A new analysis of the mineral grains from the bottom of the Grand Canyon indicates that it was formed about 70 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period, a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
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Tag: geology
Analysis of 2011 Virginia Earthquake Suggests Seismic Risk
Last year, the surprise 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck central Virginia was actually worse than previously thought. Detailed analyses of the ground motions triggered by the event indicate that Washington DC and other affected regions could be at higher risk of major ground movement.
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Unusual Indian Ocean Earthquakes May Signal Tectonic Breakup
On April 11th 2012 a pair of massive earthquakes rocked the Indian Ocean. Scientists think that these may be the latest step in the formation of a new plate boundary within Earth’s surface.
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Russian Impact Crater Might Contain Trillions of Carats of Diamonds
On Monday, Novosibirsk scientists of the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced that there is a huge deposit of diamonds buried under an impact crater in Siberia. These diamonds are twice as hard as normal because of their origin.
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Volcanic Eruption at Fuego in Guatemala Intensifies
There has been renewed activity at Fuego in Guatemala. The eruption is becoming more intense, although news reports coming out of the region are unclear about what is exactly happening. Currently, 33,000 people have been evacuated.
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Microscopic Images of the Sands of Normandy Show Presence of War Sand
War sand is sand that is a result from wartime operations. The beaches of Normandy are covered in a fine dust of particles resulting from the D-Day operations of World War II. The grains are hidden among the beaches of the Normandy.
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Geological Record Shows Earth’s Oxygen Came from Mantle Cooling
Researchers have discovered that the proliferation of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere was linked to a sudden change in its mantle, billions of years ago, during the Paleoproterozoic era.
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USGS Map Details Volcanos on the Surface of Io
This new map was published last Monday by the USGS and it showcases the hellish surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active object in the Solar System. The creation of the map took over six years, and the map itself identifies 425 volcanoes as well as lava flow fields, squat mountains, deposits left by volcanic plumes, and plains rich in sulfur dioxide.
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Humans Implicated in Africa’s Deforestation 3,000 Years Ago
A new study published in the journal Science suggests that humans might have played a significant part in the sudden deforestation of rainforests from Central Africa. This work contradicts the prevailing view that the expansion of farming practices was the root cause as well as the increased incidence of long, severe dry spells.
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Asia and America Will Collide in Millions of Years to Form Supercontinent Amasia
In the next 50 to 200 million years, all of Earth’s continents will be once again pushed together into a Amasia, a single landmass around the North Pole. This conclusion comes from a computer model that has been emulating the slow movements of the continents over the next millions of years.
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