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Scientists finally discover 'lost continent' thought to have vanished without a trace
By Sascha Pare published
Scientists have pieced together the remnants of a continent that broke off from western Australia 155 million years ago and seemingly vanished as it drifted northward toward Southeast Asia.
Scientists finally solve 390 million-year-old 'murder mystery' from an ancient supercontinent
By Harry Baker published
Researchers mapped out "cake-like" fossil layers belonging to a group of ancient marine creatures from the supercontinent Gondwana that mysteriously died off 390 million years ago.
Jurassic pliosaur 'megapredator' was a giant 'sea murderer'
By Patrick Pester published
The earliest pliosaur 'megapredator' helped rule the oceans 170 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs.
What's the deepest-occurring gemstone on Earth?
By Amanda Heidt published
Very few gems can withstand the intense pressure of Earth's mantle, but some require it to crystallize.
Mystery blobs in Earth's mantle may be linked to ancient gold and platinum that arrived from space
By Stephanie Pappas published
The gold and platinum that came from giant space rocks should have sunk into Earth's core instead of rising to the crust. Scientists have now worked out how this happened — and it may explain some really weird blobs deep in our planet's mantle.
Is anything harder than a diamond?
By Laurel Hamers published
Diamonds are naturally hard, but is there anything from Earth, space or even a lab that's harder?
How many tectonic plates does Earth have?
By Emma Bryce published
The number varies from a dozen to almost 100 — and most of these don't even appear on official maps.
Scientists discover ghost of ancient mega-plate that disappeared 20 million years ago
By Stephanie Pappas published
A long-lost tectonic plate dubbed 'Pontus' that was a quarter of the size of the Pacific Ocean was discovered by chance by scientists studying ancient rocks in Borneo.
Earth's crust swallowed a sea's worth of water and locked it away beneath Pacific seafloor
By Sascha Pare published
Porous rock that formed during one of Earth's biggest volcanic eruptions absorbed so much water as it eroded that it created a huge reservoir over the eons, now buried deep in Earth's crust.
China discovers never-before-seen ore containing a highly valuable rare earth element
By Stephanie Pappas published
A new ore, dubbed niobobaotite, was discovered in Inner Mongolia's Bayan Obo deposit and contains the rare earth element niobium — a valuable metal that acts as a superconductor and could revolutionize battery technology.
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