Geochronologists are finding fresh approaches to familiar methodologies, especially by zapping rocks with lasers to tackle classic Precambrian problems.
carbonates
Posted inScience Updates
A New Focus on the Neglected Carbonate Critical Zone
Studies of Earth’s critical zone have largely focused on areas underlain by silicate bedrock, leaving gaps in our understanding of widespread and vital carbonate-dominated landscapes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Carbonate Standards Ensure Better Paleothermometers
A community effort finds that carbonate standards eliminate the interlaboratory differences plaguing carbonate clumped-isotope thermometry studies.
Posted inNews
“Glass Pearls” in Clamshells Point to Ancient Meteor Impact
Research suggests that the spherical structures, smaller than grains of sand, may be microtektites, but additional investigations are needed to verify their identity.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Old Idea Spurs New Research into Origins of Carbonate Mudstones
Using modern techniques, scientists tested an old hypothesis about carbonate mud production to shift the thinking about rocks that are used as seawater archives and a source of petroleum.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tiny Marine Shells Reveal Past Patterns in Ocean Dynamics
A 400,000-year calcium carbonate record from the ocean floor sheds light on deep-ocean circulation and on mechanisms driving climate patterns and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
Posted inNews
Boiled or Raw, Snail Shells Keep an Environmental Archive
Snail shells discovered at archaeological sites might still accurately record past weather and vegetation despite being the leftovers of a past meal.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ancient Ocean Floor Seashells Improve Model of Past Glaciers
More accurate reconstruction of ice sheets over the past 150,000 years could help scientists predict future climate change.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Simulating the Climate 145 Million Years Ago
A new model shows that the Intertropical Convergence Zone wasn't always a single band around the equator, which had drastic effects on climate.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Martian Carbonates Spotted by the Orbiter
The minerals identified by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide more evidence that the planet may have once been habitable.