geological

Scientists have published research indicating that movements in Earth’s tectonic plates indirectly stimulate bursts of biodiversity through 36-million-year cycles by causing sea levels to rise and fall. They believe that these geological cycles, traceable back 250 million years, critically influence marine species diversity.  This animation is a 250 million-year re-creation of the geography of Earth, showing the interplay between plate tectonics and sea level variations. Credit: Paleomap Project and Michael ChinTectonic…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Movement in the Earth's tectonic plates indirectly triggers bursts of biodiversity in 36‑million-year cycles by forcing sea levels to rise and fall, new research has shown. Researchers including geoscientists at the University of Sydney believe these geologically driven cycles of sea level changes…

ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission successfully completed its third flyby of Mercury, capturing valuable images of geological features including the newly named Manley Crater. Through ongoing ‘thruster arcs’, the spacecraft is gradually adjusting its trajectory for entering Mercury’s orbit in 2025. The mission’s main science phase will begin in early 2026 following several more adjustments and another flyby in 2024. (Artist impression of BepiColombo flying by Mercury.) Credit: ESA/ATG medialabThe ESA/<span…

From the air, Maine is a uniform sea of green: Forests cover 90% of the state. But beneath the foliage and the dirt lies an array of geological terrains that is far more diverse, built from the relics of volcanic islands that collided with North America hundreds of millions of years ago. Two years ago, sensor-laden aircraft began to survey these geochemically rich terrains for precious minerals. Researchers spotted an anomalous signal…

Pacific absolute plate-motion change as obtained from a hotspot reference frame (red; from Wessel and Kroenke (2008)) versus as obtained from RPM analysis (blue; fixed Eurasia plate). Map shows the 30% confidence interval ellipse for the PA Euler pole change for each ensemble. Inset shows the magnitude-change distribution for the aforementioned Euler-vector ensembles. Map uses Mollweide projection centered at 60∘E. Credit: Earth and Planetary Science…

Earth's surface is the "living skin" of our planet – it connects the physical, chemical, and biological systems. Over geological time, landscapes change as this surface evolves, regulating the carbon cycle and nutrient circulation as rivers carry sediment into the oceans.All these interactions have far-reaching effects on ecosystems and biodiversity – the many living things inhabiting our planet.As such, reconstructing how Earth's landscapes have evolved over millions of years is a fundamental step towards understanding…

Credit: University of Sydney Climate, tectonics and time combine to create powerful forces that craft the face of our planet. Add the gradual sculpting of the Earth's surface by rivers and what to us seems solid as rock is constantly changing. However, our understanding of this dynamic process has at best been patchy. Scientists…

This story originally appeared in Hakai Magazine and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.Pushed by climate change, almost every part of the ocean is heating up. But off the west coast of the Galapagos Islands, there is a patch of cold, nutrient-rich water. This prosperous patch feeds phytoplankton and breathes life into the archipelago.“The cool water sustains populations of penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, and cetaceans that would not be able to stay on the equator year round,” says Judith Denkinger,…

NATURAL HISTORY Science society lists Earth’s top ‘geoheritage’ sites The International Union of Geological Sciences last week marked its 60th anniversary by announcing a list of 100 “geoheritage” sites that have substantially influenced understanding of Earth’s deep history. The global list, released in collaboration with UNESCO, is meant to foster conservation and tourism. The sites include familiar ones, such as the Grand Canyon’s “great unconformity,” a…

An interior cutaway of the early Earth highlighting its major geodynamic processes. Magnetic field lines are drawn in blue and red emanating from the liquid core that generated them, while plate tectonic forces rearrange the surface and play a role in the churning circulation of the rocky mantle below. Credit: Alec BrennerResearch led by Harvard University offers new, sharper proof of early plate tectonics and flipping of geomagnetic poles.New evidence points to the role of plate tectonics in early Earth’s release of…