Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For the first time, an international team of scientists recovered ...

In 1869, John Wesley Powell was studying layers of rock in the Grand Canyon when he noticed an unconformity in the layers. Around a billion years were missing, and the problem turned out to be global.

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Gold and other ...

In Earth’s early days, more than 4 billion years ago, the surface was a dangerous and unpredictable place. Violent volcanoes, crashing meteorites, and constant tectonic activity repeatedly resurfaced ...

A remote outcrop in Canada harbors rocks that are at least 4.16 billion years old, researchers report June 26 in Science. If true, these rocks would be the oldest known on Earth and the first to date ...

A thin slice of the ancient rocks collected from Gakkel Ridge near the North Pole, photographed under a microscope and seen under cross-polarized light. Credit: E. Cottrell, Smithsonian. If you’re ...

A rocky outcrop in a remote corner of northern Quebec appears serene in its eerie isolation on the eastern shore of Canada’s Hudson Bay. But over the past two decades, this exposed remnant of ancient ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Jan 08, 2025, 02:54pm EST Jan 09, 2025, 12:23pm EST A new ...

In 2016, the geochemists Jonas Tusch and Carsten Münker hammered a thousand pounds of rock from the Australian Outback and airfreighted it home to Cologne, Germany. Five years of sawing, crushing, ...

A team of scientists chemically analyzed chassignites and nakhlites, such as the one pictured, two kinds of Martian meteorites found on Earth, of which there are only 35 specimens. Credit: Scripps ...