Scientists today have published new research revealing a detailed and dynamic model of the Earth's surface over the past 100 million years. For the first time, the research provides a high-resolution understanding of how today's geophysical landscapes were created and how millions of tonnes of sediment have flowed to the oceans, according to the research. Climate, tectonics and time combine to create powerful forces that craft the face of our planet. Add the gradual sculpting of the Earth's surface by rivers and what to us seems solid as rock is constantly changing. However, our understanding of this dynamic process has at best been patchy. "To predict the future, we must understand the past. But our geological models have only provided a fragmented understanding of how our planet's recent physical features formed," said lead author Tristan Salles from the University of Sydney School of Geosciences, Australia. "If you look for a continuous model of the interplay between river basi
Atomic clocks, combined with precise astronomical measurements, have revealed that the length of a day is suddenly getting longer, and scientists don't know why
As scientists recognize that humans are now part of stratigraphy, perhaps we need to rethink our criteria in a way that separates geologic time from human time