La meteorización de los primeros continentes podría haber puesto en marcha la formación de cratones, las raíces inmutables de los continentes.
unsolved mysteries
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.
Scientists Find Clues to Atlantic Current’s Future in Ancient Iceberg Debris
Modern ice loss from Greenland rivals the most dramatic episodes of ice sheet collapse.
A Sugar Coating for Arrokoth
A Kuiper Belt object might contain ribose and glucose on its surface—the same elements that could have seeded life on Earth.
Studying the Mystery of Uranus’s Curiously Weak Radiation Belts
The belts may not be weak at all—instead, they may be simply changing speed thanks to the planet’s asymmetric magnetic field.
Fifty-Three Experts Weigh in on the Global Methane Budget
A survey of experts revealed that uncertainty in estimates of global methane levels stems largely from data on fresh water, vegetation, and coastal areas.
Radioactive Sediments May Have Built Earth’s Cratons
Weathering of the earliest continents could have set in motion the formation of cratons, the immutable roots of continents.
Magnetic Barriers Might Explain Mysterious Hot Jupiters
Hot Jupiters might end up very close to stars because a magnetic field halts their progress—and future observations could confirm the idea.
Spiral Waves May Explain the Sun’s Baffling Rotation
New observations and models show a connection between high-latitude waves in the Sun’s interior and the different rates of spin between the solar equator and poles.
A Step Closer to Solving the Fermi Paradox
Finding evidence of complex life elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy hinges on locating rocky planets with plate tectonics and a mixture of landmasses and oceans, new research suggests.