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.
unsolved mysteries
New Details About a Very Old Eruption and Flood
One of the most dramatic volcanic eruptions in history occurred more than 1,000 years ago. Scientists are still piecing together the aftermath.
Fifteen Years Later, Scientists Locate a Lunar Impact Site
The impact crater from NASA’s LCROSS mission lies hidden in an eternally dark region of the Moon.
Finding the Frequency of a Fjord
A massive tsunami churned up a mysterious 9-day noise in East Greenland. As the climate warms, more fjords may start singing.
Iron-Rich Volcanoes Hold Hidden Rare Earth Element Reserves
Experiments show how concentrations of rare earth elements, critical to the green energy transition, might be hiding in plain sight in iron-rich deposits around the world.
The Moon’s Tides Hint at a Melty Lunar Layer
New lunar gravity measurements support the idea that a partially molten mantle layer is sandwiched between the rest of the Moon’s mantle and its core.
Kepler’s Drawings Might Reveal When the Sunspots Disappeared
Johannes Kepler’s landmark 1607 sunspot observations may have been made at the end of the solar cycle, helping constrain the start of the Maunder Minimum.
Sedimentos radiactivos podrían haber construido los cratones de la Tierra
La meteorización de los primeros continentes podría haber puesto en marcha la formación de cratones, las raíces inmutables de los continentes.
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.