A new analysis of South African sediments hints that acidic lakes may have leached minerals necessary for biotic life.
paleoclimatology & paleoceanography
Posted inFeatures
Cratons, Why Are You Still Here?
How have these continental relics from Earth’s early history survived the plate tectonic mixing machine?
Posted inNews
A Dip in Atmospheric Carbon May Have Facilitated Dinosaur Dispersal
Herbivorous dinosaurs migrated north across Pangea beginning about 214 million years ago, coincident with a downturn in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Watering Down the Mantle
The cooling of planet Earth over time increased the water carrying capacity of the mantle and could have shrunk the oceans.
Posted inScience Updates
Improving Access to Paleoclimate Data
Paleoclimate databases are powerful tools for improving climate models. The recent work of speleothem researchers offers lessons on creating a lasting database and fostering the needed mindset.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Los océanos liberaron dióxido de carbono durante la última deglaciación
Un nuevo registro de isótopos de boro proveniente de sedimentos marinos del Pacifico Sur, ofrece una imagen más completa del intercambio de dióxido de carbono entre el océano y la atmósfera durante el Pleistoceno tardío.
Posted inNews
Overturning in the Pacific May Have Enabled a “Standstill” in Beringia
During the last glacial period, a vanished ocean current may have made the land bridge between Asia and the Americas into a place where humans could wait out the ice.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Life in the Chicxulub Crater Years After It Was Formed
While the seas were still churning from the impact and the seawater temperatures were high due to the hydrothermal activity, life was reestablishing itself inside the crater.
Posted inNews
Finding Prehistoric Rain Forests by Studying Modern Mammals
Mammal teeth store a record of the plants they ate, providing clues about the ecosystems in which they lived.
Posted inFeatures
A Lost Haven for Early Modern Humans
Sea level changes have repeatedly reshaped the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, a now submerged region off the coast of South Africa that once teemed with plants, animals, and human hunter–gatherers.