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Categories: Geoscience: Geology, Paleontology: Climate
Published Scientists investigate Grand Canyon's ancient past to predict future climate impacts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team explores relationship between warming post-Ice Age temperatures and intensifying summer monsoon rains on groundwater reserves.
Published Climate and human land use both play roles in Pacific island wildfires past and present
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It’s long been understood that human settlement contributes to conditions that make Pacific Islands more susceptible to wildfires, such as the devastating Aug. 8 event that destroyed the Maui community of Lahaina. But a new study from fire scientist shows that climate is an undervalued part of the equation.
Published Ancient plant wax reveals how global warming affects methane in Arctic lakes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a new study, researchers examined the waxy coatings of leaves preserved as organic molecules within sediment from the early-to-middle Holocene, a period of intense warming that occurred due to slow changes in Earth's orbit 11,700 to 4,200 years ago. They found that warming potentially could lead to a previously under-appreciated flux in methane emissions from lakes.
Published New study removes human bias from debate over dinosaurs' demise
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers tried a new approach to resolve the scientific debate over whether it was a giant asteroid or volcanoes that wiped out the dinosaurs -- they removed scientists from the debate and let the computers decide. The researchers created a model powered by 130 interconnected processors that, without human input, reverse-engineered the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction until they reached a scenario that matched the fossil record. The model determined that while a meteorite contributed to the cataclysm, the outpouring of climate-altering gases from the nearly 1-million-year eruptions of volcanoes in western India's Deccan Traps would have been sufficient to trigger the extinction and clear the way for the ascendance of mammals.
Published Antarctica's glacial border migrates for miles with the tide
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New measurements of how boundary between onshore glacier and floating ice shelf glides back-and- forth could help predict melting.
Published Exploring the effect of water on seismic wave attenuation in the upper mantle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The mechanism facilitating the smooth movement of the oceanic lithosphere over the underlying asthenosphere (upper mantle) remains poorly understood. Recently, researchers from Japan investigated the effect of water on the seismic properties of olivine rocks, finding that water retention in the asthenosphere can induce sharp drops in shear wave velocity. This also explained other seismic changes observed at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. These findings provide invaluable insights into the diverse seismic activities on Earth.
Published New research reveals extreme heat likely to wipe out humans and mammals in the distant future
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows unprecedented heat is likely to lead to the next mass extinction, akin to when the dinosaurs died out, eliminating nearly all mammals in some 250 million years time.
Published A newly identified virus emerges from the deep
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Marine virologists analyzed sediment from the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, and identified a new bacteriophage.
Published Crucial third clue to finding new diamond deposits
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers studying diamond-rich rocks from Western Australia's Argyle volcano have identified the missing third key ingredient needed to bring valuable pink diamonds to the Earth's surface where they can be mined, which could greatly help in the global hunt for new deposits.
Published Earth's stability and ability to support civilization at risk: Six of nine planetary boundaries exceeded
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth conditions.
Published New research reveals why and when the Sahara Desert was green
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A pioneering study has shed new light on North African humid periods that have occurred over the past 800,000 years and explains why the Sahara Desert was periodically green.
Published Scientific ocean drilling discovers dynamic carbon cycling in the ultra-deep-water Japan Trench
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hadal trenches, with their deepest locations situated in the so-called hadal zone, the deepest parts of the ocean in water depth >6km, are the least-explored environment on Earth, linking the Earth's surface and its deeper interior. An international team conducting deep-subsurface sampling in a hadal trench at high spatial resolution has revealed exciting insights on the carbon cycling in the trench sediment.
Published Bursting air bubbles may play a key role in how glacier ice melts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has uncovered a possible clue as to why glaciers that terminate at the sea are retreating at unprecedented rates: the bursting of tiny, pressurized bubbles in underwater ice.
Published Stability inspection for West Antarctica shows: marine ice sheet is not destabilized yet, but possibly on a path to tipping
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Antarctica's vast ice masses seem far away, yet they store enough water to raise global sea levels by several meters. A team of experts has now provided the first systematic stability inspection of the ice sheet's current state. Their diagnosis: While they found no indication of irreversible, self-reinforcing retreat of the ice sheet in West Antarctica yet, global warming to date could already be enough to trigger the slow but certain loss of ice over the next hundreds to thousands of years.
Published Two out of three volcanoes are little-known. How to predict their eruptions?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What is the risk of a volcano erupting? To answer this question, scientists need information about its underlying internal structure. However, gathering this data can take several years of fieldwork, analyses and monitoring, which explains why only 30% of active volcanoes are currently well documented. A team has developed a method for rapidly obtaining valuable information. It is based on three parameters: the height of the volcano, the thickness of the layer of rock separating the volcano's reservoir from the surface, and the average chemical composition of the magma.
Published Tiny mineral inclusions picture the chemical exchange between Earth's mantle and atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using synchrotron techniques, scientists have unveiled important information on The Great Oxidation Event by studying apatite inclusions in zircon crystals from old magmas.
Published Enhanced chemical weathering: A solution to the climate crisis?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Could blending of crushed rock with arable soil lower global temperatures? Researchers study global warming events from 40 and 56 million years ago to find answers.
Published Scientists zero in on timing, causes of ice age mammal extinctions in southern California
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Radiocarbon dating on bones in the La Brea Tar Pits lead archaeologists to warn that history may be repeating itself.
Published Key role of ice age cycles in early human interbreeding
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recent paleogenomic research revealed that interbreeding was common among early human species. However, little was known about when, where, and how often this hominin interbreeding took place. Using paleoanthropological evidence, genetic data, and supercomputer simulations of past climate, a team of international researchers has found that interglacial climates and corresponding shifts in vegetation created common habitats for Neanderthals and Denisovans, increasing their chances for interbreeding and gene flow in parts of Europe and central Asia.
Published Elephant ancestors´ teeth evolved in response to long term changes in diet and climate in Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that the cheek teeth of proboscideans (elephants and their ancient relatives) evolved in response to dietary changes due to vegetation changes and climate change in East Africa during the last 26 million years.