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32 news posts in Frontiers in Earth Science

Earth science

25 Mar 2022

Last of the giant camels and archaic humans lived together in Mongolia until 27,000 years ago

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Camelus knoblochi would have dwarfed the modern domestic Bactrian camel, Camelus bactrianus, which also has two humps. Image credit: Bandurka/Shutterstock.com This is the first report of fossils of a species of giant camel, Camelus knoblochi, from today’s Mongolia. The author show that the species’ last refuge in the world was in Mongolia until 27,000 years ago. There, they coexisted with archaic humans and the much smaller wild Bactrian camel C. ferus. Climate changing leading to desertification and possibly hunting by humans and competition with C. ferus drove C. knoblochi into extinction. A species of giant two-humped camel, Camelus knoblochi, is known to have lived for approximately a quarter of a million years in Central Asia. A new study in Frontiers in Earth Science shows that C. knoblochi’s last refuge was in Mongolia, until approximately 27,000 years ago. In Mongolia, the last of the species coexisted with anatomically modern humans and maybe the extinct Neanderthals or Denisovans. While the main cause of C. knoblochi’s extinction seems to have been climate change, hunting by archaic humans may also have played a role. “Here we show that the extinct camel Camelus knoblochi persisted in Mongolia until climatic […]

Earth science

15 Jul 2021

Biogeoscience Chief Editor is the Recipient of the 2021 R. Berner Lectureship

Dr. Alexandra Turchyn We are honored to announce that Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Turchyn, Co-Chief Editor of the Biogeoscience section of Frontiers in Earth Science is a recipient of the 2021 R. Berner Lectureship for her important contributions in the field of global geochemical cycles.  Recipients of this Lectureship are selected for their ‘exceptional ability to define globally important biogeochemical processes, develop new understandings, and significantly advance the corresponding area of research.’ Dr. Turchyn was presented the lectureship at the Goldschmidt 2021 conference, where she gave a Keynote Lecture on the topic of ‘Exploring the biogeochemical sulfur cycle over the past 150 million years’.  Dr. Turchyn graduated from Harvard University in 2005, and is currently a Reader in Biogeochemistry at the University of Cambridge. Her present research field includes understanding how the ocean’s chemistry has changed over time. It focuses on how interrelated biogeochemical cycles have responded to changes in climate on earth. Check out the Biogeoscience section The R. Berner Lectureship was established in 2017 to commemorate the late Robert Berner who was known for his outstanding contributions in the field of Geochemistry, including his contributions to modeling the carbon cycle. It is a joint program of the Geochemical Society […]

Earth science

22 Feb 2021

Jingmai O’Connor: ‘I think people imagine we spend far more time digging up fossils than we actually do’

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer/Jingmai O’Connor Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at Chicago’s Field Museum. Image: Jesse Goldberg Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at Chicago’s Field Museum, discusses a recent ‘bizarre’ ancient digestive discovery and the issue of diversity in paleontology. In a recently published study to Frontiers in Earth Science, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Field Museum in the US published findings on the discovery of quartz crystals in the stomach of a fossilized bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs. According to Jingmai O’Connor, the associate curator of fossil reptiles at Chicago’s Field Museum who contributed to the paper, it appeared to be “some kind of bizarre form of soft tissue preservation that we’ve never seen before”. She added: “Figuring out what’s in this bird’s stomach can help us understand what it ate and what role it played in its ecosystem.” O’Connor is an American paleontologist whose research focuses on the dinosaur-bird transition and the Mesozoic evolution of birds and other flying dinosaurs. Her research includes studies of exceptional soft tissues, such as lung and ovary traces preserved in specimens from Jehel Biota between 130 million and 130 million years ago. […]

Life sciences

01 Dec 2016

Researching one of the most disruptive volcanoes to forecast future eruptions

Researchers turn to specific volcanoes such as Etna in Sicily to gain insight into volcanic and non-volcanic activities of the Earth. By Fiona Boni, Science Writer A professor at the University of Roma Tre, Valerio Acocella focuses his research on understanding what triggers eruptions and what causes the propagation of the magma to the earth’s surface. He has a special interest in advancing what we know about the structure and pre-eruptive behaviour of the most disruptive type of volcanoes, known as calderas. These are large volcanic depressions formed when a magma chamber is emptied by a volcanic eruption. “Knowledge and prevention are the essential ingredients to mitigate risks,” says Acocella. “Understanding how calderas work is important when forecasting volcanic activity, and also in forecasting large eruptions.” Using similar mechanisms that have been used in studying calderas, Acocella and his team are now also trying to understand and forecast eruptions in composite volcanoes, such as Etna, using a combination of tools.   “Volcano Etna has had some interesting eruptions in the last decades. In close collaboration with colleague Marco Neri (INGV Catania), we have been researching how this volcano works along with other processes that are really aren’t strictly volcanic, such as the instability of the volcano flank,” he explains. Based on […]

Life sciences

02 Sep 2016

One vent just isn’t enough for some volcanoes

by Simon Watt, Frontiers Science Writer One vent just isn’t enough for some volcanoes: the curious case of Mount Etna’s wandering craters. Volcanoes are geology at its most exciting.  They seem so fiery, dangerous and thrillingly explosive. That may be true, but most old and mature volcanoes are surprisingly stuck in their ways and even if when they will blow is difficult to forecast, where they will blow from is often more predictable.   The majority of volcanoes look as they do in a child’s drawing; like a steep mountain with its head cut off.  They have a summit crater and, if they erupt, it is from this rocky orifice that lava and ash spews.  But this is not the case with Mount Etna on the Island of Sicily, Italy, a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Earth Science found. Etna has been collecting new summits as though they are Pokémon. It is as if the mountain has had an outbreak of acne, with multiple cones forming in a geologically short space of time. According to Professor Valerio Acocella, of Roma Tre University and his colleagues from Ingv Catania, this makes Etna “perfect for study”.   Valerio and […]