May 23, 2017
Horned dinosaur find a first for eastern North America
Fossils of horned dinosaurs called ceratopsids, the group that includes Triceratops, are usually found in either western North America or Asia. …
The EARTH archive
May 2017
Explore the archive by subject.
38 articles · Page 1 of 2
May 19, 2017
Benchmarks: June 1977: First Excavations at Nebraska's Ashfall Fossil Beds
In the spring of 1971, paleontologist Mike Voorhies was mapping rock exposures on a farm in northeastern Nebraska when he wandered into a small …
May 19, 2017
Geologic Column: Is it aged or mature?
The term “aging” is used and interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the realm in which it’s applied. For wine, Scotch and certain cheeses, …
May 19, 2017
Down to Earth With: Biogeochemist Stephen MacAvoy
When Stephen MacAvoy was growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut, most of the animals he encountered were pets: dogs, cats or the occasional …
May 17, 2017
Ups and downs of potassium feldspar may play role in clouds and climate
For water vapor in the atmosphere to transform into icy, cloud-forming droplets, it needs a seed around which to condense, such as aerosols, sea …
May 15, 2017
Timing of famed "Millennium Eruption" pinpointed
Changbaishan Volcano in northeastern China, on the border with North Korea (where it’s known as Mount Paektu), is steeped in superstition, having …
May 15, 2017
1883 sea rescue informs new model of wind-wave interactions
Despite improvements in oceanographic observation, knowledge gaps remain about the interactions between ocean waves and wind blowing over the …
May 15, 2017
When and how did plate tectonics begin on Earth?
The basic story of Earth’s formation is familiar to most anyone who has taken a geology course: About 4.6 billion years ago, Earth formed when a …
May 15, 2017
Meteorites did not spark Ordovician biodiversification
During the Ordovician Period, roughly 470 million years ago, an asteroid the size of a small moon collided with another rocky object in the belt …
May 15, 2017
Are North Atlantic storm tracks shifting south?
As the Arctic warms, decreasing temperature differences between the Arctic and the lower latitudes may push North Atlantic storm systems south. …
May 15, 2017
"Blob"-related warming contributed to Pacific Northwest ozone spike
In June 2015, instruments on Oregon’s Mount Bachelor recorded mean ozone for the month at 56 parts per billion, more than 20 percent higher than …
May 15, 2017
How often should we expect volcanic ash clouds over Europe?
In 2010, an ash cloud from an eruption at Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano led to the most disruptive shutdown of North Atlantic and European …
May 15, 2017
Tibetan Plateau populated long before advent of agriculture
Due to the harsh living conditions of the Tibetan Plateau — which has an average elevation over 4,500 meters — archaeologists have long assumed …
May 11, 2017
Bare Earth Elements: Tour brings hurricane hunting aircraft and expertise to the masses
With hurricane season officially getting under way on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific and June 1 in the Atlantic — and named tropical systems …
May 4, 2017
Silk Road routes may have followed the herds
The Silk Road — the ancient trade route that stretched thousands of kilometers from China to the Mediterranean — often calls to mind images of …
April 28, 2017
Where on Earth? - May 2017
Clues for May 2017: This arch, inside a wind-eroded cave, is a popular shot for photographers, who must squeeze in to take the picture. The state …
April 20, 2017
An economic argument for reframing the geoscientist's role in disaster mitigation
Natural disasters are viewed as moments, sometimes agonizingly drawn out, when Earth undergoes paroxysms in populated areas that result in …
April 20, 2017
Geomedia: Film: 'Written on Water': A Modern Tale of a Dry West
An endless patchwork of circular fields surrounds the small West Texas town of Olton. The unnatural shapes and sharp boundaries of the brown and …
April 20, 2017
Benchmarks: May 23, 1967: Space weather forecasters avert war
By Sara Pratt In spring 1967, international political tensions were high. The United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in the space race, …
April 20, 2017
Geologic Column: My China syndrome
My obsession with China began when our son Jeffrey moved there 10 years ago. Since then, we have visited him a half dozen times, and the change …
April 20, 2017
Down to Earth With: Paleontologist Gerta Keller
The mass extinction that did in the dinosaurs is one of the best-known events in geology. It’s also one of the most contentious. For years, the …
April 19, 2017
Ice (Re)Cap: May 2017
From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, …
April 19, 2017
Sea-surface temperatures during last interglacial similar to modern day
During the last interglacial period, between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago, global sea levels were 6 to 9 meters higher than at present. …
April 19, 2017
Investigating erionite, asbestos' more carcinogenic cousin
Asbestos is notorious for causing lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, but it’s not the only type of fibrous mineral that affects human …