Geology News & Research
 | Mediterranean bottom currents and the sediment deposits they leave behind offer new insights into global climate change, the opening and closing of ocean circulation gateways and locations where hydrocarbon deposits may lie buried under the sea. ...> Full Article |
 | In California's Death Valley, death is looking just a bit closer. Geologists have determined that the half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater, formed by a prehistoric volcanic explosion, was created far more recently than previously thought -- and that conditions for a sequel may exist today. ...> Full Article |
Diamond-bearing kimberlites are volcanic rocks that originate deep in the Earth and are erupted onto the surface. LMU researchers have now shown that other rock types incorporated into the magma as it rises through overlying formations provide the necessary buoyancy for its long ascent.
...> Full Article
 | A University of Arizona College of Engineering research program looking at new methods of determining rock strength could reduce hazardous working conditions that currently cause thousands of deaths every year in mining and construction. ...> Full Article |
Supervolcanoes are one of nature's most destructive forces. In a matter of hours, an eruption from a supervolcano can force thousands of cubic meters of molten rock above ground, and scar landscapes with massive calderas and craters. These catastrophic eruptions have a global impact, and yet scientists still do not fully understand them. Today, a team of scientists studying Bolivia's Uturuncu volcano is trying to shed some light on how supervolcanoes can become so powerful.
...> Full Article
On Jan. 15, the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program ICDP heads into a new round. About a dozen proposals for drilling projects to explore our planet have been filed for the year 2012.
...> Full Article
A University of Oklahoma interdisciplinary research team will field test a newly developed "quad porosity model" for shale gas reservoirs in the next few months. The three-year, $1.5 million project was funded by the Research for Partnership to Secure Energy for America and a consortium of nine oil and gas producing companies.
...> Full Article
What is the lifespan of a natural gas deposit? How quickly is our planet's permafrost melting? And does life exist on other planets? Although seemingly unrelated issues, the answers to these questions are linked. And in this month's issue of EARTH Magazine, scientists show that we may be closer to answering them than we think.
...> Full Article
Around 250 million years ago there was a mass extinction so severe that it remains the most traumatic known species die-off in Earth's history. Although the cause of this event is a mystery, it has been speculated that the eruption of a large swath of volcanic rock in Russia was a trigger for the extinction. New research offers insight into how this volcanism could have contributed to drastic deterioration in the global environment of the period.
...> Full Article
 | A turning point in the history of life occurred two to three billion years ago with the unprecedented appearance and dramatic rise of molecular oxygen. Now researchers report they have identified an enzyme that was the first ? or among the first ? to generate molecular oxygen on Earth. ...> Full Article |
Researchers are beginning their analysis of what are probably the first successful ice cores drilled to bedrock from a glacier in the Eastern European Alps. With luck, that analysis will yield a record of past climate and environmental changes in the region for several centuries, and perhaps even covering the last 1,000 years.
...> Full Article
Geologists carrying rock hammers and accompanied by Marines traverse the rugged expanse of the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, searching for untold mineral wealth. Although the nature of Afghanistan's mineral deposits is not unique in the world, the country's deposits are largely untouched. Will Afghanistan be able to utilize these minerals to rebuild the war-torn nation? Join EARTH Magazine in our January issue as we examine Afghanistan's mineral wealth and the implications it holds for the country's future.
...> Full Article
 | Misti volcano's last Plinian eruption happened ca. 2 ka, emplacing voluminous tephra-fall, pyroclastic-flow, and lahar deposits. Arequipa, located at the foot of the volcano, has a population of over 800,000 people and growing. Misti will erupt explosively again, and it is important to understand the past Plinian eruption. ...> Full Article |
 | Where on Earth is it like Mars? How were the Apollo astronauts trained to be geologists on the Moon? Are volcanoes on Earth just like the ones on other planets? The exploration of our solar system begins in our own backyard. Discoveries on other planetary bodies cannot always be easily explained. Therefore, geologic sites on this planet are used to better understand the extraterrestrial worlds we explore with humans, robots, and satellites. ...> Full Article |
A group with researchers of the Technical University of Munich are the first to plot changes in the Earth's axis through laboratory measurements. To do this, they constructed the world's most stable ring laser. Previously, scientists were only able to track shifts in the axis indirectly by monitoring fixed objects in space. Capturing these shifts is crucial for navigation systems. The work has been recognized an Exceptional Research Spotlight by the American Physical Society.
...> Full Article
| 
Subscribe
Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans
Sleep preserves and enhances unpleasant emotional memories
Low temperatures enhance ozone degradation above the Arctic
Birds of a feather don't always stick together
Ancient dinosaur nursery oldest nesting site yet found 
Nature Materials study: Graphene 'invisible' to water
Patterns of chromosome abnormality: The key to cancer?
Jupiter's 'Trojans' on an atomic scale
Advantages of living in the dark: The multiple evolution events of 'blind' cavefish
Study reveals potential of manganese in neutralizing deadly Shiga toxin
Quantum physics enables perfectly secure cloud computing
Calculating what's in the universe from the biggest color 3-D map
Snakes improve search-and-rescue robots
Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
Researching the use of vegetable by-products for animal feed
Essential protein for the formation of new blood vessels identified
New book on computational analysis of human eye
A new artificial intelligence technique to speed the planning of tasks when resources are limited
Magnetic actuation enables nanoscale thermal analysis
Energy-saving chaperon Hsp90
'Tiger mothers' should tame parenting approach
Film coatings made from whey
Appropriate activities promote children’s creativity and mathematical learning
Growing US violent extremism by the numbers
Backpacks, not the bombs inside, key to finding DNA
If a fat tax is coming, here's how to make it efficient, effective
Bobsled runs -- fast and yet safe
Fruit fly intestine may hold secret to the fountain of youth
Scientists aboard Iberian coast ocean drilling expedition report early findings
Waiting for Death Valley's Big Bang
Rock stability research could make mining and construction safer
Researchers identify molecular 'culprit' in rise of planetary oxygen
Peru's Misti volcano: Understanding the past to assess future hazards
Planetary Exploration Begins at Home