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Categories: Geoscience: Geology, Geoscience: Oceanography

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A research team investigated how the emergence of the first living systems from inert geological materials happened on the Earth, more than 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists found that by mixing hydrogen, bicarbonate, and iron-rich magnetite under conditions mimicking relatively mild hydrothermal vent results in the formation of a spectrum of organic molecules, most notably including fatty acids stretching up to 18 carbon atoms in length.

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Beaches and dunes globally squeezed by roads and buildings. Beaches and dunes are becoming increasingly trapped between rising sea levels and infrastructure. Researchers found that today, when dropped on a random beach anywhere in the world, you only need to walk 390 meters (on average) to find the nearest road or building. And while that short walking distance may seem convenient if you want a day at the beach, it's bad news for our protection against rising sea levels, drinking water supplies and biodiversity.

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The ocean plays a crucial role in the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). The so-called marine biological carbon pump is an important research topic in this context. However a key component is often overlooked. Colleagues outline why it is insufficient to focus solely on biological processes when investigating the accumulation of CO2 in the ocean by the biological carbon pump.

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The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, 'forever chemicals' reach this remote landscape. Now, research suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, they are transported in a feedback loop, with the Arctic Ocean potentially exporting as many PFAS to the North Atlantic Ocean as it receives, circulating the compounds around the world.

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Without drastically reducing global emissions, the Antarctic Ocean could become too acidic for hundreds of species living there, many already endangered by rising temperatures and sea ice loss.

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Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained water.

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Scientists investigate the influence of Arctic cold air on carbon dioxide uptake of the east sea.

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With recent requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of autonomous ships, an emerging body of research is focused on assessing the path-following performance of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) at low speeds under adverse weather conditions. To combat the poor accuracy of traditional methods, in a new study, researchers investigated the path-following performance of MASS using a free-running computational fluid dynamics model. Their findings can help ensure safer autonomous navigation with reduced propulsion power.

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In Hawaii and across much of Oceania, Pacific Islanders celebrate the connections between their islands and the ocean that surrounds them.

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Major cities on the U.S. Atlantic coast are sinking, in some cases as much as 5 millimeters per year -- a decline at the ocean's edge that well outpaces global sea level rise, confirms new research. Particularly hard hit population centers such as New York City and Long Island, Baltimore, and Virginia Beach and Norfolk are seeing areas of rapid 'subsidence,' or sinking land, alongside more slowly sinking or relatively stable ground, increasing the risk to roadways, runways, building foundations, rail lines, and pipelines, according to a new study.

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The world's ocean are a vast habitat for countless creatures that settle, spawn, dig or feed on the seafloor. They also influence the shape of the ocean floor. How exactly this takes place has been scarcely investigated so far. In an interdisciplinary study, geoscientists, biologists and oceanographers, have examined crater-like depressions on the seafloor of the North Sea. They were able to show that these directly relate to the habitats of porpoises and sand eels, and for the first time provide a conclusive explanation for the importance of vertebrates in shaping the seafloor.

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Scientists outline the first direct evidence linking seemingly random weather systems in the ocean with climate on a global scale. The team's work creates a promising framework for better understanding the climate system.

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Ancient bricks inscribed with the names of Mesopotamian kings have yielded important insights into a mysterious anomaly in Earth's magnetic field 3,000 years ago, according to a new study.

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A tiny, hard-working bacterium -- which weighs one-trillionth of a gram -- may soon have a large influence on processing rare earth elements in an eco-friendly way.

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The Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile sphere that is not only inhospitable but also sterile. However, the difference between the two bears to only a few degrees in temperature. A team of astronomers has achieved a world's first by managing to simulate the entirety of the runaway greenhouse process which can transform the climate of a planet from idyllic and perfect for life, to a place more than harsh and hostile. The scientists have also demonstrated that from initial stages of the process, the atmospheric structure and cloud coverage undergo significant changes, leading to an almost-unstoppable and very complicated to reverse runaway greenhouse effect. On Earth, a global average temperature rise of just a few tens of degrees, subsequent to a slight rise of the Sun's luminosity, would be sufficient to initiate this phenomenon and to make our planet inhabitable.

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Our understanding of which aquatic species produce sounds just took a big step forward. Scientists have created an inventory of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater.   

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Since 2009, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative has coordinated an annual horizon scan, a well-established method for predicting which threats, changes, and technologies will have the biggest impact on biological conservation in the following year. This year, the 15th horizon scan included 31 scientists, practitioners, and policymakers who developed a list of 96 issues, which they eventually narrowed down to the fifteen most novel and impactful. Their findings include topics related to sustainable energy, declining invertebrate populations, and changing marine ecosystems.

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Ecological restoration may save coral atoll islands from the rising seas of climate change, according to an international team of scientists, conservationists, and an indigenous leader.

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Positive tipping points must be triggered if we are to avoid the severe consequences of damaging Earth system tipping points, researchers say.

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Drones flying along miles of rivers in the steep, mountainous terrain of central Taiwan and mapping the rock properties have revealed new clues about how water helps shape mountains over geological time.