Geology professor’s study of olivine provides new data set for understanding plate tectonics
Plate tectonics, the idea that the surface of the Earth is made up of plates that move apart and come back together, has been used to explain the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes since the 1960s. (more…)
Deep inside Great Mountain Forest, in the northwest corner of the state, Yale geophysicist Maureen Long kneels down in a grassy clearing to see how her seismology station fared over the long winter. (more…)
Forscher berechnen die Zahl der noch zu entdeckenden Einschlagstellen von Meteoriten auf der Erdoberfläche
Die Geologen Prof. Dr. Stefan Hergarten und Prof. Dr. Thomas Kenkmann vom Institut für Geo- und Umweltnaturwissenschaften der Universität Freiburg haben die weltweit erste Studie zu der Frage veröffentlicht, wie viele Meteoritenkrater auf der Erdoberfläche vorhanden sein müssten. 188 sind bislang nachgewiesen, 340 weitere gilt es zu entdecken – so das Ergebnis einer Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung, die die beiden Forscher im Fachjournal „Earth and Planetary Science Letters“ vorgestellt haben. (more…)
AUSTIN, Texas — A new method of measuring the interaction of surface water and groundwater along the length of the Mississippi River network adds fresh evidence that the network’s natural ability to chemically filter out nitrates is being overwhelmed.
The research by hydrogeologists at The University of Texas at Austin, which appears in the May 11 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, shows for the first time that virtually every drop of water coursing through 311,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of waterways in the Mississippi River network goes through a natural filtering process as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico. (more…)
The Earth’s outer layer is made up of a series of moving, interacting plates whose motion at the surface generates earthquakes, creates volcanoes and builds mountains. Geoscientists have long sought to understand the plates’ fundamental properties and the mechanisms that cause them to move and drift, and the questions have become the subjects of lively debate.
A study published online Feb. 27 by the journal Science is a significant step toward answering those questions. (more…)
In the late 1990s, the University of Washington created what was arguably the world’s first graduate program in astrobiology, aimed at preparing scientists to hunt for life away from Earth. In 2001, David Catling became one of the first people brought to the UW specifically to teach astrobiology.
Catling, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, is the author of Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction, the 370th offering in the Oxford University Press series of “very short introduction” books by experts in various fields. Catling was commissioned by editors to write the book, which was published in the United States on Jan. 1. Following are his answers to some questions about the book and astrobiology. (more…)
Paläontologen der Universität Wien erforschten Sedimente im Weinviertel – Ein ForscherInnenteam um Martin Zuschin vom Institut für Paläontologie der Universität Wien konnte erstmals nachweisen, dass ein fossiles, ca. 17 Millionen Jahre altes Ästuar, also der buchtförmige Mischbereich von Süßwasser und Meerwasser, aus dem Miozän im Umland von Wien alle natürlichen Störungen im Ökosystem über rund siebenhunderttausend Jahre abfedern konnte. Die Studie erschien aktuell im Fachjournal “Geology”.
Angesichts der fortschreitenden Biodiversitätskrise ist die Stabilität von Ökosystemen eine der wichtigsten Fragestellungen in der Ökologie. Küstennahe marine Bereiche gehören zu den am stärksten gefährdeten Ökosystemen der Erde und unter diesen sind Ästuare besonders betroffen. Die Gebiete im Übergang von Süßwasser zu Salzwasser stehen bis zu einem gewissen Grad unter natürlichem Stress, sind also beispielsweise betroffen von starken saisonalen und täglichen Schwankungen beim Salzgehalt. (more…)
Delaware Geological Survey carbon-dates groundwater found to be thousands of years old
A drop of rain that falls near Middletown, Del., may take as long as 14,000 years to seep through the earth and trickle underground into a well several miles away, according to new research by the Delaware Geological Survey (DGS).
Scientists used radiocarbon-dating techniques to determine the age of groundwater from sites in southern New Castle and Kent counties. (more…)
