February 9, 2017
Early Pacific seafarers set sail in El Niño years
Even with modern airplanes and ships, the far-flung islands of Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Micronesia and Fiji are difficult to reach. Thousands of …
The EARTH archive
Geology
Explore the archive by subject.
1236 articles · Page 22 of 52
February 9, 2017
Ants developed farming millions of years ago
A new study in Nature suggests that ants may have invented agriculture as much as 3 million years before humans. On the Fijian islands of Viti …
February 8, 2017
Early humans dealt with Ethiopian supervolcanoes
About 200,000 years ago, modern humans evolved in East Africa, including in what’s now Ethiopia. They — like earlier hominins who had preceded …
February 7, 2017
To cool the planet, volcanoes of the future will need more firepower
Explosive volcanic eruptions can spew sulfur gas into the stratosphere — the layer of the atmosphere above where most clouds and weather occur — …
February 7, 2017
Broadening ocean current could carry less heat poleward with climate change
Some ocean currents, like the Agulhas Current in the southwestern Indian Ocean, act like giant air conditioners, moderating Earth’s climate by …
January 27, 2017
A mysterious first
Women sailed around the sub-Antarctic islands well before Caroline Mikkelsen or Ingrid Christensen’s journeys, usually accompanying their sailor …
January 26, 2017
Getting there and getting around the Dead Sea rift
Most flights into Israel from the U.S. and Europe go through Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV), located 19 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. The …
January 26, 2017
Travels in Geology: The Dead Sea Rift: Salty soaks and ancient earthquakes in a storied land
We were raised in a culture strongly influenced by biblical stories. Tales like Saul’s pursuit of David through the Judean wilderness, the …
January 26, 2017
Geologic Column: The gift of intelligence
In 1960, astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake pointed a telescope of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory toward two nearby stars. He …
January 25, 2017
Benchmarks: February 5, 1931 and February 20, 1935: Antarctic firsts for women
We can only guess what Caroline Mikkelsen was thinking on Feb. 20, 1935, as she sipped her coffee, resting on a rocky hillside surrounded by the …
January 25, 2017
Down to Earth With: Mountain biking geologist Kurt Refsnider
Growing up in Minnesota, Kurt Refsnider spent a lot of time exploring old clay and limestone quarries along the Minnesota River, where he …
January 25, 2017
Geomedia: Books: Exploring "The Worst of Times"
Every reader of this magazine knows something about mass extinctions. But few of us know as much as Paul B. Wignall, a professor of …
January 25, 2017
Liverworts, not moss, dominated Earth's early terrestrial ecosystems
Moss, the springy green plant that blankets forest floors, has been heralded as the generator of large amounts of oxygen to Earth’s atmosphere …
January 23, 2017
Comment: Crazy times in the Arctic
I have studied the climate of the Arctic since the early 1980s. In that time, I’ve had a front row seat from which to observe the radical …
January 19, 2017
Small floods can carve big canyons
Through the early 20th century, geologists argued over how the giant canyons of the Channeled Scablands in Eastern Washington were formed. …
January 19, 2017
Robotic mussels track temperature change
Among the crashing waves of rocky shorelines, tiny robotic mussels are providing scientists with insight into climate change impacts on marine …
January 18, 2017
Downgrading the Great Dying
The end-Permian extinction, nicknamed the “Great Dying,” is thought to be the deadliest mass extinction in Earth’s history. Many textbooks claim …
January 18, 2017
Fungi stabilize steep slopes
The steep slopes of Switzerland’s high Alps are unstable — with loose soil and few plants — which poses hazards such as shallow landslides. In a …
January 17, 2017
Monkeys smash stone tool theories
Archaeologists have long credited stone flakes found at dig sites to tool-making hominins, but observations of wild capuchin monkeys in Brazil …
January 17, 2017
Comment: High school earth and space science should be taught by geoscientists
A recent survey of U.S. science teachers’ understanding, perspectives and teaching of climate change — an important earth and space science (ESS) …
January 13, 2017
A new — and more toxic — normal? Harmful algal blooms find new habitats in changing oceans
In May 2015, a seizure-wracked sea lion hauled itself ashore on a beach in southern Washington. Testing confirmed it was suffering from domoic …
December 27, 2016
Geomedia: Music: The sounds of the sea
At the ocean’s edge, the crash of waves against the shore is a familiar sound. It might be rhythmic, but it’s not particularly melodious. There …
December 27, 2016
Comment: Will we eliminate Earth's Ice-Age cycle?
By Jacob Haqq-Misra “Given time, Earth’s climate will change. Throughout our planet’s geologic past, there have been very hot periods with …
December 27, 2016
Down to Earth With: Paleoclimatologist Raymond S. Bradley
By Kate S. Zalzal When 21-year-old Raymond S. Bradley left England in 1969 to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Colorado Boulder …