Underwater volcanoes significantly contributes to marine extinctions during the Triassic period

Most volcanic activity occurs in submarine volcanoes on the seafloor

At divergent plate boundaries in mid-ocean ridges, volcanic activity produces new ocean crust as the seafloor spreads. These areas are home to underwater mountains with extensive biodiversity due to redirecting ocean currents and concentrating food for marine life.

The cycling of carbon via tectonic activity may have facilitated life on Earth

Plates sinking into Earth’s mantle pull carbon from the surface, helping stabilize the atmosphere and climate by removing greenhouse gases from volcanic eruptions. At the same time, magma is a significant contributor of heavy metals and other crucial minerals for life to the surface.

Humans were forced to adapt to survive a supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago

The Toba supereruption ejected 2800 cubic kilometers of ash, resulting in global cooling from blocked sunlight and acid rain. Archaeological sites show that humans developed bow-and-arrow technology to survive in arid conditions by fishing in seasonal waterholes.

The Rodinia supercontinent triggered a global ice age when it broke 750 million years ago

Before Pangaea, the Earth’s continental plates had drifted together and broken apart multiple times, with each event altering atmospheric CO2 concentrations and triggering climate change. The continents are estimated to come together again in 50 million to 250 million years.

Large igneous provinces are regions of massive ancient volcanic activity

Linked to some mass extinction events on Earth, LIPs contain significant amounts of igneous rock formed by the release of lava and gases over millions of years. India's Deccan Traps and the Siberian Traps are prominent examples of LIPs, whose climate-related impacts can serve as models for analyzing modern climate change.

Supermountains the size of the continental US may have sparked complex life on Earth

Geological records show that the Nuna and the Transgondwanan Supermountains existed around the same time as two major jumps in species complexity on the planet: the rise of large organisms and the Cambrian explosion, respectively. Researchers believe that the erosion of these mountains deposited major nutrients into the oceans and boosted oxygen levels, both of which supported more complex species.

Why the ratios of helium isotopes are analyzed to investigate ocean circulation

Volcanic activity on the seafloor produces high ratios of helium-3 to helium-4, which can be tracked in ocean samples more easily than other elements because helium is nonreactive. Water from deep ocean currents can also be distinguished from air-exposed surface water sources by comparing these ratios, since atmospheric helium ratios are much lower.

Volcanoes in the 1340s likely helped trigger the Black Death

The "bubonic plague" that wiped out roughly half of Europe and Asia originated from many factors. Recent research suggests volcanic eruptions contributed as well. The "aerosol" effects of matter released from eruptions likely prompted famine and accelerated the spread of infected fleas riding on grains avoiding spoilage.

Rapid environmental changes are exacerbating natural extinction processes

Human activities behind climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, and overhunting have resulted in extinction rates up to 1,000 times greater than normal, triggering massive biodiversity loss. This has led scientists to refer to the current geological age as the Anthropocene era, in which humans are the dominant force shaping nature.

The ocean's ability to store carbon long-term is being hindered by marine heatwaves

More than 4,000 robotic floats with biogeochemical data sensors, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, suspended particles, chlorophyll, temperature, and conductivity, have been deployed as part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array. They have identified changes to ecosystem structure affecting the ocean's ability to transport carbon from surface waters into the deep.

The history of Earth's breathable atmosphere, made possible by photosynthetic bacteria

Between 3.2 billion and 2.8 billion years ago, threadlike microorganisms called cyanobacteria began consuming available water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to produce oxygen. However, molecules released from Earth's interior by volcanoes consumed this oxygen via chemical reactions, preventing it from accumulating until volcanism had sufficiently decreased about 2.4 billion years ago.

Human activities release 100 times the carbon dioxide of all volcanic eruptions

While gases released by volcanoes contribute to climate change, humans produce the carbon dioxide equivalent of a Mount St. Helens-sized eruption every 2.5 hours, or more than one Yellowstone eruption yearly, even though such supervolcanoes only erupt about every 100,000 to 200,000 years or more.

The resulting climate change, not the asteroid impact itself, killed most dinosaurs

Although the Chicxulub impact caused widespread destruction through earthquakes and tsunamis, the subsequent nuclear winter, acid rain, and eventual greenhouse warming drove mass extinction. Roughly 70% of species, including all non-avian dinosaurs, went extinct.

Mapping the Tongan eruption impact

A team of scientists—with the help of an uncrewed boat remotely controlled from the UK—join forces to produce one of the clearest pictures to date of what took place underneath the water as an enormous volcano erupted near the Tongan mainland.

How climate change threatens coral reefs, including via warming and acidification

Increasing ocean temperatures disrupt the symbiotic relationship of corals and algae, causing the former to bleach and weaken, and strengthen storms that can destroy reef structures. Higher greenhouse gas emissions increase dissolved carbon dioxide levels in ocean water, triggering a series of reactions that consume carbonate, a key ingredient in coral reef construction.

Bringing dinosaurs back to Mongolia

The Gobi Desert, which crosses Mongolia and China, was a dinosaur hotspot, offering visitors splendid freshwater lakes and a lush, humid climate. These past verdant vast valleys have become the largest dinosaur fossil reservoir in the world, and with that title comes those seeking to remove such items, whether for personal satisfaction or scientific study. This article explains the fight to restore Mongolia's fossil heritage.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

View a map of the world’s major earthquakes from 1956-2022

Such maps can help identify tectonic plate boundaries. The most significant earthquakes are characteristic of converging plates, such as those in the Circum-Pacific Belt and the Alpine-Himalayan Belt, where the Himalayas continue to grow.

How the loss of Earth's atmosphere would cause oceans to boil at freezing temperatures

Many phenomena requiring air pressure, from the flight of birds and aircraft to the act of breathing, would no longer be possible. Because sound travels through vibrating air molecules, the loss of the planet's atmosphere would also create a silent environment. Even during daytime hours, the sky would resemble a clear night sky.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Dive into the ocean's hottest water to explore hydrothermal vents

What can live at temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit under skull crushing pressure with zero sunlight? Meet the animals living in the most extreme conditions on Earth in this four-minute video.

The composition of magma affects the explosivity of volcanic eruptions

Silicate-rich magma contains extensive molecular chains that trap dissolved gases like water and carbon dioxide. These gases build pressure until they violently escape, creating explosive eruptions. Low-silica magmas produce gentler eruptions categorized as effusive.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Fluorinated molecules are the most impactful, longest-lasting greenhouse gases

Developed as replacements for ozone-depleting substances in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, these compounds are released through leaks in and ongoing use of these appliances, as well as from various industrial processes. They can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years and have warming potentials that are a thousand to tens of thousands of times greater than those of carbon dioxide.

The first appearance of bioluminescence was at least 540 million years ago

After analyzing fossils, genetic data, and statistical methods, scientists believe octocorals were the first organisms to evolve light-producing abilities. As a result of independent evolution across at least 94 species, this phenomenon is connected to a diverse range of behaviors.

Climate models have predicted sea level rise almost perfectly since the 1990s

The rise in sea levels is primarily due to melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica, and predicted levels have been confirmed accurate by satellite observations. Ocean currents influence regional variations in sea level rise, which are expected to accelerate.

Watch the destructive force of bottom trawling on marine ecosystems

Bottom trawling is a fishing method where a net is dragged along the seafloor to catch a species of interest. The process produces as much carbon dioxide yearly as global aviation and leaves trails of destruction large enough to be seen in space.

Climate proxies reveal past climate patterns using preserved natural evidence

Scientists use physical, chemical, and biological materials preserved in sediments, ice, and fossils to infer historical climate data. These proxies are studied and calibrated against modern climate conditions to interpret ancient environments accurately.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.