July 17, 2015
Southbound icebergs off the hook for ice-age cooling
During the Late Pleistocene, changes in North Atlantic Ocean circulation triggered abrupt changes in global climate: In some locations in the …
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Geology
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1236 articles · Page 36 of 52
July 16, 2015
Stalled slabs sometimes stopped by mineral strengthening
Subduction of tectonic plates into the mantle functions as an eons-long recycling system for Earth’s crust and lithosphere. But in some …
July 16, 2015
Bark beetles not to blame for big fires?
Since the mid-1990s, outbreaks of voracious bark beetles have devastated more than 71,000 square kilometers of forests in the Rocky Mountain …
July 16, 2015
Nonnative plants not a problem in Britain
In many places in the world, nonnative plants are epidemic, outcompeting local flora for space and resources and sometimes leading to extinctions …
July 13, 2015
As an aerosolizer, dust devils demoted
Dust is an inescapable byproduct of a rocky planet reworked by tectonic forces, extraterrestrial impacts and human activities. And though it may …
July 13, 2015
Widening the window of human dispersal into Arabia
The vast sea of sand that is much of the Arabian Peninsula presents a formidable barrier to travel, even with today’s modern conveniences. How …
July 13, 2015
Brachiopod die-off signaled mid-Permian mass extinction
Since the explosion of complex lifeforms before the turn of the Cambrian, the expansion of life on Earth has been punctuated by a quintet of …
July 13, 2015
Geologic Column: Field Sketches
I’m not into camping, climbing or caving, but I like fieldwork. My mom, a science teacher, introduced me to collecting minerals and fossils. …
July 8, 2015
Aquifers contaminated by Supertyphoon Haiyan storm surge
Supertyphoon Haiyan, which battered the Philippines in November 2013, was the most powerful hurricane to make landfall ever recorded. One recent …
July 7, 2015
Benchmarks: August 3, 1958: USS Nautilus crosses the North Pole
As the USS Nautilus glided through the black depths of the Arctic Ocean, Cmdr. William Anderson asked the crew for quiet. A tense silence hung …
July 7, 2015
Geomedia: Books: Iceland's eruption of biblical proportions explored in 'Island on Fire'
For a few months in 2014–2015, a volcanic eruption in Iceland captivated many people around the world. The Holuhraun lava field produced the …
July 6, 2015
Travels in Geology: Touring Texas' Trans-Pecos
When Robert T. Hill first arrived in Texas in 1874 at the age of 16, little was known about the geology of the arid, far-western corner of the …
July 6, 2015
The Arctic is open for research
“Science knows no boundaries, and the issues that the Arctic region faces require high-quality, trans-disciplinary and problem-based research, …
June 30, 2015
Endangered Icebreakers: The future of Arctic research, exploration and rescue at risk
I had never seen so many birds in my life. The sunset turns the world a deep pink as auklets and murres spiral up to their nests on the Diomede …
June 26, 2015
Racing to the future of automotive efficiency and performance
“High-performance” and “environmentally friendly” are two phrases not commonly used together to describe race cars. But at the World Endurance …
June 16, 2015
Deforestation hangs climate out to dry
Across the tropics, vast swaths of forest have been cleared to make room for crops and livestock. Beyond releasing vast stores of carbon trapped …
June 16, 2015
Wind whips canyons into shape
As a force of nature, wind is usually afforded less respect than water. Sure, it can topple trees and, in extreme cases, peel roofs off houses. …
June 16, 2015
Did crustal chemistry buoy Western Plains?
The mighty mountains of the American West may captivate artists and adventurers with their rugged allure, but it’s the humble High Plains that …
June 16, 2015
Laser experiments illuminate landslide physics
How does cereal pour from the box? Why do grains of wheat become wedged inside a hopper? What happens to soil when a slope collapses in a …
June 16, 2015
Soil may supply surging streams after earthquakes
Earthquakes don’t just rattle buildings and psyches — they shake up the hydrological cycle too. Scientists have long noticed spikes in streamflow …
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 …
June 16, 2015
Introducing Earth's inner inner core
A humongous hunk of iron — that’s how scientists have long thought of Earth’s solid inner core. But new research suggests there’s more to it than …
June 16, 2015
Sediment load shapes rivers
The amount of sediment carried in meandering rivers influences how quickly the bends in those rivers migrate back and forth, according to recent …
June 8, 2015
Hydrogen chloride on the rise in Northern Hemisphere skies
Levels of the atmospheric pollutant hydrogen chloride have increased substantially in the lower stratosphere over the Northern Hemisphere since …