Ancient Rocks Hold Clues to How Earth Avoided a Mars-Like Fate
New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field. Swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s…
Geology News
Extraterrestrial Life: Ancient Microbes May Help Us Find Alien Life Forms
Light-capturing proteins illuminate Earth of billions of years ago. Scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth’s earliest organisms by using light-capturing…
Diverse Origins of Earth’s Minerals: Helping Find New Minerals, Habitable Planets, and Extraterrestrial Life
An innovative new perspective on mineralogy, findings rank amongst the field’s most important in the last century. Scientists decipher and catalog the diverse origins of…
4-Billion-Year-Old Crystals Offer Clues to When Plate Tectonics Began, Setting Stage for Life on Earth
Zircons (and the Secrets They Hold) Are Forever Scientists have long known that plate tectonics, the movement of distinct, rigid plates that make up the…
Explosive New Tectonic Discovery May Help Explain Location of Silver and Gold Ore Deposits
Magma Beneath Tectonic Collision Zones Is Wetter Than Previously Thought New research findings may help explain how Earth’s crust forms, the location of ore deposits,…
Traces of an Ancient Watery World in Capitol Reef Photographed From Space Station
In the Utah desert, the red rocks, cliffs, and canyons of this nautically named national park—and many of its famous fossils—owe their existence to water….
High Resolution Imaging Reveals Puzzling Features Deep in Earth’s Interior
New research led by the University of Cambridge is the first to obtain a detailed ‘image’ of an unusual pocket of rock at the boundary…
830-Million-Year-Old Microorganisms Discovered in Ancient Crystals – Implications for Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Ancient microorganisms found in halite may have implications for search for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial life. Primary fluid inclusions in bedded halite from the 830-million-year-old…
Life Unlikely: Meteorite From Mars Indicates Limited Water Circulation Late in the History of the Red Planet
A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has investigated a meteorite from Mars using neutron and X-ray tomography. The technology, which will likely…
Citizen Scientists Help Map Ridge Networks on Mars That May Hold Records of Ancient Groundwater
Scientists have uncovered strange ridge networks on Mars using images from spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet over the previous two decades. How and why the…
The Hottest Rock on Earth – Record-High Proven by Researchers
Post-doctoral student Gavin Tolometti finds new evidence proving record-high for rock on Earth. If there was ever any doubt the 2011 discovery by a post-doctoral…
Jupiter’s Innermost Moon – Io – Has Spectacular Dunes
Rutgers study shows new way dunes can form on varied celestial surfaces. Scientists have long pondered how Jupiter’s innermost moon, Io, has meandering ridges as…
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover at the Delta
We covered the rapid traverse of Perseverance to the Delta in a recent article. This article will cover the Delta itself, and why it is…
Searching for “Ground Truth” on Mars: Planetary Geologist To Lead Next Phase of Curiosity Rover Project
Scientists will compare thermophysical properties from rover to orbital data and analog measurements gathered on Earth to understand rock record. Launched in 2011, NASA’s Mars…
Missing Link: Global Warming Speeds Up Currents in the Ocean’s Abyss
Finding could help refine climate modeling. University of Sydney scientists have used the geological record of the deep sea to discover that past global warming…
New Clues to Earth’s Formation From Ancient Helium Leaking From the Planet’s Core
Vast stores of helium from the Big Bang lingering in the core suggest Earth formed inside a solar nebula. Helium-3, a rare isotope of helium…
Stunning Subsurface Images of Yellowstone National Park Reveal “Mystery Sandwich” Plumbing System
The geysers and fumaroles of Yellowstone National Park are among the most iconic and popular geological features on our planet. Each year, millions of visitors…
Modern Animal Life Could Have Origins in a Shallow, Nutrient-Rich Delta
The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new research suggests. The Cambrian Explosion,…
