Billions of years ago, iron-oxidizing microbes may have competed for dissolved iron in the ocean, with some strains producing toxic gases that smothered their rivals.
paleoclimatology & paleoceanography
Posted inNews
Centennial-Scale Jumps in CO2 Driven by Earth’s Tilt
Antarctic ice records uncovered seven previously unknown jumps in atmospheric carbon dioxide. These events may have been driven by changes in Earth’s tilt.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How an Ocean-Sized Lake May Have Formed on Ancient Mars
The catastrophic collapse of Mars’s atmosphere may have melted its polar ice cap, creating an ice-covered southern sea.
Posted inNews
Mega El Niño May Have Led to Major Mass Extinction 252 Million Years Ago
The extreme climate conditions wrought by a decades-long ENSO pattern could be the culprit in the Great Dying, which wiped out nearly 90% of life on Earth.
Posted inNews
Underwater Bridge Suggests a Surprising Date for First Migration to Mallorca
A controversial study suggests that humans settled on the Spanish island 1,000 years earlier than archaeologists believe.
Posted inNews
Swedish Icebreaker Is the First to Dig Into Greenland’s Remote Victoria Fjord
Data collected aboard Oden will shed light on the dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ancient Pines Could Reveal the Heat of Thousands of Past Seasons
A novel 3D CT scan approach unlocks temperature records preserved in the gnarled wood of bristlecone pines.
Posted inScience Updates
How Great was the “Great Oxidation Event”?
Geochemical sleuthing amid acid mine runoff suggests that scientists should rethink an isotope signal long taken to indicate low levels of atmospheric oxygen in Earth’s deep past.
Posted inNews
Fossilized Shells Reveal the Seasonality of a Warmer Climate
Summers could warm faster than winters in northern Europe, paleoclimate research suggests.