Phys.org: Earth science

Due to the radiative thermal conductivity of the mineral olivine, only oceanic plates over 60 million years old and subducting at more than 10 centimeters per year remain sufficiently cold to transport water into Earth's deep mantle. This was found by scientists from the University of Potsdam and from the Helmholtz Center for Geosciences (GFZ) Potsdam, together with international colleagues, by measuring the transparency of olivine under conditions in Earth's mantle for the first time. Their results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

A new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) imaged a previously unexplored portion of the seafloor in ultra-deep waters near the Mariana Trench. Operationalizing this technology for the first time was part of a mission led by the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI), based at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

We are going back 55 million years. That was when Greenland and Norway began to drift apart, causing the Atlantic Ocean to open up. The Earth's crust between them became thinner and thinner, and enormous amounts of lava poured forth.

Peak water flows in parts of India's largest river basin have been falling by more than one-sixth every decade, according to a study published in npj Natural Hazards that highlights a similar trend across the country, impacting irrigation, domestic water, and hydropower in the world's most populous nation.

Solar Maximum 2025 is the expected peak of solar activity in Solar Cycle 25, characterized by heightened sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. This peak is anticipated around mid to late 2025, coinciding with the sun's magnetic field flip. Such solar activity may influence Canadian climate patterns by potentially affecting weather systems.

New research from a Southampton scientist has identified the causes of changes affecting river deltas around the world—warning of an urgent need to tackle them through climate adaptation.

Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago, during the geological eon known as the Hadean. The name "Hadean" comes from the Greek god of the underworld, reflecting the extreme heat that likely characterized the planet at the time.

Research involving the University of Liverpool has discovered a trend of increasing surface meltwater in East Antarctica. In an ambitious new study, they produced the first Antarctic-wide, high-resolution monthly dataset of surface meltwater using satellite images.

Scientists have discovered hundreds of giant sand bodies beneath the North Sea that appear to defy fundamental geological principles and could have important implications for energy and carbon storage.

Some species of fig trees store calcium carbonate in their trunks—essentially turning themselves (partially) into stone, new research has found. The team of Kenyan, U.S., Austrian, and Swiss scientists found that the trees could draw carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it as calcium carbonate 'rocks' in the surrounding soil.

For years, scientists have debated whether a giant thick ice shelf once covered the entire Arctic Ocean during the coldest ice ages. Now, a new study published in Science Advances challenges this idea as the research team found no evidence for the presence of a massive ~1km ice shelf. Instead, the Arctic Ocean appears to have been covered by seasonal sea ice—leaving open water and life-sustaining conditions even during the harshest periods of cold periods during the last 750,000 years.

Rising rural populations, drought and climate change are making water scarcity a problem in country townships—with more efficient handling of sewage system wastewater part of the solution.

The peer-reviewed study, "The Earth4All scenarios: Human well-being on a finite planet towards 2100," uses a system dynamics-based modeling approach to explore two future scenarios: Too Little Too Late, and the Giant Leap. The model presented in the paper provides the scientific basis for the analysis and policy recommendations of Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity, published in 2022.

Understanding where and in what quantities essential elements for life have existed on Earth's surface helps explain the origin and evolution of life. Phosphorus is one such element, forming the backbone of DNA, RNA, and cellular membranes.

On March 28, 2025, a major earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.7 struck Mandalay, central Myanmar (referred to as the 2025 Myanmar earthquake). This event caused severe shaking and substantial damage in Myanmar and neighboring countries. Aftershock distribution extended southward from the epicenter, indicating predominant southward rupture propagation.

Tsunami earthquakes are characterized by the generation of disproportionately large tsunamis relative to the observed ground shaking, complicating timely evacuation efforts. Understanding their generation mechanisms and associated risks is therefore critical.

Scientists have found evidence that the Asian continent was free of permafrost all the way to its northerly coast with the Arctic Ocean when Earth's average temperature was 4.5˚C warmer than today, suggesting that the whole Northern Hemisphere would have also been free of permafrost at the time.

University of Leicester-led research has revealed the start of industrial deforestation of the Malaysian rainforest and its long-lasting impact on coastal ecosystems in the skeletons of corals.

Ship traffic in shallow areas, such as ports, can trigger large methane emissions by just moving through the water. Researchers in a study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, observed 20 times higher methane emissions in the shipping lane compared to nearby undisturbed areas.

Geologists from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made a breakthrough in understanding how Earth's early continents formed during the Archean time, more than 2.5 billion years ago. Their findings, recently published in Science Advances, suggest that early continental crust likely formed through deep Earth processes called mantle plumes, rather than the plate tectonics that shape continents today.