NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “geology

  2. Evidence of Ancient Impact Preserved in Modern Sand


    Detrital shocked minerals from the Vaal River, near the 2.0 Ga Vredefort Dome impact structure, South Africa. (A) Back-scattered electron (BSE) image of the external surface of a shocked zircon showing planar fractures. (B) Cathodoluminescence (CL) image of the polished interior of a shocked zircon showing three orientations of planar fractures. (C) Transmitted light image of a shocked quartz grain, with decorated planar features. (D) BSE image of a polished shocked monazite grain. The white arrows indicate orientations of planar deformations caused by impact pressures ranging from 10-50 GPa. Image credit: Aaron J. Cavosie, Univ. of Puerto Rico

    Through NAI’s Minority Institution Research Support Program, scientists at the University of Puerto Rico and their collaborators have identified a unique record of an ancient meteorite impact event that is preserved in microstructures in detrital grains of quartz, zircon, and monazite in the Vaal River, South Africa. The sand samples were collected from the channel of the Vaal River near the two billion-year old Vredefort Dome impact structure, where impact-shocked minerals are known to occur in rocks.

    This is the first report that impact shock-deformed minerals survive the process of uplift, erosion, and sedimentary transport. The unique...

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  3. Program Solicitation in Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology



    The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a program solicitation for research in sedimentary geology and paleobiology. The program focuses on numerous areas of research that are significant to the science of astrobiology. Among the topics of interest cited by the NSF are: the use of fossils, plants, animals and microbes to study how life has changed over geologic time; the science of dating and measuring time and rates of processes in the Earth’s sedimentary and biological fossil record; and studying the pre-Holocene climate systems of Earth. Proposals that seek to link multiple disciplines such as...

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    Source: [NSF]

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  4. Earth's Mineral Evolution


    New research shows that minerals on Earth have co-evolved with life. Up to two thirds of known minerals can be linked to biological activity, highlighting the important connection between the biosphere and the geology of Earth.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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