Geophysics

A massive volcano has been hiding in plain sight on Mars, says new research. Not only is its sheer size noteworthy, but the team believes it might also harbor glacial ice that could be critical for further exploration and Martian settlements.

According to a new study, Earth's surface is smooth compared to the landscapes found deep within the planet. Using data from one of the biggest earthquakes on record, geophysicists have now found massive mountain ranges hundreds of kilometers beneath our feet.

Last year a huge lake of liquid water was apparently found beneath the ice at the Martian south pole. A new study has now examined how it might have gotten there, and concluded that Mars must have had volcanic activity much more recently than is normally believed, and may even still be active today.

Aircraft have been known to mess with the clouds as they pass through or over them. A new study has found that planes could be boosting rainfall and snowfall by up to 10 times, and examined the microphysics behind it.

The Earth is almost 4.5 billion years old, but it’s young at heart – literally. Researchers from the University of Rochester have now dated the solid inner core of the planet to just 565 million years, making it a relative toddler compared to the rest of Earth.

To investigate the physics of interactions between lava and water, researchers from the University at Buffalo have conducted experiments on lab-made lava – with some explosive results.

Just like people, continents break up and drift apart. And sometimes just like a forgotten ex, they resurface unexpectedly. What can we learn about earth's early days from the remains of an ancient supercontinent?

Death by supervolcano is not what most people have in mind when they talk about going out in a blaze of glory. But these magma cauldrons exist among us and they are very much alive. A new study tells us what might trigger one of these sleeping giants.

Scientists believe they have cracked the code for determining when and how intensely restless volcanoes will blow.

A new study from Imperial College London suggests that fossil fuel carbon emissions may be so diluting radioactive carbon isotopes in the atmosphere that within decades it will difficult to differentiate between modern artifacts and those over a thousand years old.

A team at the University of Zurich has developed a means of monitoring volcanic events that could help predict eruptions. The technique uses ground-based atomic clocks and relies on Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The last reversal of Earth's magnetic field occurred some 786,000 years ago and was previously thought to have taken several thousand years but, if new research is correct, the real time it may take for the flip to occur could actually be closer to the span of a human life.