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Categories: Geoscience: Geology, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published Meteorites reveal likely origin of Earth's volatile chemicals
(via sciencedaily.com) By analyzing meteorites, researchers have uncovered the likely far-flung origin of Earth's volatile chemicals, some of which form the building blocks of life.
Published What crocodile DNA reveals about the Ice Age
(via sciencedaily.com) What drives crocodile evolution? Is climate a major factor or changes in sea levels? Determined to find answers to these questions, researchers discovered that while changing temperatures and rainfall had little impact on the crocodiles' gene flow over the past three million years, changes to sea levels during the Ice Age had a different effect.
Published Satellite data shows sustained severe drought in Europe
(via sciencedaily.com) Europe lacks groundwater -- a lot of groundwater. The continent has already been suffering from a severe drought since 2018. This is confirmed by satellite data.
Published Immense diversity and interdependence in high temp deep-sea microorganism communities
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study finds that microorganisms live in richly diverse and interdependent communities in high-temperature geothermal environments in the deep sea. By constructing genomes of 3,635 Bacteria and Archaea from 40 different rock communities, researchers discovered at least 500 new genera and have evidence for two new phyla. Samples from the deep-sea Brothers volcano were especially enriched with different kinds of microorganisms, many endemic to the volcano. The genomic data from this study also showed that many of these organisms depend on one another for survival. Some microorganisms cannot metabolize all of the nutrients they need to survive so they rely on nutrients created by other species in a process known as a 'metabolic handoff.'
Published Asteroid findings from specks of space dust could save the planet
(via sciencedaily.com) New research into the durability and age of an ancient asteroid made of rocky rubble and dust, revealed significant findings that could contribute to potentially saving the planet if one ever hurtled toward Earth.
Published Rare opportunity to study short-lived volcanic island reveals sulfur-metabolizing microbes
(via sciencedaily.com) On the short-lived island of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai, researchers discovered a unique microbial community that metabolizes sulfur and atmospheric gases, similar to organisms found in deep sea vents or hot springs.
Published Researchers uncover 92 fossil nests belonging to some of India's largest dinosaurs
(via sciencedaily.com) The discovery of more than 250 fossilized eggs reveals intimate details about the lives of titanosaurs in the Indian subcontinent, according to a new study.
Published Mummified crocodiles provide insights into mummy-making over time
(via sciencedaily.com) Crocodiles were mummified in a unique way at the Egyptian site of Qubbat al-Hawa during the 5th Century BC, according to a new study.
Published Researchers uncover secrets on how Alaska's Denali Fault formed
(via sciencedaily.com) New findings begin to fill major gaps in understanding about how geological faults behave and appear as they deepen, and they could eventually help lead future researchers to develop better earthquake models on strike-slip faults, regions with frequent and major earthquakes.
Published Fossils reveal dinosaurs of prehistoric Patagonia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study is providing a glimpse into dinosaur and bird diversity in Patagonia during the Late Cretaceous, just before the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. The fossils represent the first record of theropods -- a dinosaur group that includes both modern birds and their closest non-avian dinosaur relatives -- from the Chilean portion of Patagonia. The researchers' finds include giant megaraptors with large sickle-like claws and birds similar to todays ducks and geese.
Published Ancient Siberian genomes reveal genetic backflow from North America across the Bering Sea
(via sciencedaily.com) The movement of people across the Bering Sea from North Asia to North America is a well-known phenomenon in early human history. Nevertheless, the genetic makeup of the people who lived in North Asia during this time has remained mysterious due to a limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Now, researchers describe genomes from ten individuals up to 7,500 years old that help to fill the gap and show geneflow from people moving in the opposite direction from North America to North Asia.
Published Study offers most detailed glimpse yet of planet's last 11,000 summers and winters
(via sciencedaily.com) An international team of collaborators have revealed the most detailed look yet at the planet's recent climactic history, including summer and winter temperatures dating back 11,000 years to the beginning of what is known as the Holocene.
Published Origins of the building blocks of life
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study posits that interstellar cloud conditions may have played a significant role on the presence of key building blocks of life in the solar system.
Published DNA from archaeological remains shows that immigration to Scandinavia was exceptional during the Viking period
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study based on 297 ancient Scandinavian genomes analysed together with the genomic data of 16,638 present day Scandinavians resolve the complex relations between geography, ancestry, and gene flow in Scandinavia -- encompassing the Roman Age, the Viking Age and later periods. A surprising increase of variation during the Viking period indicates that gene flow into Scandinavia was especially intense during this period.
Published Map of ancient ocean 'dead zones' could predict future locations, impacts
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have created a map of oceanic 'dead zones' that existed during the Pliocene epoch, when the Earth's climate was two to three degrees warmer than it is now. The work could provide a glimpse into the locations and potential impacts of future low oxygen zones in a warmer Earth's oceans.
Published Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.
Published Hawai'i earthquake swarm caused by magma moving through 'sills'
(via sciencedaily.com) A machine-learning algorithm reveals the shape of massive subterranean structures linking active volcanoes.
Published New study models the transmission of foreshock waves towards Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) As the supersonic solar wind surges towards Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field creates a shock to deflect its flow, and a foreshock filled with electromagnetic waves. How these waves can propagate to the other side of the shock has long remained a mystery.
Published The other paleo diet: Rare discovery of dinosaur remains preserved with its last meal
(via sciencedaily.com) Microraptor was an opportunistic predator, feeding on fish, birds, lizards -- and now small mammals. The discovery of a rare fossil reveals the creature was a generalist carnivore in the ancient ecosystem of dinosaurs.
Published Predicting lava flow
(via sciencedaily.com) A team is collecting data that will be used to create models that can help improve lava flow forecasting tools that are useful in determining how hazards impact populations. One such tool, known as MOLASSES, is a simulation engine that forecasts inundation areas of lava flow.