Earth and Atmospheric Sciences News

Scientists based in the UK and New Zealand have described a "new" type of volcanic eruption

A nearby short duration gamma-ray burst may be the cause of an intense blast of high-energy radiation that hit the Earth in the 8th century, according to new research led by astronomers Valeri Hambaryan and Ralph Neuhӓuser

New evidence from a team led by Carnegie's Frances Jenner demonstrates that some of the tectonic processes driving volcanic activity, such as those taking place today, were occurring as early as 3.8 billion years ago. Their work is published in Geology.

An international collaboration including researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has discovered that Earth's core formed under more oxidizing conditions than previously proposed

In an earthquake, ground motion is the result of waves emitted when the two sides of a fault move -- or slip -- rapidly past each other, with an average relative speed of about three feet per second. Not all fault segments move so quickly, however -- some

Most of us think of soil erosion as the primary force that levels mountains, however geologists have found that Oahu's mountains are dissolving from within due to groundwater

A meteorite that exploded as a fireball over California's Sierra foothills this past spring was among the fastest, rarest meteorites known to have hit Earth, and it traveled a highly eccentric orbital route to get here

An analysis of sulfide ore deposits from one of the world's richest base-metal mines confirms that oxygen levels were extremely low on Earth 2.7 billion years ago, but also shows that microbes were actively feeding on sulfate

Princeton researchers have found a simple and economical way to nearly triple the efficiency of organic solar cells, the cheap and flexible plastic devices that many scientists believe could be the future of solar power

The largest living organisms on the planet, the big, old trees that harbour and sustain countless birds and other wildlife, are dying