News
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.
Why olivine and diamonds are best friends
Hardly any gemstone is more difficult to find than diamonds. Geologists from ETH Zurich and the University of Melbourne have now established a link between their occurrence and the mineral olivine. This could make the search for diamonds easier in the future.
Unveiling the origin of Earth's richest cobalt resource: insights from the unique Bou Azzer orebody
ETH earth scientists have developed a new method for determining the age of cobalt mineralisation.
The rocky road to the beginning
Craig Walton is the first NOMIS Fellow at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich. With an unconventional idea, he wants to find out the conditions under which life originated on Earth.
Master's degree graduation ceremony 2023
The Master's Graduation Ceremony of the Department of Earth Sciences took place on Friday, 1 December 2023. Congratulations to our successful graduates!
Geology of the Tour de France: Earth science meets cycling
The Grand Départ is scheduled for 1 July, but the preparations for this year's Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes started more than 400 million years ago, when the rocks of the Central Massif and the Vosges Mountains were formed.
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.