Field: Geology
Helium discovery is the supply breakthrough science, medicine, and industry needed
A helium reservoir in Minnesota has astonishingly high concentrations of the gas, potentially opening doors for commercial extraction.
US will accelerate geothermal exploration on federal land
The Bureau of Land Management is taking steps to make it easier for public lands to be considered for geothermal power systems.
A mineral produced by plate tectonics has a global cooling effect, study finds
Geologists have found that tectonic activity gives rise to smectite, a type of clay that can sequester a surprising amount of organic carbon.
Volcanic Iceland is rumbling again as magma rises
Volcanic eruptions in this region of Iceland tend to flow rather than being explosive, as residents have already experienced. A geologist explains.
Why Earth is the only planet with plate tectonics
Here in our Solar System, of all the known planets, only Earth — not Mercury, not Venus, and not Mars — possesses plate tectonics.
Discovery finds the Earth’s core is constantly changing the length our day
The length of our day changes slightly over a six-year period. This recent discovery has perplexed scientists for about a decade.
1.7 billion years ago, Earth had a natural nuclear reactor
Seventeen natural sites possessing ancient nuclear reactions have now been found: evidence of Earth's first nuclear reactor.