Earth

Modern day scourge helped ancient Earth escape deathly deep freeze

harminka — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:53:47 -0600

The planet's present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online today.

Plate tectonics started over 4 billion years ago

harminka — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:04:13 -0600

A new picture of the early Earth is emerging, including the surprising finding that plate tectonics may have started more than 4 billion years ago — much earlier than scientists had believed, according to new research by UCLA geochemists reported Nov. 27 in the journal Nature.

McGill researchers find oldest rocks on Earth

harminka — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:36:25 -0500

McGill University researchers have discovered the oldest rocks on Earth – a discovery which sheds more light on our planet's mysterious beginnings. These rocks, known as "faux-amphibolites", may be remnants of a portion of Earth's primordial crust – the first crust that formed at the surface of our planet.

Global geological map for Internet

harminka — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:56:52 -0500

Have you ever wondered what our world would look like stripped bare of all plants, soils, water and man-made structures? Well wonder no longer; images of the Earth as never seen before have been unveiled in what is the world's biggest geological mapping project ever.

New findings on Mother Earth's earthy scent

harminka — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:16:43 -0500

That evocative "earthy" scent of the soil returning to life in spring — and nasty earthy tastes and odors in fish and drinking water — actually results from two substances released by soil bacteria.

Surprisingly rapid changes in the Earth's core discovered

harminka — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:33:03 -0500

In a recent paper published in Nature Geoscience, the geophysicist Mioara MANDEA from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam and her Danish colleague Nils OLSEN from the National Space Institute/DTU Copenhagen, have shown that motions in the fluid in the Earth’s core are changing surprisingly fast, and that this, in turn, effects the magnetic field of our Planet.

Geologists push back date basins formed, supporting frozen Earth theory

harminka — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:05:33 -0500

Even in geology, it's not often a date gets revised by 500 million years.

Mini subs to probe odd structures in BC lake

harminka — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:45:53 -0500

Single person submersibles have been called in to help scientists retrieve samples from a lake in northern British Columbia that may hold vital clues to the history of life on Earth and on other planets.

Diamonds Are Forever Revealing New Insights into Earth's Development

harminka — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:22:14 -0500

Diamonds will take center stage this month in countless wedding ceremonies and other celebrations. In addition to their usual role as symbols of enduring love and fidelity, diamonds are now also helping geologists unravel clues about how the earth's precious metal mineralization was formed and why diamonds and some of these metals are found in only a few places around the world.

New way to think about Earth's first cells

harminka — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:20:29 -0500

A team of researchers at Harvard University have modeled in the laboratory a primitive cell, or protocell, that is capable of building, copying and containing DNA.

Scorched Earth millenium map shows fire scars

harminka — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:46:43 -0500

A geographer from the University of Leicester has produced for the first time a map of the scorched Earth for every year since the turn of the Millennium.

Dynamic duo develops framework for Earth's inaccessible interior

harminka — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:48:49 -0500

A new model of inner Earth constructed by Arizona State University researchers pulls past information and hypotheses into a coherent story to clarify mantle motion.