News From the Field
Upside-down Answer for Deep Earth Mystery

February 17, 2010

When Earth was young, it exhaled the atmosphere. During a period of intense volcanic activity, lava carried light elements from the planet's molten interior and released them into the sky. However, some light elements got trapped inside the planet. In this week's issue of Nature, a Rice University-based team of scientists is offering a new answer to a long-standing mystery: what caused Earth to hold its last breath? Full Story

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Rice University

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