Geoscience News

Young Sun’s Superflares May Have Been Key to Life on Early Earth

Artist’s concept of the active young Sun 4 billion years ago. Its energy may have aided in creating molecules in the atmosphere of early Earth that allowed it to warm up enough to incubate life. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / CIL.
May 25, 2016 by News Staff

Powerful coronal mass ejection events from the young Sun may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm early Earth, according to a team of researchers led by Dr. Vladimir Airapetian of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Artist’s concept of the active young Sun 4 billion years ago. Its energy may have aided in creating molecules in the atmosphere of early Earth that allowed it to warm up enough to incubate life. Image credit: NASA / GSFC...

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Ancient Earth. Image credit: Imperial College London.

Archean Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Was Oxygen-Rich, Scientists Discover

May 12, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom has made a surprising discovery about the chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere...

Sahara, Libya. Image credit: Victor Korniyenko / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Dust from Sahara Makes Significant Impact on Caribbean Sea Ecosystem, Research Shows

May 10, 2016 by News Staff

Atmospherically transported dust from the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world, is bringing iron and other nutrients to underwater plants in...

An artist’s conception of the Antarctic subglacial environment. Image credit: Zina Deretsky / NSF.

What Lies Beneath Thick Antarctic Ice Sheet?

May 4, 2016 by News Staff

Three teams of scientists have taken a detailed look into the biogeochemistry, geophysics and geology of subglacial Lake Whillans, which lies 2,600 feet...

The Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean and creates a plume where freshwater and salt water mix. Image credit: Lance Willis.

Massive New Reef System Found at Amazon River Mouth

Apr 25, 2016 by News Staff

A new reef system has been found at the mouth of the Amazon River by an international group of researchers from Brazil and the United States. The Amazon...

Still from the Baltoro glacier animation. Image credit: Frank Paul / Cryosphere / USGS / NASA / CC-BY 3.0.

Animated Satellite Images Reveal Glaciers in Motion

Nov 26, 2015 by News Staff

Animations that compress more than two decades of satellite images into one second reveal the complex behavior and flow of glaciers in the Karakoram mountain...

The different volumes of water stored in the global water cycle. Global volumes of young (less then 100 years old), modern (less then 50 years old) and total groundwater to 2 km depth compared with other fresh water volumes stored in the atmosphere, in surface waters (that is, wetlands, rivers and lakes), within plants or in soils. Image credit: Tom Gleeson et al.

Scientists Produce First Data-Driven Estimate of Earth’s Supply of Groundwater

Nov 17, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience, the total groundwater volume in the upper 2 km of the Earth’s landmass is approximately...

The inner core of our planet has an inner core of its own, with crystals aligned in a different direction. Image credit: Lachina Publishing Services.

Earth’s Inner Core ‘Only’ 1 – 1.5 Billion Year Old, New Study Says

Oct 8, 2015 by News Staff

The Earth’s deepest layer – the inner core – was formed between a billion and 1.5 billion years ago as it ‘froze’ from the surrounding molten...

The Cosgrove hotspot track. Image credit: Drew Whitehouse / NCI National Facility VizLab.

Cosgrove Track: Scientists Discover World’s Longest Chain of Continental Volcanoes

Sep 14, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered the world’s longest known continental volcanic hotspot track — a 1,245 mile (2,000 km) long...

Jakobshavn glacier, also known as Sermeq Kujalleq and the Jakobshavn Isbræ, is a large glacier in West Greenland and is among the world’s most dynamic glaciers. Radar images from ESA’s Sentinel-1A captured the glacier before and after a massive calving event, which took place between 14 and 16 August 2015. The image composite includes different Sentinel-1A images from 27 July, and 13 and 19 August. The red, green and blue indicate the position of the calving front and other dynamic features on each respective date. Image credit: Copernicus Sentinel data /ESA.

Sentinel-1A Satellite Catches Jakobshavn Glacier Shedding Ice

Aug 24, 2015 by News Staff

Images from European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1A satellite show that Greenland’s Jakobshavn glacier, the fastest moving glacier in the world, shed a...

Formation of nucleobases in meteorite impact reactions. Image credit: Yoshihiro Furukawa.

Meteorite Impacts on Early Oceans May Have Created DNA Building Blocks

Aug 18, 2015 by News Staff

Meteorite impact reactions may have generated building blocks for life in the oceans of the prebiotic Earth, says a team of scientists led by Dr Yoshihiro...

Dr Yan Li and co-authors followed the journey of water through the Tarim Basin from the rivers at the edge of the valley to the desert aquifers under the basin. They found that as water moved through irrigated fields, the water gathered dissolved carbon and moved it deep underground. Image credit: Yan Li.

Desert Aquifers Could Hold More Carbon Dioxide than All Earth’s Plants

Jul 29, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, massive aquifers underneath deserts contain approximately one trillion...

A 3D relief map of the volcanic cluster on the sea floor. The sea floor is represented by a dark blue color and there are four calderas rising out of the sea floor in shades of green, yellow, orange and red. Image credit: University of New South Wales.

Ancient Underwater Volcanoes Discovered off Australia

Jul 14, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers aboard an ocean-going research vessel called RV Investigator has discovered a cluster of 50-million-year-old volcanoes off the coast...

Helheim Glacier. Image credit: Nick Selmes / Swansea University.

Scientists Determine What Causes Glacial Earthquakes

Jun 26, 2015 by News Staff

A group of geoscientists led by Dr Tavi Murray of Swansea University, UK, has shown that during the glacier edge breaking process, known as calving, the...

Bathymetric map of the Arctic Ocean.

Arctic Ocean Becoming Less Hospitable to Shelled Species

Jun 17, 2015 by News Staff

The surface waters of the Arctic Ocean could reach levels of acidity that threaten the ability of animals to build and maintain their shells by 2030, according...

Groundwater storage trends for world’s 37 largest aquifer systems. Of these, 21 have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted, with 13 considered significantly distressed, threatening regional water security and resilience. Image credit: University of California, Irvine / NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Earth’s Groundwater Reserves Likely Far Smaller than Thought

Jun 17, 2015 by News Staff

Two new studies using data from NASA’s GRACE satellites have found that 21 of planet’s 37 largest aquifers are being rapidly depleted by human consumption,...

Everest and Khumbu glacier in the Dudh Koshi basin. Image credit: Patrick Wagnon.

Everest Glaciers Very Sensitive to Global Warming, Researchers Say

May 28, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of scientists led by Dr Joseph Shea of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal, if greenhouse-gas...

Nearly cloud-free view of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Researchers Observe Sudden Increase of Ice Loss on Southern Antarctic Peninsula

May 22, 2015 by News Staff

Using measurements of the elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet made by a suite of satellites, a group of scientists led by Dr Bert Wouters from the University...

Bora Bora, the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Image credit: Maria Michelle.

Global Sea Level Rise is Accelerating, Says New Study

May 12, 2015 by News Staff

An analysis of satellite data collected during 1993-2014 has revealed a more accurate picture of global sea level rise, showing that it is happening much...

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability clouds. Image credit: Astronautilus, rodjonesphotography.co.uk / CC BY 2.0.

Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves Perturb Earth’s Magnetosphere, New Study Shows

May 12, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, the underlying physical process that creates ‘breaking wave’ cloud patterns...

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