The University of Sydney, Australia (May 2022) - How plate tectonics has maintained Earth's 'Goldilocks' climate

Title:

How plate tectonics has maintained Earth's 'Goldilocks' climate 

 

Published:

The University of Sydney, 26 May 2022

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/05/26/how-plate-tectonics-have-maintained-earth-s--goldilocks--climate.html

 

From the article:

Not hothouse, nor icehouse: when tectonic plates move at a moderate speed - not too fast or slow - Earth remains habitable, new University of Sydney research finds.

 

ALSO SEE

 

Müller, R.D., Mather, B., Dutkiewicz, A. et al. Evolution of Earth’s tectonic carbon conveyor belt. Nature 605, 629–639 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04420-x

Abstract:

Concealed deep beneath the oceans is a carbon conveyor belt, propelled by plate tectonics. Our understanding of its modern functioning is underpinned by direct observations, but its variability through time has been poorly quantified. Here we reconstruct oceanic plate carbon reservoirs and track the fate of subducted carbon using thermodynamic modelling. In the Mesozoic era, 250 to 66 million years ago, plate tectonic processes had a pivotal role in driving climate change. Triassic–Jurassic period cooling correlates with a reduction in solid Earth outgassing, whereas Cretaceous period greenhouse conditions can be linked to a doubling in outgassing, driven by high-speed plate tectonics. The associated ‘carbon subduction superflux’ into the subcontinental mantle may have sparked North American diamond formation. In the Cenozoic era, continental collisions slowed seafloor spreading, reducing tectonically driven outgassing, while deep-sea carbonate sediments emerged as the Earth’s largest carbon sink. Subduction and devolatilization of this reservoir beneath volcanic arcs led to a Cenozoic increase in carbon outgassing, surpassing mid-ocean ridges as the dominant source of carbon emissions 20 million years ago. An increase in solid Earth carbon emissions during Cenozoic cooling requires an increase in continental silicate weathering flux to draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide, challenging previous views and providing boundary conditions for future carbon cycle models.

University of Bern, Switzerland - The last ice age widened the Aare and Gürbe valleys

Title:

The last ice age widened the Aare and Gürbe valleys 

 

Published:

University of Bern, 2 February 2022

https://www.unibe.ch/news/media_news/media_relations_e/media_releases/2022/media_releases_2022/the_last_ice_age_widened_the_aare_and_guerbe_valleys/index_eng.html

 

From the news article:

A team led by the University of Bern was able to proof that the glaciers of the penultimate ice age ('Riss' glaciation) mainly eroded the bedrock between Thun and Bern, but that during the last glaciation (' Würm'- glaciation) glacial carving resulted in a widening and not in a further deepening of the valleys. The researchers reconstructed the geometry of the bedrock using gravity measurements to reach their conclusions.

 

ALSO SEE

 

Bandou, D., Schlunegger, F., Kissling, E. et al. Three-dimensional gravity modelling of a Quaternary overdeepening fill in the Bern area of Switzerland discloses two stages of glacial carving. Scientific Reports, 12, 1441 (2022). 

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04830-x 

Scholarly Article (West Virginia University, 2020) - Teaching with Digital 3D Models of Minerals and Rocks

Title:
Teaching with Digital 3D Models of Minerals and Rocks

Authors:
Graham DM Andrews, Gabrielle Labishak, Sarah Brown, Shelby L Isom, Holly Danielle Pettus & Trevor Byers

Published:
West Virginia University, Faculty & Staff Scholarship, Fall 2020
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2915/

Abstract:
The disruption to geoscience curricula due to the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the difficulty of making mineral and rock samples accessible to students online rather than through traditional lab classes. In spring 2020, our community had to adapt rapidly to remote instruction; this transition amplified existing disparities in access to geoscience education but can be a catalyst to increase accessibility and flexibility in instruction permanently. Fortunately, a rich collection of 3D mineral and rock samples is being generated by a community of digital modelers (e.g., Perkins et al., 2019).

Columbia University - Deep-Earth Structures Discovered That May Signal Enormous Hidden Metal Lodes

Title:
Deep-Earth Structures Discovered That May Signal Enormous Hidden Metal Lodes

By:
Earth Institute at Columbia University

Published:
SciTechDaily, 30 July 2020
https://scitechdaily.com/deep-earth-structures-discovered-that-may-signal-enormous-hidden-metal-lodes/

From the article:
If the world is to maintain a sustainable economy and fend off the worst effects of climate change, at least one industry will soon have to ramp up dramatically: the mining of metals needed to create a vast infrastructure for renewable power generation, storage, transmission, and usage. The problem is, demand for such metals is likely to far outstrip currently both known deposits and the existing technology used to find more ore bodies.

Now, in a new study, scientists have discovered previously unrecognized structural lines 100 miles or more down in the Earth that appear to signal the locations of giant deposits of copper, lead, zinc and other vital metals lying close enough to the surface to be mined, but too far down to be found using current exploration methods. The discovery could greatly narrow down search areas, and reduce the footprint of future mines, the authors say. The study was recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Curtin University - Plate tectonics research rewrites history of Earth's continents

Title:
Plate tectonics research rewrites history of Earth's continents

By:
Curtin University

Published:
Phys.org, 8 July 2020
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-plate-tectonics-rewrites-history-earth.html

From the article:
Curtin University-led research has found new evidence to suggest that the Earth's first continents were not formed by subduction in a modern-like plate tectonics environment as previously thought, and instead may have been created by an entirely different process.

Published in the journal Geology, the research team measured the iron and zinc isotopes in rock sourced from central Siberia and South Africa and determined that the composition of these rocks may have formed in a non-subduction environment.