By providing the first estimate of how much hydrogen is available to fuel microbial life in the sunless sub-seafloor crust beneath the Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR), a new Duke University-led study sheds light on one of Earth's least ...
Earth Sciences
May 18, 2020
4
963
If life is abundant in the universe, atmospheric methane may be the first sign of life beyond Earth detectable by astronomers. Although nonbiological processes can generate methane, a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz ...
Astrobiology
Mar 28, 2022
1
731
Thank goodness for the Earth's crust: It is, after all, that solid, outermost layer of our planet that supports everything above it.
Earth Sciences
Jun 26, 2020
4
739
Three billion years ago, amid one of the last wet periods on Mars, powerful debris flows carried mud and boulders down the side of a hulking mountain. The debris spread into a fan that was later eroded by wind into a towering ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 18, 2023
0
297
Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modeling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth's history, more than 700 million years ago.
Earth Sciences
Feb 8, 2024
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230
The hotspots that created volcanic islands such as those of Hawaii, Iceland and the Galapagos Islands may often prove surprisingly cool, a new study finds.
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2022
0
276
The discovery of Tamu Massif, a gigantic volcano located about 1,000 miles east of Japan, made big news in 2013 when researchers reported it was the largest single volcano documented on earth, roughly the size of New Mexico.
Earth Sciences
Jul 8, 2019
0
197
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spent most of March climbing the "Greenheugh Pediment"—a gentle slope capped by rubbly sandstone. The rover briefly summited this feature's north face two years ago; now on the pediment's southern ...
Space Exploration
Apr 7, 2022
0
349
In its search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover is once again preparing to collect the first of many rock core samples that could eventually be brought to Earth for further study.
Planetary Sciences
Aug 26, 2021
1
1131
In between Earth's rigid tectonic plates above and its convecting mantle below is a hot and soft layer known as the asthenosphere. At mid-ocean ridges, upwelling of the hot asthenosphere to the surface of the seafloor forms ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2022
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