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an overhead view of Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone
We finally know where the Yellowstone volcano will erupt next A detailed look at Yellowstone's magma storage system finds that only one region is likely to host liquid magma in the long term.
a photo of an angel oak tree
'Rising temperatures melted corpses out of the Antarctic permafrost': The rise of one of Earth's most iconic trees in an uncertain world As the Atlantic grew wider, the ancestral population of all of today's oaks may have been straddling the continents of the Northern Hemisphere. If so, the ancestor of the oaks we know today was a widespread population that was cleaved in half as North America inched westward.
a rocky shore on the Great Lakes
Scientists find hidden 'hotspot' that helped create the Great Lakes before North America even existed A hotspot that now lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was once under the Great Lakes, and may explain why they formed where they did.

Latest about Planet Earth

A satellite photo of a giant patch of black lava in a desert

Massive field of ancient lava casts an eerie, gold-specked shadow in the Sahara

By Harry Baker published

Earth from space A stunning composite image, made up of three years' worth of satellite photos, shows the ancient lava of Libya's Haruj volcanic field interspersed with patches of golden sand.

Earth from space
A map of the United States showing regions that are likely (dark blue) and unlikely (white to light blue) to host hydrogen reserves, based on the geology.

Giant reserves of 'gold' hydrogen may be lurking beneath at least 30 US states, 1st-of-its-kind map reveals

By Sascha Pare published

USGS researchers have unveiled the first map of prospective locations for hydrogen gas in the contiguous United States — and there's a lot more than they previously thought.

Energy
Earthquake damage to a road in Turkey.

Scientists find hidden mechanism that could explain how earthquakes 'ignite'

By Stephanie Pappas published

How does creeping stress ignite a cataclysmic earthquake? A new study has answers.

Earthquakes
Image based on data from beneath the North Sea showing landforms left by the advance and retreat of an ice sheet during the last ice age.

Giant ice age landforms discovered deep beneath North Sea revealed in amazing detail

By Sascha Pare published

New images from the North Sea show never-before-seen landforms that were carved by a single, colossal ice sheet 1 million years ago and subsequently buried beneath a thick layer of mud.

Rivers & Oceans
An aerial view of the San Andreas Fault in scrubland with a few trees.

Is Earth the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics?

By Skyler Ware published

Plate tectonics give Earth its mountains, earthquakes, continental drift and maybe even helped give rise to life itself. But do other planets in the solar system have them too?

Planet Earth
Aerial view of the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia. We see towers of orange and gray striped stone with vegetation growing in between.

The Bungle Bungles: Towering domes in the Australian outback that contain traces of the earliest life-forms on Earth

By Sascha Pare published

The Bungle Bungle Range in Western Australia is a collection of rock domes forged from ancient seabeds and flanked to the northeast by a prehistoric meteor impact crater.

Geology
Kīlauea volcano erupting on Jan. 16 after entering its fourth eruption phase.

Kilauea volcano enters fourth eruption phase: Watch LIVE

By Patrick Pester last updated

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is erupting with fountains of lava. Check out a USGS livestream from within the Halema'uma'u crater.

Volcanos

One of Iceland's largest volcanoes sees swarm of 130 earthquakes — could it be about to blow?

By Pandora Dewan published

The Bárðarbunga volcano system was responsible for Iceland's largest eruption for 300 years back in 2014. After a recent increase in seismic activity, could it be about to erupt again?

Volcanos
The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

'Warm water' from deep sea flowing towards one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves

By Patrick Pester published

Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf may be under threat due to relatively warm water from the deep sea flowing towards the shelf. Is climate change to blame?

Antarctica
Mount Hood, Oregon reflected in Trillium Lake.

Oregon Cascades hold vast underground water reserves

By Skyler Ware published

An enormous water reservoir — likely the largest aquifer of its kind in on Earth — sits inside the volcanic rocks of the Oregon Cascades, scientists have revealed.

Volcanos
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