Rare 2-million-year record reveals the meteorite flux rate.

Mary Caperton Morton
Mary Caperton Morton is a freelance science and travel writer specializing in geophysics, hydrology, and mountaineering. Her book, Aerial Geology: A High Altitude Tour of North America’s Spectacular Volcanoes, Canyons, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters and Peaks, was published by Timber Press in 2017. In her 13 years as a seasonally nomadic freelancer, she has hiked in all 50 states; climbed hundreds of mountains; and written for numerous publications including Eos, Earth, Science News, The Last Word on Nothing, and her blog, Travels with the Blonde Coyote. When she’s not at the keyboard, she’s outside, exploring the Sierras from her home base in the foothills of Sequoia National Forest in California.
Tree Rings Record 19th-Century Anthropogenic Climate Change
Paleoclimate records, observational data, and climate modeling capture the influence of human activity on temperature seasonality.
Mysterious Coral Reef Halos Can Be Seen from Space
Grazing rings around reefs have the potential to be used as a tool for monitoring reef health, but first, scientists have to figure out what factors govern halo size differences.
Global Warming Hits Marine Life Hardest
The lack of thermal refugia in the ocean means marine life has nowhere to escape from rising sea temperatures.
California Heat Waves Triggered by Pacific Thunderstorms
New link may offer 5-week lead time on predicting extreme heat in California’s fruit belt.
New Model Shines Spotlight on Geomagnetic Jerks
Scientists get one step closer to being able to predict jerks—notoriously capricious changes to Earth’s geomagnetic field detectable by satellites.
Meteorite’s Hidden Treasure: A Comet
A fragment of a comet found hidden inside a meteorite is offering new insights into the dynamics of our young solar system.
Fast-Melting Mountain Glaciers Speed Up Sea Level Rise
Satellites spy on remote alpine glaciers, producing more accurate—and higher—estimates of ice loss over time.
Reassessing California’s Overdue Earthquake Tab
Paleoseismic records show that the current 100-year hiatus since the last major event on the San Andreas, San Jacinto, and Hayward Faults is unprecedented in recent geologic history.
King of the Tyrannosaurs Goes on Display
The biggest, oldest T. rex found to date shows how big tyrannosaurs could get.