Scientists have found holes filled with minerals that indicate fluid-filled pores exist many tens of kilometers below Earth’s surface. But no, The Core fans, you still can’t get amethyst-laden geodes in the mantle.
unsolved mysteries
Posted inEditors' Vox
Mysteries of the Global Carbon Cycle
Less than half of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere to drive climate change. The rest is being removed by mysterious processes in the land, biosphere, and ocean.
Posted inNews
Why Did Sunspots Disappear for 70 Years? Nearby Star Holds Clues
Five decades of data revealed a star undergoing a pause in magnetic activity similar to what the Sun experienced almost 400 years ago.
Posted inNews
A “Dam” in the Corona May Make the Solar Wind Gain Its Unusual Speeds
A new study supports the idea of a “helicity barrier” influencing the fluctuating stream of interplanetary plasma.
Posted inNews
Coronal Dimmings Shine Light on Stellar CMEs
Coronal mass ejections from stars have eluded easy observation, so scientists are looking at what’s left behind.
Posted inNews
Million or Billion? Narrowing Down the Age of Mantle Processes in New Guinea
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.
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Diagnosing Neptune’s Chilly Summer
A pandemic project analyzing a trove of infrared images revealed an unexplained phenomenon taking place in Neptune’s atmosphere.
Posted inFeatures
Is Earth’s Core Rusting?
If subduction carries hydrous minerals deep into Earth’s mantle, they may “rust” the iron outer core, forming vast sinks of oxygen that can later be returned to the atmosphere.
Posted inNews
Hot Springs Suggest How the Tibetan Plateau Became the Roof of the World
Helium isotopes found in water samples provide a snapshot of what lies beneath the plateau and stimulate debate within the geosciences community.
Posted inNews
How a Newly Discovered Mineral Might Explain Weird Mantle Behavior
Scientists not only synthesized davemaoite but deformed it at lower mantle conditions. They found its strength and viscosity to be substantially lower than those of other minerals that make up the lower mantle.