Research Spotlights

Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

15 June 2018

A Closer Look at Turbulent Transport in Gravel Streambeds

Lab-built streams reveal new insights into turbulence-driven exchange of dissolved substances between stream water and sediments below.

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Biogeosciences

15 June 2018

Life and Death in the Deepest Depths of the Seafloor

Lacking light and energy, under-seafloor microbes rely on ancient organic materials to survive.

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Geology & Geophysics

11 June 2018

Linking Mantle Plumes to Volcanoes and Hot Spot Tracks

Study bolsters hypothesis that volcanoes on China’s Hainan Island were formed by a hot spot.

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Geology & Geophysics

8 June 2018

Karst Groundwater Contributes to Deformation in Eastern Alps

GPS data show compression and extension strains in the region resulting from changes in aquifer water levels.

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Planetary Sciences

5 June 2018

Peering Through Titan’s Haze to Better Understand Its Surface

Variations in grain size and water ice content detected on Saturn’s largest moon offer evidence of geologically related units that resemble the mountain-to-desert transition on Earth.

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Atmospheric Sciences

31 May 2018

Depth Matters in Peat Bog Nutrient Cycling

Peatlands store around a third of Earth’s soil carbon, and a new study begins to reveal how the ecosystems’ organic matter changes with depth.

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Space Science & Space Physics

30 May 2018

Mysterious Aurora Borealis Feature Explained for the First Time

High-speed particles cause indentations in the magnetopause to form “throat auroras.”

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Hydrology, Cryosphere & Earth Surface

29 May 2018

A Novel Way to Map Debris Thickness on Himalayan Glaciers

By combining changes in elevation with other data, scientists have developed a method for estimating the thickness of debris covering glaciers on whose water more than 800 million people depend.

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Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Volcanology

23 May 2018

Magma Flow in a Major Icelandic Eruption

Mechanical modeling suggests that previous, undetected eruptions released tectonic stress near the ice-covered Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Geology & Geophysics

22 May 2018

Challenging the Day Diagram, a Rock Magnetism Paradigm

A critique of the plot routinely used to determine bulk magnetic properties concludes the technique is so ambiguous that new approaches to understanding magnetic mineral assemblages must be developed.

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