Laboratory experiments serendipitously revealed a rock-forming process that might explain how the first continental crust formed on Earth—and possibly on Mars.
Earth’s interior
Posted inEditors' Vox
Processes in Earth’s Mantle and Surface Connections
A new AGU book presents a multidisciplinary perspective on the dynamic processes occurring in Earth’s mantle.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Novel Thermobarometer to Infer Mantle Melting Conditions
The algorithm RevPET automatically reverses the complex multi-phase fractional crystallization path of oceanic basalts and offers new perspectives for advancing mantle thermobarometry.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
First Report of Seismicity That Initiated in the Lower Mantle
A 4D back-projection method revealed that aftershocks of the 2015 earthquake beneath the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands occurred as deep as about 750 kilometers.
Posted inNews
Lava from Bali Volcanoes Offers Window into Earth’s Mantle
Lava from the Agung and Batur volcanoes provides a near-pristine picture of Earth’s mantle and raises questions about all volcanoes along the Indonesian Sunda Arc and beyond.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Previous Intra-oceanic Subduction Found Beneath South America?
Newly mapped fast velocity slabs in the lower mantle may be remnants of westward dipping intra-oceanic subduction, before flipping to the present eastward subduction beneath South America at 85 Ma.
Posted inScience Updates
Seafloor Seismometers Look for Clues to North Atlantic Volcanism
Did the mantle plume that fuels Iceland’s volcanoes today cause eruptions in Ireland and Great Britain long ago? A new project investigates, while also inspiring students and recording whale songs.
Posted inAGU News
Peter M. Shearer Receives 2020 Inge Lehmann Medal
Peter M. Shearer was awarded the 2020 Inge Lehmann Medal at the virtual AGU Fall Meeting in December. The medal is for “contributions to the understanding of the structure, composition, and dynamics of the Earth’s mantle and core.”
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Watering Down the Mantle
The cooling of planet Earth over time increased the water carrying capacity of the mantle and could have shrunk the oceans.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Subduction May Recycle Less Water Than Thought
A new analysis of seismic data from the Middle America Trench suggests that previous calculations have vastly overestimated the total amount of water transported to the mantle worldwide.