Wizened bristlecone pines in California reveal past climate trends, and new research shows how slight variations in landscape position drive different growth patterns in trees’ annual rings.
paleoclimatology & paleoceanography
Ancient Fires and Indigenous Knowledge Inform Fire Policies
Global Paleofire Working Group 2: Diverse Knowledge Systems for Fire Policy and Biodiversity Conservation; Egham, United Kingdom, 4–9 September 2018
Scientists Discover Pristine Collection of Soft-Tissue Fossils
The fossils include jellyfish, box jellies, branched algae, and sponges, which are underrepresented in or missing from other deposits.
Varying Impact of Earthquake- and Monsoon-Induced Landslides
Using nearly 50 years of satellite data and records stretching back millennia, scientists determine the relative frequency—and the erosional power—of monsoon- and earthquake-induced landslides in Nepal.
The Akkadian Empire—Felled by Dust?
Chemical measurements of a stalagmite from a cave in Iran reveal a large uptick in dust activity in northern Mesopotamia roughly 4,200 years ago, coincident with the decline of the Akkadian Empire.
Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in the Mediterranean
1st National Workshop on Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in the Mediterranean; Rome, Italy, 5–6 July 2018
Investigating the Northern Indian Ocean’s Puzzling Geodynamics
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Proposal Nurturing Workshop on Indian Ocean; Goa, India, 17–18 September 2018
Huge Global Tsunami Followed Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact
The cataclysmic Chicxulub impact roughly 66 million years ago spawned a tsunami that produced wave heights of several meters in distant waters, new simulations suggest.
Penguin Poop Keeps a Record of Antarctic Glaciation
Scientists are digging up Adélie penguin guano to study millennia of Antarctica’s history.
Extinct Megatoothed Shark May Have Been Warm-Blooded
Preliminary results from a recent study may begin to shed light on why megalodons died out before the most recent ice age.
