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Earth Sciences - 21.04.2021 
Energy unleashed by submarine volcanoes could power a continent
Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to research published today. Eruptions from deep-sea volcanoes were long-thought to be relatively uninteresting compared with those on land.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 29.03.2021 
Scientists zero in on the role of volcanoes in the demise of dinosaurs
Researchers have uncovered evidence suggesting that volcanic carbon emissions were not a major driver in Earth's most recent extinction event. Even though volcanic carbon emissions alone couldn't have triggered the mass extinction, our data highlights their influence on our planet's climate and habitability Sally Gibson Earth has experienced five major extinction events over the last 500 million years, the fifth and most recent responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Earth Sciences - 23.03.2021 
New basalt type discovered beneath the ocean
A new type of rock created during large and exceptionally hot volcanic eruptions has been discovered beneath the Pacific Ocean. An international team of researchers including from the University of Leeds unearthed the previously unknown form of basalt after drilling through the Pacific Ocean floor. The discovery suggests that ocean floor eruptions sourced in the Earth’s mantle were even hotter and more voluminous than previously thought.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 22.03.2021 
Seafloor nutrient vital in global food chain
Eroded seabed rocks are providing an essential source of nutrition for drifting marine organisms at the base of the food chain, according to new research. The findings, led by the University, show that iron – an essential nutrient for microscopic marine algae known as phytoplankton – is being released from sediments on the deep ocean floor.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 16.03.2021 
Melting glaciers could speed up carbon emissions
Melting glaciers could be triggering a 'feedback process' that causes further climate change, according to new research. An international research team led by the University has for the first time linked glacier-fed mountain rivers with higher rates of plant material decomposition, a major process in the global carbon cycle.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 16.03.2021 
Lightning strikes played vital role in origins of life on Earth
Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, geologists say. Minerals delivered to Earth in meteorites more than 4 billion years ago have long been advocated as key ingredients for the development of life on our planet. Scientists believed minimal amounts of these minerals were also brought to early Earth through billions of lightning strikes.
Earth Sciences - Chemistry - 12.03.2021 
Traces of Earth’s early magma ocean identified in Greenland rocks
New research led by the University of Cambridge has found rare evidence - preserved in the chemistry of ancient rocks from Greenland - which tells of a time when Earth was almost entirely molten. It's astonishing that we can even hold these rocks in our hands - let alone get so much detail about the early history of our planet Helen Williams The study, published in the journal Science Advances , yields information on an important period in our planet's formation, when a deep sea of incandescent magma stretched across Earth's surface and extended hundreds of kilometres into its interior.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 11.03.2021 
Hubble sees new atmosphere forming on a rocky exoplanet
For the first time, scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence of volcanic activity reforming the atmosphere on a rocky planet around a distant star. The planet, GJ 1132 b, has a similar density, size, and age to Earth. It is a window onto the geology of another world Paul Rimmer The planet GJ 1132 b appears to have begun life as a gaseous world with a thick blanket of atmosphere.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 09.03.2021
Environment - Earth Sciences - 25.02.2021
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.02.2021 
New African groundwater maps reveal widespread resilience to climate change
Reserves of groundwater in much of the populated parts of Africa are being replenished at rates that could help to protect communities against the damaging effects of climate change, finds a new study co-authored by UCL. Published in the journal Environmental Research Letters , the study has revealed that the long-term groundwater recharge (the rate at which groundwater is replenished) in Africa is approximately 15,000 cubic km per decade - enough to sustain widespread groundwater pumping for drinking water and irrigatation for farming.
Earth Sciences - History / Archeology - 17.02.2021 
Stonehenge first stood in Wales
Professor Mike Parker Pearson (UCL Institute of Archaeology) discusses his research which has found a dismantled stone circle in west Wales which was moved to Salisbury Plain and rebuilt as Stonehenge. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose History of the Kings of Britain was written in 1136, the mysterious monoliths at Stonehenge were first spirited there by the wizard Merlin, whose army stole them from a mythical Irish stone circle called the Giants' Dance.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 10.02.2021 
Emissions of banned ozone-depleting substance are back on the decline
Global emissions of a potent substance notorious for depleting the Earth's ozone layer - the protective barrier which absorbs the Sun's harmful UV rays - have fallen rapidly and are now back on the decline, according to new research. Two international studies show emissions of CFC-11, one of the many chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) chemicals once widely used in refrigerators and insulating foams, are back on the decline less than two years after the exposure of their shock resurgence in the wake of suspected rogue production.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 27.01.2021 
Pioneering research unravels hidden origins of Eastern Asia’s ‘land of milk and honey’
A study has revealed for the first time the ancient origins of one of the world's most important ecosystems by unlocking the mechanism which determined the evolution of its mountains and how they shaped the weather there as well as its flora and fauna. It was previously thought Southern Tibet and the Himalaya were instrumental in turning the once barren land of eastern Asia into lush forests and abundant coastal regions which became home to a rich array of plant, animal and marine life, including some of the world's rarest species.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 25.01.2021 
Blowin’ in the wind: the mineral dust linked to ice melt
Scientists believe a key nutrient transported by the wind is contributing to the growth of algal blooms on melting ice sheets. The presence of the blooms increases the rate at which the ice melts, causing sea levels to rise. The Greenland ice sheet – the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet – covers almost 80%of the surface of Greenland.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 05.01.2021
Earth Sciences
Results 1 - 16 of 16.
Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to research published today. Eruptions from deep-sea volcanoes were long-thought to be relatively uninteresting compared with those on land.
Researchers have uncovered evidence suggesting that volcanic carbon emissions were not a major driver in Earth's most recent extinction event. Even though volcanic carbon emissions alone couldn't have triggered the mass extinction, our data highlights their influence on our planet's climate and habitability Sally Gibson Earth has experienced five major extinction events over the last 500 million years, the fifth and most recent responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
A new type of rock created during large and exceptionally hot volcanic eruptions has been discovered beneath the Pacific Ocean. An international team of researchers including from the University of Leeds unearthed the previously unknown form of basalt after drilling through the Pacific Ocean floor. The discovery suggests that ocean floor eruptions sourced in the Earth’s mantle were even hotter and more voluminous than previously thought.
Eroded seabed rocks are providing an essential source of nutrition for drifting marine organisms at the base of the food chain, according to new research. The findings, led by the University, show that iron – an essential nutrient for microscopic marine algae known as phytoplankton – is being released from sediments on the deep ocean floor.
Melting glaciers could be triggering a 'feedback process' that causes further climate change, according to new research. An international research team led by the University has for the first time linked glacier-fed mountain rivers with higher rates of plant material decomposition, a major process in the global carbon cycle.
Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, geologists say. Minerals delivered to Earth in meteorites more than 4 billion years ago have long been advocated as key ingredients for the development of life on our planet. Scientists believed minimal amounts of these minerals were also brought to early Earth through billions of lightning strikes.
New research led by the University of Cambridge has found rare evidence - preserved in the chemistry of ancient rocks from Greenland - which tells of a time when Earth was almost entirely molten. It's astonishing that we can even hold these rocks in our hands - let alone get so much detail about the early history of our planet Helen Williams The study, published in the journal Science Advances , yields information on an important period in our planet's formation, when a deep sea of incandescent magma stretched across Earth's surface and extended hundreds of kilometres into its interior.
For the first time, scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence of volcanic activity reforming the atmosphere on a rocky planet around a distant star. The planet, GJ 1132 b, has a similar density, size, and age to Earth. It is a window onto the geology of another world Paul Rimmer The planet GJ 1132 b appears to have begun life as a gaseous world with a thick blanket of atmosphere.
UofG researchers aid in historic meteorite recovery
University of Glasgow researchers have played a key role in the first successful recovery of a meteorite on UK soil in nearly three decades. Dr Luke Daly, from the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, was part of the international collaboration which tracked the entry of a fireball over Britain on Sunday 28 February.
University of Glasgow researchers have played a key role in the first successful recovery of a meteorite on UK soil in nearly three decades. Dr Luke Daly, from the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, was part of the international collaboration which tracked the entry of a fireball over Britain on Sunday 28 February.
Earth’s Gulf Stream System at its weakest in over a millennium
A new study involving researchers from UCL has found consistent evidence of a decline in ocean currents, with the Gulf Stream System, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), at its weakest in over 1,000 years.
A new study involving researchers from UCL has found consistent evidence of a decline in ocean currents, with the Gulf Stream System, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), at its weakest in over 1,000 years.
Reserves of groundwater in much of the populated parts of Africa are being replenished at rates that could help to protect communities against the damaging effects of climate change, finds a new study co-authored by UCL. Published in the journal Environmental Research Letters , the study has revealed that the long-term groundwater recharge (the rate at which groundwater is replenished) in Africa is approximately 15,000 cubic km per decade - enough to sustain widespread groundwater pumping for drinking water and irrigatation for farming.
Professor Mike Parker Pearson (UCL Institute of Archaeology) discusses his research which has found a dismantled stone circle in west Wales which was moved to Salisbury Plain and rebuilt as Stonehenge. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose History of the Kings of Britain was written in 1136, the mysterious monoliths at Stonehenge were first spirited there by the wizard Merlin, whose army stole them from a mythical Irish stone circle called the Giants' Dance.
Global emissions of a potent substance notorious for depleting the Earth's ozone layer - the protective barrier which absorbs the Sun's harmful UV rays - have fallen rapidly and are now back on the decline, according to new research. Two international studies show emissions of CFC-11, one of the many chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) chemicals once widely used in refrigerators and insulating foams, are back on the decline less than two years after the exposure of their shock resurgence in the wake of suspected rogue production.
A study has revealed for the first time the ancient origins of one of the world's most important ecosystems by unlocking the mechanism which determined the evolution of its mountains and how they shaped the weather there as well as its flora and fauna. It was previously thought Southern Tibet and the Himalaya were instrumental in turning the once barren land of eastern Asia into lush forests and abundant coastal regions which became home to a rich array of plant, animal and marine life, including some of the world's rarest species.
Scientists believe a key nutrient transported by the wind is contributing to the growth of algal blooms on melting ice sheets. The presence of the blooms increases the rate at which the ice melts, causing sea levels to rise. The Greenland ice sheet – the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet – covers almost 80%of the surface of Greenland.
Imminent sudden stratospheric warming to occur, bringing increased risk of snow over coming weeks
A new study, led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Exeter and Bath, helps to shed light on the winter weather we may soon have in store following a dramatic meteorological event currently unfolding high above the North Pole. Weather forecasting models are predicting with increasing confidence that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event will take place today, 5 January 2021.
A new study, led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Exeter and Bath, helps to shed light on the winter weather we may soon have in store following a dramatic meteorological event currently unfolding high above the North Pole. Weather forecasting models are predicting with increasing confidence that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event will take place today, 5 January 2021.
