[University of Texas at Austin] Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have rewritten a small part of Oklahoma’s geologic history with global implications for ancient life.
Zircon
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Direct Dating Of 3.5 Ga Biogenic Carbon In A Microbial Mat Remnant, Singhbhum Craton, India
[PNAS]. Kerogen, insoluble organic matter preserved in sediments, represents some of the earliest known terrestrial biosignatures which have provided important insights into the origin of life and planetary habitability.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Ancient Rocks Reveal Evidence Of The First Continents And Crust Recycling Processes On Earth
New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures in zircons, the planet’s oldest minerals, that are consistent with subduction and extensive continental crust during […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Cosmogenic Krypton Enables Reconstruction Of Landscapes Millions Of Years Old
An international research team involving the University of Cologne has found a new way to reconstruct how landscapes developed tens of millions of years ago and how long sediments remained […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Uncovering The Rock Record Of Earth’s Earliest Continental Crust
This study was led by Professor Jia Liu and Professor Qunke Xia from the School of Earth Sciences at Zhejiang University; researchers have taken a major step toward uncovering Earth’s […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Recon: Antarctica Has A Huge, Completely Hidden Mountain Range
Have you ever imagined what Antarctica looks like beneath its thick blanket of ice? Hidden below are rugged mountains, valleys, hills and plains.
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Neoproterozoic Glacial Broom
Neoproterozoic snowball Earth events reflect globally frigid conditions thought to have stimulated changes in geochemical cycling with planetary biotic response. We investigated the impact of these events on sediment dynamics, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Scottish And Irish Rocks Confirmed As Being A Rare Record Of Snowball Earth
The study, published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1km thick, was likely laid […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Fresh Findings: Earliest Evidence Of Life-bringing Freshwater On Earth
New Curtin-led research has found evidence that fresh water on Earth, which is essential for life, appeared about four billion years ago – five hundred million years earlier than previously […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Impact events, Moon, Status Report
A Giant Impact Origin For The First Subduction on Earth
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 […]