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Geology

Researchers observed seafloor movement at the Southeast Indian Ridge, denoted by the yellow line.

In a First, Scientists Witness the Seafloor Spread in Real Time, Giving Them a Rare Glimpse at a Mysterious Geologic Process

Across a matter of days in 2024, the seafloor in part of the Indian Ocean dropped by about 13 feet, and roughly 5.7 billion cubic feet of molten rock rose to the crust’s surface, according to a new study

Earth is currently experiencing an occurrence of the El Niño climate pattern.

Could We Mitigate Super El Niños by Artificially Changing the Climate? A New Study Indicates Yes

Researchers used computer models to see what would have happened had scientists caused marine cloud brightening in the face of strong past El Niños

Scientists analyzed about 25 years' worth of data from the Fram Strait, a passageway where the Arctic and Atlantic oceans meet.

The Arctic Ocean May Have Passed a Crucial Tipping Point That Could Harm Food Webs and Worsen Climate Change

Sea ice loss seems to have triggered a decline in the nutrient nitrate, affecting the tiny organisms that form the foundations of marine food chains and absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study

The bone was collected in December 1985 by the late geologist Mike Thomson, who described it as a "vertebra of large reptile" in his field notebook.

A Fossil From Antarctica Sat in a Drawer for 40 Years. It Turned Out to Be the First Dinosaur Bone Ever Found on the Continent

After being forgotten for decades, the mysterious tail vertebra has finally been identified as part of a titanosaur. The discovery helps researchers understand how dinosaurs may have traversed Earth’s southernmost regions

Large conical shatter cones within the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

Scientists Double Down on Age of What Might Be Earth’s Oldest Impact Crater, Dating It, Again, at More Than Three Billion Years Old

Last year, geologists dated the crater in Western Australia at 3.47 billion years old, which was disputed by other experts. Now, they’ve revised the estimate to 3.02 billion years old—but some still aren’t convinced

Rescuers search for victims in a collapsed building in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, following the earthquakes on June 24, 2026.

Powerful Back-to-Back Earthquakes Killed at Least 188 People in Venezuela. Here’s the Science Behind the Rare ‘Doublet’

On June 24, two quakes above magnitude 7 struck the northern part of the country only 39 seconds apart. While doublet sequences aren’t unheard of in seismology, they are uncommon—especially in such short succession

The Rumkale fortress ruins sit on the banks of the Euphrates River in Turkey.

Scientists May Have Discovered the Origins of the Euphrates River, Which Helped Nurture Some of the Earliest Known Civilizations

The famous waterway began as two rivers, a new study suggests. Tectonic activity around five million years ago probably made them change course and merge, helping to birth the Fertile Crescent

Located on the Atlantic coast, the Giant's Causeway is one of the most popular natural landmarks in Northern Ireland.

Scientists Uncover New Clues About the Volcanic Origins of the Giant’s Causeway, an Iconic Geologic Structure in Northern Ireland

The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which features 40,000 near-perfect hexagonal columns, formed roughly 60 million years ago during a period of intense volcanic activity

A slice of the rare angrite meteorite NWA 12774 shows olivine crystal (green), a mineral rich in magnesium.

A Rare Meteorite Found in the Sahara Desert Offers Evidence of a Lost Protoplanet

Chemical signatures indicate the meteorite came from an early planet that met an untimely end during the formation of our solar system

Researchers are trying to find out how the massive, central altar stone was transported to Stonehenge.

How Did Stonehenge Get Its Altar Stone? New Research Adds to the Debate Between Human Effort and Glacier Transport

Ice flow modeling and geological analyses suggest it’s possible that glaciers carried the stone part of the way during the last Ice Age. However, scientists say that scenario is unlikely

Researchers collected groundwater in boreholes up to 1.8 miles underground. The water contains dissolved natural hydrogen.

This Canadian Mine Might Release Enough Natural Hydrogen Each Year to Power 400 Homes, Hinting at an Untapped Source of Clean Energy

Many of the country’s metal mines are embedded in an ancient rock formation that probably also houses a lot of the resource, referred to as “white hydrogen”

Australia's Twelve Apostles were pushed out of the water by tectonic plate movement. 

It Took Millions of Years for Australia’s Famous Twelve Apostles Landmark to Rise Out of the Sea

The iconic tourist destination provides a beautiful view, but also represents a physical record of Earth’s climate history

Kenya's Great Rift Valley

East Africa Might Break Off From the Continent Sooner Than Scientists Thought—and a New Ocean May Fill the Gap

A new study suggests that a rift in Kenya and Ethiopia has reached a critical stage in the split-up process, and that water may flood it in a few million years

Lava, seen as darker brown rocks, from Methana's most recent eruption flows through ancient limestone into the sea.

This Greek Volcano Seemed Quiet for 100,000 Years. Then It Erupted Again. Should Scientists Take a Second Look at ‘Extinct’ Volcanoes?

By reconstructing a 700,000-year history of Methana volcano, geologists found a prehistoric phase when it appeared inactive on the surface, despite magma building up below ground

After drilling a rock sample from a spot on Mars nicknamed “Mary Anning,” NASA’s Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 25, 2020. Now, that sample has revealed organic molecules that have never been seen on the red planet before.

A Mars Rover Found Building Blocks of Life Never Seen on the Red Planet Before, Boosting the Case for Ancient Habitability

The organic molecules discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover could have been formed by life, but they could have also come from geologic processes or meteorites

Grand Canyon National Park welcomes more than four million visitors per year.

Scientists Still Don’t Know How or When the Grand Canyon Formed. New Research May Hint at Its Ancient Origins

Researchers say the ancestral Colorado River formed an ancient lake in northern Arizona roughly 6.6 million years ago, which spilled out westward onto the landscape that would eventually become the Grand Canyon

Mountains in Montana’s Makoshika State Park, where some of the Hell Creek Formation lies.

250 Places to Celebrate America

The Hell Creek Formation Is North America’s Legendary Boneyard. See the Top Five Discoveries Found in the Iconic Fossil Bed

From preserved plants to T. rex, the material found in these Late Cretaceous rocks has resulted in countless breakthroughs for paleontologists

Artemis 2's Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis 2 Astronauts Successfully Return to Earth After Completing a Historic Mission Around the Moon

The crewmembers splashed down Friday after breaking a space-faring record and viewing lunar features never seen by human eyes during their ten-day trip. It marks the first time anyone has left Earth’s orbit in more than 50 years

The researchers collected samples from the Pilbara region in Western Australia.

When Did the Earth’s Crust Start to Shift? Scientists Uncover Evidence of Plate Tectonics Happening 3.48 Billion Years Ago

A new study provides the oldest direct evidence of tectonic plate movement ever recorded

Geologist Molly Patterson holds part of the sediment core

Researchers Retrieve the Deepest-Ever Rock Core From Beneath Antarctica’s Ice. It Holds Clues About the Earth’s Past—and Future

The 748-foot-long sediment core contains a record of roughly the past 23 million years, including periods when the planet’s surface temperature was hotter than it is today

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