https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Geological Society of America The search for life on Mars involves the efforts of scientists from many different disciplines. An important aspect of that search is to study Martian sedimentary rocks for information about the planet's environment when it is likely that the surface environment hosted abundant water and therefore more habitable, around three to four billion years ago. Now, research published in the journal Geology shows evidence of an intense sandstorm that swept through Mars's Gale crater over three billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-serendipitous-discovery-martian-ripple-reveals.html Astrobiology Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:10:01 EDT news694363681 This past winter, the Rocky Mountains experienced an historic snow drought, a worrying development for the tens of millions of people in the arid American West who depend on snowmelt for water. Now, a new study in the journal Geology investigates the geologic history of a surprising process that might be making the problem even worse: sublimation, the process by which frozen water transforms directly into water vapor, skipping the liquid phase altogether. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-importance-sublimation-rocky-mountain-snowpack.html Earth Sciences Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:50:01 EDT news693674941 Researchers studying the soft-bodied Ediacaran biotas of the world generally accept that there are three distinct assemblages. The 575–560-million-year-old (Ma) Avalon Assemblage is best known from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland, Canada, characterized by the weird and wonderful fractal Rangeomorpha like Charnia that thrived in the deep, dark waters around the ancient continent of Avalonia. The 560–550-Ma White Sea Assemblage is best known from shallow marine rocks of Australia, Russia, and China, marking the acme of Ediacaran biodiversity and including some famous animal ancestors such as Dickinsonia and Kimberella. And the 550–538-Ma Nama Assemblage is a low-diversity biota that persisted until the extinction event preceding the Cambrian Radiation event at 538 Ma. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-exceptionally-million-year-site-avalon.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:00:02 EST news691330727 In the whole history of Earth's climate, few events are as extreme as those that geologists call "Snowball Earth." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-snowball-earth-extreme-climates-world.html Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:14:18 EST news690646382 What appears to be a single volcanic eruption is often the result of complex processes operating deep beneath the surface, where magma moves, evolves, and changes over long periods of time. To fully understand how volcanoes work, scientists study the volcanic products that erupt at the surface, which can reveal the hidden magmatic systems feeding volcanic activity. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-mars-young-volcanoes-complex-scientists.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:20:01 EST news690035057 In the Pacific Northwest, big faults like the Cascadian subduction zone located offshore, get a lot of attention. But big faults aren't the only ones that pose significant hazards, and a new study investigates the dynamics of a complex fault zone that runs right under the heart of Seattle. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-hazard-potential-seattle-fault-zone.html Earth Sciences Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:52:38 EST news689518321 Mass extinctions are extremely catastrophic events on Earth. Throughout Earth's evolutionary history, numerous mass extinctions have occurred, with five major mass extinctions being particularly representative. These extinctions have reshaped the course of life's evolution on Earth. In addition to the five major mass extinctions, many frequent, lower-order extinctions have also taken place on Earth, such as the Norian–Rhaetian Extinction during the Triassic. Regarding the triggering mechanisms of extinctions, the five major events have been relatively well studied. However, the triggering mechanisms of the frequent lower-order extinctions remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-marine-volcanic-plateaus-triassic-extinction.html Earth Sciences Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:48:50 EST news688744091 Dr. Rowan Martindale, a paleoecologist and geobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, was walking through the Dadès Valley in the Central High Atlas Mountains of Morocco when she saw something that literally stopped her in her tracks. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ancient-life-unexpected.html Earth Sciences Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:55:24 EST news687545701 In Earth's fossil record, soft-bodied organisms like jellyfish rarely stand the test of time. What's more, it's hard for any animal to get preserved with exceptional detail in sandstones, which are made of large grains, are porous, and commonly form in environments swept by rough storms and waves. But about 570 million years ago, in a geologic time interval called the Ediacaran period, strange-looking, soft-bodied organisms died on the seafloor, were buried in sand, and fossilized in incredible detail. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-strange-ancient-remarkable-fossils.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 08 Jan 2026 13:35:40 EST news687101701 In an age of rising sea levels, as polar ice sheets melt in a climate warmed by fossil fuel emissions, climate modelers are racing to understand what the future might hold for coastlines around the world. But uncertainties about how fast polar ice might melt make predicting coastal inundation difficult. Now, scientists think they've helped make one of those uncertainties, the material conditions underneath the Greenland ice sheet, smaller. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-widespread-sediments-beneath-greenland-ice.html Earth Sciences Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:22:25 EST news684678121 In Arizona's Willcox Basin, just over an hour east of Tucson, fissures are tearing through the earth, wells are running dry, and strange areas are flooding when it rains. The cause is clear. As large agricultural producers pump more and more groundwater for irrigation, the water table is falling, and the land surface itself is sinking. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-arizona-willcox-basin-fast-due.html Earth Sciences Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:40:01 EST news681654875 For the past 250 years, people have mined coal industrially in Pennsylvania, U.S.. By 1830, the city of Pittsburgh was using more than 400 tons of the fossil fuel every day. Burning all that coal has contributed to climate change. Additionally, unremediated mines—especially those that operated before Congress passed regulations in 1977—have leaked environmentally harmful mine drainage. But that might not be the end of their legacy. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-abandoned-coal-drainage-significant-source.html Earth Sciences Sat, 01 Nov 2025 07:13:16 EDT news681199956 The consequences of a warming climate are known to be dangerous for marine ecosystems, with environmental changes like ocean acidification and warming, disrupted nutrient supplies, and rising sea levels. For mollusks, important members of marine ecosystems, these changes might spell doom. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-climate-mollusk-populations-western-atlantic.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:17:04 EDT news680876222 Late at night on 26 September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida's big bend. The physical damage was devastating and well-documented, but an additional, unseen potential impact lurked underfoot. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-hurricane-helene-groundwater-chemistry.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:58:35 EDT news680446711 When the tectonic subduction zone beneath the Pacific Northwest moves, it does so in dramatic fashion. Not only is ground shaking from a magnitude 9+ earthquake incredibly destructive, the event triggers tsunamis and landslides to compound the damage. Now, a new study in the Geosphere suggests the "really big one" could also trigger a major earthquake in California. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-cascadia-megathrust-earthquake-trigger-san.html Earth Sciences Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:52:32 EDT news678703944 If you've ever held or beheld a diamond, there's a good chance it came from a kimberlite. Over 70% of the world's diamonds are mined from these unique volcanic structures. Yet despite decades of study, scientists are still working to understand how exactly kimberlites erupt from deep in Earth's mantle to the surface. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-code-kimberlite-eruptions-diamonds-rapid.html Earth Sciences Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:11:03 EDT news677855461 Are subterranean lifeforms viable on Mars? A new interpretation of Martian seismic data by scientists Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu of Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics suggests the presence of water below the surface of Mars. "If liquid water exists on Mars," Katayama says, "the presence of microbial activity" is possible. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-seismic-clues-marsquakes-liquid-life.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 08 Mar 2025 05:35:51 EST news660634545 Marine and coastal geoscience play a critical role in understanding ancient and modern geological history, offshore and coastal hazards, and climate change. Deep-water environments prevent scientists from directly visiting field sites, so unique methods must be employed for researching the ocean floor. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-remotely-vehicles-insights-mona-rift.html Earth Sciences Wed, 08 Jan 2025 12:08:03 EST news655560481 River floods are environmental hazards that can have devastating effects on human life, agriculture, and infrastructure. Hydrologic models are used to map flood hazards to better understand risk, dictate insurance costs, and inform land-use planning. However, new research being presented Wednesday at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2024 meeting suggests that these models may be missing a key variable that could underestimate risk. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-channel-conveyance-current.html Earth Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:08:03 EDT news646409282 Field trips are a vital component of experiential learning in the earth science community, offering hands-on opportunities for students, professionals, and community members to engage with key scientific concepts. These trips can foster a deeper understanding of complex ideas, cater to various learning styles, and promote a sense of community. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-earth-science-traditional-field.html Education Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:58:01 EDT news646304277 Rivers are important indicators of ecosystem health and the long-term effects of climate change. To better understand how climate change is affecting Ohio's rivers, Ohio State University undergraduate Melody Green, along with Drs. Devin Smith and Berry Lyons, have been studying the Grand River and Big Darby Creek. They will present their findings at GSA Connects 2024 in Anaheim, focusing on river discharge—a key measure of water volume flow. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climate-infiltrating-backyard-impacts-river.html Environment Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:56:51 EDT news646304208 How are rivers characterized? Traditional methods rely on plant forms and sedimentological techniques, focusing on deposits. Riccardo Maitan, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Padova, is developing a novel approach based on river hydrological behavior, emphasizing morphodynamics. His work aims to identify the signature of peak discharge variability—a key hydrological metric—in meandering rivers. This research spans over 15 years of USGS data and Google Earth image time series. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-river-dynamics-cutoff-regimes.html Earth Sciences Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:51:47 EDT news640450303 Stromatolites are the earliest geological record of life on Earth. These curious biotic structures are made of algae carpets growing toward the light and precipitating carbonates. After their first appearance 3.48 Ga ago, stromatolites dominated the planet as the sole living carbonate factory for almost three billion years. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-vestiges-life-earth-saudi-arabia.html Earth Sciences Fri, 31 May 2024 16:04:40 EDT news636390276 Earth is a stressed planet. As plates move, magma rises, and glaciers melt—just to mention a few scenarios—rocks are subject to varying pressure and compressional and extensional forces. The effect of these stresses on rock mineralogy and texture is of great interest to the tectono-metamorphic community. Yet the link between process and outcome remains elusive. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-geology-potential-effect-elastic-differential.html Earth Sciences Tue, 06 Feb 2024 10:13:02 EST news626436781 The commercial importance of lithium is ever-growing, and its production is globally dominated by lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. These are spectacular rocks featuring impressive ultra-coarse textures, but they are very elusive due to a combination of factors: they are small, and until a decade ago, they were often regarded as nothing more than a geological curiosity. As a result, our knowledge of LCT pegmatites from an exploration standpoint is limited, which makes them hard to find. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-lithium-bearing-pegmatites.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:12:03 EST news619719121 In the karstic caves of Puerto Rico, cave art paints the rock walls. Previous research has assigned ages to this art based on the ages of nearby archaeological artifacts within the caves, but these ages are relative and may not reflect the true timing of the art creation. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-dating-cave-art-reveals-history.html Archaeology Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:35:20 EDT news616779316 Earthworms, the hardworking invertebrates that grace the upper layers of soil, have long been considered helpful in our home gardens. Earthworms are prolific munchers, grinding up organic material and sediment grains that make up soils. Although they are very different animals, worms, like many poultry, have gizzards. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-earthworm-effect-unraveling-soil-weathering.html Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Oct 2023 15:20:03 EDT news616774802 Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been monitoring groundwater quality in wells across the country for more than three decades, looking for harmful chemicals or residual substances that may cause harm to ecosystems or humans. In all, they have measured up to 500 chemical constituents, including major ions, metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, fertilizers, and radionuclides. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-groundwater-saltierwhat-infrastructure-ecosystems-human.html Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:37:50 EDT news616757754 From the eerie echo of a bugling elk to the gentle swoosh of water lapping against a stony shore, a unique combination of sounds helps distinguish each national park. This acoustic environment, as perceived by humans, is known as a soundscape, and it is a vital attribute—albeit one that is increasingly under threat from anthropogenic noise. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-soundscape-glacier-national.html Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 16:19:04 EDT news616691942 You've heard of the salmon run: upon reaching sexual maturity, wild Atlantic salmon, which are born in freshwater rivers but spend most of their adult life in the ocean, swim upstream all the way back to their birthplace to spawn. This remarkable migration—a journey thousands of miles long, against the current—is filled with obstacles, from dams to hop over to hungry bears to dodge. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-function-salmon-cooling-stations.html Plants & Animals Mon, 16 Oct 2023 16:08:03 EDT news616691281