在地球形成之初，小行星和微行星的频繁撞击塑造了地壳，并创造出可能支持前生物化学反应、甚至可能孕育早期生命的环境。
Earth’s crust
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Snapshot of Continental Crust in the Making
New seismic images from the Aleutian Arc show how active volcanic arcs may build new continental crust, highlighting the complex transition at multiple stages.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Cosmic Bombardment Created Potential for Prebiotic Chemistry
Frequent impacts from asteroids and planetesimals in Earth’s earliest days shaped the planet’s crust and created environments that may have supported prebiotic chemistry, and possibly even early life.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Mapping the Hidden Electrical Anatomy of a Continent
After nearly two decades, the first continent-wide magnetotelluric survey reveals the high-resolution electrical architecture of the North American continent.
Posted inNews
Scientists Find Thousands of Cubic Kilometers of Magma Hiding Beneath Tuscany
We already know what’s Under the Tuscan Sun. Now, a technique called ambient noise tomography has allowed researchers to see deep under the Tuscan crust.
Posted inNews
Eastern Africa Is Splitting Apart, but Not Where We Expected
The Turkana Rift Zone in Kenya entered a critical stage in continental breakup about 4 million years ago.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Seismic Attenuation Techniques Reveal What Lies Beneath Taiwan
A new imaging modality explores the complex subduction‐collision transition zone below southern Taiwan.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Hydrothermal Heat Flow as a Window into Subsurface Arc Magmas
What can warm fluids in arc crust tell us about how much magma is lurking underground? Hydrothermal heat fluxes provide constraints on the supply of magma from the mantle in subduction zones.
Posted inFeatures
Drilling Down to Open Up New Understanding of Earth’s Continents
Scientists have drilled into Earth’s crust for decades to understand natural hazards, past climates, energy resources, and more. They’ve only scratched the surface of what we can learn.