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Kim et al. suggest that chemical exchange between the core and mantle over gigayears of deep transport of water may have contributed to the formation of the putative E’ layer. Image credit: Yonsei University.

Surface Water Penetrates Deep into Earth, New Research Suggests

Nov 14, 2023 by News Staff

A few decades ago, seismologists identified a thin layer with a lower velocity in Earth’s metallic liquid core. The origin of this layer, known as the...

Yuan et al. suggest that LLVPs are remnants of the ancient protoplanet Theia that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created our Moon. Image credit: Hernán Cañellas.

Two Fragments of Protoplanet Theia Lie Deep within Earth, Geoscientists Say

Nov 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A giant collision between the ancient protoplanet Theia and the proto-Earth about 4.5 billion years ago may have formed Earth’s Moon as well as two continent-sized...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Study: Asteroid Impact-Generated Dust Played Key Role in Dinosaur-Killing Mass Extinction

Oct 31, 2023 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated...

Jamieson et al. discover an extensive relic pre-glacial landscape preserved beneath the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet despite millions of years of ice cover. Image credit: Jamieson et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42152-2.

Geoscientists Discover Ancient River-Carved Landscape beneath East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Oct 25, 2023 by News Staff

Geoscientists from Durham University and elsewhere have discovered a landscape that appears to have been formed by rivers at least 14 million years ago...

Space weather from the Sun, such as coronal mass ejections, disturbs Earth’s magnetic field, causing the aurorae and potentially decreasing the magnetic field’s reliability for migrating birds. Image credit: John Megahan.

Severe Space Weather Events Disrupt Nocturnal Bird Migrations, Researchers Find

Oct 11, 2023 by News Staff

Earth’s magnetic field is occasionally but regularly impacted by bursts of energy from the Sun (space weather), such as coronal mass ejections. Birds...

An artist’s illustration of a solar storm. Image credit: NASA.

Extreme Solar Storm Hit Our Planet 14,300 Years Ago, Subfossil Tree-Rings Show

Oct 9, 2023 by News Staff

In new research, scientists from the University of Leeds and elsewhere measured radiocarbon levels in ancient trees preserved within the eroded banks of...

3D seismic imaging and ocean drilling at the Hikurangi margin reveal a widespread and previously unknown fluid reservoir within the extensively hydrated (up to 47 vol % water) volcanic upper crust of the subducting Hikurangi Plateau large igneous province. Image credit: Gase et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adh0150.

Geoscientists Discover Massive Undersea Water Reservoir Off New Zealand’s Coast

Oct 4, 2023 by News Staff

Revealed by 3D seismic imaging, the newly-discovered water reservoir lies 3.2 km (2 miles) under the ocean floor off the coast of New Zealand, where it...

Pangea Ultima temperature and habitability: (a) mammalian species diversity without the influence of humans; (b) habitable regions (green area) in the Pre-industrial simulation; (c-h) cold month mean temperature (CMMT; degrees Celsius); (c,f) warm month mean temperature (WMMT; degrees Celsius); (d,g) and habitable regions (green area); (e,h) under two end members of our sensitivity analysis: low-pCO2 conditions (280 ppm) Pangea Ultima planetary configuration (in 250 million years); (c-e) and high-pCO2 conditions (1,120 ppm) Pangea Ultima configuration (in 250 million years); (f-h) with global land surface temperature (GLST) (grid-weighted) indicated. Image credit: Farnsworth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01259-3.

Climate Extremes Likely to Drive Mass Extinction of Land Mammals in 250 Million Years

Sep 26, 2023 by News Staff

In about 250 million years, all continents will converge to form Earth’s next supercontinent, Pangea Ultima. A natural consequence of the creation...

Plate tectonic reconstructions showing the position of Argyle within the McArthur-Yanliao Gulf. Image credit: Olierook et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40904-8.

Australian Pink Diamonds Were Formed when Supercontinent Nuna Was Breaking Up into Fragments

Sep 20, 2023 by News Staff

While it is known that for diamonds to form there needs to be carbon deep in the Earth, and for these diamonds to turn pink they must be subjected to forces...

An artist’s impression of the early Earth. Image credit: NASA.

Earth’s Day was a Constant 19.5 Hours for Almost 1.5 Billion Years, Study Says

Jul 13, 2023 by News Staff

New research from the University of Toronto shows that from approximately 2 billion until 600 million years ago, an atmospheric tide driven by the Sun...

Boulila et al. highlight a common, correlatable 36-million-year cycle in the diversity of marine genera as well as in tectonic, sea-level, and macrostratigraphic data over the past 250 million years of Earth history. Image credit: James St. John / CC BY 2.0.

36-Million-Year Geological Cycle Drives Marine Biodiversity, Scientists Say

Jul 11, 2023 by News Staff

The evolution of life on Earth has changed dramatically at tens of million-year time scales. However, the causal mechanisms of these changes remain unclear....

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption captured at December 30, 2021. Image credit: Tonga Geological Services.

Giant Eruption Plume from Tonga’s Volcano Produced Most Intense Lightning Rates Ever Detected

Jun 21, 2023 by Natali Anderson

On January 15, 2022, Hunga Volcano in Tonga produced the most violent eruption in the modern satellite era, sending a water-rich plume at least 58 km (36...

This image, taken with the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument onboard NOAA’s GOES-18 weather satellite, shows the western hemisphere of Earth. Image credit: NOAA.

Drift of Earth’s Pole Confirms Groundwater Withdrawal as Contributor to Sea Level Rise

Jun 15, 2023 by News Staff

Earth’s rotational pole has drifted toward 64.16°E at a speed of 4.36 cm per year during 1993-2010 due to groundwater depletion and resulting sea level...

An artistic conception of the early Earth. Image credit: Simone Marchi / NASA.

Study: Plate Tectonics is not a Requirement for Life to Originate on Earth-Like Planet

Jun 15, 2023 by News Staff

Plate tectonics is a fundamental factor in the sustained habitability of Earth, but its time of onset is unknown, with ages ranging from the Hadean to...

An artist’s impression of the Hadean Earth: huge, impact-generated lava lakes coexisted with surface liquid water, under a thick greenhouse atmosphere sustained by lava outgassing. Image credit: Simone Marchi & Dan Durda, Southwest Research Institute.

Iron-Rich Meteoritic and Volcanic Particles May Have Promoted Origin of Life Reactions on Early Earth

May 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Precursors of the molecules needed for the origin of life may have been generated by chemical reactions promoted by meteoritic and volcanic particles approximately...

An UAP from a declassified video captured by a U.S. Navy aircraft. Image credit: U.S. Navy.

Almost One-Fifth of Academic Survey Respondents Witnessed Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: Study

May 23, 2023 by News Staff

Recently, former and current government officials, legislators, and faculty in the United States have called for research on what their government terms...

Inexpensive and easy to build, data collecting balloons capture infrasound signals in the Earth’s stratosphere. Image credit: NASA.

Enigmatic Infrasound Signals Detected in Earth’s Stratosphere

May 12, 2023 by News Staff

Low frequency sounds can travel vast distances across our planet, carrying information about the events that generated them as well as the medium through...

The New Port Richey fulgurite images and microscopy. Image credit: Bindi et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00736-2.

Study: Lightning Strikes Can Create Phosphites on Earth’s Surface

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Phosphate minerals such as those in the apatite group tend to be the dominant forms of phosphorus in minerals on the Earth’s surface. Phosphates can...

A large stream of meltwater (about 5 to 10 m in width) emerges from an upstream supraglacial lake in the Greenlandic ice on July, 21 2012. The darker shapes are minor streams covered by cryoconite (a mix of dust particles, soot, meteorite dust and organic material) which covers the ice sheet. Cracks cutting through the streams are visible. Along these cracks water can flow through, enlarging them and, eventually, generating moulins that can deliver meltwater through the ice. Image credit: M. Tedesco / CCNY / NASA ICE.

Greenland Ice Sheet Very Close to Melting Point of No Return, Scientists Say

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

With ongoing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere of Earth heats up, which has dramatic consequences for the ice sheets....