September 7, 2026

News and notes

Here are some news items that I thought were interesting. For my news items, I try to stick to open access papers.

If you enjoy my blogs, bookmark the site and check on Mondays rather than relying on social media postings which can get lost in the shuffle. For my news items, I try to stick to open access papers.

Comments

If anyone has comments on any of my postings, please leave a comment on the Linkedin page for the posting or email me at raymondreichelt@gmail.com.

Geopolitics

May you live in interesting times

• USGS Critical Minerals Atlas.

• Live updates on the Iran War from CNN.

• Ongoing coverage of the Ukraine War from Reuters.

• The Venezuelan billionaire the US investigated for money laundering now has a Pentagon oil deal.

• China rare earth firms halt some US shipments over geopolitical worries, sources say.

• UK moves to secure critical minerals for defence.

• News: Italy offers to mediate between Egypt, Ethiopia over Nile waters.

• Not a barbarous relic: List of Countries That Have Pulled Gold From US Federal Reserve.

• Argentine leader threatens to sanction oil firms and reiterates Falklands claim.

• Russian Arctic oil terminal to ship first cargo from new volumes via Northern Sea Route.

• What Happens When A Metal The West Can't Live Without Runs Short? Related answer here and here.

• Trump’s geopolitical aims, not economics, are behind his trade hostility towards Canada.

Research and News

• Thermal decomposition and dehydration mechanism of kurnakovite MgB3O3(OH)5·5H2O.

• Entropy-dominated and alkali-enhanced scandium partitioning into clinopyroxene revealed by density functional theory and machine learning.

• USGS Cooperative National Geologic Map Now Covers 50 States, US. Territories.

• Fluid Pathways and Sources Driving Recurring Pockmark Formation on the Chatham Rise, New Zealand.

• Hierarchical self-organization of framboidal pyrite enables biosignature preservation.

• Learning From Crushing Failures: Changes in Physical Properties Reveal the Mechanics of Submarine Carbonate Landslides.

• Pyrite Re-Os dating confirms synchronous magmatism and hydrothermalism in Troodos ophiolite.

• Shallow creep and confined ruptures in frictionally unstable mica schist.

• Matrix effects on secondary ion emissions for H and OH from natural spinel-structured oxides: Implications for H2O quantification by secondary ion mass spectrometry.

• The first barium-HREE fluorocarbonate new mineral bayanoboite-(Y), Ba2Y(CO3)2F3, from Bayan Obo deposit, Inner Mongolia, China.

• High-pressure spectroscopic signatures of the distortion and iron spin transition in Mg-rich MgCO3 ferromagnesite.

• Process-Based Modeling of Coastal Dune Blowout Initiation, Development, and Stabilization.

• GSA Today : September 2026 Issue.

• The Corangamite lakes system, southeastern Australia: testing the mega-lake hypothesis, and a first chronology for eolian activity.

• Petrogenesis and Tectonic Implication of the Newly Identified Rhyacian and Orosirian Orthogneisses in the Northwestern Part of the Gyeonggi Massif (Soyeonpyeongdo and Ganghwado Areas), South Korea: Constrained From Whole-Rock Geochemistry and Zircon U-Pb-Hf Isotopic Compositions.

Planetary Geology

• Moon’s farside near-zero paleomagnetic field suggests a global lunar dynamo cessation.

•  Formation of the moon: Collisional Capture of an Intact Moon Depends on Strength; Phys.org summary here.

• 7 stages of a meteorite's life: Bolide Light Curve Systematics from 75 Recovered Meteorites; Space.com summary here.

Plate Tectonics

• Investigating Layered Cratonic Lithosphere in the Fennoscandian Shield.

• Variation of K-rich magma formation during early Aegean arc migration, NE Greece.

• Seismic Velocity of Chlorite Under High Pressure and Temperature and Implications for the Lesser Antilles Subduction Zone.

• Evaluating Forced Versus Plume-Induced Subduction Initiation for the Talkeetna-Bonanza Arc System: Implications for Permo-Triassic Paleogeography of the North American Cordillera.

• Parallel volcanic chains generated by plume-slab interaction.

Paleontology

• Range and diet diversity in the Pleistocene American “cheetah,” Miracinonyx trumani.

• Early mammals weren’t all loners, as scientists thought – some already lived in pairs alongside the dinosaurs.

• New pectoral fin material from the Late Devonian of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada and diversity of the radius in finned tetrapodomorphs.

• Continuities and Discontinuities of the Fossil Record.

• Vegetation, climate, and age of the mid-Miocene Mascall flora reinvestigated: leeward environments of the Cascade Mountains.

• Cephalopod paleobiology and evolution: new insights, rising problems, and perspectives.

• A new postcranial skeleton of Sinovenator changii (Theropoda, Troodontidae) from the Jehol Biota of the Ningcheng Basin, Inner Mongolia, China.

• Review of Cretaceous Avian Dinosaurs from Mexico: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives.

• The first fossil species and genus of Palparinae (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) from the early Eocene Green River Formation.

• A revision of the biostratigraphy of oreodonts (superfamily Merycoidodontoidea) in the John Day region of Oregon, USA.

• Paleontological humour: 10 Darkest The Far Side Comics About Dinosaurs, Ranked.

• Lethal injury in the pen of a squid-like giant octobrachian Enchoteuthis from the Cretaceous Pierre Shale of Manitoba, Canada; SciNews summary here.

• First occurrence of polymicrobial ulcer in dinosaurs; Phys.org summary here.

Ore Deposit Geology

• Variable redox states of sulfur in porphyry copper–fertile arc magmas.

Mining and Energy

• India: NMDC to start commercial coal production next quarter; eyes 1 MT dry fuel sale in FY27: Chairman.

• Optimism swirls around massive critical metal deposit near Tisdale, Sask., but locals still have questions.

• Former gold mine now a 250-megawatt battery that starts in under 30 seconds.

• This enhanced geothermal project aims to unlock gigawatts of power to fuel the data center boom.

• Gold miners have breached a refuge built for rescued orangutans; 14-hectares of Indonesia’s sanctuary damaged in 3-years.

• Burkina Faso’s gold exports hit $10 billion in 2025, now Saudi investors are coming for a share.

• Copper at risk of rare supply decline as mine setbacks mount.

• UK Poised to Approve Jackdaw Gas Field as Energy Costs Soar.

• 3,155 m: Accessing superhot rocks: Drilling hits 10,350 feet in 15 days at US geothermal site.

• Australia’s new environmental protection agency approves coal project, angering climate groups.

• Brazil’s Senate passes rare earth minerals regulation, paving the way for boosted exploration.

• Saskatchewan mine starts production as Ottawa pushes critical minerals strategy.

• Colombia scraps 10 mining restrictions to lure investors.

• US July copper imports hit highest level on record: related story here.

• Uganda names crude oil blend Pearl Sweet ahead of commercial production.

• Chevron Expands Position in Venezuela.

• The Pilbara emerges as Australia’s next copper development frontier as prices surge.

• Australia: Mineral drilling activity reaches five-year high.

• Defense Metals drills 6% rare earths in British Columbia.

Environmental Geology and Hydrogeology

• Trump EPA Takes Transformative Approach to Ending Plague of Plastic Waste.

• Distinct Groundwater Regimes in West Antarctic Sedimentary Basins Inferred From Magnetotelluric Imaging.

• Punjab’s groundwater crisis: 52% more groundwater extraction than annual availability, canals being sought as a solution.

• Marine conservation collides with mining in Indonesia’s biodiversity-rich Moramo Bay.

• Greece scales up 'sewer mining,' turning wastewater into irrigation water as resource strain grows.

• Multilayer soil moisture depletion intensifies drought impacts on global ecosystems.

• Michigan: Old wells complicate underground waste injection for potash mine.

Glaciers and Climate Change

• Lots of recent papers on glaciers in The Cryosphere from the EGU.

Bad Science

• The equity excellence trade-off: A study of EDI in the Canada Research Chairs Program.

• Stop paying predatory publishers of academic journals–A policy proposal to restore scientific integrity and transparency.

Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Geohazards

Volcanoes

• Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report.

• United States Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Observatories:

• Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles:

• Cascades Volcano Observatory Weekly Update.

• Volcano Watch – September is National Preparedness Month.

• Indonesia's Anak Krakatau eruption halts flights, schools, fishing.

• Implications of Thermal Weakening and Magma Compressibility for Volcano Monitoring.

Earthquakes

• Plume-Fed Magmatic Fluids Weakened Crust and Promoted a Large Intraplate Earthquake in Northern Hainan (South China).

• Characterizing Shallow Attenuation and Microearthquake Source Parameters Using a Downhole DAS Array at the Cape Modern Geothermal Field.

Geohazards

• “Never experienced anything to this size and effect:” CAO on Cape Breton storm.

• Delayed submarine caldera subsidence creates extreme tsunami hazard.

Free Geology Books and Other Stuff

Free geology books can be downloaded from these sites:

• OreZone Readers and Experts Telegram Channel; the Ore Zone channel also shows employment opportunities for geologists.

• The Groundwater Projecthas many groundwater geology books for free downloadtogether with free online courses, listed here.

• Free Groundwater Modeling Courses from the HydroGeoCenter.

• Lectures on groundwater from the IAH, on YouTube.

• From Western Australia: Carbonatite, lamprophyre and host rocks in the northern Aileron Province.

• The Geology of Indonesia: Volume 1 and Volume 2.

• Brett Davis’ book on veins in a deforming rock mass: “The Veining Bible”; also at this site.

• From the Mineralogical Society of America: Handbook of Mineralogy.

• Systematic geochemical classification of felsic igneous rocks of the Yilgarn Craton.

• From the Arizona Geological Survey: Geochemistry Diagram Generator v 1.0.

• Online app: Australia’s full national topographic library at your fingertips.

• Paleolatitude; what was a place’s latitude in the geological past.

Upcoming Events

• 24 - 27 September 2026, GIS-Ideas 2026, Hanoi, Vietnam.

• 5 - 7 October 2026 International Mine Health and Safety Conference 2026, Perth, Australia.

• 11–14 October 2026, Geological Society of America Connects 2026, Denver, Colorado, USA.

• October 14 – 17, 2026, Paleoamerican Odyssey 2026, Santa Fe Convention Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

• November 2-3, 2026 CCMEC 2026 Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• November 3 & 4, 2026, Paris, France, H-Nat, Natural Hydrogen Worldwide Summit.

• November 8 –11, 2026 Tailings & Mine Waste 2026 Westminster, Colorado.

• 17 - 18 November 2026, GeoFutures 2026: Critical Minerals, in person in London, U.K. and virtual.

• December 10–11, 2026, Sofia, Bulgaria, Geosciences 2026 Scientific Conference, hosted by the Bulgarian Geological Society.

• 11 - 13 May 2027 Energy Geoscience Conference, P&J Live, Aberdeen, Scotland.

• June 13-16, 2027 GAC-MAC 2027 Whitehorse YT, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Yukonstruct, The Sternwheeler.

• 12-20 August 2028, Geosciences for Humanity, 38th International Geological Congress, in the BMO Centre, Calgary.

• Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer Schedule.

• American Geophysical Union List of Upcoming Meetings.

• The Geological Society: Events & Courses.

• Upcoming Distinguished Geoscience Australia Lectures (DGALs).