Materials deep inside Earth have unexpected atomic properties that might force earth scientists to revise their models of Earth’s internal processes, a team of researchers has discovered.

Theoretical physicists at the University of Chicago are suggesting how thin spouts of magma in the Earth's mantle can persist long enough to form hotspot volcanism of the type that might have created the Hawaiian Islands.

Observations about the early formation of Earth may answer an age-old question about why the planet’s mantle is missing some of the matter that should be present, according to UBC geophysicist John Hernlund.

Researchers have located the spin transition zone of iron in Earth’s lower mantle, a discovery which has profound geophysical implications.

In the first experiments able to mimic the crushing, searing conditions found in Earth’s lower mantle, and simultaneously probe tell-tale properties of iron, scientists have discovered that material there behaves very differently than predicted by models.