Seven-year-old Ben O’Driscoll found a pearly mineral in a field near Rockforest East, Cork, which geologist Patrick Roycroft identified as cotterite, one of the world’s rarest quartz forms and the first cotterite discovery in about 150 years. With only a few dozen known specimens worldwide, all from a single Rockforest vein, the find—now dubbed the Ben O’Driscoll Cotterite—highlights Ireland’s hidden mineral history and the value of curiosity.
Scientists have found evidence suggesting that rocks in Canada's Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt could be over 4.3 billion years old, potentially making them the oldest known rocks on Earth and offering insights into Earth's early crust and conditions, though the dating results are still debated among geologists.
A rare 37.4-carat diamond discovered in Botswana exhibits a unique dual structure, with one half pink and the other colorless, revealing insights into its two-stage formation process and deep mantle geological conditions, linked to tectonic rifting events.
Marine fossils found at the summit of Mount Everest are explained by plate tectonics, which caused oceanic crust containing these fossils to be uplifted during the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, forming the Himalayas over millions of years.
An ancient rock formation in South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin has been trapping helium for over 3 billion years, providing a valuable and rare resource crucial for medical and scientific applications. The study of this helium deposit offers insights into its formation, migration, and potential longevity, which could influence future helium exploration and supply management globally.
NASA's Landsat 9 captured a colorful, ancient canyon in Utah's Cedar Breaks National Monument, revealing a geological history spanning millions of years, including extinct lakes, climate shifts, tectonic uplift, and volcanic activity, all preserved in vibrant rock layers and eroded formations.
Scientists are studying a helium-rich gas trapped for over three billion years in South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin to understand its formation, migration, and potential for long-term supply, which is crucial for medical, industrial, and scientific applications.
Scientists finally uncovered the mystery of the moving rocks in Death Valley's Racetrack Playa, revealing that delicate sheets of ice, formed overnight and melted in the sun, along with light winds, gently push the rocks across the desert floor, leaving trails that have puzzled observers for over a century.
A groundbreaking geological study in northwestern Australia has revealed that the world's largest iron ore deposit formed between 1.4 and 1.1 billion years ago, much later than previously thought, and is linked to tectonic activity related to supercontinent cycles, challenging existing models of ore formation and opening new avenues for mineral exploration.
A study in Nature Communications reveals that Earth's oldest rocks, dating back 3.7 billion years, suggest that continental crust formation occurred much later than previously thought, around 3.5 billion years ago, and support the theory that Earth and the Moon share a common origin from the same primordial material, reinforcing the Giant Impact Hypothesis.
Scientists have discovered mysterious, fossilized micro-tunnels in desert rocks across Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, which are believed to be the work of an unknown, possibly extinct microorganism that once digested its way through solid rock, raising new questions about microbial influence on geology and Earth's carbon cycle.
NASA's Curiosity rover accidentally discovered pure sulfur crystals in a Martian rock, challenging previous understanding of Mars' geological history and suggesting complex environmental conditions, with future investigations planned in a region with underground mineral formations.
Drilling straight through the Earth is currently impossible due to extreme heat and pressure, with the deepest borehole reaching only about 12 kilometers, far from penetrating the Earth's crust or core. The immense temperatures and pressures at the Earth's interior would destroy drilling equipment and make such a project unfeasible with current technology.
Zealandia, Earth's long-lost eighth continent, has been officially recognized after decades of scientific debate, covering nearly 1.9 million square miles mostly submerged beneath the southwest Pacific Ocean, with significant implications for geology, resource claims, and our understanding of plate tectonics.
Paratethys was the largest lake in Earth's history, formed 12 million years ago due to tectonic activity in Europe, and it repeatedly shrank and refilled over 5 million years due to climate fluctuations, profoundly impacting regional ecosystems and evolution before draining away around 6.7 million years ago.
