Long before the dinosaurs ever lived, the planet experienced a mass extinction so severe it killed 90 percent of life on Earth, and researchers at the University of Rochester think they’ve identified the unlikely culprit.
“An ancient meteorite body, one from the days when the solar system was still forming, struck the Earth 251 million years ago,” says Asish Basu, professor of earth sciences in today’s issue of Science. The research is the latest volley in a decades-long debate ove
A new study by scientists at the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, suggests that explosive volcanic eruptions in the tropics may increase the probability of an El Niño event occurring during the winter following the eruption. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
“The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual climate variability on the planet,
Back in the old days, when doctors looked for tumors, exploratory surgery was the only option. Today they use CAT scans, x-rays, ultrasound, and other non-intrusive methods for checking out what lies beneath the skin’s surface. But how do we determine what is beneath the Earth’s surface? Invasive surgery on the Earth is just as dated as doctors’ old methods of finding tumors, if you ask Eric Miller, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University. If we humans ca
Scientists studying the formation of the sea floor thousands of feet below the surface have a new theory for why there are so many holes and collapsed pits on the ocean bottom. In a recent article in the journal Nature, the researchers say the holes and pits of various sizes are probably formed by lava erupting onto the seafloor so quickly it traps water beneath it, forming bubbles of steam that eventually collapse as the water cools. The hardened crust then breaks, forming pock marks and glassy bla
Damaging winds can occur in previously overlooked places within a thunderstorm, according to a Purdue University earth scientist. The finding could help meteorologists save lives and reduce injuries by issuing more accurate storm warnings.
Based on new data on the behavior of winds in developing storms, Purdue’s Robert J. “Jeff” Trapp has found that the north side of a storm front can host cyclonic winds that are more intense than those at the storm’s “apex,” or leading point, whi
Large, deep earthquakes have shaken the central Puget Sound region several times in the last century, and nerves have been rattled even more often by less-powerful deep quakes. New University of Washington research suggests the magnitude of these temblors might depend on just where beneath the Earth’s surface they occur.
Events such as the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and large quakes in 1965 and 1949 happened in what is called the Wadati-Benioff zone, an area deep below the surface where
ESA’s Envisat satellite was witness to the dramatic last days of what was once the world’s largest iceberg, as a violent Antarctic storm cracked a 160-km-long floe in two.
A series of Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument images acquired between mid-September and October record how the bottle-shaped iceberg B-15A was split by the onslaught of powerful storms, waves and ocean currents as its own weight kept it fixed on the floor of Antarctica’s Ros
Unparalleled investigation leads to looters’ haven and arrests
An unprecedented collaboration of archeologists, Maya villagers and Guatemalan authorities has resulted in the recovery of a magnificent Maya altar stone that was carved in 796 AD and sheds new light on the collapse of the classic Maya civilization. In addition to the altar’s archeological importance, its recovery illustrates the value of working with indigenous peoples to restore ancient ruins. Archaeologist Arthur D
A 30-year satellite record of sea ice in the two polar regions reveals that while the Northern Hemisphere Arctic ice has melted, Southern Hemisphere Antarctic ice has actually increased in more recent years. However, due to dramatic losses of Antarctic sea ice between 1973 and 1977, sea ice in both hemispheres has shrunk on average when examined over the 30-year time frame.
This study presents the longest continuous record of sea ice for both hemispheres based primarily on satellites, an
A computer model developed at Ohio State University is giving researchers a new understanding of how municipal wells at a famous toxic waste site in Woburn, Massachusetts, came to be contaminated, and how much contamination was delivered to residents.
As dramatized in the book and movie A Civil Action, a cluster of childhood leukemia cases in Woburn led to a lengthy court battle in the 1980s, during which three commercial companies were accused of dumping toxic chemicals that entered
Almost all of the active volcanoes on Earth lie beneath miles of seawater at mid-ocean ridges, creating the long chain of volcanic mountains that encircles the Earth like the seam of a baseball. Scientists have long been puzzled by the observation that flows, erupted as white-hot lava at mid-ocean ridges, can be traced for several miles from their vents despite the fact that they erupt into seawater close to its freezing point. Now a group of scientists from academia and government believe they have
The latest expeditions to ice caps in the high, tropical Peruvian Andes Mountains by Ohio State University scientists may shed light on a mysterious global climate change they believe occurred more than 5,000 years ago.
They hope that ice cores retrieved from two tropical ice caps there, as well as ancient plants retrieved from beneath the retreating glaciers, may contain clues that could link ancient events that changed daily life in South America, Europe and Asia.
Something happ
Two Dartmouth researchers have quantified the chemical weathering rates of bedrock at three sites around the world. By concentrating their testing in localized areas and using X-ray fluorescence to measure elements and oxides, they have found that variations in the chemistry of weathered bedrock (clay) do not always follow the patterns of the underlying bedrock.
This study by Earth sciences graduate student Benjamin Burke and Assistant Professor Arjun Heimsath will be presented at The Geolo
Using naturally occurring patterns of stable-isotopes created by weather and plants, Jason Duxbury of the University of Alberta and his colleagues are tracking the migration routes of birds of prey. Their work on the summer origins of migrating and wintering Peregrine Falcons and Burrowing Owls has shed new light on what has previously been the secret, non-breeding half of the birds’ lives.
By analyzing stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen in bird feathers, Duxbury has bee
From a newly discovered, and armored, amphibian to new tools for understanding volcanoes, to dating hillside erosion, geologists from the University of Cincinnati’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences fill the agenda at the upcoming Geological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting Nov. 2-5.
UC geologists will present 27 papers and posters among the 170 symposia and other sessions scheduled at the conference. More than 6,000 geoscientists will gather for “Geoscience Horizons,” the 115th
Sometimes the most extreme environment for life isn’t at the bottom of the ocean or inside a volcano. It’s just south of Chicago.
Illinois groundwater scientists have found microbial communities thriving in the slag dumps of the Lake Calumet region of southeast Chicago where the water can reach extraordinary alkalinity of pH 12.8. That’s comparable to caustic soda and floor strippers — far beyond known naturally occurring alkaline environments.
The closest known relatives
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