Tag: eruptions
When Ancient Eruptions Pumped Diamonds to Earth’s Surface
While diamonds might look pretty perched atop a ring, the rocks they hail from venture to Earth’s surface in a journey that’s anything but glamorous. Millions of years ago, some of our planet’s strangest and most violent volcanic outbursts dredged from deep underground most of the diamonds mined today in the form of blue-tinged rocks called kimberlites.
Unlike the volcanoes that more commonly pop up near the thinner edges of continents, the eruptions that produced most kimberlites came through the
Ancient giant eruptions may have seeded nitrogen needed for life
Millions of years ago, giant volcanic eruptions in what’s now Turkey and Peru each deposited millions of metric tons of nitrate on the surrounding land. That nutrient may have come from volcanic lightning, researchers reported April 24 at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.
The discovery adds evidence to the idea that, early in Earth’s history, volcanoes could have provided some of the materials that made it possible for life to emerge, says volcanologist Erwan Martin of
A bizarre gamma-ray burst breaks the rules for these cosmic eruptions
Astronomers have spotted a bright gamma-ray burst that upends previous theories of how these energetic cosmic eruptions occur.
For decades, astronomers thought that GRBs came in two flavors, long and short — that is, lasting longer than two seconds or winking out more quickly. Each type has been linked to different cosmic events. But about a year ago, two NASA space telescopes caught a short GRB in long GRB’s clothing: It lasted a long time but originated from a short