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A graphic showing the convective heat cycle (red arrows) that drives plate tectonic motion (black arrows) on Earth. Heat flows toward subduction zones through the uppermost mantle layer, the asthenosphere. A computer model from Rice University finds that the asthenosphere can locally drag plates along with it rather than acting exclusively as a brake on plate movements as had been widely believed. (Image courtesy of Surachit/Wikimedia Commons)

Former piece of Pacific Ocean floor imaged deep beneath China

Geology Page - November 20, 2020

Fragments of the Oued Awlitis 001 meteorites acquired by the Ludovic-Ferrière. Credit: University of Manchester

Donwilhelmsite : New mineral from the moon could explain what happens in the Earth’s mantle

Planet Earth. and You!

Geologist helps confirm date of earliest land plants on Earth

Structure layers of the earth.

A new way of looking at the Earth’s interior

Brazilian emeralds in a quartz-pegmatite matrix. (Photo courtesy of Madereugeneandrew/Wikimedia Commons)

Earth grows fine gems in minutes

Pioneering new research has helped geologists solve a long-standing puzzle that could help pinpoint new, untapped concentrations of some the most valuable rare earth deposits. Credit: Michael Anenburg, ANU.

Geologists solve puzzle that could predict valuable rare earth element deposits

Geology Page - October 9, 2020

A rough diamond from Kankan, Guinea, that was analyzed in a new study led by a PhD student at the U of A. The imperfections inside the diamond are small inclusions of a mineral called ferropericlase, which is from the lower mantle. Credit: Anetta Banas

Uncovering new understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle

Geology Page - September 12, 2020

carbon cycle

Understanding Earth’s ‘deep-carbon cycle’

Geology Page - September 12, 2020

Enhanced map of hematite (red) on Moon using a spheric projection (nearside only). Credit: Shuai Li

Has Earth’s oxygen rusted the Moon for billions of years?

Geology Page - September 12, 2020

Basalt, the most-common rock on Earth’s surface, encases green crystals--a geologic "nesting doll" phenomenon called a xenolith. Basalts such as this one derive from a section of the mantle that has been depleted in incompatible trace elements, which is usually attributed to continental crust formation. In their work, Tucker and his collaborators propose another mechanism that would impart this signature. Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science

Probing the origin of the mantle’s chemically distinct ‘scars’

Geology Page - September 1, 2020

Earth

The age of Earth’s inner core revised

Geology Page - August 26, 2020

$-A grain-size comparator chart (to scale). The chart shows the different size fractions from silt (63 µm) through to large cobbles (128256 mm). Such charts are useful for field comparisons.$

Grain Size : What is Grain Size? How is Grain Size...

Geology Page - August 21, 2020

Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania, a source of carbonate-rich magma.

Geologists publish new findings on carbonate melts in Earth’s mantle

Geology Page - August 6, 2020

Workers excavating Hall’s Cave in Central Texas. Image Courtesy of Michael Waters

Cooling of Earth caused by eruptions, not meteors

Geology Page - August 6, 2020

Map of the Earth showing the present-day deviation from expected magnetic field direction. The star is Saint Helena

South Atlantic anomalies existed 8 – 11 million years ago

Geology Page - July 24, 2020

Earth

Study could rewrite Earth’s history

Geology Page - July 16, 2020

Earth magnetic field. Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science

How does Earth sustain its magnetic field?

Geology Page - July 11, 2020

Earth’s geomagnetic field

Earth’s magnetic field can change 10 times faster than previously thought

Geology Page - July 11, 2020

The composition of fossilised zooplankton shells has enabled the reconstruction of past pH and CO2. Credit: University of Southampton

By 2025, carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere will be higher...

Geology Page - July 11, 2020

A new study shows that giant ore deposits are tightly distributed above where rigid rocks that comprise the nuclei of ancient continents begin to thin, far below the surface (white areas). Redder areas indicate the thinnest rocks beyond the boundary; bluer ones, the thickest. Circles, triangles and squares show known large sediment-hosted deposits of different metals. (Adapted from Hoggard et al., Nature Geoscience, 2020)

Geologists identify deep-earth structures that may signal hidden metal lodes

Geology Page - July 3, 2020

Our planet has a layered structure of silicate mantle and metallic core. The liquid outer core is located 2900 km below the surface where the pressure and temperature are extremely high, >136 gigapascal (1.36 million atmospheres) and >4000 C. The sound speed and density profiles of the deep-interior of our planet is given by seismological observations.

Precise measurement of liquid iron density under extreme conditions

Geology Page - July 3, 2020

Earth

Uncovering the two ‘faces’ of the Earth

Geology Page - July 3, 2020

Scientists examined hundreds of samples taken along the global ridges that contain recycled ancient oceanic crust in variable amounts. "Depleted" segments of the ridge received lower than "normal" amounts of recycled crust, while "enriched" segments contain a larger proportion of recycled crust.

Geochemists solve mystery of Earth’s vanishing crust

Geology Page - June 27, 2020

Mud Volcanoes

The geological record of mud deposits

Geology Page - June 27, 2020

A lump of coal weathering out from Siberian flood basalts in a quarry near the town of Ust Ilimsk Credit: Scott Simper

Coal-burning in Siberia led to climate change 250 million years ago

Geology Page - June 17, 2020

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Irtysh River

If ice once covered the entire planet, how did the transition take place and what does it say about Earth's climate? Credit: NASA Goddard photo

Researchers unlock clues to a dramatic chapter of Earth’s geological history

Piece of the meteorite Sahara 97096 (about 10 cm long), an enstatite chondrite that contains about 0.5 weight % of water. If Earth formed entirely of this material, it would have received 23 times the total mass of water present in the Earth's oceans. Credit: L. Piani, Museum of Natural History in Paris

Meteorite study suggests Earth may have been wet since it formed

Biggest exposed fault on Earth discovered