Shrubs and trees across the United States routinely sip water stored in bedrock, a discovery that has implications for the terrestrial water cycle.
geology
A Dipole Field from the Ediacaran-Cambrian Transition Onward?
The Ediacaran features an instable magnetic field complicating paleogeographic reconstructions; a new paleointensity study on late Ediacaran rocks indicates a weak but stable dipolar field.
Extinct Style of Plate Tectonics Explains Early Earth’s Flat Mountains
The geologic record suggests that despite Earth’s hot, thin crust during the Proterozoic, mountains were still able to form thanks to an extinct style of crustal deformation.
Mechanisms of Hydrothermal Ocean Plate Cooling Revealed
A combination of waveform tomography and hydrothermal modelling allows characterizing the mechanisms and reach of fluid flux and ocean plate cooling near mid-ocean ridges with unprecedented detail.
State-of-the-Art Technology, Serendipity, and Secrets of Stonehenge
The first comprehensive analysis of what the sarsen stones are made of came about with new technology—and good old-fashioned luck.
Earth’s Continents Share an Ancient Crustal Ancestor
How did today’s continents come to be? Geological sleuths found clues in grains of sand.
La primera mirada de la meteorización a escala angstrom
Investigadores observan cómo el vapor de agua y el líquido alteran las rocas sedimentarias a través de procesos físicos y químicos.
Detailed Geologic Mapping Helps Identify Health Hazards
A team of geologists and nursing researchers created an interactive radon hazard map for Kentucky residents—and it was possible only because of the high-resolution bedrock mapping in the state.
Tiny Kinks Record Ancient Quakes
As Earth ruptures, micas kink. These kink bands hide in rocks millions of years old, preserving evidence of past quakes.
Reconstructing Rocks with Machine Learning
Machine learning can be used to accurately reconstruct high-resolution, 3D images of rocks from 2D cross-sections, which opens the door to more detailed simulations.