A 15-year study led by the Carnegie Institution for Science details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct […]
Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Traces Of An Ancient Ocean Have Been Discovered On Mars
A recently released set of topography maps provides new evidence for an ancient northern ocean on Mars.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Callisto, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Callisto’s Atmosphere: First Evidence For H2 And Constraints On H2O
We explore the parameter space for the contribution to Callisto’s H corona observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (Roth et al. 2017a) from sublimated H2O and radiolytically produced H2 using […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Venus
Phosphine In The Venusian Atmosphere: A Strict Upper Limit From SOFIA GREAT Observations
The presence of phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Venus was reported by Greaves et al. (2021a), based on observations of the J=1-0 transition at 267 GHz using ground-based, millimeter-wave […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Laying The Geological Groundwork For Life On Earth
New research analyzing pieces of the most ancient rocks on the planet adds some of the sharpest evidence yet that Earth’s crust was pushing and pulling in a manner similar […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1
A Discovery That Could Dramatically Narrow The Search For Extraterrestrial Life
An Earth-like planet orbiting an M dwarf — the most common type of star in the universe — appears to have no atmosphere at all. This discovery could cause a […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Press Release
A Hydrogen-rich First Atmosphere For Mars Inferred From Clays On Its Surface
According to new research, Mars may have been born a blue and water-covered world, long before the Earth had even finished forming. The discovery could open a window for scientists […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
A Radiative-Convective Model For Terrestrial Planets With Self-Consistent Patchy Clouds
Clouds are ubiquitous – they arise for every solar system planet that possesses an atmosphere and have also been suggested as a leading mechanism for obscuring spectral features in exoplanet […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
How Fluctuating Oxygen Levels May Have Accelerated Animal Evolution On Earth
Oxygen levels in the Earth’s atmosphere are likely to have “fluctuated wildly” one billion years ago, creating conditions that could have accelerated the development of early animal life, according to new […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Press Release
InSight Pressure Data Recalibration, and Its Application to the Study of Long-Term Pressure Changes on Mars
Observations of the South Polar Residual Cap suggest a possible erosion of the cap, leading to an increase of the global mass of the atmosphere.