News
Were large soda lakes the cradle of life?
Life needs sufficient phosphorus. However, the element is scarce, not only today but also at the time of the origin of life. So where was there sufficient phosphorus four billion years ago for life to emerge? A team of origin-of-life researchers has an answer.
Master's degree graduation ceremony 2024
On Friday, 29 November 2024, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences celebrated this year's Master's degree graduation ceremony. Congratulations to our successful graduates!
ETH Zurich awards honorary doctorate to Susan Trumbore
The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has nominated the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Susan Trumbore, for an honorary doctorate from ETH Zurich. She received the award on the occasion of this year's ETH Day on 16 November 2024.
Water-rich magmas are crucial for forming copper deposits
"Super-wet" magmas play a critical role in forming large deposits of copper, a metal vital for modern technologies and society's shift to green energy.
New insights into the formation of the Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau, known as the "Roof of the World", spans 2.5 million square kilometers with an average elevation over 4000 meters. A new study in Nature Geoscience suggests that mantle delamination of the overriding plate may explain the mysterious formation of this vast region.
Zircon crystals serve as timestamps for impact events on the Moon
Researchers have precisely dated zircon crystals from the Moon and found that most of the analysed crystals are around 4.338 billion years old. They bear witness to a huge impact at the South Pole of the Moon and shed new light on the early phase of our solar system.
Do we have cosmic dust to thank for life on Earth?
It might be that what set prebiotic chemistry in motion and kept it going in the early days of the Earth was dust from outer space accumulating in holes melted into ice sheets. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge have used a computer model to test this scenario.
LunarLeaper - a big leap for human mankind
Anna Mittelholz and Simon Stähler from the Department of Earth Sciences, together with Hendrik Kolvenbach from D-MAVT, are leading an international team that is proposing a cost-effective method for exploring lava tubes on the Moon.
When nature turns petroleum into a resource for essential metals
Base metals such as zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) are essential elements for our economy. They are most commonly used for galvanizing protection for steel and the manufacture of batteries. Both metals are mostly mined from deposits hosted in ancient sedimentary rock formations.
Nine new professors appointed
Earth sciences and chemistry, computer and materials science, nutrition and architecture: the incoming professors work in a wide range of very timely research fields. Seven ETH professors will soon leave the university.