Taxonomy term

geology

Geologic Column: "Collect Rocks Day" offers opportunity for inspiration

Introduce someone to rock collecting on Sept. 16: National Collect Rocks Day. 

16 Sep 2018

Science as a family affair

All five children in the Weiss family of Huntington Beach, Calif., have presented their research at American Geophysical Union (AGU) meetings. AGU’s Bright Students Training as Research Scientists (Bright STaRS) program — as well as the mentorship of their science teacher and the support of their parents — made it possible.
11 Sep 2018

Ice (Re)Cap: September 2018

From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, fascinating science is found in every nook and crevasse of Earth’s cryosphere, and new findings are announced often. 

07 Sep 2018

Ocean tide size linked to supercontinent cycle

Daily tides are driven primarily by Earth’s rotation and the gravitational force of the moon on oceans. However, in a new study in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers suggest that tidal magnitudes are also influenced, on longer timescales, by the size and shape of the ocean basins, and are therefore driven by plate tectonics.

07 Sep 2018

Ancient DNA reveals diversity of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is one of the most genetically and linguistically diverse regions on Earth. New sequencing of ancient human DNA is helping scientists piece together the puzzle of how repeated influxes of hunter-gatherers and farmers to the area over the last 50,000 years created the high level of diversity seen today.

03 Sep 2018

Mercury links Big Five extinction events

Mercury concentration spikes in the geologic record have been linked to massive volcanism in the form of large igneous provinces (LIP) such as the Deccan Traps, a kilometers-thick heap of basalt layers that formed in what is now India beginning late in the Cretaceous, and the Siberian Traps, an even larger mass of lava that erupted in Siberia at the end of the Per­mian. It’s thought that vast gas emissions associated with LIP eruptions could have significantly changed climate patterns and affected conditions such as ocean acidity. 

31 Aug 2018

Sunstones useful as Viking-era GPS

The Vikings ruled the North Atlantic for hundreds of years without the benefits of magnetic compasses on the rough, often stormy waters. Legends have told of Vikings using sun compasses during clear weather and “sunstones” in cloudy conditions to navigate their weeks-long journeys between ports. A new study finds that sunstones made of calcite, cordierite or tourmaline may have indeed been accurate navigational tools.

28 Aug 2018

Gravity changes portended 2011 Tohoku earthquake

A new analysis of satellite data has revealed a distinct change in the gravity signal measured across the Japanese archipelago starting several months before the March 11, 2011, magnitude-9.1 Tohoku-Oki earthquake — one of the largest seismic events in recorded history.

27 Aug 2018

Rivers in the sky: Improving predictions of atmospheric rivers to reduce risk

Researchers are working to improve forecasts of atmospheric rivers — long, narrow systems of moist, tropical air that can deposit enormous amounts of water, bringing both relief from drought and catastrophic flooding.
23 Aug 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 demise is a possibility marine scientists are studying. A new study of how sea-level rise and sedimentation have impacted the reef over the last 30,000 years, however, shows it might be more resilient than previously thought.

22 Aug 2018

Pages