Painstaking measurements of isotopes and their relative abundance in rocks have illuminated the hidden inner Earth and our planet’s origins and shadowy past for much of the preceding century.
early Earth
Posted inScience Updates
A Deeper Investment for Deep Time Science
Seven proposals recently funded by the National Science Foundation will ensure more access to laboratories that specialize in geochronology.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Unraveling the Origins of Australia’s Ancient Mountain Chains
New data synthesis suggests that varying rates of trench retreat along the margin of the Gondwana supercontinent were responsible for the curvature of the Tasmanide mountain chains.
Posted inNews
How Did Life Learn to Breathe?
Scientists unravel the conditions under which life evolved to breathe oxygen—and the findings have some stellar implications.
Posted inNews
Tiny Algae May Have Prompted a Mass Extinction
Dead algae sinking to the ocean floor may have sequestered carbon 445 million years ago, triggering the glaciation that accompanied the Late Ordovician mass extinction.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Cobalt Key to Development of Early Life on Earth
Cobalt may have played in important role in the early development of life on Earth, and been more available to ancient life than modern due to the higher mafic composition of early continents.
Posted inNews
Erasing a Billion Years of Geologic Time Across the Globe
The Great Unconformity—a huge time gap in the rock record—may have been triggered by the uplift of an ancient supercontinent, say researchers using a novel method for dating rocks.
Posted inNews
Biogenic Oxygen on the Moon Could Hold Secrets to Earth's Past
Lunar orbiting data show that terrestrial oxygen rains down periodically on the Moon, enticing researchers with an opportunity to study Earth's ancient atmosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Deciphering the Bay of Bengal's Tectonic Origins
New magnetic and gravity data suggest that the boundary between continental and oceanic crust lies beneath northern Bangladesh, along the line of an Early Cretaceous spreading center.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Becoming Habitable in the Habitable Zone
Scientists explore how interactions between a rocky planet's climate, mantle, and core can affect its evolution and determine whether it could sustain life.