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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.

Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Impact Produced Global Tsunami, New Research Suggests

Oct 5, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

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...

Cartoon illustrating three possible ways of assembling the future supercontinent Amasia from the break-up of Pangaea (a-b): (c) extroversion, (d) orthoversion, (e) introversion. Image credit: Huang et al., doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac205.

Study: Earth’s Next Supercontinent Will Assemble when Pacific Ocean Closes in 200-300 Million Years

Sep 30, 2022 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Curtin University and Peking University has used a supercomputer to simulate how a supercontinent forms and found that because...

This image of a sun pillar was captured by ESA-sponsored medical doctor Hannes Hagson. Image credit: ESA / IPEV / PNRA / H. Hagson.

Antarctic Researcher Spots Rare Optical Phenomenon: Sun Pillar

Sep 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A light pillar is an optical phenomenon where a column of light can be seen emanating from a light source. If the light comes from the Sun, the phenomenon...

West-east (W-E) and north-south (N-S) cross-section of the reef-like landform showing a distinct highest-elevated central dome in relation to less-elevated rim. Image credit: Lipar et al., doi: 10.1002/esp.5459.

Enigmatic Reef-Like Structure Discovered in Australia

Sep 8, 2022 by News Staff

An analysis of advanced satellite images from the German Aerospace Centre has revealed an ancient landform with a circular rim and central dome ‘hidden’...

Schematic model of fluvial systems both before and after the development of land plants: before the Devonian period, minimal land plants, rapid channel migration and river systems dominated by braided rivers led to rapid sediment transfer, minimal development of mud-sized particles and minor deposition of mudrocks along continental margins; in contrast, after the Devonian, the expansion of vascular land plants led to the development of meandering rivers and the dramatic slowing of sediment transfer to marine environments; the red dashed line represents a generalized sediment transport path that is more sinuous post-Devonian and less sinuous pre-Devonian; these diametric depositional systems influenced the isotopic composition of sediment available for reworking and melting in magmatic systems along destructive plate boundaries. Image credit: Spencer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-022-00995-2.

Emergence of Land Plants Altered Composition of Earth’s Continental Crust, Researchers Say

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

The evolution of land plants took place about 430 million years ago (Silurian period), when North America and Europe were conjoined in a landmass called...

The iron-carbon alloy reacted with water at high pressure and high temperature conditions related to the Earth’s deep mantle in a diamond-anvil cell. Image credit: Ko et al., doi: 10.1029/2022GL098271.

‘Diamond Factory’ May Have Existed in Earth’s Interior for Billions of Years: Study

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Carbon plays a vital role in geological processes occurring in the Earth’s interior. While most carbon on our planet exists in its core, whether or not...

(A) the Milky Way Galaxy with superimposed spiral arms and geological events: the arm and the Solar System rotate clockwise at different rates; the ‘+’ number denotes the number of times Earth has passed through that arm; (B) model of the Oort cloud showing cometary nuclei; (C) schematic reconstruction of early Earth impact process; (D) early crustal nuclei development. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESO / R. Hurt / Kirkland et al., doi: 10.1130/G50513.1.

Transits through Milky Way’s Spiral Arms Helped Form Early Earth’s Continental Crust, Study Says

Aug 24, 2022 by News Staff

New research led by Curtin University geologists suggests that regions of space with dense interstellar clouds may send more high-energy comets crashing...

Giant Meteorite Impacts Played Key Role in Creation of Earth’s Continents

Aug 10, 2022 by News Staff

Earth is the only planet known to have continents, although how they formed and evolved is unclear. An artist’s concept of meteors impacting the ancient...

This map shows that lightning occurs mostly over land compared to ocean; the gray rectangle indicates the region of interest from 50°W to 50°E and 20°S to 20°N. Image credit: Pan et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31714-5.

Salt in Sea Spray Aerosols Inhibits Lightning during Marine Thunderstorms: Study

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, scientists tested the hypothesis that fine and coarse marine aerosols have opposite...

Brine pools are one of the most extreme environments on Earth, yet despite their high salinity, exotic chemistry, and complete lack of oxygen, these pools are teeming with life. Image credit: Purkis et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-022-00482-x.

Marine Researchers Discover Deep-Sea Complex of Brine Pools in Red Sea

Jul 18, 2022 by News Staff

Scientists from the University of Miami have discovered one 10,000 m2 brine pool and three minor pools of less than 10 m2 in the Gulf of Aqaba, a northern...

Dr. Oliver Warr collecting sample in Moab Khotsong, South Africa. Image credit: Oliver Warr.

1.2-Billion-Year-Old Groundwater System Found in South African Mine

Jul 6, 2022 by News Staff

Geologists have discovered 1.2-billion-year-old groundwater about 3 km below surface in Moab Khotsong, a gold- and uranium-producing mine in South Africa....

2020 CD3 is estimated to be only between one and six meters across. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

Huge All-Season Ozone Hole Discovered over Tropics

Jul 5, 2022 by News Staff

University of Waterloo’s Professor Qing-Bin Lu has discovered a large, all-season ozone hole in the lower stratosphere over the tropics (30 deg N –...

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Version 2 (IBCSO v2) is a digital bathymetric model for the area south of 50° S with special emphasis on the bathymetry of the Southern Ocean. Image credit: Dorschel et al.

Scientists Create New High-Resolution Map of Southern Ocean

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

After nine years of gathering, cleaning, processing and interpolating data, an international team of researchers this week released the second version...

Lake Snow Eagle lies in a canyon in East Antarctica covered by a thick ice sheet. Image credit: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.

Huge Subglacial Lake Discovered in East Antarctica

May 10, 2022 by News Staff

Named Lake Snow Eagle, the newly-discovered subglacial lake is approximately 42 km in length and 370 km2 in area, making it one of the largest subglacial...

Survey locations on the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica: electromagnetic imaging stations were set up in two general areas (yellow markings); the researchers traveled to wider areas to perform other tasks, shown by red dots. Image credit: Gustafson et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abm3301.

Vast Saline Groundwater System Discovered Deep Under Antarctic Ice

May 6, 2022 by News Staff

According to new research published in the journal Science, subglacial sediments beneath Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica are saturated with a mixture...

Hadean Earth. Image credit: Alec Brenner.

3.8-Billion-Year-Old Zircons Offer Clues to When Earth’s Plate Tectonics Began

Apr 26, 2022 by News Staff

The nature of Earth’s earliest crust and crustal processes remains enigmatic due to the almost complete lack of a rock record older than 4 billion years...

Sahara Desert. Image credit: Hicham Atatri.

Dust from West Africa Crosses Atlantic Ocean, New Study Says

Apr 21, 2022 by News Staff

New research also suggests that dust transport from the Sahara to the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, which could be further transported downstream towards the...

Speleothems in Yonderup Cave, Yanchep National Park, Western Australia. Image credit: Andy Baker.

Researchers Reconstruct Australia’s Fire History from Cave Stalagmite

Apr 18, 2022 by News Staff

A stalagmite from Yonderup Cave, a shallow cave in Western Australia, preserved a record of fire events and climate conditions. Speleothems in Yonderup...

Louge et al. show how water vapor penetrates powders and grains. Image credit: Pexels.

Deserts Inhale and Exhale Water Vapor through Their Surface, Scientists Say

Mar 31, 2022 by News Staff

Using a new probe that detects tiny amounts of moisture on sand grains, a team of researchers from Cornell University, the Ecole Polytechnique de l’Université...