Geology

Iron-rich dust launched into the air by winds swirls around the Southern Ocean. Understanding how iron’s chemistry shifts during its journey from earth to air to sea will be important for developing better climate models.

The Complicated Role of Iron in Ocean Health and Climate Change

Iron dust may have played a significant role in the last ice age, and it could be an important factor in mitigating future global temperature increases

Remnants of Greater Adria in the Taurus Mountains

Study Reveals Lost Continent Demolished by Europe

Painstaking research recreates the history of Greater Adria, which slipped under the Eurasian plate 120 million years ago

An artist's depiction of an asteroid impacting the Earth.

What Happened the Day a Giant, Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Hit the Earth

Using rock cores from Chicxulub crater, geologists piece together a new timeline of the destruction that followed impact

The remarkably complete skull of a human ancestor of the genus Australopithecus fills in some of the gaps in the human evolutionary tree.

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

The cranium of a male <i>Australopithecus anamensis</i>, a close relative of Lucy, provides clues about one of the earliest hominins to walk on two legs

A natural color view of Titan and Saturn taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012, at a distance of approximately 483,000 miles (778,000 kilometers) from Titan.

Dragonfly Spacecraft to Scour the Sands of Titan for the Chemistry of Life

The NASA rotorcraft, resembling a large quadcopter drone, will fly through the orange clouds of the ocean moon in the outer solar system

The rotation and convection of molten iron at the center of the planet creates a dynamo effect, generating Earth's magnetic field.

Earth's Magnetic Field Could Take Longer to Flip Than Previously Thought

New research suggests a polarity reversal of the planet takes about 22,000 years, significantly longer than former estimates

A reconstruction of Cambroraster falcatus, a large predator arthropod of the Cambrian Period.

Prehistoric Ocean Predator Resembles a Large and Vicious Horseshoe Crab

“Prey would have been sucked into the circular mouth and shredded by the multiple rows of large teeth”

Volcanic deposits found at Pompeii could yield insights on Vesuvius' future

Why Archaeologists and Volcanologists Are Clashing Over Excavations at Pompeii

Volcanologist Roberto Scandone argues that enthusiasm for archaeology has yielded an “act of vandalism to volcanology”

Neil Armstrong (left) and Buzz Aldrin (right) document a sample during a field trip at Sierra Blanca in west Texas on February 24, 1969.

Before Going to the Moon, Apollo 11 Astronauts Trained at These Five Sites

From Arizona to Hawaii, these landscapes—similar in ways to the surface of the moon—were critical training grounds for the crew

A field photo showing the impact deposit containing deformed pink sandstone.

An Ancient Asteroid Crater May Be Hiding Off Scotland’s Coast

Scientists think they have honed in on the spot where the collision occurred 1.2 billion years ago

"I’ve never lost the wonder," says Hans-Dieter Sues (above). "To be the first human to find and touch an extinct creature is a singular moment that cannot be easily put into words."

How Do Paleontologists Find Fossils?

Smithsonian’s Hans-Dieter Sues, who has collected fossil vertebrates in the U.S. and around the world shares some of his tips

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Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

From the formation of Earth through the changing climates and creatures of the past, the Smithsonian's new Hall of Fossils explores our planet's Deep Time

Towering over the Fossil Hall is the plant-eating sauropod Diplodocus, which has been on display since 1931 and now is posed with tail in the air.

Amid All the Fossils, Smithsonian's New Dinosaur Exhibition Tells the Complex Story of Life

The much-anticipated exhibition is packed full of Mesozoic dinosaur drama, new science, hands-on discoveries and state-of-the-art museum artistry

Kami Rita Sherpa Summits Everest a Record 24 Times

The mountain guide topped out on the world's tallest peak twice in just the last week

The Lee Lincoln Scarp, one of the potentially active faults on the Moon.

The Moon Is Slowly Shrinking, Which May Be Causing 'Moonquakes' on Its Surface

Analysis of seismic data collected on the Apollo missions shows the moon is probably tectonically active

The SEIS instrument on the surface of Mars.

NASA Detects First 'Marsquake'

A 2 to 2.5 magnitude quake on the Red Planet is the first seismic activity detected outside the Earth and the Moon

A map of earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher between 1900 and 2013. Bigger dots represent stronger quakes, and red dots represent shallow earthquakes, green dots mid-depth, and blue dots represent earthquakes with a depth of 300 kilometers or more. See the full map and legend here.

Could Machine Learning Be the Key to Earthquake Prediction?

Predicting earthquakes might be impossible, but some experts wonder if tools that can analyze enormous amounts of data could crack the seismic code

Scientists Find a Tiny Speck of Comet Inside a Meteorite

The little fragment found in Antarctica was protected from the elements and preserves the chemical signature of the early solar system

Nepal's first solo mission to measure its iconic peak will determine whether Mount Everest lost some of its height after an earthquake in 2015.

Nepalese Expedition Seeks to Find Out if an Earthquake Shrunk Mount Everest

Scientists and climbers have trained for three years to prepare to take various types of survey's from the summit of the world's highest peak

Aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

There Hasn't Been a Huge Earthquake on California's Major Fault Lines in 100 Years

Major ground-rupturing quakes have not taken place along the faults since 1918, but that may mean the next century will be on shaky ground

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