A powerful tsunami seen from space is overturning what scientists thought they knew about how these waves travel. A satellite designed to measure ocean surface height delivered a remarkable result when a powerful earthquake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula unleashed a tsunami that spread across the Pacific in late July. Scientists report in The Seismic Record [...]

Africa may be slowly breaking apart—and that same process could explain our fossil record. Eastern Africa’s Turkana Rift is known both for its rich collection of early human fossils and its intense volcanic activity driven by shifting tectonic plates. Now scientists report that the crust beneath this region has thinned far more than previously recognized, [...]

New research suggests that many planets previously considered promising for life may, in fact, be far less hospitable. A distant planet might sit in the perfect orbit for life, with temperatures just right for liquid water. But if that world is too dry, it could still be completely uninhabitable. New research suggests that many so-called [...]

Deep within Earth’s core, scientists are uncovering signs of a hidden structure that challenges long-standing models of the planet’s interior. Far below the surface, beyond the reach of drilling, Earth’s core may contain a previously unknown layer. Scientists now believe Earth’s center is not a single uniform sphere but a more complex structure, with a [...]

Researchers found a vast magma reservoir in Tuscany using seismic noise analysis, showing hidden volcanic systems can exist without surface clues and aiding resource exploration. How can scientists detect magma buried 5, 10, or even 15 km (~3, 6, and 9 miles, respectively) below the surface when there are no visible clues above ground? The [...]

Deep beneath Africa, a massive flow of hot mantle rock appears to be quietly reshaping the continent in ways scientists did not fully expect. New research is shedding light on why parts of East Africa are deforming in unexpected ways, revealing a powerful force rising from deep within the planet. Scientists using advanced computer simulations [...]

A new geological study reshapes the timeline of a major tectonic collision that helped form the Andes, suggesting key events occurred earlier than long assumed. A study in Earth and Planetary Physics is reshaping scientists’ understanding of how the Americas came together. By examining subtle magnetic signals locked inside ancient volcanic rocks in Colombia’s Northern [...]

Saturn’s magnetic shield behaves in a way that defies Earth-based expectations. Scientists analyzing data from the Cassini-Huygens mission have identified an unexpected feature in Saturn’s magnetic shield. According to the team, the finding shows that giant planets follow a different set of rules than Earth when it comes to how their magnetospheres behave. The study, [...]

Deep within massive rocky exoplanets, hidden oceans of molten rock may be generating powerful magnetic fields in an unexpected way. Far below the surfaces of distant rocky exoplanets known as super-earths, vast layers of molten rock may be performing a remarkable role. These hidden reservoirs could generate magnetic fields strong enough to protect entire planets [...]

Seismic data reveal that deep mantle volcanism reshaped the oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau. A team led by Lecturer Azusa Shito of Okayama University of Science, working with Associate Professor Akira Ishikawa of the Institute of Science Tokyo and Professor Masako Yoshikawa of Hiroshima University, used seismic wave data to show that the [...]

Deep within Earth, subtle variations in how seismic waves travel are revealing a hidden pattern of deformation in the planet’s lowest mantle layer. Deep beneath our feet, Earth’s mantle is in constant motion. Vast currents of slowly circulating rock, driven by heat from the planet’s interior, help move tectonic plates across the surface. But these [...]

Scientists found extensive freshwater beneath the Great Salt Lake, offering new insights into groundwater flow and potential environmental solutions. A new study is shedding light on what could be a vast underground freshwater reservoir beneath the Great Salt Lake. Researchers used airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to image geologic structures below Farmington Bay and Antelope Island [...]

Tiny defects in common minerals may reveal unexpected patterns in how Earth’s interior moves. Minerals quietly shape the world around us, from the rocks beneath our feet to the deep interior of the planet. At their core are crystals, orderly arrangements of atoms that repeat in precise, three-dimensional patterns. While these structures may seem rigid, [...]

Ancient rocks are revealing that early Earth may not have been geologically still at all. Earth’s story is recorded in its tectonic plates. As these plates moved, they reshaped continents, opened oceans, and helped produce the climates and environments that made evolution and Earth’s rich variety of life possible. That raises a major question: when [...]

Ancient rocks reveal that Earth’s magnetic field during the Ediacaran may not have been chaotic after all. Earth’s Ediacaran Period, which lasted from about 630 to 540 million years ago, has long puzzled scientists studying the planet’s magnetic history. In most other eras, tectonic plates moved at relatively steady rates, climate zones remained stable, and [...]

An ancient Chinese eclipse record helped scientists refine Earth’s rotation data and confirm rising solar activity after a prolonged quiet phase. An international team combined historical geography with modern astronomical modeling to reassess what is considered the earliest precisely datable record of a total solar eclipse. By reconstructing how the Sun would have appeared from [...]

Researchers analyzing two decades of seismic data have uncovered a striking eastward migration of earthquakes along the Main Marmara Fault. In April 2025, the Main Marmara Fault beneath the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Türkiye experienced its strongest earthquake in more than sixty years. Researchers have now examined the event in detail using nearly two [...]

New research shows the Moon mostly had a weak magnetic field with rare, short-lived strong episodes linked to titanium-rich rocks. Apollo landing sites created a sampling bias that made strong magnetism appear more common. A team from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford has now clarified a decades-long scientific debate about [...]

A mysterious dip in Earth’s gravity beneath Antarctica traces back to slow-moving rocks deep underground. Gravity feels dependable and unchanging, something we rarely question. Yet the planet behaves in strange ways defies intuition. In reality, gravity is not uniform across Earth’s surface. Its strength shifts from place to place, and once the effects of Earth’s [...]

Scientists have mapped a little-understood class of earthquakes that originate deep within Earth’s mantle rather than in the crust. Stanford scientists have produced the first comprehensive global map of an unusual kind of earthquake that begins deep inside Earth’s mantle rather than in the crust. The mantle lies between the planet’s thin outer crust and [...]

Earth’s magnetic field and atmospheric oxygen appear to have moved in sync for half a billion years, pointing to a surprising connection between the planet’s deep interior and life-supporting conditions above ground. Magnetic Field and Oxygen Move Together Over Deep Time A new analysis by NASA scientists finds that changes in Earth’s magnetic field strength [...]

Deep beneath the ocean floor, ancient sediments hint that Earth’s magnetic field sometimes changed far more slowly than expected. Deep beneath our feet, a restless ocean of molten metal helps keep Earth livable. The planet’s magnetic field forms as liquid iron and nickel circulate through the outer core, generating electric currents that create a global [...]