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Categories: Geoscience: Earth Science, Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published Early-stage subduction invasion
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our planet's lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle.
Published New 'time travel' study reveals future impact of climate change on coastal marshes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study offers a glimpse into the possible impact of climate change on coastal wetlands 50 years or longer into the future. Scientists are usually forced to rely on computer models to project the long-term effects of rising seas, but an unexpected set of circumstances enabled a real-world experiment along the Gulf Coast.
Published Controlling root growth direction could help save crops and mitigate climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have determined how the well-known plant hormone ethylene is crucial in controlling the angle at which roots grow. The findings can be used to engineer plants and crops that withstand the environmental stresses of climate change and drought, and perhaps to create plants that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it deep underground to help mitigate climate change.
Published Desert ants: The magnetic field calibrates the navigation system
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Desert ants find their way during an early learning phase with the help of the Earth's magnetic field. The associated learning process leaves clear traces in their nervous system.
Published Frequent marine heatwaves in the Arctic Ocean will be the norm
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Marine heatwaves will become a regular occurrence in the Arctic in the near future and are a product of higher anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions -- as shown in a new study.
Published Greenland's ice sheet is melting -- and being replaced by vegetation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An estimated 11,000 sq miles or 28,707 sq kilometers of Greenland's ice sheet and glaciers have melted over the last three decades, according to a major analysis of historic satellite records.
Published Satellites unveil the size and nature of the world's coral reefs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has shown there is more coral reef area across the globe than previously thought, with detailed satellite mapping helping to conserve these vital ecosystems.
Published Compounds released by bleaching reefs promote bacteria, potentially stressing coral further
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research revealed that when coral bleaching occurs, corals release unique organic compounds into the surrounding water that not only promote bacterial growth overall, but select for opportunistic bacteria that may further stress reefs.
Published Archaeologists discover oldest known bead in the Americas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The bead found at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming's Converse County is about 12,940 years old and made of bone from a hare.
Published Researchers studying ocean transform faults, describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source This study reports widespread mineral carbonation of mantle rocks in an oceanic transform fueled by magmatic degassing of CO2. The findings describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle in transform faults that represent one of the three principal plate boundaries on Earth. The confluence of tectonically exhumed mantle rocks and CO2-rich alkaline basalt formed through limited extents of melting characteristic of the St. Paul's transform faults may be a pervasive feature at oceanic transform faults in general. Because transform faults have not been accounted for in previous estimates of global geological CO2 fluxes, the mass transfer of magmatic CO2 to the altered oceanic mantle and seawater may be larger than previously thought.
Published The hidden rule for flight feathers -- and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists examined hundreds of birds in museum collections and discovered a suite of feather characteristics that all flying birds have in common. These 'rules' provide clues as to how the dinosaur ancestors of modern birds first evolved the ability to fly, and which dinosaurs were capable of flight.
Published Global deforestation leads to more mercury pollution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers find deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of global human-made mercury emissions. While it cannot be the only solution, they suggest reforestation could increase global mercury uptake by about 5 percent.
Published Key advance for capturing carbon from the air
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A chemical element so visually striking that it was named for a goddess shows a 'Goldilocks' level of reactivity -- neither too much nor too little -- that makes it a strong candidate as a carbon scrubbing tool.
Published When the global climate has the hiccups
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate changes usually happens over long periods of time, but during the last glacial period, extreme fluctuations in temperature occurred within just a few years. Researchers have now been able to prove the phenomenon also occurred during the penultimate glacial period.
Published Industrial pollution leaves its mark in Mediterranean corals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For the first time, pollutants from burning fossil fuels have been found embedded in corals, offering scientists a potential new tool to track the history of pollution, finds a new study.
Published Ice cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of the Last Ice Age, around eight thousand years ago. The evidence, contained within an ice core, shows that in one location the ice sheet thinned by 450 meters -- that's more than the height of the Empire State Building -- in just under 200 years.
Published Are environmental toxins putting future generations at risk?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers have concluded that fathers exposed to environmental toxins, notably DDT, may produce sperm with health consequences for their children.
Published Ancient rocks improve understanding of tectonic activity between earthquakes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Rocks once buried deep in ancient subduction zones -- where tectonic plates collide -- could help scientists make better predictions of how these zones behave during the years between major earthquakes, according to a research team.
Published What turned Earth into a giant snowball 700 million years ago? Scientists now have an answer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Inspired during field work in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, geoscientists have proposed that all-time low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions triggered a 57-million-year-long global 'Sturtian' ice age.
Published Replacing animal-based foods with alternative proteins would unlock land for carbon removal
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers report that replacing 50% of animal products with alternative proteins by 2050 could free up enough agricultural land to generate renewable energy equivalent in volume to today's coal-generated power while simultaneously removing substantial CO2 from the atmosphere.