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.
paleoclimatology & paleoceanography
Posted inNews
Greener, Wetter Arabia Was a Crossroads of Early Human Migration
Hand axes, hippo bones, and a stack of ancient lake beds show that arid Arabia experienced intervals of humid weather, spurring pulses of human migration over the past 400,000 years.
Posted inScience Updates
Navigating Miocene Ocean Temperatures for Insights into the Future
A new temperature data portal will aid scientists in tracking and accessing paleoclimate data from the Miocene, a past warm climate interval and future climate analogue.
Posted inNews
Freshwater Mussel Shells May Retain Record of Alpine Snowpack
A new study explores a possible proxy for seasonal freshwater input that could elucidate changes in alpine snowpack as the planet warms.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Cool Oasis for Cretaceous Feathered Dinosaurs
A new study found that the Jehol Biota had chilly temperatures and high altitudes when feathered dinosaurs roamed the slopes.
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Small Climate Changes Could Be Magnified by Natural Processes
A new study uses modeling techniques to uncover how small incidents of warming may be turned into hyperthermal events lasting thousands of years.
Posted inScience Updates
Swipe Left on the “Big One”: Better Dates for Cascadia Quakes
Improving our understanding of hazards posed by future large earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone requires advancements in the methods and sampling used to date and characterize past events.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Sedimentary Tepees Record Ocean Chemistry
Sedimentary structures from evaporative coastal environments indicate carbonate saturation, offer insight in mid-Mesozoic ocean chemistry and potentially even earlier times.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Exploring the Dramatic Shift in Ice Age Duration
Scientists are still seeking an explanation for the Mid-Pleistocene Transition when ice ages became longer in duration and exploring what it may mean for future climate change.
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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.