The process of minerals in rocks being chemically broken down, or weathered – which plays a crucial role in controlling Earth’s climate – removes less carbon dioxide (CO2) if temperatures […]
Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Komatiites as Complex Adsorption Surfaces for Amino Acids in Prebiotic Environments, a Prebiotic Chemistry Essay
Komatiites represent the oldest known terrestrial rocks, and their composition has been cataloged as the closest to that of the first terrestrial crust after the cooling of the magma ocean.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Plant Biology, Press Release
Evolution Of Tree Roots May Have Driven Mass Extinctions
The evolution of tree roots may have triggered a series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earth’s oceans during the Devonian Period over 300 million years ago, according to a […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Redox Evolution Of The Crystallizing Terrestrial Magma Ocean And Its Influence On Atmosphere Outgassing
Magma oceans are episodes of large-scale melting of the mantle of terrestrial planets.
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Whispers From The Deep Sea: The Subtle Sounds Of Hydrothermal Vents
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents host unique life that survives without sunlight, and they play a significant role in the cycle of heat, water, and chemicals within the ocean.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Probing Ganymede’s Atmosphere With HST Lyα Images In Transit Of Jupiter
We report results from far-ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede transiting across the planet’s dayside hemisphere.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Detection Of HCN And Diverse Redox Chemistry In The Plume Of Enceladus
The Cassini spacecraft discovered that Saturn’s moon Enceladus possesses a series of jets erupting from its South Polar Terrain.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release, Venus
Venus, Phosphine, And The Possibility Of Life
The search for life elsewhere in the universe is one of the central aims of science in the 21st century.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Discovers LHS 475 b, An Earth-Sized, Rocky Planet
Researchers have confirmed the presence of an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Photochemical Hazes Can Trace The C/O Ratio In Exoplanet Atmospheres
Photochemical hazes are suspected to obscure molecular features, such as water, from detection in the transmission spectra of exoplanets with atmospheric temperatures < 800 K.