Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, have evidence of oceans beneath their ice crusts. A NASA experiment suggests that if these oceans support life, signatures […]
Earth went through at least two periods of global glaciation (i.e., “Snowball Earth” states) during the Neoproterozoic, the shortest of which (the Marinoan) may not have lasted sufficiently long for […]
An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen — 13,000 feet below the surface.
By Emma Caton — In the depths of remote Antarctic lakes, communities of microorganisms are thriving where few life forms can survive.
Active hydrothermal vents provide the surrounding submarine environment with substantial amounts of matter and energy, thus serving as important habitats for diverse megabenthic communities in the deep ocean and constituting […]
In situ sampling missions to detect biosignatures on ocean worlds requires thorough sample preparation to manage the expected chemical complexity of such environments. Proposed instruments must be capable of automatic […]
A new and worrying way that large ice sheets can melt has been characterised by scientists for the first time. The research focuses on how relatively warm seawater can lap […]
Editor’s note: with the future advent of powerful telescopes that may be able to resolve habitable worlds in images composed of a few pixels, large biological phenomena such as algal […]
The Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 has recommended that NASA realize a large IR/optical/UV space telescope optimized for high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of ∼25 exo-Earths and transformative general […]
Guaymas Basin is a young marginal rift basin in the Gulf of California characterized by active seafloor spreading, rapid deposition of organic-rich sediments, and steep geothermal gradients where sedimentary organic […]
