Mantle rocks in Papua New Guinea contain curious geochemical signatures that scientists have traditionally interpreted as evidence of billions-year-old melting. New evidence suggests otherwise.
peridotites
Posted inScience Updates
A Simple Recipe for Making the First Continental Crust
Laboratory experiments serendipitously revealed a rock-forming process that might explain how the first continental crust formed on Earth—and possibly on Mars.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Shedding Light on Microbial Communities in Deep Aquifers
Researchers use a packer system to study the microbial communities living in waters sampled from deep, uncontaminated peridotite aquifers.
Posted inScience Updates
Understanding Electrical Signals from Below Earth’s Surface
A new version of a free Web application (SIGMELTS 2.0) helps Earth scientists interpret electrical anomalies in Earth’s crust and mantle and track the sources of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Grain-Scale Processes That Drive Plate Tectonics
New experimental data suggest that rock composition may play a critical role in forming and perpetuating shear zones.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Better Model for How the Mantle Melts
A new model of the melting behavior of certain mantle rocks gives researchers a better understanding of the source of oceanic lavas.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Pyroxenes Can Be Used to Estimate Upper Mantle Water Content
Scientists suggest using the mineral pyroxene to study the water content of the Earth’s upper mantle.