https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures in zircons, the planet's oldest minerals, that are consistent with subduction and extensive continental crust during the Hadean Eon, more than 4 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-hadean-zircons-reveal-crust-recycling.html Earth Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:17 EST news689320381 Ask people how Stonehenge was built and you'll hear stories of sledges, ropes, boats and sheer human determination to haul stones from across Britain to Salisbury Plain, in south-west England. Others might mention giants, wizards, or alien assistance to explain the transport of Stonehenge's stones, which come from as far as Wales and Scotland. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-grains-sand-people-glaciers-stonehenge.html Earth Sciences Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:10:01 EST news688219458 Australia's iconic red landscapes have been home to Aboriginal culture and recorded in songlines for tens of thousands of years. But further clues to just how ancient this landscape is come from far beyond Earth: cosmic rays that leave telltale fingerprints inside minerals at Earth's surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cosmic-clock-tiny-crystals-reveals.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:20:01 EST news687615081 New Curtin University research has uncovered a striking link between the structure of our galaxy and the evolution of Earth's crust, showing its development was shaped by the impact of meteorites during its journey through the Milky Way and not solely through internal processes as was previously widely considered. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-earth-history-written-stars-zircon.html Astronomy Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:59:25 EDT news677231960 In 1984, an amateur paleontologist in Scotland found a remarkable specimen: a nearly complete fossil of what looked to be a lizard or salamander. Rather small in size at 20 centimeters, it would turn out to be a crucial piece in the puzzle of animal evolution. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-shot-science-age-animal-ancestor.html Evolution Thu, 29 May 2025 17:01:04 EDT news667756861 A trio of researchers has found evidence of the impact of the Late Antique Little Ice Age on Iceland almost 1,500 years ago. In their paper published in the journal Geology, Christopher Spencer, Thomas Gernon and Ross Mitchell describe their analysis of out-of-place rocks they found embedded in cliffs on Iceland's west coast and what they learned. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-ancient-greenland-iceland-reveal-effects.html Earth Sciences Mon, 21 Apr 2025 11:40:01 EDT news664452604 Water is ubiquitous on Earth—about 70% of Earth's surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-billion-year-crystal-mars-reveals.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 25 Nov 2024 12:20:01 EST news651759204 New Curtin University-led research has uncovered what may be the oldest direct evidence of ancient hot water activity on Mars, revealing the planet may have been habitable at some point in its past. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-oldest-evidence-hot-mars.html Astrobiology Fri, 22 Nov 2024 14:00:01 EST news651339087 A hiker's pack usually gets lighter over time as they plow through trail mix and water, but Annika Dechert likes to joke that hers gets heavier. As an Earth sciences graduate student at the University of Oregon, she's picking up clues to the eruption history of South Sister volcano in the Oregon Cascades, helping scientists better understand its possible future risk. Those clues: 10-pound chunks of crystal-studded rocks, ejected during past eruptions spanning 39,000 to 2,000 years ago and hauled off the volcano by Dechert and a team of volcanologists. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-scientists-eruption-history-oregon-south.html Earth Sciences Mon, 21 Oct 2024 10:46:03 EDT news648726360 In a new study, a team of researchers suggests that 4 billion years ago, plate tectonics likely looked closer to what we experience today than previously thought. The team published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-billion-years-plate-tectonics-closer.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:53:03 EDT news646570381 A team of geoscientists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Switzerland has more precisely dated an enormous "magmatic event" that occurred on the moon several billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-geoscientists-narrow-enormous-magmatic-event.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 25 Jul 2024 10:50:01 EDT news641122448 Rock weathering and plate tectonics are vital to life. They both regulate the planet's surface temperature and provide bio-essential nutrients. But how and when these critical processes began on Earth is still a mystery. And is it possible that they may date back to Earth's infancy—the Hadean Eon, more than four billion years ago? https://phys.org/news/2024-07-machine-secrets-early-plate-tectonics.html Earth Sciences Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:20:27 EDT news640344022 An international team of geophysicists has found evidence that the Earth experienced plate tectonics earlier than previously thought. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group analyzed zircons from Jack Hills in Australia. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ai-analysis-zircons-australia-earlier.html Earth Sciences Tue, 09 Jul 2024 10:10:02 EDT news639738318 Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-groundbreaking-discovery-remnants-earth-primordial.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:55 EDT news638099270 Little is known about the nature and evolution of Earth's continental crust before a few billion years ago because cratons, or stable swaths of the lithosphere more than 2–3 billion years old, are relatively rare. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-mantle-boosted-earth-crust-billion.html Earth Sciences Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:06:02 EDT news633189961 Scientists use tiny minerals called zircons as geologic timekeepers. Often no bigger than a grain of sand, these crystals record chemical signatures of the geological environment where they formed. In a new study led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, researchers used them to describe what could be an overlooked step in a fundamental tectonic process that raises seafloors into mountains. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-tectonic-seafloor-mountains.html Earth Sciences Wed, 03 Apr 2024 10:35:03 EDT news631359299 The oldest Scandinavian bedrock was "born" in Greenland according to a new geological study from the University of Copenhagen. The study helps us understand the origin of continents and why Earth is possibly the only planet in our solar system with life. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-geological-scandinavia-born-greenland.html Earth Sciences Thu, 21 Mar 2024 11:25:45 EDT news630239141 Zircons, a mineral nearly as old as Earth itself, crystalize when magmas (molten rocks) cool and can be found in trace quantities in magmatic rocks. The formation of magma constitutes the mountains on the Earth. Through interactions with water and the atmosphere, the mountains break down into sediments. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-zircons-reveal-history-fluctuations-oxidation.html Earth Sciences Wed, 13 Mar 2024 14:41:25 EDT news629559683 Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth's early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zircons to study plate tectonics billions of years ago. The research sheds light on the conditions that existed in early Earth, revealing a complex interplay between Earth's crust, core, and the emergence of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-plate-tectonics-required-emergence-life.html Astrobiology Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:40:54 EDT news605965248 Zircon crystals, like a time capsule, can preserve traces of life hundreds of millions of years old in the form of biogenic carbon. Using new methods, geoscientists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in tracing very old and rare examples of the mineral zircon that host graphite inclusions in which light carbon is identifiable as a remnant of earlier life. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-ancient-magma-reveals-life-zircons.html Earth Sciences Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:44:03 EDT news600011041 Earth is a dynamic and constantly changing planet. From the formation of mountains and oceans to the eruption of volcanoes, the surface of our planet is in a constant state of flux. At the heart of these changes lies the powerful force of plate tectonics—the movements of Earth's crustal plates. This fundamental process has shaped the current topography of our planet and continues to play a role in its future. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-plate-tectonics-life-earth.html Earth Sciences Tue, 04 Apr 2023 15:07:04 EDT news599839622 Thirty-seven years ago, on April 26 1986, the reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown. In the weeks that followed, the deadly event drove hundreds of thousands of people to relocate from the surrounding area, which is still a deserted "exclusion zone" today. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-chernobyl-history-worst-nuclear-disaster.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Mar 2023 13:26:39 EDT news598623994 Zircons are common, hardy minerals that can be found in rocks up to 4 billion years old. Their structure and texture can reflect the conditions in which they formed, earning them a reputation as nature's time capsules. And according to new research, with the power of machine learning, scientists can mine zircon textures to identify valuable mineral deposits. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-prospecting-copper-machine-zircons.html Earth Sciences Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:03:02 EST news596462581 The amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere makes it a habitable planet. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-earth-oxygen-hints-unexpected-source.html Earth Sciences Tue, 29 Nov 2022 13:00:04 EST news588948949 A new study involving an international team of researchers has found that the evolution of land plants caused a sudden shift in the composition of Earth's continents. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-evolution-composition-earth-crust.html Earth Sciences Tue, 30 Aug 2022 11:54:03 EDT news581079241 Despite being deemed a "perfect" arc, the shape of the Himalaya highlands is interrupted by an embayment that stretches across nearly 2° of longitude in western Nepal. This deviation from a perfect shape, plus a few diverging landforms and fault anomalies, casts a shadow on the geologic processes at play in the region. This anomaly also provides an opportunity to investigate how the Himalayan megathrust fault affects the active growth of the mountain range. Additionally, understanding the nature of the megathrust in the western Himalayas is crucial to evaluating seismic hazards in the region. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-uncovering-formation-western-nepal-embayment.html Earth Sciences Thu, 25 Aug 2022 08:40:03 EDT news580635602 Earth is the only planet we know of with continents, the giant landmasses that provide homes to humankind and most of Earth's biomass. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-continents-evidence-giant-asteroids.html Earth Sciences Thu, 11 Aug 2022 09:30:01 EDT news579428497 Understanding ancient earthquakes helps researchers estimate the hazards posed by modern earthquakes. Reported in a new study, geologists have come up with a new way to estimate intensity of these old events: take their temperature. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-tracking-ancient-earthquakes-temperatures-faults.html Earth Sciences Tue, 24 May 2022 14:48:53 EDT news572622528 A handful of ancient zircon crystals found in South Africa hold the oldest evidence of subduction, a key element of plate tectonics, according to a new study published today in AGU Advances. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-earliest-geochemical-evidence-plate-tectonics.html Earth Sciences Thu, 21 Apr 2022 13:00:43 EDT news569764837 Mesozoic granitoids, ranging from the Triassic to the Cretaceous, are widely distributed in Qinling orogen. They provide excellent clues for understanding the crustal evolution and geodynamic evolution of the orogenic belt. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-scientists-reworking-juvenile-crust-late.html Earth Sciences Fri, 15 Apr 2022 10:30:31 EDT news569237429