The outer layer of modern Earth is a collection of interlocking rigid plates, as seen in this illustration. These plates grind together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another, giving rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. But new research suggests...
Gem quality diamond from Letlhakane, containing multiple orange garnets.Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
A study of tiny mineral 'inclusions' within diamonds from Botswana has shown that diamond crystals can take billions of years to grow. One diamond was found to...
The layer cake of sedimentary rock near Big Bend, Texas, shows the alternating layers of shale and limestone characteristic of the rock laid down at the bottom of a shallow ocean during the late Cretaceous period. The rock holds...
Credit: Ian Kluft
Scientists have gotten better at predicting where earthquakes will occur, but they're still in the dark about when they will strike and how devastating they will be.
In the search for clues that will help them better understand...
An infographic describing theories on how the Earth got its iron. Credit: Designed by Laura Martin/The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences. Images 1 and 2 from NASA/JPL-Caltech, Image 3 from X-Science, Earth from NASA/JPL.
New research...
Mount Cook, the highest peak of New Zealand and Zealandia. Image credit: Flickr/Bernard Spragg. NZ
The science and information magazine of The Geological Society of America, GSA Today, now posts science and Groundwork articles ahead of print as well as...
The first in-depth study on the observed global ocean oxygen content was just published by Kiel scientists in Nature.Image credit: Flickr/Michio Morimoto
The first in-depth study on the observed global ocean oxygen content was just published by Kiel scientists in...
Researchers use the ski lifts to carry equipment to sample air on the summit. A radon sensor travels to the peak of Mount Bachelor.Credit: Dan Jaffe/University of Washington Bothell
An unusually warm patch of seawater off the West Coast in...
The Anthropocene equation: E is the Earth system; A is astronomical forces; G is geophysical forces; I is internal dynamics; and H is industrialised societies. Credit: Australian National University
Humans are causing the climate to change 170 times faster than...
The figure shows the location of the Ventura-Pitas Point fault with respect to the cities involved. The view is of Southern California, as seen from the Pacific coast looking east. The thin white line is the coastline; the outlines...
Hirondellea gigas are voracious scavengers that consume anything that comes down from the surface.Credit: Dr Alan Jamieson
A study, led by Newcastle University's Dr Alan Jamieson, has uncovered the first evidence that human-made pollutants have now reached the farthest corners...
