Feature Channels: Geology

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Released: 19-Mar-2020 12:15 PM EDT
Late Cretaceous dinosaur-dominated ecosystem
Geological Society of America (GSA)

A topic of considerable interest to paleontologists is how dinosaur-dominated ecosystems were structured, how dinosaurs and co-occurring animals were distributed across the landscape, how they interacted with one another, and how these systems compared to ecosystems today.

Released: 18-Mar-2020 12:20 PM EDT
Greenland shed ice at unprecedented rate in 2019; Antarctica continues to lose mass
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., March 18, 2020 – During the exceptionally warm Arctic summer of 2019, Greenland lost 600 billion tons of ice, enough to raise global sea levels by 2.2 millimeters in two months. On the opposite pole, Antarctica continued to lose mass in the Amundsen Sea Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula but saw some relief in the form of increased snowfall in Queen Maud Land, in the eastern part of the continent.

Released: 12-Mar-2020 1:30 PM EDT
Arrival delayed! Water, carbon and nitrogen were not immediately supplied to Earth
University of Cologne

Spearheaded by earth scientists of the University of Cologne, an international team of geologists has found evidence that a large proportion of the elements that are important for the formation of oceans and life, such as water, carbon and nitrogen, were delivered to Earth very late in its history.

6-Mar-2020 8:00 AM EST
Microbes far beneath the seafloor rely on recycling to survive
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reveal how microorganisms could survive in rocks nestled thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor in the lower oceanic crust.

2-Mar-2020 11:20 AM EST
Unstable Rock Pillars Near Reservoirs Can Produce Dangerous Water Waves
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

In many coastal zones and gorges, unstable cliffs often fail when the foundation rock beneath them is crushed. Large water waves can be created, threatening human safety. In this week’s Physics of Fluids, scientists reveal the mechanism by which these cliffs collapse, and how large, tsunami-like waves are created. Few experimental studies of this phenomenon have been carried out, so this work represents valuable new data that can be used to protect from impending disaster.

Released: 2-Mar-2020 11:50 AM EST
Geologists determine early Earth was a ‘water world’ by studying exposed ocean crust
Iowa State University

Geologists studied exposed, 3.2-billion-year-old ocean crust in Australia and used that rock data to build a quantitative, inverse model of ancient seawater. The model indicates the early Earth could have been a "water world" with submerged continents.

Released: 28-Feb-2020 1:20 PM EST
Study reveals Missoula Floods impact on past abrupt climate changes
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A new study shows for the first time how massive flood events in the eastern North Pacific Ocean—known as the Missoula Floods—may have in part triggered abrupt climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere during the last deglaciation (approximately 19,000–11,700 years ago). The findings are contrary to the long held notion that cooling was primarily driven by changes in North Atlantic circulation.

25-Feb-2020 1:15 PM EST
Complex local conditions keep fields of dunes from going active all at once
University of Wisconsin–Madison

New research on sand dunes in China describes how even neighboring dunes can long remain in different and seemingly conflicting states — confounding the assessment of stabilization efforts and masking the effects of climate change.

Released: 25-Feb-2020 8:15 AM EST
NUS-led study suggests that mangrove forests provide cause for conservation optimism, for now
National University of Singapore (NUS)

An international team of researchers led by Associate Professor Daniel Friess and Dr Erik Yando of the National University of Singapore has found that globally, mangrove loss rates have reduced by almost an order of magnitude between the late 20th and early 21st century – from what was previously estimated at one to three per cent per year, to about 0.3 to 0.6 per cent per year, thanks in large part to successful mangrove conservation efforts.

Released: 21-Feb-2020 11:10 AM EST
How earthquakes deform gravity
GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam

Lightning - one, two, three - and thunder. For centuries, people have estimated the distance of a thunderstorm from the time between lightning and thunder.

Released: 19-Feb-2020 2:20 PM EST
To help students think in 3D, a geologist turns to paper model making
University at Buffalo

“Geology is a 3D science, but everything we give to students is on a 2D piece of paper,” says University at Buffalo geologist Chris Lowry, creator of the Foldable Aquifer Project. “With the foldable aquifers, students don’t have to imagine what a 2D drawing looks like in 3D.”

Released: 12-Feb-2020 12:05 PM EST
Ancient Antarctic ice melt increased sea levels by 3+ meters -- and it could happen again
University of New South Wales

Mass melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was a major cause of high sea levels during a period known as the Last Interglacial (129,000-116,000 years ago), an international team of scientists led by UNSW's Chris Turney has found.

Released: 10-Feb-2020 3:10 PM EST
Adding sewage sludge on soils does not promote antibiotic resistance, Swedish study shows
University of Gothenburg

Some of the antibiotics we use end up in sewage sludge, together with a variety of antibiotic resistant bacteria present in feces.

Released: 10-Feb-2020 6:45 AM EST
Interactive map shows worldwide spread of coronavirus
University of Washington

University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao has created an interactive map, updated every few hours, of coronavirus cases around the world.

   
Released: 5-Feb-2020 1:50 PM EST
Research Brief: Ocean Temperatures Impact Central American Climate More than Once Thought
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)

In a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, UNLV climate scientists and colleagues examined the rainfall history of Central America over the last 11,000 years. The results provide long-sought answers to what has been controlling rainfall in the region for several millennia.

Released: 4-Feb-2020 4:50 PM EST
Peeking at the plumbing of one of the Aleutian's most-active volcanoes
Carnegie Institution for Science

A new approach to analyzing seismic data reveals deep vertical zones of low seismic velocity in the plumbing system underlying Alaska's Cleveland volcano, one of the most-active of the more than 70 Aleutian volcanoes

27-Jan-2020 4:05 PM EST
In Cuba, Cleaner Rivers Follow Greener Farming
University of Vermont

For the first time in more than 50 years, a joint team of Cuban and U.S. field scientists studied the water quality of twenty-five Cuban rivers and found little damage after centuries of sugarcane production. They also found nutrient pollution in Cuba’s rivers much lower than the Mississippi River. Cuba’s shift to conservation agriculture after the collapse of the Soviet Union—and reduced use of fertilizers on cropland—may be a primary cause.

Released: 29-Jan-2020 3:20 PM EST
Smaller Detection Device Effective for Nuclear Treaty Verification, Archaeology Digs
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Most nuclear data measurements are performed at accelerators large enough to occupy a geologic formation a kilometer wide. But a portable device that can reveal the composition of materials quickly on-site would greatly benefit cases such as in archaeology and nuclear arms treaty verification. Research published this week in AIP Advances used computational simulations to show that with the right geometric adjustments, it is possible to perform accurate neutron resonance transmission analysis in a device just 5 meters long.

Released: 28-Jan-2020 2:45 PM EST
Study analyses potential global spread of new coronavirus
University of Southampton

Experts in population mapping at the University of Southampton have identified cities and provinces within mainland China, and cities and countries worldwide, which are at high-risk from the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

   


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