August 3, 2018
Great Barrier Reef has died and recovered before
It’s hard to imagine Earth without the Great Barrier Reef, yet with the threats confronting it — including ocean warming and acidification — its …
The EARTH archive
Australia
Explore the archive by subject.
18 articles · Page 1 of 1
October 18, 2017
Humans arrived Down Under earlier than thought
Analysis of sediments surrounding a trove of artifacts discovered in northern Australia suggests the first humans arrived on the continent about …
July 17, 2017
Massive trove of dinosaur tracks cataloged in Australia
In a remote region of Western Australia, paleontologists have documented the world’s most diverse assemblage of dinosaur tracks. The scientists …
June 20, 2017
Down to Earth With: Paleoclimatologist Gifford H. Miller
“Hope for the unexpected.” This motto has pulled paleoclimatologist Gifford H. Miller to remote corners of the world to conduct fieldwork for …
July 6, 2016
Benchmarks: February 7, 2009: Deadliest day of fire ever recorded in Australia
On Friday, Feb. 6, 2009, John Brumby, premier of the Australian state of Victoria, warned the public of the high risk of wildfires that weekend: …
April 19, 2016
Fossil leaves provide clues to ancient Australian habitat
Researchers have long thought that the scrublands of Australia developed over the last 25 million to 30 million years as part of a global trend …
August 24, 2015
Getting there and getting around the Whitsundays
The gateway airports to the Whitsundays are on Hamilton Island and near Proserpine on the mainland. Neither hosts direct flights from the U.S., …
August 24, 2015
Travels in Geology: Australia's Whitsunday Islands: Sun, sand and silicic volcanism
In 2009, Tourism Queensland launched a campaign soliciting applications for what they billed as “the Best Job in the World”: “caretaker” of …
June 16, 2015
Great drying led to great dying down under
If not for the megafaunal extinctions that wiped out many large animals at the end of the Pleistocene, the world might be a very different place …
May 29, 2015
Counting 'tree' rings in fish skulls provides climate clues
Most fish have little structures in their skulls that record growth patterns — periods of feast and famine — just like tree rings. Now, …
May 14, 2015
Giant bolide hit South Africa 2.5 billion years ago
Some of the oldest scraps of continental crust on Earth cling to the southern tip of Africa and the western edge of Australia. In both places, …
May 7, 2015
Getting there and getting around in South Australia
Adelaide, South Australia’s largest airport, doesn’t host direct flights to and from the U.S., but it is well connected to Sydney, Australia’s …
May 7, 2015
Travels in Geology: Glaciers and grapes in South Australia
Without an architecturally stunning opera house, an expansive colorful reef or an iconic redrock outcrop to boast, Adelaide is not usually …
August 4, 2014
Travels in Geology: Aussie Outback Adventure
Australia, having experienced little recent tectonic activity, is the world’s lowest and flattest continent on average. But don’t take that to …
May 30, 2012
Ecosystem collapse in Pleistocene Australia
Between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago, in the Late Quaternary, Australia suffered a major loss of its megafauna. Sixty taxa of mammals, …
January 20, 2012
Voices: Harassment of scientists reaches a fever pitch
In recent years, climate scientists, particularly those involved in communicating the risks of anthropogenic climate change to the public, have …
January 5, 2012
Travels in Geology: Twin coral reefs separated in time in Western Australia
In Western Australia, you can visit two unusually accessible coral reefs. Although they look similar enough to be fraternal twins, these reefs …
January 5, 2012
Travels in Geology: Australia's wonders, from ocean to desert
Australia, both a country and a continent, has geological wonders as strange and unique as the furry marsupials that inhabit the Land Down Under. …