Geology

The inner Earth is a mysterious place, and now scientists may have uncovered a strange new secret. According to a new study, the Earth’s inner core may have recently stopped rotating, relative to the surface, as part of a decades-long cycle.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered opal on Mars. The deposits may prove to be valuable to future Martian explorers not as jewelry but as a potential source of water.

Mars is usually considered a geologically dead planet, but a new study challenges that idea. Multiple lines of evidence reveals a giant plume of magma is forcing its way up through the mantle and producing seismic activity in one region of the surface.

Scientists have discovered at least two new minerals inside one of the largest meteorites ever found. The iron-based minerals have never been spotted in nature, and could hint at unknown geological processes and new material uses.

Life on Earth has persisted for billions of years through many extreme climate events. MIT scientists have analyzed 66 million years of climate data and found a stabilizing mechanism for global temperatures that plays out on large timescales.

Predicting the likelihood and severity of earthquakes is important, but it’s hard to account for all factors. Researchers in New Zealand have now uncovered an overlooked factor that could affect the impact of the next big quake – tiny marine fossils.

Around 66 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth and wiped out most life. Two new studies have identified evidence that the impact triggered global tsunamis almost a mile high and mega-earthquakes that rumbled for months afterwards.

New modeling from researchers at Curtin University has simulated 300 million years of tectonic plate movement to predict the formation of a supercontinent called Amasia. The modeling estimates the Pacific Ocean closing and America colliding with Asia.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured some incredible imagery since landing on the Red Planet early last year, but none as detailed as its latest effort, a stunning mosaic made up of more than 1,000 separate images.

Australian scientists have discovered strangely folded diamonds in rare meteorite samples. In investigating how they came to form, the team found evidence that they were forged in a cataclysm on an ancient dwarf planet.

Geologists claim to have discovered a long-term cycle that may link the formation of Earth’s continents to our travels through the galaxy. The team claims a correlation between increased comet impacts and Earth crossing the galactic spiral arms.

Scientists have discovered a new crater in the seabed of the North Atlantic Ocean that seems to date to the end of the Cretaceous period. That suggests the extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs could have been triggered by multiple impacts.