2025 by News Staff

For decades, scientists have been baffled by two enormous structures buried deep inside Earth. These anomalies may retain geochemical signatures distinct...

Panoramic aerial drone image of the Jinlin crater, taken on May 12, 2025. Image credit: Chen et al., doi: 10.1063/5.0301625.

Well-Preserved Impact Crater Discovered in China

Nov 13, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have discovered an impact crater formed on a granite mountain capped by a thick weathering crust in southern China. Located in Zhaoqing in...

An artist’s reconstruction of a newly-hatched troodontid-like dinosaur among fragments of its eggshell. Image credit: Eva Utsukiyouhei.

Dinosaur Eggshells Help Paleontologists Determine Age of Fossil-Bearing Rocks

Nov 11, 2025 by News Staff

Scientists from Stellenbosch University and elsewhere have used advanced uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating and elemental mapping to measure trace amounts of uranium...

Ancient ice from the ALHIC1902 ice core. Image credit: Shackleton et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2502681122.

6-Million-Year-Old Ice Found in Antarctica

Oct 28, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have discovered 6-million-year-old-ice and air in shallow ice cores drilled in the Allan Hills region of East Antarctica. They speculate that...

Spectrally distinct units at the Juventae Plateau, Mars. Image credit: Bishop et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61801-2.

Planetary Scientists Discover New Mineral on Mars

Oct 6, 2025 by News Staff

The newly-discovered mineral, named ferric hydroxysulfate, provides clues about the environment and history of the Red Planet, including the possibility...

Map of the ananguites strewn field, based on the tektite locations. Image credit: Musolino et al., doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119600.

New Type of Tektite Reveals 11-Million-Year-Old Asteroid Impact in Australia

Sep 18, 2025 by News Staff

Tektites are nearly pure glasses (practically no crystalline inclusions) created when a space rock slams into Earth, melting surface material and hurling...

This map shows 332 submarine canyon networks on the seafloor of the Antarctic continent. Image credit: Riccardo Arosio & David Amblas, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2025.107608.

Researchers Create Catalog of Antarctic Submarine Canyons

Jul 21, 2025 by News Staff

Submarine canyons are deep, large-scale incisions found on most of the world’s continental margins. In Antarctica, they are widespread features driving...

Image of the entire NWA 16254 sample studied by Chen et al.: (a) a backscattered electron (BSE) image obtained by the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA); (b) mineralogical mapping via TIMA; (c) distribution map of the iron content obtained via TIMA; (d) distribution map of the calcium content obtained via TIMA. Image credit: Chen et al., doi: 10.15302/planet.2025.25002.

Newly-Discovered Meteorite Offers Insights into Volcanic Processes on Ancient Mars

Jul 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

The Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 16254 is a 406-g gabbroic shergottite found two years ago in Algeria. Image of the entire NWA 16254 sample...

The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, Canada. Image credit: Jonathan O’Neil.

Canada’s Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt Harbors Fragments of Earth’s Oldest Crust, Study Shows

Jun 27, 2025 by News Staff

Geologists have discovered compelling evidence for preservation of Hadean rocks — dating back to 4.16 billion years old — in a complex geological...

A reconstruction of early Cambrian ocean life in South China. Image credit: Dongjing Fu.

Cambrian Explosion Occurred Millions of Years Earlier than Previously Thought: Study

Jun 26, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have analyzed the body profiles of Ediacaran-Cambrian organisms by using trace fossils as proxies for body fossils. A reconstruction of...

The limestone boulder Maka Lahi. Image credit: Köhler et al., doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2025.107567.

World’s Largest Cliff-Top Boulder Provides Evidence of Ancient Tsunami in Tonga

May 22, 2025 by News Staff

Locally known as Maka Lahi, meaning ‘Big Rock,’ this boulder was moved more than 200 m inland by a tsunami around 7,000 years ago. The limestone boulder...

An artist’s concept of active volcanoes on Venus, depicting a subduction zone where the foreground crust plunges into the planet’s interior at the topographic trench. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Peter Rubin.

Modeling Study Provides New Details about Venus’ Crust

May 12, 2025 by News Staff

Planetary scientists expected the outermost layer of the crust of Earth’s hotter twin would grow thicker and thicker over time given its apparent lack...

The Stac Fada Member. Image credit: Tony Prave.

Massive Meteorite Struck Northwestern Scotland 990 Million Years Ago

Apr 30, 2025 by News Staff

Previously believed to have occurred 1.2 billion years ago, this ancient impact created the Stac Fada Member, a layer of rock that holds vital clues to...

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