Geologists Discover That NASA Rover Has Been Exploring Surface Sediments, Not Ancient Lake Deposits
In 2012, NASA landed the rover Curiosity in the Gale crater on Mars because the crater was thought by many scientists to be the site…
Geology
Erupted Sea Glass Allows Geologists to Take Earth’s Inner Temperature
The results could help scientists unravel the processes underlying plate tectonics. If the Earth’s oceans were drained completely, they would reveal a massive chain of…
A New Method to Preventing Human-Induced Earthquakes Caused by the Oil and Gas Industry
Applied in the field, a new model reduced quakes from oil and gas processes; could help manage seismic events from carbon sequestration. When humans pump…
A “Golden Nail” – Quarry Near Salzgitter, Germany Becomes Global Geological Reference Point
Research team with Goethe University participation successfully proposes former quarry in Lower Saxony as Global Stratotype Section and Point. The international team of geoscientists led…
Arrival of Land Plants 400 Million Years Ago Changed Earth’s Climate Control System
The arrival of plants on land about 400 million years ago may have changed the way the Earth naturally regulates its own climate, according to…
New Evidence of Extreme Climate Change Thousands of Years Ago Revealed by Ancient Ostrich Eggshell
Evidence from an ancient eggshell has revealed important new information about the extreme climate change faced by human early ancestors. The research shows parts of…
A Comet Strike 13,000 Years Ago May Have Sparked Key Shift in Human Civilization
A cluster of comet fragments believed to have hit Earth nearly 13,000 years ago may have shaped the origins of human civilization, research suggests. Possibly…
Why Are There Gold Deposits at All? Scientists Discover the Answer
Why are gold deposits found at all? Gold is famously unreactive, and there seems to be little reason why gold should be concentrated, rather than…
A Potential Goldmine: “Fool’s Gold” Contains a Newly Discovered Type of Real Gold
The mineral pyrite was historically nicknamed fool’s gold because of its deceptive resemblance to the precious metal. The term was often used during the California gold rush…
“Invisible” Gold – Scientists Discover “Fool’s Gold” Is Not So Foolish After All
Curtin University research has found tiny amounts of gold can be trapped inside pyrite, commonly known as ‘fool’s gold’, which would make it much more…
New Geochemical Testing Confirms Cause of End-Permian Mass Extinction Event That Wiped Out Most Life on Earth
Results demonstrate the power of nickel isotope analyses, which are relatively new, to solve long-standing problems in the geosciences. The most severe mass extinction event…
Earth’s Mantle Provides New Clues To Explain Indonesia’s Explosive Volcanoes
Indonesia’s volcanoes are among the world’s most dangerous. Why? Through chemical analyses of tiny minerals in lava from Bali and Java, researchers from Uppsala University…
Signs of Geological Activity Discovered on Venus
The surface of Venus is cracked and moves like ice floating on the ocean – likely due to tectonic activity. The big idea Much of…
High Risk of Extreme Drought: Unchecked Climate Change Will Cause Severe Drying of the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon rain forests could be at far higher risk of extreme drought than previously thought, according to new research. An international study, led by the…
Signs of Awakening: Analyzing Volcanoes to Predict Future Eruptions
Geologists led by the UNIGE have reviewed the internal and external mechanisms that trigger volcanic eruptions to better anticipate the potential signs of a future…
Earth’s Meteorite Impacts Tracked Over Past 500 Million Years
For the first time, a unique study conducted at Lund University in Sweden has tracked the meteorite flux to Earth over the past 500 million…
The Earth Has a Pulse: 27.5-Million-Year Cycle of Geological Activity Discovered
Analysis of 260 million years of major geological events finds recurring clusters 27.5 million years apart. Geologic activity on Earth appears to follow a 27.5-million-year…
The “Great Dying” – Rapid Warming Contributed to Abrupt Collapse of Forest-Mire Ecosystems
Rapid Warming and Monsoonal Intensification Contributed to the Abrupt Collapse of Forest-Mire (Glossopteris) Ecosystems in the High Southern Latitudes The Paleozoic era culminated 251.9 million…