By disrupting millennia-old fire management practices, colonization created a deadly situation in Australian forests, but the jury is out on just how widespread “cultural burning” was.
Australia
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Ground-based Transmitters Cause Radiation Belt Electron Loss
A U.S. Navy transmitter in Australia produces wisps of electron loss as observed by the Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment (CIRBE) CubeSat in Low Earth Orbit.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lithospheric Oddities May Be Sculpting Continental Interiors
Researchers propose a novel explanation for vertical motions of Earth’s surface far from active tectonic plate boundaries.
Posted inNews
Hungry Stingrays Shift Serious Amounts of Sediment
While digging for food on estuary bottoms, rays push around literally tons of sediment, changing their habitat in profound ways.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
A tragic riverbank collapse near to Cooktown in Queensland, Australia
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. On 3 August 2024 an unusual and tragic landslide occurred at close to Cooktown in Queensland, Australia. Reports indicate that a man on vacation in the area was fishing on a riverbank […]
Posted inNews
The Crocodile Dundee Site Helping Rewrite the History of Australian Bushfires
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.
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.