News by Subject Earth Science

By tracking water flow through different environments in California, UC Berkeley researchers have discovered a secret to the surprising resilence of Mediterranean plant communities during drought years. These plants do well during droughts because they are adapted to living with limited underground water storage even in very wet years. Rock moisture, or lack of it, is the key, and may help predict the fate of other California plant communities in the face of climate change.

A study published in Nature Communications suggests the cumulative stresses caused by historic earthquakes could provide some explanation as to why and where they occur. The research involved a detailed analysis of centuries of earthquakes in central Italy, where unrivaled records of seismic events have been kept since 1349.

Changes in agriculture, trade, food production and consumption after the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a new study has found. From 1991 to 2011, there was a net emissions reduction of 7.61 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide equivalents -- the same as one quarter of the CO2 emissions from deforestation in Latin America in the same period.

Unlike flawless gems, fibrous diamonds often contain small saline inclusions. These give hints to scientists about the conditions under which diamonds are formed deep in the Earth's mantle. A research team including scientists from Goethe University solved the puzzle of the formation of these inclusions by simulating conditions of extreme heat and pressure in the laboratory.

Biochar may not be the miracle soil additive that many farmers and researchers hoped it to be, according to a new University of Illinois study. Biochar may boost the agricultural yield of some soils -- especially poor quality ones -- but there is no consensus on its effectiveness. Researchers tested different soils' responses to multiple biochar types and were unable to verify their ability to increase plant growth. However, the study did show biochar's ability to affect soil greenhouse gas emissions.

There are two competing ideas of how platinum deposits formed: the first involves gravity-induced settling of crystals on the chamber floor, while the second idea implies that the crystals grow in situ, directly on the floor of the magmatic chamber. Researchers have established that the crystals grow in situ, with its high platinum status being attained while all its minerals were crystallising along the cooling margins of the magma chamber.