Earth science
The latest chemistry news and research on earth science, including ecology, geochemistry and natural resources, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World
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FeatureThe oceans’ climate challenge
Nina Notman speaks to the researchers unpicking the many ways the climate crisis is impacting our oceans – and vice versa
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FeatureThe chemists dedicated to making drinking water safer
Across the world, scientists use a variety of techniques to analyse and treat water to ensure it’s safe for us to drink. Julia Robinson talks to some of the people involved
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Research‘Dolomite problem’ that has puzzled scientists for centuries may have finally been solved
Solution helps to explain the mystery of why common mineral won’t crystallise in the lab
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FeatureThe perchlorate Martian mystery
Rachel Brazil looks at how the compounds might have formed on our neighbouring planet and whether they could be useful for future exploration
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ResearchUnderwater device reveals marine chemical diversity
I-Smel device probes metabolites produced by Mediterranean sponges
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ResearchStrings that draw-up brine could help supply the world with lithium
Concept takes lithium extraction into the third dimension away from cumbersome, slow pools of brine
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FeatureFighting algal blooms with chemistry
These harmful events are the result of a complex interplay of factors, but Bárbara Pinho talks to the researchers finding out how they form and how we can stop them
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ResearchOcean lithium concentrations declined sevenfold over 150 million years
The concentration of lithium in seawater, previously assumed constant, could be related to geologic and climate effects
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ResearchLithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found
Find could point to new ways to prospect for material in high demand for batteries.
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FeatureThe hunt for natural hydrogen reserves
For a long time, nobody thought there could be large quantities of the gas underground. Anna Demming talks to the people proving otherwise
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ResearchMaillard reaction helps store carbon on the seafloor
Reaction that gives browned food its flavour could play crucial but underappreciated role in the ocean carbon cycle
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ResearchFirst high-pressure synthesis of iron polymorph found at centre of Earth
Recreation of ε-iron backs up theories on why seismic waves travel faster pole-to-pole following an earthquake
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ResearchRecreation of Ediacaran ‘death masks’ offers chemical explanation for fossils’ formation
Discovery offers insight into why so many soft-bodied organisms were preserved during that period
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NewsUK’s first commercial lithium mine could supply two-thirds of the country’s needs by 2030
British Lithium and Imerys agree venture to exploit Cornish site thought to hold 161 million tonnes of lithium oxide
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NewsThe subterranean chemistry that explains India’s groundwater contamination
Complex interplay of factors has led to elevated levels of arsenic, uranium and fluoride in drinking water, making the country’s poorest citizens sick
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ResearchVolcanoes and meteorites may have delivered catalysts for life’s beginning
Iron-rich nanoparticles can catalyse conversion of CO2 to complex organic molecules
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FeatureThe lithium rush
Move over, gold; lithium is now the metal in global demand. Kit Chapman untangles the global politics around the sought-after resource
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ResearchBenin bronzes are made of German brass
Discovery casts new light on the west African artworks, which Nigeria has asked colonial countries to return
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ResearchZircon study prompts redox state rethink surrounding hydrothermal pools thought to harbour life’s first molecules
Research combining experiments with modelling suggests hydrothermal fluid was 30% as saline as sea water today and more oxidised than the surrounding mantle