Exploring Earth's mantle through microseisms

The ocean is constantly whirring with activity. The pressure from this constant roiling and swelling is one cause of microseisms—random, nearly imperceptible vibrations of Earth that also can be produced by human activities ...

Even if there's life on TRAPPIST-1, we probably can't detect it

If we ever find life on other worlds, it is unlikely to be a powerful message from space. It's certainly possible that an alien civilization specifically sends us a radio message like a scene out of Contact, but the more ...

The science behind the life and times of the Earth's salt flats

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska Anchorage are the first to characterize two different types of surface water in the hyperarid salars—or salt flats—that contain much ...

'Superdeep' diamond deepens our understanding of plate tectonics

A unique combination of minerals trapped inside a "superdeep" diamond that originated hundreds of kilometers beneath Earth's surface sheds new light on plate tectonics, the geological processes that give rise to mountains, ...

Mapping the chemistry of the Earth's mantle

The Earth's mantle makes up about 85% of the Earth's volume and is made of solid rock. But exactly what rock types is the mantle made of, and how are they distributed throughout the mantle? An international team of researchers—including ...

Aluminous silica: A major water carrier in the lower mantle

Water is transported by oceanic plates into the Earth's deep interior and changes the properties of minerals and rocks, affecting the Earth's internal material cycle and environmental evolution since the formation of the ...

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