A schematic diagram of the Earth's deep oxygen factory shows the oxygenation and deoxygenation processes of hydrous mantle materials in the lower mantle across the ~1000 km depth beneath Earth's surface. Under the conditions of Earth's middle mantle, scientists discovered an oxygen-excess phase, (Mg,Fe)2O3+δ (0 < δ < 1) that can be formed with under-saturated water at >1000 kilometers depths. Those oxygen-excess materials may have long-termly oxidized the shallow mantle and the crust, which is essential to allow free oxygen to build up in Earth's atmosphere. Credit: Science China Press

Oxygen-excess oxides in Earth’s mid-mantle facilitate the ascent of deep oxygen

Normal and malformed spores from East Greenland. Credit: John Marshall

Erosion of ozone layer responsible for mass extinction event

Subduction zones occur where one tectonic plate dives under another. New computer modeling by Magali Billen, professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis, shows why earthquakes on these sinking plates cluster at certain depths and could give insight into processes deep in the Earth. (U.S. Geological Survey)

New clues to deep earthquake mystery

Big theropod dinosaurs such as Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus ate pretty much everything -- including each other, according to a new study. Credit: PLOS ONE

In stressed ecosystems Jurassic dinosaurs turned to scavenging, maybe even cannibalism

Earth

Earth’s lower mantle can be oxidized in the presence of water

Original artwork depicting the moment the asteroid struck in present-day Mexico. Credit: Chase Stone

Dinosaur-dooming asteroid struck earth at ‘deadliest possible’ angle

The rising Earth from the perspective of the moon.

Project aims to create first 4-D maps of Earth’s mantle

Earth's mantle (dark red) lies below the crust (brown layer near the surface) and above the outer core (bright red).

The 12 questions earth scientists should ask in the next 10...

Picture of the Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala. Credit: Zorn et al. 2020, Nature

How drones can monitor explosive volcanoes

An artistic life reconstruction of Nannopterygius. Credit: Andrey Atuchin

Fishing rod ‘selfie stick’ and scientific sleuthing turn up clues to...

1...757677...667Page 76 of 667