The study uses leaf wax chemicals in the deposits to learn about ancient climate in southern Greenland, focusing on summer temperature during periods of relative warmth on Earth, called interglacials, over the past 600,000 years.
Scientists simulated the local risk of damaging or nuisance-level shaking caused by hydraulic fracturing across the Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas. The results could inform a new approach to managing human-caused earthquakes.
A new study found overlooked tsunami hazards related to undersea, near-shore strike-slip faults, especially for coastal cities adjacent to faults that traverse inland bays. Several areas around the world may fall into this category,...
Two of the most destructive forces of nature - earthquakes and tsunamis - might actually be more of a threat than current estimates according to new research.
The new predictions show that in the case of a total collapse of the ice sheet, global sea level rise estimates would be amplified by an additional meter within 1,000 years.
New research shows that the global models used to project how Earth's climate will change in the future underestimate the impact of forest fires and drying climate on forests' ability to capture and store atmospheric carbon.
Melting of the Arctic ice sheets caused rapid methane release from the ocean floor during the last two deglaciations, according to a new study. A similar release is likely to happen today, and should be included in climate models, say...
Malcolm Hole spent seven years working on island of volcanological significance A geologist who spent seven years working in the Antarctic has had a peninsula on the continent named after him in recognition of his work. Dr Malcolm Hole...
Researchers using a new method involving the mineral barite have dated the first emergence of continental crust to 500 million years earlier than previously thought.
Melting glaciers redistributed enough water to cause the direction of polar wander to turn and accelerate eastward during the mid-1990s, according to a new study.
The SEIS seismometer package from the Mars InSight lander has collected its first continuous Martian year of data, revealing some surprises among the more than 500 marsquakes detected so far.
The Red Sea is a fascinating and still puzzling area of investigation for geoscientists. Controversial questions include its age and whether it represents a special case in ocean basin formation or if it has evolved similarly to other,...
An unusual belt of igneous rocks stretches for over 2,000 miles from British Columbia, Canada, to Sonora, Mexico, running through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, southeast California and Arizona.
A new machine-learning model that generates realistic seismic waveforms will reduce manual labor and improve earthquake detection, according to a new study.
New research suggests that rocks in the Martian crust could produce the same kind of chemical energy that supports microbial life deep beneath Earth's surface.
It seems like a smooth slab of stainless steel, but look a little closer, and you'll see a simplified cross-section of the Los Angeles sedimentary basin. Researchers are printing 3D models like the metal Los Angeles proxy to provide a...
Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to new research.
The famous 1700 Cascadia earthquake that altered the coastline of western North America and sent a tsunami across the Pacific Ocean to Japan may have been one of a sequence of earthquakes, according to new research.
Researchers have deciphered a trove of data that shows one season of extreme melt can reduce the Greenland Ice Sheet's capacity to store future meltwater - and increase the likelihood of future melt raising sea levels.
A new study finds a naturally occurring 'earthquake gate' that decides which earthquakes are allowed to grow into magnitude 8 or greater. Sometimes, the 'gate' stops earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range, while ones that pass through the...
Volcanologists' ability to estimate eruption risks is largely reliant on knowing where pools of magma are stored, deep in the Earth's crust. But what happens if the magma can't be spotted?
The first photosynthetic oxygen-producing organisms on Earth were cyanobacteria. Their evolution dramatically changed the Earth allowing oxygen to accumulate into the atmosphere for the first time and further allowing the evolution of...
In order to get a sense of what our future may hold, scientists have been looking to the deep past. Now, new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which combines climate, ice sheet and vegetation model simulations with a...
In the Cascadia subduction zone, medium and large-sized 'intraslab' earthquakes, which take place at greater than crustal depths within the subducting plate, will likely produce only a few detectable aftershocks, according to a new study.
A group of researchers has taken advantage of different erosion rates and investigated how uplift and erosion of rocks determine the balance of carbon emissions and uptake. The surprising result: at high erosion rates, weathering...
Every year, our planet encounters dust from comets and asteroids. These interplanetary dust particles pass through our atmosphere and give rise to shooting stars. Some of them reach the ground in the form of micrometeorites. An...
The 15-million-year-old Nördlinger Ries is an asteroid impact crater filled with lake sediments. A research team has now discovered a volcanic ash layer in the crater. In addition, they show that the ground under the crater is sinking in...
The properties of the magma inside a volcano affect how an eruption will play out. In particular, the viscosity of this molten rock is a major factor in influencing how hazardous an eruption could be for nearby communities. But it...
The weight of buildings in dense urban areas can lead to subsidence, with effects particularly marked by the coast It’s well known that ice sheets are heavy enough to bend the underlying rocks, but what about cities? Are some cities...
A new study shows a correlation between the end of solar cycles and a switch from El Nino to La Nina conditions in the Pacific Ocean, suggesting that solar variability can drive seasonal weather variability on Earth.
A research team of international space scientists has found new evidence of a low-altitude meteoritic touchdown event reaching the Antarctic ice sheet 430,000 years ago.
Diamonds that formed deep in the Earth's mantle contain evidence of chemical reactions that occurred on the seafloor. Probing these gems can help geoscientists understand how material is exchanged between the planet's surface and its...
Earth's sea level has remained fairly constant during the last 541 million years, but a new study suggests the planet may have been covered by a vast global ocean 4 to 3.2 billion years ago.
Anthropogenic climate change is one of the foremost scientific and societal challenges. In part, our response to this global challenge requires an enhanced understanding of how the Earth's surface responds to episodes of climatic heating...
The permanent rise of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere, which fundamentally changed the subsequent nature of Earth's habitability, occurred much later than thought, according to new research.
Scientists have decoded the genomes of the deep-sea clam (Archivesica marissinica) and the chemoautotrophic bacteria (Candidatus Vesicomyosocius marissinica) that live in its gill epithelium cells. Through analysis of their genomic...
A new analysis of strontium isotopes in marine sediments has enabled scientists to reconstruct fluctuations in ocean chemistry related to changing climate conditions over the past 35 million years. The results provide new insights into...
The wrong type of earthquake in an area where there should not have been an earthquake led researchers to uncover the cause for this unexpected strike-slip earthquake -- where two pieces of crust slide past each other on a fault -- in...
The rate of sea-level rise in the 20th century along much of the U.S. Atlantic coast was the fastest in 2,000 years, and southern New Jersey had the fastest rates, according to a new study.
Glaciers in Southeast Alaska have been melting since the end of the Little Ice Age, many of which are in close proximity to strike-slip faults. When these glaciers melt, the land begins to rise, and the faults they'd previously sutured...
Along submarine mountain ranges, the mid-ocean ridges, forces from the Earth's interior push tectonic plates apart, forming new ocean floor and thus moving continents about. However, many features of the processes summarized under the...
What would a volcano - and its lava flows - look like on a planetary body made primarily of metal? A pilot study offers insights into ferrovolcanism that could help scientists interpret landscape features on other worlds.
Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, according to new research. This shows that life could develop on Earth-like planets through the same mechanism at any...
Scientists found frozen plant fossils, preserved under a mile of ice on Greenland. The discovery helps confirm a new and troubling understanding that the Greenland Ice Sheet has melted entirely during recent warm periods in Earth's...
Swathes of England’s landscape were shaped by the immense block of chalk that has lain beneath it for 100 million years. For a long time, even geologists paid it little heed – but now its secrets and symbolism are being revealed. By...
New research led by the University of Cambridge has found rare evidence - preserved in the chemistry of ancient rocks from Greenland - which tells of a time when Earth was almost entirely molten.