Forest-in-Teesdale, County Durham: I can see signs of fiery volcanoes, scouring glaciers, and the earliest plant life. This is a place to consider the miracle of our surroundings The rocks along this popular scenic stretch of the Pennine...
A study investigating the complex evolution of two iconic Western Australian landmarks, has traced their transformation over thousands of years and offers a glimpse into their future. Researchers collected sedimentary samples from...
A new modeling study shows that the El Nino event, a huge blob of warm ocean water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can change rainfall patterns around the globe, was present at least 250 million years in the past, and was often of...
When a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck northern New Jersey's Tewksbury township on April 5, it triggered widespread alarm as the biggest event since 1884. Based on existing models, it should have done substantial damage at its epicenter,...
Along coastal California, the possibility of earthquakes and landslides are commonly prefaced by the phrase, 'not if, but when.' This precarious reality is now a bit more predictable thanks to researchers who found that conditions known...
A mysterious find on Easter Island, investigated by a team of geologists, suggests that the Earth's mantle seems to behave differently than once thought.
When lightning cracks on Earth, especially high-energy electrons may fall out of Earth's inner radiation belt, according to a new study -- an electron 'rain' that could threaten satellites, and even humans, in orbit.
The Joides Resolution has contributed to our understanding of climate crisis, the origin of life, earthquakes and eruptions. But funding cuts mean it may have sailed its last expedition In the early summer of this year, a ship set sail...
Small iron-rich formations found within Western Australia's Pinnacles, which are part of the world's largest wind-blown limestone belt spanning more than 1000km, have provided new insights into Earth's ancient climate and changing...
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz which has been used as a gemstone for many centuries and is a key economic resource in northern Uruguay. Geodes are hollow rock formations often with quartz crystals, such as amethyst, inside....
The Hunga Tonga underwater volcano was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, and now, two years later, new research has revealed its main trigger.
Mount Everest is about 15 to 50 meters taller than it would otherwise be because of uplift caused by a nearby eroding river gorge, and continues to grow because of it.
River erosion has pushed the mountain upwards and added an extra 15 to 50 metres over the past 89,000 years Climbing Mount Everest has always been a feat, but it seems the task might be getting harder: researchers say Everest is having...
Researchers showed that the 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, which struck southern Hyogo Prefecture, may have been triggered by deep underground flooding beneath Arima Hot Springs. By analyzing the stable isotope ratios of...
Researchers have discovered inorganic nanostructures surrounding deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that are strikingly similar to molecules that make life as we know it possible. These nanostructures are self-organized and act as selective...
A mysterious type of iron-rich magma entombed within extinct volcanoes is likely abundant with rare earth elements and could offer a new way to source these in-demand metals, according to new research. Rare earth elements are found in...
Researchers working in Finland propose that the unique light environment of the Earth's Polar regions creates conditions that result in circumpolar hybrid zones around the North and the South Poles. These extreme conditions increase the...
A new study offers the most detailed glimpse yet into how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. The data show that Earth has been and can be warmer than today -- but humans and animals cannot adapt fast...
Lavas from hotspots - -whether erupting in Hawaii, Samoa or Iceland -- likely originate from a worldwide, uniform reservoir in Earth's mantle, according to an evaluation of volcanic hotspots.
Some of the most dramatic climatic events in our planet's history are 'Snowball Earth' events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago, when almost the entire planet was encased in ice up to 0.6 miles thick. New research provides...
Frome, Somerset: Rocks were hewn from the land, and shaped to form the very fabric of my new home town When our family moved from Lanarkshire to Hertfordshire, Faither promised us a penny a bucket to clear his rosebed of stones, without...
Understanding the relationship between plasticity of muddy soil and earth pressure can be crucial to maintaining tunnel stability and predicting ground behavior during earth pressure balance (EPB) shield tunnelling, a common underground...
A landslide in a remote part of Greenland caused a 200 meter (650 foot) mega-tsunami that sloshed back and forth across a fjord for nine days, generating vibrations throughout Earth, according to a new study. The study concluded that...
Our planet will only remain able to provide even the most basic standard of living for everyone in the future if economic systems and technologies are dramatically transformed and critical resources are more fairly used, managed and...
Earth will only remain able to provide even a basic standard of living for everyone in the future if economic systems and technologies are dramatically transformed and critical resources are more fairly used, managed and shared,...
Solar power could enable 400 million Africans without water to tap into groundwater aquifers. However, we must ensure smaller projects do not lose out in the rush for new technology It’s a truly dreadful irony: for many of the 400...
Nenthead, Cumbria: The old lead mines here revealed a complex geology, and with so little water in the burn, I’m able to get a close look The rocky ravine, with its bluffs and tumbled boulders, is more dry desert than a slice through the...
Weeks after revelation that megalith came from Scotland, researchers make surprise discovery The plot has thickened on the mystery of the altar stone of Stonehenge, weeks after geologists sensationally revealed that the huge neolithic...
Forces unleashed by quakes squeeze quartz enough to generate electric fields, driving formation of deposits Chunky gold nuggets tend to form far underground along fracture lines that run through quartz, but the reason why has never been...
A doughnut-shaped region thousands of kilometers beneath our feet within Earth's liquid core has been discovered, providing new clues about the dynamics of our planet's magnetic field.
A new study paves the way to understanding biotic recovery after an ecological crisis in the Mediterranean Sea about 5.5 million years ago. Researchers have now been able to quantify how marine biota was impacted by the salinization of...
A 'tag-team' between the oceans and continents millions of years ago devastated marine life and altered the course of evolution on Earth, according to a new study. Scientists say a string of severe environmental crises which happened...
Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland: It seems barely believable that this trail of depressions is early evidence of four-legged fish-like creatures making landfall It’s swelteringly hot and humid on this tropical floodplain south of...
Deborah Stratman’s film looks far beyond humanity for answers to the big questions of survival, gathering the words of scientists and imaginative writers Moving from the microscopic to the intergalactic, artist and film-maker Deborah...
The US-based journalist has fashioned a wide-ranging and thought-provoking study of how everything from microbes to mammoths transformed our world into a living organism Why read popular science? The best books manage to entertain,...
The 7.5- magnitude earthquake beneath Japan's Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1, 2024, occurred when a 'dual-initiation mechanism' applied enough energy from two different locations to break through a fault barrier -- an area that locks two sides...
New research has revealed how an underwater avalanche grew more than 100 times in size causing a massive trail of destruction as it traveled 2000km across the Atlantic Ocean seafloor off the North West coast of Africa. Researchers...
A new study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.
The preservation of organic carbon in marine sediments has long been a key question remaining unclear in understanding the long-term carbon cycling on Earth. Recently, scientists have gained new insights into the dynamic cycling of...
My grandfather Edward Derbyshire, who has died aged 91, was an influential geoscientist. His research encompassed everything from landslides and glaciers to desertification and climate change. For much of his career he was based at what...
Transporting a six-tonne megalith nearly 500 miles to Wiltshire is quite a feat. How was it achieved 4,000 years ago? Even by modern standards, John o’Groats to Wiltshire is a bit of a trek: nearly 500 miles, 13 hours by car or a 10-day...
Geophysicists find link between seismic waves called PKP precursors and anomalies in Earth's mantle that are associated with hotspots associated with volcanism on the surface.
The study found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1 km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation -- the first of two global freezes thought to have...
Researchers say exposed rock shows transition from warm, tropical environment to global freeze about 700m years ago A rock formation that spans Ireland and Scotland may be a rare record of “snowball Earth” – a crucial moment in planetary...