Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. Research published Dec. […]
Extinction events
Posted inExtinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Impact events, Plant Biology, Press Release
Flowering Plants Survived The Mass Extinction That Killed The Dinosaurs
A new study by researchers from the University of Bath (UK) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico) shows that flowering plants escaped relatively unscathed from the mass extinction that […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Exoplanet Climate: It Takes Nothing To Switch From Habitable To Hell
The Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile sphere that is not only inhospitable but also sterile. However, […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Status Report
Phanerozoic Biological Reworking Of The Continental Carbonate Rock Reservoir
Understanding the co-evolution of complex life with Earth’s geology is an enduring challenge. The rock record evidences remarkable correlations between changes in biology and the wider Earth system, yet cause […]
Posted inExtinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Press Release
Human-driven Mass Extinction Is Eliminating Entire Branches Of The Tree Of Life
The passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Press Release
Planetary Landscape Dynamics Determined The Evolution Of Biodiversity On Earth
Movement of rivers, mountains, oceans and sediment nutrients at the geological timescale are the central drivers of Earth’s biodiversity, new research published today in Nature has revealed.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Deoxygenation Levels Similar To Today’s Played A Major Role In Marine Extinctions During Earth’s Major Past Climate Change Event
Scientists have made a surprising discovery that sheds new light on the role that oceanic deoxygenation (anoxia) played in one of the most devastating extinction events in Earth’s history. Their […]
![(A) The Marsili Basin lies in ~3000 m water depth in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ocean Drilling Program Leg 107 Sites 650 and 651 marked as red circles. Red box shows map in (B). Campi Flegrei (CF) fields (source of 39.8 ka Campanian Ignimbrite and 14.9 ka Neapolitan Yellow Tuff) shown with nearby submarine canyons (Dohrm [DC] and Magnaghi [MC]) as yellow lines. Ve—Vesuvius; SC—Stromboli Canyon. (B) CHIRP subbottom profiles shown as white dashed lines. Continuous white lines involved the acquisition of additional airgun seismic data. Bathymetry is a merged dataset of a 40-m grid CHIANTI multibeam bathymetry together with EMODNET bathymetry (EMODnet Bathymetry Consortium, 2020). Contour interval is 1000 meters. Figure 2 is E-W profile through Site 650. -- Geology](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Newstudyreveals.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Press Release
New Study Reveals Evidence Of Recurring Ancient Supereruption
Researchers have discovered a series of large undersea sediment deposits in a region near Italy that were likely formed by an ancient volcanic supereruption.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Extinction events, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Blast From The Past: Gamma-ray Burst GRB 221009A From A Distant Exploding Star Struck Earth
An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Such disturbances are usually associated […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Planetary Protection & Biosafety
Astrobiology Away Team Opportunity On A New Island Off The Coast Of Japan?
Editor’s note: While this new island is close to an existing island – surrounded by ocean – it will be more or less sterile for a while as the lava […]