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Categories: Geoscience: Geology, Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published Earth's stability and ability to support civilization at risk: Six of nine planetary boundaries exceeded
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth conditions.
Published Scientific ocean drilling discovers dynamic carbon cycling in the ultra-deep-water Japan Trench
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hadal trenches, with their deepest locations situated in the so-called hadal zone, the deepest parts of the ocean in water depth >6km, are the least-explored environment on Earth, linking the Earth's surface and its deeper interior. An international team conducting deep-subsurface sampling in a hadal trench at high spatial resolution has revealed exciting insights on the carbon cycling in the trench sediment.
Published Bursting air bubbles may play a key role in how glacier ice melts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has uncovered a possible clue as to why glaciers that terminate at the sea are retreating at unprecedented rates: the bursting of tiny, pressurized bubbles in underwater ice.
Published Mutation rates in whales are much higher than previously reported
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of marine scientists has studied the DNA of family groups from four different whale species to estimate their mutation rates. Using the newly determined rates, the group found that the number of humpback whales in the North Atlantic before whaling was 86 percent lower than earlier studies suggested.
Published Two out of three volcanoes are little-known. How to predict their eruptions?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What is the risk of a volcano erupting? To answer this question, scientists need information about its underlying internal structure. However, gathering this data can take several years of fieldwork, analyses and monitoring, which explains why only 30% of active volcanoes are currently well documented. A team has developed a method for rapidly obtaining valuable information. It is based on three parameters: the height of the volcano, the thickness of the layer of rock separating the volcano's reservoir from the surface, and the average chemical composition of the magma.
Published Tiny mineral inclusions picture the chemical exchange between Earth's mantle and atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using synchrotron techniques, scientists have unveiled important information on The Great Oxidation Event by studying apatite inclusions in zircon crystals from old magmas.
Published Enhanced chemical weathering: A solution to the climate crisis?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Could blending of crushed rock with arable soil lower global temperatures? Researchers study global warming events from 40 and 56 million years ago to find answers.
Published Scientists zero in on timing, causes of ice age mammal extinctions in southern California
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Radiocarbon dating on bones in the La Brea Tar Pits lead archaeologists to warn that history may be repeating itself.
Published Drops of seawater contain traces of an ancient world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research links chemical changes in seawater to volcanic activity and changes.
Published Carbon dioxide -- not water -- triggers explosive basaltic volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geoscientists have long thought that water -- along with shallow magma stored in Earth's crust -- drives volcanoes to erupt. Now, thanks to newly developed research tools, scientists have learned that gaseous carbon dioxide can trigger explosive eruptions.
Published Scientists crack the code of what causes diamonds to erupt
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have discovered that the breakup of tectonic plates is the main driving force behind the generation and eruption of diamond-rich magmas from deep inside the Earth.
Published Geomagnetic field protects Earth from electron showers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geophysicists studied the activity of high energy electrons and clarified the unexpected protective role of the geomagnetic field surrounding the Earth.
Published Invasion of the Arctic Ocean by Atlantic plankton species reveals a seasonally ice-free ocean during the last interglacial
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A subpolar species associated with Atlantic water expanded far into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial, analysis of microfossil content of sediment cores reveals. This implies that summers in the Arctic were ice free during this period.
Published Research reveals Hawai'i's undersea volcano, Kama'ehu, erupted five times in past 150 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Kama?ehuakanaloa (formerly L??ihi Seamount), a submarine Hawaiian volcano located about 20 miles off the south coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i, has erupted at least five times in the last 150 years, according to new research led by Earth scientists at the University of Hawai'i at M?noa.
Published Past climate warming driven by hydrothermal vents
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international drilling expedition off the Norwegian coast confirms the theory that methane emissions from hydrothermal vents were responsible for global warming about 55 million years ago. The study shows that the vents were active in very shallow water depth or even above sea level, which would have allowed much larger amounts of methane to enter the atmosphere.
Published Nature's kitchen: how a chemical reaction used by cooks helped create life on Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A chemical process used in the browning of food to give it its distinct smell and taste is probably happening deep in the oceans, where it helped create the conditions necessary for life. Known as the Maillard reaction after the French scientist who discovered it, the process converts small molecules of organic carbon into bigger molecules known as polymers. In the kitchen, it is used to create flavors and aromas out of sugars. But a research team argues that on the sea floor, the process has had a more fundamental effect, where it has helped to raise oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to create the conditions for complex life forms to emerge and thrive on Earth.
Published Fiber optic cables detect and characterize earthquakes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The same fiber optic networks that provide internet can simultaneously act as earthquake sensors, as demonstrated in a new study.
Published Dune patterns reveal environmental change on Earth and other planets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have analyzed the shifting patterns of entire dune fields on Earth and Mars, as seen from orbit, and found they are a direct signature of recent environmental change. This new tool can be applied anywhere with dunes, such as Mars, Titan, and Venus.
Published Earth's most ancient impact craters are disappearing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Earth's oldest craters could give scientists critical information about the structure of the early Earth and the composition of bodies in the solar system as well as help to interpret crater records on other planets. But geologists can't find them, and they might never be able to, according to a new study.
Published Sun 'umbrella' tethered to asteroid might help mitigate climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. An astronomer has proposed a novel approach -- a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades.