The Archean Eon, spanning from approximately 4.0 to 2.5 billion years ago, was a time of atmospheric change on Earth. Prior to the Great Oxidation Event, the atmosphere generally had negligible molecular oxygen. Photoautotrophs, for example, cyanobacteria, likely evolved during this time and produced oxygen in small amounts through oxygenic photosynthesis, though this was then destroyed by reactions

The oxygenation of the atmosphere was a pivotal point in Earth’s evolution. Punctuated environmental perturbations in its run-up laid the foundations for this event.

Presolar moissanite grains are stellar fossils that act as messengers from the cosmos. Nan Liu explores the ways moissanite enables cosmochemists to investigate the origin and evolution of our Solar System and beyond.

The Meng Xiang (‘Dream’ in Chinese) is a recently commissioned vessel that was specifically designed to drill through intact ocean crust into the mantle10. Able to operate in rough seas with a dynamic stabilization system (pictured), it can drill down up to 11 kilometres using a variety of modes — including both riser and riserless systems — optimized for settings from the tropics to the poles. The

Sustained monitoring is essential for assessing volcanic hazards. Integration with igneous petrology is key to linking monitoring data to underlying magmatic processes.