Hadean zircons provide a potential record of Earth’s earliest subduction 4.3 billion years ago. It remains enigmatic how subduction could be initiated so soon after the presumably Moon-forming giant impact […]
tectonics
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mimas, Saturn, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Evidence And Concerns About A Latent, Embryonic Phase Tectonic Evolution And The Existence Of The Young Subsurface Ocean On Mimas
New models challenge the long-standing conclusion about Mimas, an icy satellite of Saturn, being an inactive snowball, suggesting the existence of a young stealth ocean.
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
What Turned Earth Into A Giant Snowball 700 Million Years Ago?
Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modelling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth’s history, more than 700 million years ago.
Posted inAstrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Source Rocks Of Earth’s First Real Continents Have Been Uncovered
Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed—a revised origin story that doesn’t require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release
Recent Volcanism On Mars Reveals A Planet More Active Than Previously Thought
A vast, flat, “featureless” plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Can One Hear Supercontinents In The Tides Of Ocean Planets?
Recent observations and theoretical progress made about the history of the Earth-Moon system suggest that tidal dissipation in oceans primarily drives the long term evolution of orbital systems hosting ocean […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Press Release
Initiation of Plate Tectonics on Exoplanets with Significant Tidal Stress
Plate tectonics is a geophysical process currently unique to Earth, has an important role in regulating the Earth’s climate, and may be better understood by identifying rocky planets outside our […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Press Release
Stellar Chemical Clues As To The Rarity of Exoplanetary Tectonics
Earth’s tectonic processes regulate the formation of continental crust, control its unique deep water and carbon cycles, and are vital to its surface habitability. A major driver of steady-state plate […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Planetary Sweet Spot: Plate Tectonics Depend on Elemental Abundances
Planet Earth is situated in what astronomers call the Goldilocks Zone — a sweet spot in a solar system where a planet’s surface temperature is neither too hot nor too […]