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Geology

A plume of ash and gas rises from Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily on Monday. The eruption also featured lava fountains and a pyroclastic flow.

Mount Etna’s Spectacular Monday Eruption Marks the Volcano’s Most Intense Activity in Years

The explosion was the strongest since 2021, expelling ash, dust, lava and a pyroclastic flow, but no injuries or deaths were reported

Geoscientist Martin Köhler stands in front of Maka Lahi, which measures 46 feet by 39 feet by 22 feet—about the same size as a two-story house.

A 164-Foot Tsunami Pushed This Enormous Boulder Atop a Cliff in Tonga 7,000 Years Ago

The hulking rock, called Maka Lahi, is the size of a two-story house and sits on a 120-foot-tall cliff, covered in vegetation

Geologist Michael Ackerson holds a sample from Canada's Acasta Gneiss formation, home to some of the oldest rocks on the planet.

The Secrets of How Life Began May Be Hidden Inside the World’s Oldest Rocks

Smithsonian researchers trekked to a remote site in northern Canada to collect four-billion-year-old rock samples that could unlock mysteries about Earth’s earliest history

Houston is the fastest-sinking of the 28 most populated U.S. cities, according to a new study that examined the urban areas through satellite observations. The Texas city got most of its water from the ground in the 1950s to ’70s, which led to subsidence.

The Land Beneath the Biggest U.S. Cities Is Sinking, Finds New Analysis of Satellite Data

Largely due to groundwater pumping and shifting of land after the last ice age, major urban areas are subsiding, which could destabilize buildings or worsen flooding

The mosasaur vertebra measured more than seven inches wide.

Geologists Stumble Upon Remains of Giant ‘Sea Monster’ in Mississippi, Likely the Largest Mosasaur Ever Identified in the State

Researchers uncovered one vertebra, and based on its size, they estimate the massive creature was at least 30 feet long when it roamed the shallow seas that covered the region roughly 66 million years ago

A variety of marine creatures and unique features can be found in the deep sea off Norway, including the dumbo octopus, colorful anemones and venting chimneys.

As Norway Considers Deep-Sea Mining, a Rich History of Ocean Conservation Decisions May Inform How the Country Acts

In the past, scientists, industry and government have worked together in surprising, tense and fruitful ways

In 2013, the Curiosity rover drilled this hole, which measures about 0.6 inches wide and 2.6 inches deep, into martian rock. The sample is now thought to contain long-chain organic molecules.

Curiosity Rover Discovers Largest Organic Compounds Ever Found on Mars, a Possible Sign of Ancient Life

The molecules may be remnants of fatty acids, which form cell membranes in Earth’s organisms, though they might have formed through a non-biological process

The Barry Arm landslide in Alaska’s Prince William Sound

Studying This Slow-Moving Alaskan Landslide May Help Avert Future Disaster

If the landslide at the Barry Arm fjord collapses, its falling ice and rock could generate a devastating 650-foot-high tsunami

Researchers discovered the oldest meteorite impact crater known to science in Australia. 

Oldest Known Impact Crater Discovered in Australia

The discovery bolsters the theory that meteorite impacts played an important role in Earth’s early geological history

Researchers used a miniaturized laser mass spectrometer to identify signs of fossils in a gypsum quarry in Algeria. They suggest the same tool could find early fossils on Mars.

Scientists Hope This Tool Could Identify Tiny Fossils on Mars, Revealing Hints to Potential Early Life on the Planet

If Mars ever hosted microorganisms in its bygone oceans, their fossils might still be preserved in minerals—and now, we have a new potential way to find them

Ice calves off the Breidamerkurjokull, a glacier in Iceland. Some scientists suggest prehistoric glaciers hold the answers to how life evolved on Earth.

How Enormous Glaciers on the Frozen ‘Snowball Earth’ Might Have Bulldozed the Path to Complex Life on Our Planet

A new study suggests glaciers carved metals out from the Earth’s surface 700 million years ago, leading to chemical reactions in the oceans that set the stage for early animal evolution

The Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles experiences slow-moving landslides that accelerated last fall, according to recent research.

Parts of California Are Sinking, and It Could Worsen the Effects of Sea-Level Rise, NASA Study Finds

The ground in many parts of the state—including Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Central Valley—is subsiding due to groundwater withdrawal, landslides and compacting of sediment

A fragment of the glass found within the skull of a college custodian in the Roman town of Herculaneum.

Vesuvius Turned a Roman Man’s Brain Into Glass. Now, Scientists Reveal How the Extremely Rare Preservation Happened

The remains of a young man, found in his bed in the destroyed town of Herculaneum, included glassy fragments that had mystified archaeologists

A mosquito stuck in resin is on its way to becoming a fossil preserved in amber.

How a Fragile Insect Living 100 Million Years Ago Becomes a Fossil

A bug, a dinosaur and a tree intersect, creating the perfect conditions for resin to capture a moment in time

Part of an ice core taken from a borehole drilled in the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream

Tiny Quakes Discovered Deep Within Greenland’s Ice Sheet Could Change Sea-Level Rise Predictions, Study Suggests

While scientists once thought Greenland’s ice streams flowed slowly and uniformly, new research reveals a quake-driven “stick-slip” motion that’s linked to volcanic activity thousands of years ago

By studying seismic waves, researchers are revealing more about the mysterious nature of our planet's inner core.

Earth’s Inner Core Is Changing Shape, Study Finds, Indicating Even More Dynamic Shifts Deep Within Our Planet

Seismic wave data previously suggested the Earth’s hot inner core is slowing its spin. Now, researchers say it’s also deforming around the edges

Residents of Summerville have reported sightings of a mysterious glowing light over the town's old railroad tracks. The pictured tracks, while not the "haunted" site, were studied in an effort to determine the source of the 1886 Charleston earthquake.

The ‘Ghost’ Haunting This South Carolina Town Might Have an Earthly Explanation, Scientist Says

In a new research article, a seismologist argues that earthquakes are the reason for the mysterious lights associated with a local urban legend in Summerville

A self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover, taken on June 15, 2018

Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Water Ripples on Mars, Hinting at a Past With Shallow, Ice-Free Lakes

The 3.7-billion-year-old formations in the planet’s Gale Crater suggest the presence of long-gone bodies of liquid water, with no ice covering the surface

A skin diver swims with a sperm whale in the Caribbean off of Dominica.

Eight Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling for in 2025

You won’t regret experiencing bioluminescence, swimming with sperm whales or witnessing the rush of a horizontal waterfall

The magnetic north pole, distinct from the geographic North Pole, is the point where Earth’s magnetic field lines converge.

Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Is Shifting Toward Siberia and Raising Questions About Unusual Movement

Scientists released an update to a model that maps the ever-moving pole and has significant implications for navigation systems

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