Earth's Mysteriously Light Core Contains Brimstone By Elizabeth Goldbaum published 18 June 15 Researchers have found that the vast majority of brimstone — reverently referred to in biblical times as "burning stone," but now known more commonly as sulfur — dwells deep in the Earth's core.
Crashing Electrons Could Explain Earth's Magnetic Field Mystery By Becky Oskin published 28 January 15 New research claims to have solved a messy paradox that has plagued geoscientists who study Earth's core and its life-protecting magnetic field.
Gravity Moved Continents on Early Earth By Jesse Emspak published 17 September 14 Continents move, but what got them going? A new computer model shows it was gravity. Whole continents flattened out under their own weight.
Buried 'Soda Fizz' May Solve Mystery of Coasting Tectonic Plates By Charles Q. Choi published 30 April 14
Rare Diamond Reveals Earth's Interior is All Wet By Becky Oskin published 12 March 14 A battered diamond that survived a trip from "hell" confirms a long-held theory: Earth's mantle holds an ocean's worth of water.
Tiny Crystal Defects Help Drive Plate Tectonics By Becky Oskin published 27 February 14 Researchers recently discovered a new crystal defect in olivine that helps explain how the mantle drives plate tectonics.
Early Earth's Crust Was a Drippy, Hot Mess By Charles Q. Choi published 7 January 14 Chunks of the thick crust that covered the early Earth may have dripped down into the mantle layer below, shedding light on how the Earth's interior behaved early in Earth's history.
Deadly New Zealand Earthquakes Weakened Earth's Crust By Charles Q. Choi published 25 November 13 The earthquakes that struck New Zealand's South Island in 2010 and 2011, the second of which killed scores of people, weakened the crust around the ruptured fault.
Weak Iron Explains Earth's Inner Core Speed Trap By Becky Oskin published 11 October 13 A new computer model of Earth's inner core suggests a seismic-wave slowdown comes from changes in iron's strength just before the metal melts.
How Earth's Core Got Its Iron By Becky Oskin published 8 October 13 A new model explains how the newly born Earth's iron core formed as dribs and drabs of iron percolated inward from the planet's lower mantle.
Why Earth's Inner and Outer Cores Rotate in Opposite Directions By Laura Poppick published 19 September 13 The Earth's magnetic field is responsible for the rotation of both the inner and outer cores, new research suggests.
Sluggish Surprise Found Deep Inside Earth By Charles Q. Choi published 15 August 13 The heat near Earth's core flows at a slower rate than previously thought. The findings shed light on how the world's innards move and drive major events on the planet's surface.
Jets of Molten Rock Push Earth's Tectonic Plates By Charles Q. Choi published 26 June 13 The find helps scientists understand processes like mountain-building and volcanism.
Why Is Africa Ripping Apart? Seismic Scan May Tell By Charles Q. Choi published 19 June 13 Effort aims to find what breaks continents apart.
