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The Pleistocene-Holocene transition is a very significant period of time, because it marks what I believe is the true foundartions for the origins of civilisation, when we see the first permanent settlements in the Fertile Crescent followed by the onset of agriculture, and from then on humanity has developed exponentially.From an archaeological point of view, it’s truly a fascinating time period, with so many incredible sites discovered in the past century, from Ancient Jericho in the West Bank, to Mureybet and Tell Qaramel in Syria, and Kortik Tepe, Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe in Turkey.The foundations of these sites were...

New research reveals compelling evidence of a comet explosion 12,800 years ago, found in ocean sediment cores, supporting the theory of a global climate shift during the Younger Dryas period. ================================================================== In a groundbreaking study, researchers have uncovered compelling evidence of a comet that exploded in Earth’s atmosphere 12,800 years ago. The discovery, detailed in the journal PLOS One, stems from an in-depth analysis of oceanic sediment cores extracted from Baffin Bay, located near Greenland. These cores, containing ancient sedimentary layers, revealed the presence of unique microscopic particles that could only have originated from a comet or meteor. The study,...

Is this the start of Goo York City? UK scientists have discovered a massive “blob” of rock underneath the Appalachian mountains that’s slowly oozing its way toward New York City, per a slimy new study published in the journal Geology. “This thermal upwelling has long been a puzzling feature of North American geology,” the study’s lead author, Tom Gernon, Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton, said in a statement. Officially dubbed the Northern Appalachian Anomaly (NAA), this subterranean slimeball sits 125 feet deep underground and extends 220 miles across New England. The team reportedly discovered it using...

Catastrophic floods built Grand Canyon UPI Environment News From the Science & Technology Desk Published 7/20/2002 6:00 AM GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz., July 20 (UPI) -- Dams of volcanic rock laid across the Grand Canyon have burst repeatedly and catastrophically over the past million years -- most recently about 165,000 years ago -- carrying enormous onrushing floods and carving out much of the great landmark in the blink of a geologic eye, new research by U.S. Geological Survey and University of Utah geologists suggests. The findings tend to support other new data indicating the canyon's Inner Gorge may...

How old is the earth? Unfortunately, neither Christian conservative Old Testament scholars nor Christian scientists are in universal agreement. This topic covers a broad spectrum of issues so I am going to try and narrow the focus of the discussion. I will first briefly discuss the biblical aspects of the question, then move on to geology, the flood, and the Grand Canyon… First, how do the "young-earth" and "old-earth" positions view the Scriptures? Let me emphasize right at the start that both young- earth and old-earth creationists bring a reverent and submissive attitude to Genesis. The difference is a matter...

More than 3.8 billion years ago, in a time period called the Hadean eon, our planet Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, which caused the large-scale melting of its surface rocks. Most of these surface rocks were basalts, and the asteroid impacts produced large pools of superheated impact melt of such composition. These basaltic pools were tens of kilometres thick, and thousands of kilometres in diameter. “If you want to get an idea of what the surface of Earth looked like at that time, you can just look at the surface of the Moon which is covered by a vast...

A sixth-century "mini" ice age may have been "the straw that broke the camel's back" that led to the final disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, a new study claims...By studying rocks carried by icebergs from Greenland all the way to Iceland's west coast, a team of researchers has uncovered what they believe is more evidence for the severity of this mini ice age. Their findings, published April 8 in the journal Geology, point to the prolonged cooling being a key factor in the eventual decline of the Western Roman Empire — although not all historians agree...Economic crisis, government corruption,...

The longest molecules ever found on Mars have been unearthed by NASA's Curiosity rover, and they could mean the planet is strewn with evidence for ancient life. Molecule chains containing up to twelve carbon atoms linked together were detected in a 3.7 billion-year-old rock sample collected from a dried-up Martian lakebed named Yellowknife Bay, according to a study published March 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These long carbon chains are thought to have originated from molecules called fatty acids, which, on Earth, are produced by biological activity. While fatty acids can form without biological...

A vast, ancient crater in the western United States may be home to one of the most significant mineral discoveries of the century. Published in the journal Science Advances, researchers have identified a geological formation beneath this site that could dramatically reshape the global landscape for clean energy technology. A Supervolcano’s Legacy Becomes a Resource Powerhouse The McDermitt Caldera, measuring 45 by 35 kilometers, was formed 16.4 million years ago following a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Over time, a lake developed inside the caldera, collecting thick layers of volcanic ash and mineral-rich sediments. These conditions gave rise to lithium-bearing clay minerals,...

This week, an unusually strong earthquake swarm occurred at an Azores volcano which last erupted a little over 300 years ago. Meanwhile, in Japan, the alert level was raised at the Kirishima volcano, suggesting an increased risk that it may soon erupt. And, in Indonesia, it appears that a new batch of magma has intruded underneath the highly potentially dangerous Mount Awu volcano. This video will discuss these stories and list the 47 actively erupting volcanoes around the planet via the analysis of a geologist. This video's thumbnail image displays the erupting Santiaguito lava dome (Santa Maria volcano) in Guatemala....

If you look at a map of Earth's gravity, you will see a huge blue spot south of India, indicating a region where gravity is weaker than average. This spot is called the Indian Ocean Geoid Low (IOGL), and it is the largest gravity anomaly on our planet.A gravity anomaly is a difference between the actual gravity measured at a location and the theoretical gravity expected for a perfectly smooth and spherical Earth. But Earth's gravity isn't perfectly uniform and variations in mass distribution beneath the surface cause fluctuations in gravitational pull.Gravity anomalies can be caused by variations in the...

According to the Bible, Noah's Ark saved humanity and all the animals from certain annihilation during an ancient flood. Now, 5,000 years after those floodwaters supposedly receded, scientists claim to have discovered the location of the famous boat. An international team of researchers claims that a boat-shaped mound 18 miles (30km) south of Mount Ararat in Turkey is actually the fossilised remains of a wooden vessel. The Durupinar Formation is a 163-metre (538ft) geological structure made of a type of iron ore called limonite. It has long captivated researchers due to the fact that its shape and structure almost match...

The internet is once again going crazy with conspiracy theories after an image of a perfect 'square structure' was found on the surface of Mars. So grab your tinfoil hats, as it's time to investigate further. One of our closest planetary neighbours and likely the best contender to support human life in our solar system (after Earth, of course), Mars has long been a source of major fascination for humans. Major Hollywood blockbusters have seen humanity colonise it, H.G. Wells made it the home of hostile invaders and Donald Trump has even promised to plant the US flag on it....

Scientists have identified mysterious formations deep in Earth’s mantle, raising new questions about the planet’s interior. These strange shapes, often referred to as “blobs,” or “sunken worlds,” resemble ancient fragments of Earth’s mantle but appear in places where such material shouldn’t exist. The discovery, published recently in Scientific Reports, was made possible through a new imaging technique called full-waveform inversion. This method combines data from multiple seismographs into a single, detailed image of Earth’s interior. Unlike traditional seismic imaging, which stitches together data from individual earthquakes, this advanced approach provides a clearer picture of what lies beneath the surface. Use...

Scientists have identified a mechanism through which important metals, crucial to the manufacturing of renewable energy technologies, are passed from the Earth’s mantle to the crust. The team, including researchers from Cardiff University, has discovered a ‘Goldilocks zone’ at the base of the Earth’s crust where the temperate is just right at around 1000°C for metals to be transported to shallower levels near the surface, where they can be mined. The metals in question – most notably copper, cobalt, tellurium, and platinum – are highly-sought after due to their use in electrical wiring and technologies such as battery storage devices,...

A HUGE sinkhole at a coastal beauty spot in the north of England has revealed a hidden underground beach.A HUGE sinkhole at a coastal beauty spot in the north of England has revealed a hidden underground beach. However, the hole has grown wider every year since its discovery. The sinkhole is now so big a hidden beach has been revealed with the sea forcing its way through a crack in one of the cliff walls. The clifftop region is managed by the National Trust they have warned walkers and dog owners to avoid the area. Beach artist and former GP...

Think of the red bluffs and cliffs of the Grand Canyon as Earth's history textbook, explained Barra Peak, lead author of the new study and a graduate student in geological sciences at CU Boulder. If you scale down the canyon's rock faces, you can jump back almost 2 billion years into the planet's past. But that textbook is also missing pages: In some areas, more than 1 billion years' worth of rocks have disappeared from the Grand Canyon without a trace. It's a mystery that goes back a long way. John Wesley Powell, the namesake of today's Lake Powell, first...

There is an ongoing disaster in north America which is not only ongoing but getting worse. And despite its geologic origin, it has been largely ignored by the public. This video discusses the sudden changing of many remote streams and rivers from a clear blue to a toxic orange color. This is not due to acid mine drainage or illegal dumping of waste, but instead something worse. [Thumbnail Photo Credit: Josh Koch, U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain]North America's Ongoing, Ignored Disaster | 5:22GeologyHub | 327K subscribers | 267,025 views | November 30, 2024

Shortly after the devastating eruption, some gophers went on a very confusing day trip. A member of the gopher recovery team getting to work. Image credit: Mike Allen/UCR When Mount St Helens erupted in 1980, the resulting lava, ash, and debris turned the landscape barren for miles around. It was clear the land would take a long time to recover from the eruption. But one team of scientists had an idea about how they could help speed up the process; sending a few gophers there on a day trip. Plant life struggled to return to the area around Mount St...

New findings from Colorado’s rock formations provide physical evidence supporting the Snowball Earth theory, which suggests Earth was once frozen entirely, down to the equator. This study offers insights into a key phase of climate and life evolution. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Evidence from Colorado suggests glaciers once covered Earth to the equator, supporting the Snowball Earth theory. This discovery provides insight into early climate shifts and the evolution of life. Geologists have discovered compelling evidence in Colorado that hundreds of millions of years ago, enormous glaciers blanketed Earth as far as the equator, turning the planet into an icicle drifting through...