Geology News - SciTechDaily

A Solar Superstorm Struck Earth 150 Years Ago – Now, New Research Reveals That They Are Much More Common That We Thought

Nagoya University — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 14:32:44 +0000

In November this year, the northern lights were seen unusually far south, in locations like Italy and Texas. This was due to the effects of...

Tectonic Tales of Life: How Geology Has Influenced Evolution for the Past 500 Million Years

University of Sydney — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 11:53:48 +0000

Recent research reveals a striking correlation to how life evolved over 500 million years. The movement of rivers, mountains, oceans, and sediment nutrients at the...

Salt and Spectacle: Satellite Reveals East Africa’s Pink Lakes

European Space Agency (ESA) — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 23:45:31 +0000

The European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the colorful waters of two salty lakes in East Africa: Lake Natron in northern Tanzania and Lake...

Thailand’s Hidden Treasure: New Trilobite Species Reveal Secrets of Ancient Supercontinent Gondwanaland

University of California - Riverside — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 01:11:24 +0000

Extinct marine creatures discovered hidden in Thai sanctuary. Ten newly discovered species of trilobites, which have been hidden for 490 million years in a little-studied...

Time-Traveling Tremors: Some of Today’s Earthquakes May Be Aftershocks From the 1800s

American Geophysical Union — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 15:06:39 +0000

Aftershocks follow large earthquakes — sometimes for weeks, other times for decades. But in the U.S., some areas may be experiencing shocks from centuries-old events....

Severed Cables, Altered Seafloors: Massive Hunga-Tonga Eruption Triggered Destructive Submarine Volcanic Flows

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 17:04:53 +0000

The 2022 Hunga eruption in Tonga highlighted the destructive potential of underwater volcanic flows, severing undersea cables and transforming the seafloor, with risks extending over...

Scientists Uncover Mysterious Cosmic Gift That Sparked Agricultural Revolution in Ancient Syria

University of California - Santa Barbara — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 13:42:16 +0000

Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago following a comet fragment’s explosive entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This cataclysmic event, coupled with ensuing...

An “Existential Threat” – Humans Are Disrupting the Natural Salt Cycle on a Global Scale

University of Maryland — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:01:33 +0000

A research group headed by a geologist from the University of Maryland warns that the influx of salt in streams and rivers is an ‘existential...

Lithium Goldmine: Sustainable Geothermal Extraction for Many Decades

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 07:50:25 +0000

Researchers see long-term perspective for lithium extraction at geothermal plants. Geothermal wells existing in the Upper Rhine Valley would allow for the reliable extraction of...

Sonic Signatures: How MIT Geologists Are Mapping Earth’s Hidden Layers

Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 02:44:02 +0000

MIT scientists find the sounds beneath our feet are fingerprints of rock stability. If you could sink through the Earth’s crust, you might hear, with...

Surprising Tectonic Discovery: Geologist Unexpectedly Finds Remnants of a Lost Mega-Plate

Universiteit Utrecht, Faculty of Geosciences — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:52:45 +0000

Utrecht University geologist Suzanna van de Lagemaat has reconstructed a massive and previously unknown tectonic plate that was once one-quarter the size of the Pacific...

Rapid “Collective Motion” of Iron Atoms Discovered in Earth’s Solid Inner Core

University of Texas at Austin — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 10:11:56 +0000

A new study discovered rapid “collective motion” of iron atoms in Earth’s inner core. This movement may explain the core’s unexpected softness in seismic data...

Geological Surprise: Ancient Rocks Release As Much CO2 As All the World’s Volcanoes

University of Oxford — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 08:23:40 +0000

A University of Oxford study reveals rock weathering can be a major CO2 source, rivaling volcanic emissions. This insight is crucial for future carbon budget...

Shaking Foundations: New Research Contradicts Established Theories on Earth’s Crust Evolution

Penn State — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:36:14 +0000

For billions of years, the Earth’s crust has continued a slow process of reworking, as opposed to rapidly slowing its growth around 3 billion years...

Dark Earth Deciphered: Ancient Amazonians Intentionally Created Fertile “Dark Earth”

Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 23:11:27 +0000

The rich soil holds thousands of tons of carbon, sequestered over centuries by indigenous practices, a new study suggests. The Amazon river basin is known...

Planetary Pioneers: Robot Team Gears Up for Future Moon Exploration Missions

ETH Zurich — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 13:56:32 +0000

The Moon holds untapped resources that humans may eventually extract and utilize. Organizations like the European Space Agency (ESA) are gearing up to delve deeper...

An Otherworldly Landscape: Bolivian Salt Flats – A Natural Laboratory for Mars Research

NASA Earth Observatory — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 18:28:10 +0000

An otherworldly landscape on a plateau in the Andes provides a natural laboratory for scientists studying Earth and Mars. This photograph of Salar de Coipasa...

Australia’s “Fairy Circles” – Nature’s Hydrogen Goldmine?

Lindsey Doermann, NASA Earth Observatory — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:26:08 +0000

Circular Depressions Seep Hydrogen Gas Naturally occurring hydrogen was discovered emanating from “fairy circles” in Australia. Pockmarked landscapes in Australia may be a treasure map...

New Research Suggests That Jupiter’s Moon Europa Had a Slow Evolution

Arizona State University — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 19:40:21 +0000

Within the vast expanse of Jupiter’s moons, Europa stands out as a captivating subject for researchers due to compelling indications of essential elements like nutrients,...

Unlocking Earth’s Ancient Secrets: New Study Rewrites Our Understanding of Earth’s Deep Carbon and Chlorine Cycles

Macquarie University — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 15:04:53 +0000

A recent study led by Macquarie University earth scientist Dr. Chunfei Chen sheds new light on geological processes from up to three billion years ago...

Unlocking Seismic Secrets: Researchers Unearth the Mysteries of How Turkey’s East Anatolian Fault Formed

University of Minnesota — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 17:02:50 +0000

A University of Minnesota professor heads an international group of geoscientists investigating earthquake-impacted regions. An international team led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities...

Deciphering Volcanic Secrets: A Groundbreaking New Method To Predict Eruptions

University of Geneva — Sat, 02 Sep 2023 03:33:59 +0000

A team from UNIGE has identified three easily measurable parameters that offer insights into the structural characteristics of volcanoes, marking progress in the area of...

Lunar Rock Stars: NASA Selects Geology Team for the First Crewed Artemis Moon Landing

NASA — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 03:45:31 +0000

NASA’s Artemis III Geology Team is set to guide the science plan for the upcoming crewed lunar landing, aiming to enhance our understanding of the...

Stalled Time: Astrophysicists Shed New Light on the Billion-Year Pause in Earth’s Day Lengthening

University of Toronto — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 21:08:33 +0000

The findings provide new insights into how climate change will influence the duration of days and the reliability of climate modeling instruments. Astrophysicists from the...