Researchers study how Champatis roll and bounce down inclines. The authors released a heap of the seeds down an inclined plane while a camera recorded their descent to analyze their speed and the dynamics of their movement. The grains...
A new study has highlighted just how significantly the level of the Mediterranean Sea dropped during the Messinian Salinity Crisis -- a major geological event that transformed the Mediterranean into a gigantic salt basin between 5.97 and...
Through the intricate study of lava tubes -- caves formed following volcanic eruptions when lava cools down -- an international team of researchers has uncovered clues about Earth's ancient environments that could be significant in the...
Researchers have discovered meter-high chimneys on the floor of the Dead Sea. These are formed by the spontaneous crystallization of minerals from groundwater with an extremely high salt content flowing up out of the lake floor, they...
By probing chemical processes observed in the Earth's hot mantle, scientists have started developing a library of basalt-based spectral signatures that not only will help reveal the composition of planets outside of our solar system but...
Migratory birds are known for their ability to traverse thousands of kilometres to reach their breeding or wintering grounds. Research found that these birds, in this case, Eurasian reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) are using only...
A series of rocks hiding around Colorado's Rocky Mountains may hold clues to a frigid period in Earth's past when glaciers several miles thick covered the entire planet.
Geoscientists employed current-day stratigraphic, depositional and paleontological models, along with modern technological muscle to provide updated insights of the Cambrian period of the Grand Canyon.
The Planetary Boundaries framework is a pivotal tool for tackling the climate crisis and safeguarding humanity's future on Earth. For the first time, the full story of the Planetary Boundaries is now being told from its beginning: In a...
At the end of the last global ice age, the deep-frozen Earth reached a built-in limit of climate change and thawed into a slushy planet. Results provide the first direct geochemical evidence of the slushy planet -- otherwise known as the...
Fifteen minutes before the massive January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, a seismic wave was recorded by two distant seismic stations. The researchers propose that the seismic wave was caused by a fracture in a...
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 team discovered that, contrary to present scientific understanding, ancient volcanoes continued to spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from deep within the Earth long past their period of eruptions.
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...