crustal plates Archives

Rochester researchers Wriju Chowdhury and Dustin Trail reveal information about early Earth using tiny zircon crystals, which are billions of years old and a fraction of a millimeter in size (scale bars are in micrometers, where 1 micrometer = 0.000001 meter). The researchers use an imaging technique called cathodoluminescence that fires electrons from a cathode at a sample. The holes in the crystals are from a laser that removed part of the grain to allow the researchers to acquire chemical information. (Smithsonian Institution photo)

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release

Was Plate Tectonics Occurring When Life First Formed On Earth?

by Keith CowingApril 4, 2023April 4, 2023

Earth is a dynamic and constantly changing planet. From the formation of mountains and oceans to the eruption of volcanoes, the surface of our planet is in a constant state […]

crustal plates

Was Plate Tectonics Occurring When Life First Formed On Earth?

Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon26) Update

Mars Curiosity Reaches 1-Kilometer Elevation Gain

Dragonfly Gets Wired Up While Titan Landing Area Is Named

Amplified Cooling Of Snowball Earth From A Salt-albedo Feedback

Prebiotic Cationic Amino Acids Support Formation Of An Ancient Protein Fold