Scientists find a place on Earth where there is no life
Living beings, especially microorganisms, have a surprising ability to adapt to the most extreme environments on our planet, but there are still places where they
Category : Geology
HeritageDaily – Geology news and geology press releases from across the globe
Volcanoes under pressure
When will the next eruption take place? Examination of samples from Indonesia's Mount Merapi show that the explosivity of stratovolcanoes rises when mineral-rich gases seal
Machu Picchu: Ancient Incan sanctuary intentionally built on faults
The ancient Incan sanctuary of Machu Picchu is considered one of humanity's greatest architectural achievements.
How and when was carbon distributed in the Earth?
It is generally accepted that planetary surfaces were covered with molten silicate, a “magma ocean”, during the formation of terrestrial planets. In a deep magma
Ages of the Navajo Sandstone
The real Jurassic Park was as an ancient landscape home to a vast desert covered mostly in sand dunes as far as the eye could
First direct evidence for a mantle plume origin of Jurassic flood basalts in southern Africa
The origin of gigantic magma eruptions that led to global climatic crises and extinctions of species has remained controversial.
Cosmic pearls: Fossil clams in Florida contain evidence of ancient meteorite
Researchers picking through the contents of fossil clams from a Sarasota County quarry found dozens of tiny glass beads, likely the calling cards of an
Scientists discover how and when a subterranean ocean emerged
"The mechanism which caused the crust that had been altered by seawater to sink into the mantle functioned over 3.3 billion years ago.
10 of the largest “Super Volcanoes”
A supervolcano is classified as a volcano with an eruption magnitude of 8, the largest value on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) where the volume
New model suggests lost continents for early Earth
A new radioactivity model of Earth’s ancient rocks calls into question current models for the formation of Earth’s continental crust, suggesting continents may have risen
Santorini volcano, a new terrestrial analogue of Mars
One of the great attractions of the island of Santorini, in Greece, lies in its spectacular volcanic landscape, which also contains places similar to those
Site of biggest ever meteorite collision in the UK discovered
Evidence for the ancient, 1.2 billion years old, meteorite strike, was first discovered in 2008 near Ullapool, NW Scotland by scientists from Oxford and Aberdeen
Rare volcanic rocks lift lid on dangers of little-studied eruptions
Unusual rocks discovered on a remote mountainside have alerted scientists to the dangers posed by a little-studied type of volcano.
Brown Banks and White Cliffs: the search for lost prehistoric settlements in the North Sea
Marine experts join archaeologists in an expedition to find the lost prehistoric settlement of the Brown Bank.
Mysterious volcanic ash layer from 29,000 years ago traced to volcano in Naples
Researchers from the University of Oxford have traced the origin of a pre-historic eruption that blanketed the Mediterranean region in ash 29,000 years ago to
Diamonds reveal how continents are stabilized, key to Earth’s habitability
The longevity of Earth's continents in the face of destructive tectonic activity is an essential geologic backdrop for the emergence of life on our planet.
Mysterious eruption came from Campi Flegrei caldera
The caldera-forming eruption of Campi Flegrei (Italy) 40,000 years ago is the largest known eruption in Europe during the last 200,000 years, but little is
Cool Earth theory sheds more light on diamonds
A QUT geologist has published a new theory on the thermal evolution of Earth billions of years ago that explains why diamonds have formed as
Earth’s deep mantle flows dynamically
As ancient ocean floors plunge over 1,000 km into the Earth's deep interior, they cause hot rock in the lower mantle to flow much more
New light into the recent evolution of the African rift valley
Continental rift valleys are huge fractures on the surface of our planet that progressively break continental plates with the eventual development of new oceans.
A Volcanic Binge And Its Frosty Hangover
German-Mexican research team discover large igneous province which could have triggered an early glaciation of Earth.
WVU researcher unearths an ice age in the African desert
A field trip to Namibia to study volcanic rocks led to an unexpected discovery by West Virginia University geologists Graham Andrews and Sarah Brown.