All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Earth
Newly identified continent Zealandia faces a battle for recognition
Geologists make the case for a new continent, dubbed Zealandia, found largely submerged beneath the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
- Climate
Antarctic sea ice shrinks to record low
The Antarctic sea ice extent has reached a new low just two years after hitting a record high.
- Oceans
Fleeting dead zones can muck with seafloor life for decades
Low-oxygen conditions can fundamentally disrupt seafloor ecosystems and increase carbon burial, new research shows.
- Earth
Dual magma plumes fueled volcanic eruptions during final days of dinosaurs
Two magma plumes fueled the Deccan volcanic eruptions around the time of the dinosaur extinction 66 million years ago.
- Earth
Oxygen flooded Earth’s atmosphere earlier than thought
The Great Oxidation Event that enabled the eventual evolution of complex life began 100 million years earlier than once thought, new dating of South African rock suggests.
- Planetary Science
Red Planet’s interior may not churn much
The magma fueling a Martian volcanic system remained largely unchanged for billions of years, analysis of a newfound meteorite suggests.
- Earth
3-billion-year-old crystals hint at lost continent’s fate
Zircon crystals from a long-gone continent called Mauritia may have resurfaced during volcanic eruptions on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
- Planetary Science
Oxygen atoms from Earth bombard the moon
Oxygen atoms originating from the upper atmosphere periodically bombard the moon’s surface, researchers propose.
- Oceans
Climate change may boost toxic mercury levels in sea life
Increased runoff to the ocean due to climate change could raise neurotoxic mercury in coastal sea life by disrupting the base of the food web.
- Earth
Devastation detectives try to solve dinosaur disappearance
Dinosaurs and others faced massive losses 66 million years ago from an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or maybe a mix of the two.
- Environment
Humans’ stuff vastly outweighs humans
The human-made technosphere weighs 30 trillion tons and surpasses the natural biosphere in mass and diversity, researchers estimate.
- Life
Asteroid barrage, ancient marine life boom not linked
Impacts from asteroid debris probably didn’t trigger the boom in marine animal diversity around 471 million years ago during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.
