Changes in Earth’s Outer Core Revealed by Seismic Waves From Earthquakes
Theory underpins our understanding of convection in the Earth’s outer core and its function in controlling the planet’s magnetic field. Convective flows or how they…
Geoscience
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,…
Bringing Magma From Deep Underground Up to Our Feet – Just Add CO2
Mount Erebus, Antarctica’s only active volcano, shows how CO2 allows volcanoes to form persistent lava lakes at the surface. Antarctica has long been a land…
Volcanic Lightning: The Science Behind This Spectacular Phenomenon
You’ve undoubtedly gazed out of the window to marvel at a lightning storm in all its glory. Thunderstorms are certainly a sight to behold, but…
Scientists Discover a Massive Groundwater System in Sediments Below Antarctic Ice
Previously unmapped reservoirs could speed glaciers and release carbon. Many researchers believe that liquid water is a key to understanding the behavior of the frozen…
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…
Antarctic Orca Submarine Volcano Blasted by Swarm of 85,000 Earthquakes
In a remote area, a mix of geophysical methods identifies magma transfer below the seafloor as the cause. Even off the coast of Antarctica, volcanoes…
Models of Landscape Formation on Saturn’s Moon Titan Reveal an Earth-Like Alien World
A new hypothesis reveals that a global sedimentary cycle driven by seasons could explain the formation of landscapes on Saturn’s moon Titan. The research shows…
Ground-Breaking Research: The Earth Beneath Us May Be Shifting – Not Static
Article in Nature ‘sets the deep Earth free.’ Ground-breaking research into the hot structures deep in the Earth suggest they could be much more fluid…
The Geocenter of the Earth Is Changing (and Why That Matters) [Video]
At the foundation of virtually all airborne, space-based and ground-based Earth observations is the TRF, or Terrestrial Reference Frame. The TRF relies on an accurate…
Fast Yearly Retreat of Antarctica’s Sea Ice Explained by Simple Rules of Physics
In the Southern Hemisphere, the ice cover around Antarctica gradually expands from March to October each year. During this time the total ice area increases…
Quake-Ception – Groundbreaking Earthquake Discovery: Risk Models Overlook an Important Element
Earthquakes themselves affect the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates, which in turn could impact on future earthquakes, according to new research from the University of…
How Earth Went From Molten Hellscape to Habitable Planet
Earth formed from the Sun’s protoplanetary disk about 4.6 billion years ago. In the beginning, it was a molten spheroid with scorching temperatures. Over time,…
Two Massive Blobs in Earth’s Mantle Baffle Scientists With Their Surprising Properties
Earth is layered like an onion, with a thin outer crust, a thick viscous mantle, a fluid outer core, and a solid inner core. Within…
Traces of Life Discovered Deep in the Earth’s Mantle
The rapid development of fauna 540 million years ago has permanently changed the Earth — deep into its lower mantle. A team led by ETH…
Salt Deposits and Organic Compounds Discovered on Dwarf Planet Ceres
Researchers find salt deposits in an impact crater on the dwarf planet. The third-largest crater on the dwarf planet Ceres was geologically active at least…
