December 9, 2024
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6 surprising things we learned about Earth in 2024
This year has been a fascinating year for geosciences. From mysterious ‘dark oxygen’ to ‘unidentified seismic objects’, here are some surprising things we learned about Earth in 2024.
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Modern humans have lived on Earth for more than 300,000 years, but there’s still much to be discovered about this giant, breathing rock we call home. From 4.5 billion years of deep history to current mysteries, here are six surprising things we’ve learned about Earth in 2024.
A catastrophe that takes lives
The news begins with an event 3.26 billion years ago when a giant asteroid, about 50 to 200 times larger than the asteroid that wiped out the Nonavian dinosaurs, crashed into the young Earth. This “S2 impact” destroyed Earth and its early simple life, new research shows. But it also triggered important changes that ultimately allowed life to thrive, especially by pumping vital nutrients into the ocean. Therefore, despite the apocalyptic nature of the impact, the bacteria that managed to survive may have ended up in better shape than they were before the impact.
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Ancient ocean floor discovered under the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is vast and hides some impressive secrets. One of the things we learned this year is that slabs of the ocean floor date back some 250 million years, just before the earliest known dinosaurs appeared. Researchers found this slab trapped approximately 410 to 660 kilometers below the surface. Ancient rocks are slowly descending into a strange chunk of Earth’s outer core that juts out into the Earth’s rocky mantle.
“Dark oxygen” from the ocean floor
A favorite genre of scientific discovery begins with data so strange that researchers think there’s something wrong with their equipment. That’s what happened to a team studying ocean floor oxygen levels in a region of the Pacific Ocean called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. “I literally told my students, ‘Throw the sensor in the trash.’ It just doesn’t work,” said Andrew Sweetman, a researcher in ocean floor ecology and biogeochemistry at the Scottish Marine Science Society. said in an interview. scientific american. The sensor turned out to be fine, alerting researchers to a strange process in which metal deposits on the ocean floor produce a mysterious “dark oxygen.”
Before Dixon Fjord (August 2023) (left) onwards (September 2023) (right). Photo of mountain peaks and glaciers taken from the fjord.
Soren Rysgaard (left);Danish army (right) (CC BY-SA)
What caused this “unidentified seismic object”?
In September 2023, seismic sensors around the world reported a strange, monotonous hum that lasted for nine days, unlike any previously detected seismic signal. Scientists have classified the source of the hum as an “unidentified seismic object” and have begun efforts to identify it. Just this year, they determined that the signal was caused by a massive landslide in Greenland’s Dixon Fjord. The landslide triggered a tsunami that continued for more than a week, waves moving back and forth within the seiche, or narrow fjord.
Earthquakes forge gold nuggets
Large gold nuggets found in the Earth’s crust are the result of how molten gold seeps into cracks in the mineral quartz, creating small deposits, but it is unclear how larger deposits are created. This baffled geochemists who had not done so. However, new research suggests that earthquakes may have an effect through a phenomenon called the piezoelectric effect, in which certain materials generate an electrical charge when exposed to mechanical stress. Because quartz crystals are piezoelectric, the scientists tested whether forces similar to seismic waves could generate enough electrical charge to start accumulating gold nanoparticles. Preliminary results suggest that this effect is sufficient.
Alexandra Malysheva/Getty Images
Earth gets a small moon
Earth’s moon is famous and rightly so, but it’s scientifically informative and amazing to boot. However, despite what we learn in school, there may always be some natural satellites on our Earth. For two months this fall, a small 10-meter-wide asteroid known as 2024 PT5 became a “mini-moon” after being pulled into a partial loop around Earth by our planet’s gravity. And it turns out that Earth also has a long-term collection of six “quasi-satellites” that don’t actually orbit the Earth, but appear to do so. friend!
