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Plagioclase feldspars are one of the most common and abundant mineral groups in Earth's crust — and that means they are also one of the most frequently studied minerals. Clues locked away in these crystals can provide information on a range of broad geological questions from, for instance, the processes that triggered a...

New research involving Cambridge University has found evidence — locked into an ancient stalagmite from a cave in the Himalayas — of a series of severe and lengthy droughts which may have upturned the Bronze Age Indus Civilization. The beginning of this arid period — starting at around 4,200 years ago and lasting for over...

Underwater waves deep below the ocean’s surface – some as tall as 500 metres – play an important role in how the ocean stores heat and carbon, according to new research. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and the University of California San Diego, quantified...

Many of the most violent outpourings of volcanic activity in history are fed by mushroom-shaped pillars of hot rock extending deep to Earth’s mantle, the region between the core and the crust we walk on. These ‘mantle plumes’ can be active for millions of years — leaving huge lava fields and chains of volcanic islands in...