Earth Sciences

The mechanisms behind rock-weathering processes can provide vital clues for understanding and reconstructing the history of ancient environments and visualizing the physical conditions in which they were formed, especially climatic situations. Thick ancient coverings of weathered material such as laterites are still the most intensively studied to date. However, little is known about the initial stages of weathering, owing to the rare occurrence of well-preserved examples.

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Earthquakes can be triggered by the Earth’s tides, UCLA scientists confirmed Oct. 21 in Science Express, the online journal of Science. Earth tides are produced by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun on the Earth, causing the ocean’s waters to slosh, which in turn raise and lower stress on faults roughly twice a day. Scientists have wondered about the effects of Earth tides for more than 100 years. (The research will be published in the print version of Science in November.

Today sees ESA’s first ever microsatellite complete three years of successful operations. The size of a large television set, Proba was launched to demonstrate new technologies for future European spacecraft, but continues to provide fantastic images of Earth.

“It is amazing what we have got out of Proba, our first micro-satellite,” says Frederic Teston, ESA’s Proba Project Manager. “The mission has successfully demonstrated a number of sophisticated technologies in addi

Antarctica and climate change – representatives of 32 nations decide on research focus programmes for the exploration of Antarctica

Exploration of Antarctica is of great significance in the context of discussions about global climate change. For this reason, the international Antarctic research community has just re-defined and coordinated its scientific programmes within a recent meeting of the international committee responsible for Antarctic research coordination SCAR (Scient

Scientists have made a rare discovery from over 500 million years ago that provides new information on how a record of the past was perfectly preserved by nature.

Geologists at the University of Leicester have found that pyrite – or fool’s gold – replaced soft tissues, thereby preserving animals to their smallest details for posterity.

Dr Sarah Gabbott and colleagues, of the University of Leicester Department of Geology, found creatures with the very hairs on their

Chemical signatures provide picture of internal changes leading to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

New tools for monitoring volcanoes may be developed with help from a study on Mount St. Helens published this week (Oct. 14) in Science Express by an international team of geoscientists, including University of Oregon volcanologist Katharine Cashman.
The study on geochemical precursors to volcanic activity leading to the cataclysmic eruption of the southwestern Washingt