Are plate tectonics key to life? Maybe not, say scientists

Earlier this year, researchers announced they had found fossils of microbial life in the rocks of northern Quebec, Canada dating to at least 3.77 billion years old, making them the oldest known life form on Earth. It was ...

Mystery of rare volcanoes on Venus

The long-standing mystery of why there are so few volcanoes on Venus has been solved by a team of researchers led by the University of St Andrews.

Earth's first example of recycling—its own crust

Rock samples from northeastern Canada retain chemical signals that help explain what Earth's crust was like more than 4 billion years ago, reveals new work from Carnegie's Richard Carlson and Jonathan O'Neil of the University ...

What is the temperature of the Earth's crust?

As you may recall learning in geology class, the Earth is made up of distinct layers. The further one goes towards the center of the planet, the more intense the heat and pressure becomes. Luckily, for those of us living ...

Research suggests some major changes to geology textbooks

Super-computer modelling of Earth's crust and upper-mantle suggests that ancient geologic events may have left deep 'scars' that can come to life to play a role in earthquakes, mountain formation, and other ongoing processes ...

page 8 from 15