Scientists at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution announced today that ribonucleic acid (RNA), an analog of DNA that was likely the first genetic material for life, spontaneously forms on basalt lava glass. Such ...
Astrobiology
Jun 3, 2022
29
19828
Sifting through diamond exploration samples from Baffin Island, Canadian scientists have identified a new remnant of the North Atlantic craton—an ancient part of Earth's continental crust.
Earth Sciences
Mar 20, 2020
13
4697
Earth has some special features that set it apart from its close cousins in the solar system, including large oceans of liquid water and a rich atmosphere with just the right ingredients to support life as we know it. Earth ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 21, 2016
2
763
An international research team, led by a Virginia Tech geoscientist, has revealed information about how continents were generated on Earth more than 2.5 billion years ago—and how those processes have continued within the ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 31, 2015
30
1798
North America traveled in fast company back in its youth.
Earth Sciences
Feb 4, 2015
84
1011
Scientists understand that Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia. In other words, if you were alive about 800,000 years ago, and facing what we call north with a magnetic compass in ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 30, 2011
14
3
The Earth's oldest surface layer forming continents, termed its crust, is approximately 4 billion years old and is comprised of 25–50km-thick volcanic rocks known as basalts. Originally, scientists thought that one complete ...
The seemingly stable regions of the Earth's continental plates—the so-called stable cratons—have suffered repetitive deformation below their crust since their formation in the remote past, according to new research from ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 12, 2023
2
202
The mountain ranges of the North American Cordillera are made up of dozens of distinct crustal blocks. A new study clarifies their mode of origin and identifies a previously unknown oceanic plate that contributed to their ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 3, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org)—New research sheds light on how and when the modern day continents began to form. Researchers from the University of Bristol analyzed radio isotope abundances in 13,000 samples of continental crust of varying ...
