Mass ocean extinction
Our planet’s worst mass extinction took place 252 million years ago when massive volcanic eruptions caused epic climate change. Most animal species went extinct and set the stage for the early days of the age of Dinosaurs.
Hydrogen in Earth’s core
High-temperature and high-pressure experiments to simulate the core of the young Earth demonstrate for the first time that hydrogen can bond strongly with iron in extreme conditions. This explains the significant presence of hydrogen in the Earth’s core that arrived as water from bombardments billions of years ago.
Plate tectonic onset
Scientists led by Michael Ackerson at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History found new evidence that plate tectonics started roughly 3.6 billion years ago. Plate tectonics is essential to the Earth’s ability to support life.
Microcontinent deformation
Geoscientists at the University of Toronto and Istanbul Technical University have made a new discovery in plate tectonics which shows that a large amount of damage occurs to areas of Earth’s crust long before it should be geologically altered by known plate-boundary processes.
Rio Grande rift study
Rocks from the Rio Grande continental rift have revealed new evidence for how continents remain stable over billions of years. A Continental rift is the belt or zone of the continental lithosphere where the extensional deformation (rifting) is occurring. These zones have important consequences and geological features, and can lead to the formation of new …
Cratons fused below
Billions of years of plate tectonics have destroyed much of what was the earliest continents. The parts of the continents that remain have survived because their composition makes them buoyant and strong. These blocks known as cratons were thought to be indefinitely stable are now thought to not only break up but can also be …
Megathrust earthquake triggers
Most powerful earthquakes are called megathrust earthquakes. These happen at subduction zones where one tectonic plate is forced under another. If this happens suddenly, you get a massive earthquake. We understand these subduction zones poorly.