Organized microbial ‘workforces’ keep Earth’s underground biosphere running
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Jun-2026 07:15 ET (20-Jun-2026 11:15 GMT/UTC)
Scientists repeatedly sampled microbes from six sites up to 1.5 kilometers deep across four years inside a former goldmine. Microbial ecosystems appear to be structured around shared functions rather than shared species. Each ecosystem was organized around two broad groups of microbes: a stable group and a responsive group. Ecosystems were very different among sites but largely stable through time. Study could have implications for underground engineering projects, including carbon storage.
An international research team led by a researcher at the University of Bern has modeled 1,000 years of earthquake history along the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults in Southern California. The result: stresses in the crust are higher today than at any time in the last millennium – and a critical fault junction near Los Angeles could decide how big the next major earthquake will be.
The Geological Society of America is proud to announce that Joshua Martin, GSA’s current Science Policy Fellow, will serve as a GSA-sponsored Congressional Science Fellow for the 2026–2027 fellowship cycle.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have identified a previously unknown protein that may help explain how plants managed to colonize land more than 400 million years ago. The protein was studied in moss, and the new findings contribute to our understanding of plant evolution and life on Earth.