A lake made famous by Hollywood has yielded powerful new evidence that humans have conducted controlled burns on the Red Continent for tens of thousands of years.
Australia
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Measuring Methane Stemming from Tree Stems
Wetland tree stem emissions have emerged as a significant contributor to the global methane budget. A new study tracks how they vary by season, location, and hydrological conditions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Piecing Together the Roots of the Ancient Australian Continent
Mineral compositions from numerous volcanic rocks that sample the mantle keel beneath Western Australia’s Kimberley Craton reveal the temperature and mineralogy that explain its long-lived stability.
Posted inNews
Continental Breakup Shot Pink Diamonds to Earth’s Surface
What was once the world’s most prolific pink diamond mine has always been an anomaly. New research suggests that the end of an ancient supercontinent helped rocket its precious gems to the surface.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Using Cave Formations to Investigate Ancient Wildfires
From sediment cores to speleothems, environmental archives are helping us to understand the history of wildfires.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
GPS Observations Sense Groundwater Change in Australia
By exploiting the fact that changes in groundwater cause deformations of the Earth’s surface, GPS receivers are used to detect groundwater changes related to extreme events and to seasonal oscillations.
Posted inNews
Wildfire Smoke Destroys Ozone
Smoke aerosols from large wildfires are the perfect reaction surface for chlorine chemicals, speeding their transformation from ozone-friendly forms to reactive ones.
Posted inScience Updates
Making Sense of the Great Barrier Reef’s Mysterious Green Donuts
Researchers set sail to the Great Barrier Reef to study how ring-shaped algae deposits formed and evolved, what feeds them, and the diversity of creatures that call them home.
Posted inFeatures
Last Tree Standing
Refugia repopulate forests after fires, but climate change is making these woodlands increasingly unpredictable.