What biological clocks and geological rocks tell us about life in space
How can life on Earth help us understand life in space? To answer this question, we compare biological clocks and geological rocks and find that they tick uniformly.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Geology
Displaying 1 - 20 of 119 articles
A time capsule containing 118 trillion cubic feet of gas is buried in northern Australia
Gas buried in the Northern Territory's Velkerri Shale was produced in a "slime world" that existed nearly a billion years before the first complex life on Earth evolved.
A map that fills a 500-million year gap in Earth’s history
You would not recognise Earth if you saw it 500 million years ago - the lands, oceans, climate and life were all very different. Scientists now have a new map of the deep history of Earth.
Ken Campbell: the palaeontologist whose name lives on in many fossils
One of Australia's most distinguished palaeontologists will be farewelled at a funeral in Canberra today.
Could asteroids bombard the Earth to cause a mass extinction in ten million years?
Researchers are looking at whether devastating asteroid strikes are predictable or random.
New evidence that volcanic eruptions triggered the dawn of the dinosaurs
Mercury found in prehistoric rock bolsters the idea that volcanoes caused a mass extinction 200m years ago.
How to build the perfect sandcastle – according to science
There is a direct correlation between the age of the builder, spade size and the speed at which boredom sets in.
Five UK coastal wonders to see before they go the way of Malta’s Azure Window
In the wake of the collapse of Malta's spectacular arch, which UK coastal features are under threat from the unrelenting forces of wind and water?
Has Everest’s iconic Hillary Step really collapsed? Here’s the science
Reports claim the feature has vanished – but then mountains are always changing shape.
A giant lava lamp inside the Earth might be flipping the planet’s magnetic field
Signals from violent earthquakes are helping reveal the landscape of the planet's insides.
Geologists unveil how Britain first separated from Europe – and it was catastrophic
Almost half a million years ago a huge flood started breaking the apart the land bridge that joined England and France.
Does an anomaly in the Earth’s magnetic field portend a coming pole reversal?
Are we headed to a magnetic reversal and all the global disruption that would bring? Enter archaeomagnetism. A look at the archaeological record in southern Africa provides some clues.
Earthquakes triggered by humans pose growing risk
A new project tracks earthquakes accidentally induced by human activity. It suggests the problem is bigger than some scientists thought.
Catching lightning in a fossil – and calculating how much energy a strike contains
Lightning strikes are powerful – but we haven't had solid estimates of their energy until now. Researchers turned to the hollow stone tubes they create by vaporizing sand for more precise calculations.
Expedition reveals how the dinosaur-killing asteroid shook and shaped the Earth
New research suggests how asteroids may have helped create conditions for life on Earth. But we shouldn't get too carried away with the idea – yet.
What happened in New Zealand’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake
Early analysis of the New Zealand earthquake shows it may be a complex event, involving several faults on the South Island.
Study sheds light on violent asteroid crash that caused mysterious ‘crater rings’ on the moon
New study suggests a 64km diameter body travelling at 15km per second created the Orientale Basin on the moon.
Colima eruption is a reminder that Mexico is a land of volcanoes
Mexico's Colima volcano erupted a few days ago, reminding the local population of the danger posed by the country's two active volcanos.
Humans can make rockfalls from earthquakes more dangerous
A new study of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake shows boulders from rockfalls fell much further than in earlier quakes that happened before humans arrived and changed the landscape.
An official welcome to the Anthropocene epoch – but who gets to decide it’s here?
An expert panel has announced that we truly are living in the geological era defined by humanity's fingerprint. But is it as simple as that, and does it leave "Anthropocene science" open to attack?
Top contributors
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Professor in Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
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Mark Quigley is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate professor, University of Melbourne
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Chair of Geology & Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne
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Professor of Astrobiology, UNSW
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Earth and paleo-climate scientist, Australian National University
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Instrument Scientist, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
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Associate Professor of Geology, University of Western Australia
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Professor, Chair in Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen
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Alan Collins is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Geology, University of Adelaide
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NERC Advanced Research Fellow and Lecturer in Geology, University of Hull
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Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
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Professor, Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre, UNSW, UNSW
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Porous Media Scientist and Lecturer, North-West University
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Lecturer in Applied Geoscience, University of Melbourne
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Honorary Professor of Tsunami Research, PANGEA Research Centre, UNSW Australia, UNSW
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