Cave deposits show surprising shift in permafrost over the last 400,000 years
Study finds Earth’s frozen surfaces became less susceptible to thawing, potentially locking in more carbon than expected.
Ancient atmospheric oxygen sleuthing with ocean chromium
Findings show how the trace metal is chemically altered in the anoxic, modern ocean and provide the basis for investigating paleorecords of atmosphere composition shifts.
With Perseverance, MIT teams prepare for Mars rover landing
Following touchdown, MOXIE will brew up oxygen while geologists comb for sediments to sample.
Geologists produce new timeline of Earth’s Paleozoic climate changes
The record shows ancient temperature variations coinciding with shifts in the planet’s biodiversity.
Professor Emeritus Peter Eagleson, pioneering hydrologist, dies at 92
Former Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering head and AGU president revolutionized thinking about the global water cycle, raising it to a place of prominence in the geosciences, and inspiring generations of students.
Rock magnetism uncrumples the Himalayas’ complex collision zone
MIT EAPS researchers find the impressive mountain range formed over a series of impacts, not a single event, as previously thought.
3 Questions: Rona Oran and Benjamin Weiss on the ancient moon’s missing magnetism
Simulations rule out plasmas caused by meteoroid impacts as the source of lunar magnetism, supporting the proposal that the ancient moon generated a core dynamo.
Field geology at a distance
As part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, Professor Tanja Bosak helps determine the best samples to bring home for clues about life 4 billion years ago.
Geologists raise the speed limit for how fast continental crust can form
Study suggests parts of the Sierra Nevadas formed in a “geologic instant,” more than twice as fast as previously thought.
Did our early ancestors boil their food in hot springs?
Scientists have found evidence of hot springs near sites where ancient hominids settled, long before the control of fire.
Study: A plunge in incoming sunlight may have triggered “Snowball Earths”
Findings also suggest exoplanets lying within habitable zones may be susceptible to ice ages.
Study sheds light on the evolution of the earliest dinosaurs
Geological evidence suggests the known dinosaur groups diverged early on, supporting the traditional dinosaur family tree.
With Perseverance and a little MOXIE, MIT is going to Mars
Led by MIT researchers, one of the experiments aboard the next mission to the Red Planet aims to generate oxygen from Martian air.
An origin story for a family of oddball meteorites
Study suggests the rare objects likely came from an early planetesimal with a magnetic core.
Tiny sand grains trigger massive glacial surges
New model answers longstanding question of how these sudden flows happen; may expand understanding of Antarctic ice sheets.