The Sierra Nevada mountain range in California has a complex history, with two distinct periods of formation. The ancient range was formed around 100 million years ago as a volcanic chain, but was later dwarfed by a vast plateau. Volcanic activity around 40 million to 20 million years ago lifted the Earth's surface, forming new mountai...
Ancient Italian writings suggest that Genoese sailors were aware of North America 150 years before Columbus' famous voyage. The discovery, made by Professor Paolo Chiesa, refers to an area known as 'Markland'/ 'Marckalada', mentioned in Icelandic sources and identified as part of the Atlantic coast of North America.
A new commentary paper highlights the need for more research into the microbes living in and on sea creatures. The authors propose a research agenda to fill knowledge gaps and improve our understanding of beneficial microbes' roles in marine ecosystems.
A new study reveals that just 42% of nations have expanded their scientific understanding of bird species distributions in the last decade. The researchers developed two new metrics to assess biodiversity data coverage and effectiveness, finding that regions like Asia and South America are closing knowledge gaps.
A new study published in PLOS Biology elucidates a female sex pheromone pathway in cockroaches, revealing that blocking an enzyme reduces pheromone production and female attractiveness. The study provides valuable insights into insect sexual behavior regulation.
Researchers discovered that horses crossed the Beringian Land Bridge multiple times, influencing genetic diversity and settling both continents before becoming extinct in North America
A new study published in GSA Today suggests that the Yellowstone hotspot is derived from a deep mantle plume, with magmatism extending to at least 56 million years ago. The study's findings indicate a long-lived and robust hotspot that has migrated across northeastern California, northern Nevada, and into Yellowstone National Park.
New research reveals that European colonization significantly increased rates of soil erosion and alluvium accumulation in North America, with impacts felt for centuries.
A new study on extinct camelids provides the first quantitative characterization of their ecomorphology in ancient North American savannas. The analysis reveals that these ecosystems were drier than modern African savannas, leading to a decrease in ungulate diversity.
Research shows a significant increase in annual maximum one-day precipitation in North America, with anthropogenic forcing detected across the continent and smaller regions. The study suggests that human-induced warming has contributed to intensifying extreme precipitation events.
A new study highlights the need for more research on microplastics in North American waters, particularly among commercially important fish species. The team's findings emphasize the importance of understanding microplastic exposure and effects on populations and food webs to inform fisheries management decisions.
A global assessment of eBird data found strong geographic and seasonal patterns in bird occurrence information. Survey completeness was highest in North America, Europe, and southern India during spring migration, highlighting the potential of citizen science initiatives to address biodiversity knowledge gaps.
A new Dartmouth-led study updates the geological record of the Arctic Ocean, revealing that parts of Alaska's Brooks Range were likely transported from Greenland. The research provides clues into the region's natural resources and could help revise predictions about oil, gas and mineral wealth.
Global impervious surface area (ISA) amounts to 60.01% of the world's urban land area, with North America, Europe, and Asia accounting for 84.25%. Green space is relatively high in developed countries but low in developing nations, highlighting the need for urban environmental improvement.
The EarthScope National Office has compiled a list of the program's top 10 discoveries, showcasing revolutionary findings in North America's structure and evolution. These breakthroughs include insights into earthquakes, volcanoes, and groundwater, highlighting the continent's dynamic geological history.
Researchers mapped coyote range expansion from ancient fossils to modern museum specimens, correcting misconceptions of their original range. Their findings indicate coyotes had a broader geographic distribution than previously thought, with significant expansions into taiga forests, deciduous forests, and tropical rainforests.
Scientists at Ohio State University have revised the estimate of snow volume for North America, finding that snow accumulation in a typical year is 50% higher than previously thought. The total snow accumulation is around 1,200 cubic miles, with most of it occurring atop the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges.
A 95-million-year-old African tortoise migrated to Europe via the ancient supercontinent of Laurasia. Its remains, including a skull and carapaces, were found in Spain and Portugal.
Fossil analysis reveals morphological similarities between late Pleistocene Bahamian birds and their modern counterparts, indicating extinction due to sea level rise, warming, and wetting. The findings suggest that climate change played a significant role in the disappearance of these species.
New research identifies the oldest bison fossils and constructs a bison genealogy establishing that a common maternal ancestor arrived in North America. The study clarifies the earliest parts of the bison family tree using ancient DNA extraction and sequencing techniques.
Researchers propose an algorithm to retrieve four-dimensional surface deformation field using space-borne SAR data, crucial for interpreting complex geological phenomena. The method demonstrates its validity in areas where large and/or rapid surface deformation occurs, such as the Afar depression system.
Scientists used mafic dikes to determine the connection between northern Laurentia (North America) and southern Siberia for over a billion years. The study reveals new arrangements of continental blocks within Nuna-Columbia and Rodinia, with potential economic implications for mining companies.
Researchers found recent increases in mercury concentrations in rainfall at many sites across the continent, with positive trends in central regions consistent with increased emissions from Asia. The findings suggest that reductions in North American mercury emissions are primarily benefiting the eastern United States.
The study suggests that primitive North American mammoths emerged around 2-1.5 million years ago (MYA), originating from Asia via the Bering Strait. This new understanding challenges previous assumptions about the evolutionary timeline of North American Columbian mammoths.
A recent study published in PLOS ONE found that nearly 600 surveyed bird species in North America may lose more than half of their geographic range by the end of the century due to climate change. The researchers used correlative distribution modeling to assess potential range shifts under three different climate scenarios.
A study found that anthropogenic factors, such as cultivation, played a more important role in plant invasiveness than previously thought. The research analyzed Central European plants introduced to North America and found that residence time in the invaded range and habitats occupied in native ranges were key drivers of invasion.
A UCI study reveals that conifer tree species drive different types of fires in North America and Eurasia, with varying climate effects. These patterns have large-scale implications for fire ecology, climate modeling, and forest management.
Researchers developed a model explaining how white-nose syndrome (WNS) kills millions of bats in North America. Bats infected with WNS use more fat and energy, leading to physiologic imbalances that can inhibit normal heart function.
Geologists have figured out what caused the Alaska Range to form its distinctive topography and why it boasts such an enigmatic signature. The narrow mountain range's high peaks are built from previously fractured rock units, driven by movement along the Denali fault.
A new analysis suggests a massive tectonic shift may have led to the sudden appearance of almost all modern animal groups, contradicting Charles Darwin's hypothesis of gradual evolution. Fossil records from the Cambrian explosion document rapid evolution of life on Earth.
Researchers found nanodiamonds and high-temperature materials in Europe, North America, and South America, indicating a major extraterrestrial impact event. The discovery supports the cosmic impact hypothesis for the Younger Dryas period's sudden climate change.
Researchers from the University of Arizona have discovered two juvenile gomphotheres at an archaeological site in northwestern Mexico, dating back 13,400 years. The findings suggest that early humans in North America likely hunted and consumed gomphotheres, expanding our understanding of their diet and behavior.
A University of Calgary-led study has found that the majority of sand in Alberta's oilsands came from the Appalachian region on eastern North America. Researchers used a technique called detrital zircon uranium-lead geochronology to determine the age of individual sediment grains, revealing a range of ages from 300 to 2,800 million yea...
Researchers analyzed detrital zircons from passive margin strata in western North America, revealing variations in ages and Hf isotope compositions that provide insights into the provenance of Cordilleran passive margin strata. Strike-slip faulting along the Wassuk Range of the northern Walker Lane, Nevada, was also studied, providing ...
A study published in Nature Climate Change suggests that climate change will endanger the habitat of caribou, a species already threatened by the loss of critical lichen-rich environments. The research, led by University of Calgary professor Marco Musiani, analyzed DNA from reindeer and caribou populations across North America and Europe.
A new species of carnivorous dinosaur, Siats meekerorum, was the apex predator of its time, competing with small-bodied tyrannosaurs for top roles. The giant carcharodontosaur lived alongside tyrannosaurs and filled a gap in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous period.
Six new papers in Geosphere explore the geology of North America, focusing on the Colorado River sediment budget and its link to uplift and erosion. The papers also examine the magmatism, ash-flow tuffs, and calderas of the western Nevada volcanic field, shedding light on ignimbrite chronology and caldera formation.
The North American Cordillera is composed of dozens of crustal blocks that were welded onto the continent over 200 million years. A new study clarifies their mode of origin, identifying a previously unknown oceanic plate that contributed to their assembly.
A recent issue of ZooKeys published 27 new moth species from North and South America, including the Neotropical tigermoth family. These discoveries expand the geographic reach of moth diversity in the region.
A new Ohio University-led study suggests that the rise of the Rocky Mountains and a major seaway in North America triggered the evolution of new dinosaur species. The researchers found that changes in geography led to isolation, facilitating rapid speciation and increased diversity in duck-billed and horned dinosaurs.
The study reveals four distinct age distributions in basin sediments, tracing stages of basin formation and reflecting long-term secular variation. These findings shed light on the dynamic interplay of orogenic, erosional, and sediment-transport systems that shaped the region's geology.
Scientists have developed procedures to determine earthquake source information for smaller earthquakes in central and eastern North America. This improved catalog provides detailed information on faulting styles and geometry for these regions, contributing to assessing seismic hazards and constraining ground motion.
A team of scientists from Kansas State University and seven other institutions is conducting a large-scale experiment to understand the impact of stream organisms on water quality across North America.
A well-preserved, 96-million-year-old fossil snout discovered in Texas indicates that the prehistoric crocodile Terminonaris originated in the Lone Star State and North America. The find, which is the oldest of its kind worldwide, provides new insights into the group's wider distribution range and age.
Researchers analyzed U-Pb-Hf characterization of the central Coast Mountains batholith, finding spatial and temporal trends in petrogenesis. They also discovered no correlation between Anderson Reservoir stage level and underlying Calaveras fault seismicity, despite calculated differential stress increases.
Researchers found nearly indistinguishable mitochondrial genomes between two species, suggesting possible interbreeding. The study's lead author believes the individual could be a hybrid of both species, challenging traditional views on North American mammoth evolution.
A new genus and species of flying reptile, Aetodactylus halli, has been discovered in Texas, providing insights into the diversity of pterosaurs during the Cretaceous Period. The specimen is estimated to be around 3 meters long and had a unique jaw structure with 54 teeth sockets, differing from other ornithocheirid species.
Researchers have made significant findings on the state of stress in central and eastern North American seismic zones, providing insights into earthquake-generating stresses. Additionally, studies have mapped the depth domains of the Eastern Ghats Belt in India, offering clues to understanding ancient collisions.
Researchers have discovered a new species of carnivorous dinosaur, Hesperonychus elizabethae, in North America. The miniature predator, weighing around two kilograms and standing 50 centimeters tall, was likely to hunt insects and small mammals.
New research published today disproves the recent comet impact theory that triggered continent-wide wildfires in North America 12,900 years ago. The study found no evidence for large-scale fires across the continent but supports a link between global warming and increased wildfires globally.
A new Montana State University study utilizes thousands of bird watcher reports and a satellite sensor to analyze biodiversity across the continental United States, Canada, and Alaska. The research team found that MODIS technology provides comprehensive measures of vegetation, allowing for broad-scaled ecological studies.
Researchers from the University of Alberta have discovered that portions of Canada collided at least 500 million years earlier than thought. This finding has significant implications for our understanding of how North America's continental fragments assembled billions of years ago.
A University of Florida-led study has determined that Titanis walleri, a prehistoric 'terror bird,' arrived in North America from South America 2 million years before the land bridge formed. The team used geochemical analysis to revise the ages of terror bird fossils, finding they were 5 million years old.
Geologists have developed a new theory explaining how and when the Appalachian Mountain range was created. The study reveals that the complex was originally attached to Gondwana before colliding with North America, closing the Rheic Ocean and forming Pangea.
Researchers at Ohio State University used high-resolution carbon isotope stratigraphy to determine the age of Niagara Gorge rocks, finding they formed five times faster than previously thought. This new information will impact studies of global climate change and require scientists to re-examine previous work.
New research suggests that sudden, rapid global warming drove the dispersal of early primates from South Asia to Europe and then to North America. The whole event happened within about 25,000 years.
A study using bird assemblages data from 1968 to 2003 found evidence that human activities have shaped large-scale ecological patterns. Many bird species experienced geographic range expansion and an increased abundance of common species over time.
The Vilama Caldera's 8.4 million-year-old mega eruption is considered one of the world's largest known eruptions, emitting approximately 2000 cubic kilometers of pyroclastic material. The size and volume of the associated caldera put it among the world's largest known eruptions, differing from Yellowstone's three cataclysmic events.
A study found that rivers north of 44° north latitude in the US and Canada experience earlier winter-spring streamflows, while those south of this line have later streamflows. This shift may impact Atlantic salmon survival rates.
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill geologist proposes the existence of a new supercontinent, Columbia, which existed over 1.5 billion years ago. The supercontinent is thought to have formed when most of the world's continents collided into a single land area.