Caribou graze on Arctic tundra where the zero curtain effect extends the time that moisture is available for microbes that release carbon-rich gases into the atmosphere.NASA As autumn gives way to winter across the Arctic, the ground doesn't immed...

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I vividly remember attending the 14th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry in 1989 in Paris. I witnessed a presentation by John Hayes during which he introduced both a conceptual framework for interpretation of stable carbon isotopic compositions (?13C values) of biologically-derived compounds (biomarkers), as well as a novel analytical approach to measure ?13C values of individual compounds using isotope ratio monitoring-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (irm-GCMS; today, this is typically abbreviated as GC-irMS). The paper stemming from this presentation (Hayes et al., 1990), as well as another from the same year led by Kate Freeman (Freeman et al., 1990), were the first in a series of seminal contributions from John's group at Indiana University that laid the foundation for compound-specific isotope analysis (now often abbreviated as CSIA) to emerge as a brand-new sub-discipline. While the approach has its roots in biogeochemistry, it has been embraced by many other disciplines, including environmental geochemistry, ecology, petroleum geochemistry, forensic science, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography, and astrobiology.

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Remember a time before The Franchise had a near-monopoly on movie dinosaurs? Me neither. To avoid any references to the Crichton and Spielberg-spawned behemoth, you'd have to travel in time all the way back to the 1980s. And that seems like as good...

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There is an exchange between two characters in Tom Stoppard's mind-bending play Arcadia (1993) that captures in a clever way the essence of science. In Act Two, Scene VII, two characters in the present day on the Coverly estate are discussing even...

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I'm prepared to predict, even two weeks before it's over, that summer 2026 will end up as England's hottest on record. Central England Temperature (CET, data available here) records the average temperature over a large region of central England...

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(I wrote this post eleven months ago, but for some reason didn't get around to posting it. Well, now I have. Not now, when I'm writing this sentence, but now, when you're reading it.)

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Over 110,000 customers remained without power across the islands Monday afternoon amid widespread flooding.

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The new initiative is bringing five renowned experts and changemakers to campus this year. Their work spans climate science, public service, finance, entrepreneurship and the arts....

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Adams Point, the peninsula on Lake Merritt that's now the heart of Lakeside Park, was always open space, but never empty. Activity went on there from Oakland's earliest days. When a long-forgotten structure was discovered at Adams Point in 1893, the story was in all the papers for almost a week. After that it was forgotten again. Until this post.

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Welcome to In the News: A Geomorphologist's Perspective! The intent of this series is to explore the geology and geomorphology of places that are currently in the news.

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Today's ELI is 'Mighty river in a small gutter; sediments on the move'.

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When you picture the western Mediterranean, you likely imagine sun-drenched beaches, terracotta roofs, and bright blue skies. But has it always been this sunny?

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Since early March a previously obscure waterway between Iran and Oman that very few people could name has become the subject of daily reporting around the world after Iran closed it as a response to the attack on Iran by the United ...

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Fish gular plate fossil found in the Jeffersonville Limestone. It dates to the Middle Devonian Period. Specimen is from the Barbara Conkin collection and was probably found in Clark or Floyd County, Indiana USA. Thanks to Kenny for the image. Field...

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This fossil is a Maturifusus (J. Szabó, 1983) gastropod fossil found in the clay pits at Buttenheim located in the state of Bayern (Bavaria), Germany. I think it is located in the Lias lithostratigraphic unit which would date to the Jurassic. Fie...

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My Rio Grande thinking is almost entirely about the bits in New Mexico, but this, happening now at Big Bend, on the US-Mexico border, is worthy of note: Bulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend national park's famed Sant...

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Lake Lahontan (pale gray) is "a large lake which flooded a number of the valleys of northwestern Nevada at a very recent geological date, but now has passed away."Last May, I visited Lake Lahontan in the company of pioneering geologist Israel Charles...

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A Palisades resident lost her home. Now she wants to know what model she and her neighbors should follow as they rebuild to be more climate resilient....

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The system could become the first hurricane on record to strike Hawaii's Big Island, where up to 25 inches of rain are possible.

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Europe's stunning eclipse, plus a political victory for science....

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This fossil is an ammonite fossil found in the clay pits at Buttenheim located in the state of Bayern (Bavaria), Germany. I think it is located in the Lias lithostratigraphic unit which would date to the Jurassic. Field of view is about 6 mm. The ...

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Back in January of 2022, we were invited for a winter hike within the Adirondack Mountain Reserve, and while we had a fantastic time, there is something more important underfoot that needs to be discussed. And that is the geology! 

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Albistegui Adler is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist whose research examines the political and social impacts of climate change and climate variability....

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We live in a world full of mysteries and wonders... or at least that is the view of most ancient philosophers, such as perhaps Plato in ancient Greece. Atlantis, the legendary island that lay in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is said to have been completely destroyed overnight. To this day, numerous artists and scientists have sought to unravel the mystery of its demise, sometimes suggesting a volcanic eruption.

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Conodont (on right side) with sponge holdfast fossils found in the New Albany Shale. It dates to the Upper Devonian Period. Specimen from the Barbara Conkin collection and was probably found in Clark or Floyd County, Indiana USA. Thanks to Kenny f...

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