Geology News

October 14, 2024

Top Headlines

Lightning Strikes Kick Off a Game of Electron Pinball in Space

Oct. 10, 2024 — 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 ...

Iron Nuggets in the Pinnacles Unlock Secrets of Ancient and Future Climates

Oct. 2, 2024 — 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 ...

Nanostructures in the Deep Ocean Floor Hint at Life's Origin

Sep. 25, 2024 — 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 ion channels, ...

Mystery of Uruguay's Amethyst Geodes: New Model to Explain Amethyst Formation

Oct. 2, 2024 — 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 ...

Latest Headlines

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Closer Look at New Jersey Earthquake Rupture Could Explain Shaking Reports

Oct. 2, 2024 — Geologists show how the earthquake's rupture direction may have affected who felt the strongest shaking on 5 ...

Tongan Volcanic Eruption Triggered by Explosion as Big as 'Five Underground Nuclear Bombs'

Sep. 30, 2024 — 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 ...

A River Is Pushing Up Mount Everest's Peak

Sep. 30, 2024 — 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 ...

Deep Underground Flooding Beneath Arima Hot Springs: A Potential Trigger for the 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-Ken Nanbu) Earthquake

Sep. 27, 2024 — Researchers showed that the 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, which struck southern Hyogo Prefecture, may have been triggered by deep ...

Ancient Sunken Seafloor Reveals Earth's Deep Secrets

Sep. 27, 2024 — Geologists discover a mysterious subduction zone deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, reshaping our understanding of Earth's ...

Extinct Volcanoes a 'Rich' Source of Rare Earth Elements

Sep. 24, 2024 — 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 ...

Extreme Polar Light Environment of the North and South Poles Sustains Biodiversity

Sep. 23, 2024 — Researchers working in Finland propose that the unique light environment of the Earth's Polar regions creates conditions that result in circumpolar ...

New Research Reenvisions Earth's Mantle as a Relatively Uniform Reservoir

Sep. 19, 2024 — 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 ...

Over Nearly Half a Billion Years, Earth's Global Temperature Has Changed Drastically, Driven by Carbon Dioxide

Sep. 19, 2024 — 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 ...

Explaining Dramatic Planet-Wide Changes After World's Last 'Snowball Earth' Event

Sep. 18, 2024 — 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 ...

Moving Particle Simulation-Aided Soil Plasticity Analysis for Earth Pressure Balance Shield Tunnelling

Sep. 17, 2024 — 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) ...

Climate-Change-Triggered 2023 Mega-Landslide Caused Earth to Vibrate for Nine Days

Sep. 12, 2024 — 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 ...

Path to Prosperity for Planet and People Shrinking Rapidly, Scientists Warn

Sep. 12, 2024 — 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 ...

Path to Prosperity for Planet and People If Earth's Critical Resources Are Better Shared

Sep. 11, 2024 — 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 ...

Doughnut-Shaped Region Found Inside Earth's Core Deepens Understanding of Planet's Magnetic Field

Aug. 30, 2024 — 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 ...

How a Salt Giant Radically Reshaped Mediterranean Marine Biodiversity

Aug. 29, 2024 — 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 ...

Land-Sea 'Tag-Team' Devastated Ocean Life Millions of Years Ago Reveal Scientists

Aug. 29, 2024 — 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 ...

Study Finds Limits to Storing CO2 Underground to Combat Climate Change

Aug. 28, 2024 — New research has found limits to how quickly we can scale up technology to store gigatons of carbon dioxide under the Earth's ...

Oxygen Produced in the Deep Sea Raises Questions About Extraterrestrial Life

Aug. 26, 2024 — Rocks are generating 'dark oxygen' in an area being explored for deep-sea ...

Two Epicenters Led to Japan's Violent Noto Earthquake on New Year's Day

Aug. 23, 2024 — 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 ...

New Study Reveals Devastating Power and Colossal Extent of a Giant Underwater Avalanche Off the Moroccan Coast

Aug. 21, 2024 — 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 ...

Fossil Hotspots in Africa Obscure a More Complete Picture of Human Evolution

Aug. 20, 2024 — A new study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human ...

Preservation of Organic Carbon in the Ocean Floor

Aug. 19, 2024 — 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 ...

Decoding Mysterious Seismic Signals

Aug. 16, 2024 — 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 ...

Scottish and Irish Rocks Confirmed as Rare Record of 'Snowball Earth'

Aug. 16, 2024 — 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 ...

Researchers Unveil Mysteries of Ancient Earth

Aug. 14, 2024 — A team of researchers has made strides in understanding the formation of massif-type anorthosites, enigmatic rocks that only formed during the middle part of Earth's history. These ...

Millions of Years for Plants to Recover from Global Warming

Aug. 9, 2024 — Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term effects of disturbed natural ...

Record-Breaking Recovery of Rocks That Originated in Earth's Mantle Could Reveal Secrets of Planet's History

Aug. 9, 2024 — Scientists have recovered the first long section of rocks that originated in the Earth's mantle, the layer below the crust and the planet's largest component. The rocks will help unravel ...

Water Delivered to the Mantle by Aluminum Enriched Hydrated Slabs?

Aug. 7, 2024 — Researchers found a notable effect of aluminum on the sound velocities of superhydrous phase B, a dense hydrous magnesium silicate and potential host of water in the deep Earth. Their results suggest ...

Scientists Uncover Hidden Forces Causing Continents to Rise

Aug. 7, 2024 — Scientists have answered one of the most puzzling questions in plate tectonics: how and why 'stable' parts of continents gradually rise to form some of the planet's greatest ...