Geology News

July 2, 2024

Top Headlines

Organic Material from Mars Reveals the Likely Origin of Life's Building Blocks

July 1, 2024 — Two samples from Mars together deliver clear evidence of the origin of Martian organic material. The study presents solid evidence for a prediction made over a decade ago that could be key to ...

Investigating Newly Discovered Hydrothermal Vents at Depths of 3,000 Meters Off Svalbard

June 28, 2024 — Hydrothermal vents can be found around the world at the junctions of drifting tectonic plates. But there are many hydrothermal fields still to be discovered. During a 2022 expedition of the MARIA S. ...

Why the Harsh Snowball Earth Kick-Started Our Earliest Multicellular Ancestors

June 27, 2024 — Why did multicellularity arise? Solving that mystery may help pinpoint life on other planets and explain the vast diversity and complexity seen on Earth today, from sea sponges to redwoods to human ...

Iceland's Volcano Eruptions May Last Decades

June 26, 2024 — Scientists predict from geochemical data that Iceland is entering a new volcanic era that will last for decades, possibly centuries. Under an hour's drive from the country's capital city, the ongoing eruptions pose considerable risks for economic ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:38pm EDT

The Rotation of Earth's Inner Core Has Slowed, New Study Confirms

June 13, 2024 — The new study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth's ...

Laser Tests Reveal New Insights Into Key Mineral for Super-Earths

June 12, 2024 — Scientists have for the first time observed how atoms in magnesium oxide morph and melt under ultra-harsh conditions, providing new insights into this key mineral within Earth's mantle that is known ...

A Mountainous Mystery Uncovered in Australia's Pink Sands

June 12, 2024 — Deposits of deep-pink sand washing up on South Australian shores shed new light on when the Australian tectonic plate began to subduct beneath the Pacific plate, as well as the presence of previously ...

The Solar System May Have Passed Through Dense Interstellar Clouds 2 Million Years Ago, Altering Earth's Climate

June 10, 2024 — Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in ...

Cascadia Subduction Zone, One of Earth's Top Hazards, Comes Into Sharper Focus

June 7, 2024 — A new study has produced the first comprehensive survey of the many complex structures beneath the seafloor in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off ...

Fresh Findings: Earliest Evidence of Life-Bringing Freshwater on Earth

June 3, 2024 — New research has found evidence that fresh water on Earth, which is essential for life, appeared about four billion years ago -- five hundred million years earlier than previously ...

A Cracking Discovery -- Eggshell Waste Can Recover Rare Earth Elements Needed for Green Energy

June 5, 2024 — A collaborative team of researchers has made a cracking discovery with the potential to make a significant impact in the sustainable recovery of rare ...

Breaking Ground: Could Geometry Offer a New Explanation for Why Earthquakes Happen?

June 5, 2024 — Researchers are adding a new wrinkle to a long-held belief about what causes earthquakes in the first ...

Shape and Depth of Ocean Floor Profoundly Influence How Carbon Is Stored There

June 3, 2024 — The movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans and continents -- or carbon cycle -- regulates Earth's climate, with the ocean playing a major ...

Earth Scientists Describe a New Kind of Volcanic Eruption

May 27, 2024 — By analyzing the dynamics of 12 back-to-back explosions that happened in 2018, researchers describe a new type of volcanic eruption mechanism. The explosions were driven by sudden pressure increases ...

Earlier Headlines

New Insights Into the Degradation Dynamics of Organic Material in the Seafloor

May 22, 2024 — Many processes in the deep sea are not yet well understood, and the role of microbial communities in particular is often a big unknown. This includes, for example, how organic material that sinks ...

Can Coal Mines Be Tapped for Rare Earth Elements?

May 20, 2024 — A team of geologists analyzed 3,500 samples taken in and around coal mines in Utah and Colorado. Their findings open the possibility that these mines could see a secondary resource stream in the form ...

Extreme Complexity in Formation of Rare Earth Mineral Vital for Tech Industry

May 20, 2024 — Researchers have unveiled that myriad, intricate factors influence the genesis and chemistry of bastnasite and rare earth carbonates, which are critically needed for today's tech industry and ...

Subduction Zone Splay Faults Compound Hazards of Great Earthquakes

May 20, 2024 — Groundbreaking research has provided new insight into the tectonic plate shifts that create some of the Earth's largest earthquakes and ...

Clues from Deep Magma Reservoirs Could Improve Volcanic Eruption Forecasts

May 10, 2024 — New research into molten rock 20km below the Earth's surface could help save lives by improving the prediction of volcanic ...

Heavy Snowfall and Rain May Contribute to Some Earthquakes

May 8, 2024 — Episodes of heavy snowfall and rain likely contributed to a swarm of earthquakes over the past several years in northern Japan, researchers find. Their study shows climate conditions could initiate ...

Rock Steady: Study Reveals New Mechanism to Explain How Continents Stabilized

May 8, 2024 — Ancient, expansive tracts of continental crust called cratons have helped keep Earth's continents stable for billions of years, even as landmasses shift, mountains rise and oceans form. A new ...

Researchers Show That Slow-Moving Earthquakes Are Controlled by Rock Permeability

May 7, 2024 — A research group explores how the makeup of rocks, specifically their permeability -- or how easily fluids can flow through them -- affects the frequency and intensity of slow slip events. Slow ...

From Fossils to Fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's Energy Potential

May 7, 2024 — In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural ...

Geologists, Biologists Unearth the Atomic Fingerprints of Cancer

May 6, 2024 — Earth scientists have long turned to minute differences in hydrogen atoms to explore the ancient history of our planet. A new study suggests that these same tiny atoms might also lead to new ways to ...

Did a Magnetic Field Collapse Trigger the Emergence of Animals?

May 3, 2024 — Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- ...

Human Activity Is Causing Toxic Thallium to Enter the Baltic Sea, According to New Study

May 2, 2024 — Human activities account for 20% to more than 60% of toxic thallium entering the Baltic Sea over the past eight decades, according to new research. Currently, the amount of thallium, which is ...

Rock Solid Evidence: Angola Geology Reveals Prehistoric Split Between South America and Africa

May 1, 2024 — A research team has found that ancient rocks and fossils from long-extinct marine reptiles in Angola clearly show a key part of Earth's past -- the splitting of South America and Africa and the ...

Human Activities Have an Intense Impact on Earth's Deep Subsurface Fluid Flow

Apr. 24, 2024 — Hydrologists predict human-induced underground fluid fluxes to rise with climate change mitigation strategies like carbon ...

Researchers Find Oldest Undisputed Evidence of Earth's Magnetic Field

Apr. 24, 2024 — A new study has recovered a 3.7-billion-year-old record of Earth's magnetic field, and found that it appears remarkably similar to the field surrounding Earth ...

The Italian Central Apennines as a Source of CO2

Apr. 19, 2024 — Tectonically active mountains play an important role in the natural CO2 regulation of the atmosphere. Competing processes take place here: At Earth's surface, erosion drives weathering processes ...

Scientists Trigger Mini-Earthquakes in the Lab

Apr. 19, 2024 — Earthquakes and landslides are famously difficult to predict and prepare for. By studying a miniature version of the ground in the lab, scientists have demonstrated how these events can be triggered ...

One Third of China's Urban Population at Risk of City Sinking, New Satellite Data Shows

Apr. 18, 2024 — Land subsidence is overlooked as a hazard in cities, according to new research. Scientists used satellite data that accurately and consistently maps land movement across ...

'Tug of War' Tactic Enhances Chemical Separations for Critical Materials

Apr. 3, 2024 — Lanthanide elements are important for clean energy and other applications. To use them, industry must separate mixed lanthanide sources into individual elements using costly, time-consuming, and ...

New Step in Tectonic Squeeze That Turns Seafloor Into Mountains

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers describe zircons from the Andes mountains of Patagonia. Although the zircons formed when tectonic plates were colliding, they have a chemical signature associated with when the plates ...