Between 15 million and 6 million years ago, a drop in ocean crust production may have lowered sea level by 26–32 meters.
Earth’s crust
Posted inFeatures
How to Build the World’s Highest Mountain
The rocks of Mount Everest’s peak made an epic journey from seafloor to summit.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracing Metals from Earth to Water to Life in the Yellow River
The mix of metals in China’s Yellow River stays relatively similar as it moves from the upper continental crust to biological life.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Deep Beneath California’s Sierra Nevada, Earth’s Lithosphere May Be Peeling Away
Evidence for lithospheric foundering, or the process of denser material sinking into the mantle, is emerging.
Posted inScience Updates
Beneath Greenland, Insights for Energy Transitions and Climate Models
Emerging consensus on the structure and dynamics of Greenland’s lithosphere may help improve forecasts of climate and sea level change and develop solutions for sustainable resource use.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Guidelines for Managing Induced Seismicity Risks
Consolidating state-of-the-art science into guidelines provides a path forward for managing induced seismicity risks and highlights avenues for future research.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Magmatic Fluids and Melts May Lie Beneath Dormant German Volcanoes
New processing strategies applied to old seismic data reveal potential pockets of magmatic fluids or melts from the upper mantle.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Magma Diversity in Iceland
Iceland’s recent basalt eruptions originated at the crust-mantle boundary and show chemical variability over remarkably short timescales of weeks, suggesting exchanges between diverse magma sources.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Past Fracture Damage Can Inhibit Earthquake Slip
Around the surface rupture of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, a new study documents an anti-correlation between pre-existing fracture damage and earthquake slip – implying that damage inhibited slip.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Compositional Anomalies Complicate Our Model of Mantle Convection
A new study expands on recent research which suggests that oceanic crust accumulates in the mid-mantle. The new seismological constraints advance our understanding of thermo-chemical planetary evolution.