When borders reopen, take an Aussie road trip and explore the continent’s unique geology, from meteorites in the Nullarbor Plain to rock formations that are billions of years old.
New research suggests that Venus’ crust is broken into large blocks – the dark reddish–purple areas – that are surrounded by belts of tectonic structures shown in lighter yellow–red.
Paul K. Byrne/NASA/USGS
Researchers used decades-old radar data and found that some low-lying areas of Venus’ crust are moving and jostling. This evidence is some of the strongest yet of tectonic activity on Venus.
Men cross the front of the still smoking lava rocks from an eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo on May 23, 2021 in Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
GUERCHOM NDEBO/AFP via Getty Images
I look at fragments of the Earth’s mantle under a microscope to learn how fast molten rock moves from deep in the Earth to the surface. This can help us prepare for future volcanic eruptions.
Still standing: a structure surrounded by lava following a volcanic eruption on 23 May 2021 in Goma, a city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Moses Sawasawa via GettyImages
Huge volcanic eruptions were once believed to be the cause of mass extinctions on Earth. However, new research has found that super eruptions did not necessarily result in mass extinctions.
The Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland.
Daniel Freyr Jónsson / Alamy Stock Photo
New research challenges the idea that Laki caused years of extreme weather in Scotland and has implications for how we deal with sudden, forced climate change today.
Martian meteorites allow scientists here on Earth to decode that planet’s geology, more than a decade before the first missions are scheduled to bring rocks back home from Mars.
Evening light on a Heard Island icescape. The island is part of the Kerguelen Plateau, which is being jointly studied by France and Australia.
Matt Curnock
Exploration of ancient magma chambers in fossil volcanoes has the potential to provide new sources of metals that will facilitate environmentally friendly technologies.
Rapid and voluminous volcanic eruptions around 252 million years ago can be linked with a mass extinction event.
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There is evidence for catastrophic climate change from protracted volcanic eruptions in the past, but since the 1950s the emissions we produce far exceed those from volcanic activity.