List of unsolved problems in geoscience

• Was there ever a collision of Earth with the hypothesized planet of Theia, which gave birth to the Moon?{{cite journal|last1=Canup|first1=R. M.|author1-link=Robin Canup |title=Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact|journal=Science|date=17 October 2012|volume=338|issue=6110|pages=1052–1055|doi=10.1126/science.1226073|pmid=23076098|pmc=6476314|bibcode=2012Sci...338.1052C}} There is compelling evidence, such as measures of a shorter duration of the Earth's rotation and lunar month in the past, that suggests the possibility that Earth's Moon was much closer to Earth during the early stages of Solar System formation.{{cite journal|last1=George|first1=Williams|title=Upper Proterozoic Tidal Rhythmites, South Australia: Sedimentary Features, Deposition, and Implications for the Earth's Paleorotation|journal=Clastic Tidal Sedimentology|date=1991|pages=161–177|url=http://archives.datapages.com/data/cspg_sp/data/016/016001/161_cspgsp0160161.htm|accessdate=3 March 2015}}
• What is the long-term heat balance of Earth? How did its internal temperature decay since it formed by accretion of chondrites? How abundant are radiogenic elements in the interior? Did a "faint young Sun" ever warm a "snowball Earth"?[http://news.discovery.com/space/was-earth-a-migratory-planet-120418.htm Wired: Was the Earth a migratory planet?]{{cite journal|last1=Marty|first1=B.|last2=Zimmermann|first2=L.|last3=Pujol|first3=M.|last4=Burgess|first4=R.|last5=Philippot|first5=P.|title=Nitrogen Isotopic Composition and Density of the Archean Atmosphere|journal=Science|date=19 September 2013|volume=342|issue=6154|pages=101–104|doi=10.1126/science.1240971|pmid=24051244|arxiv=1405.6337|bibcode=2013Sci...342..101M|s2cid=206550098}}

• Can the now widely available topographic data be used to derive past tectonic and climatic conditions (in the multi-million year scale)? Do we know enough about the erosion and transport processes? Does the stochasticity of meteorological and tectonic events reflect in the landscape? How much has life contributed to shape the Earth's surface?{{cn|date=April 2022}}
• Can classical geomorphological concepts such as peneplanation or retrogressive erosion be quantitatively understood? Old mountain ranges such as the Appalachian or the Urals seem to retain relief for >10⁸ years, while subglacial fluvial valleys under Antarctica are preserved under moving ice of kilometric thickness since the Neogene. What controls the time-scale of topographic decay?{{cite journal|last1=Egholm|first1=David L.|last2=Knudsen|first2=Mads F.|last3=Sandiford|first3=Mike|title=Lifespan of mountain ranges scaled by feedbacks between landsliding and erosion by rivers|journal=Nature|date=26 June 2013|volume=498|issue=7455|pages=475–478|doi=10.1038/nature12218|pmid=23803847|bibcode=2013Natur.498..475E|s2cid=4304803}}
• What are the erosion and transport laws governing the evolution of the Earth's Surface?{{cite journal|author=Willenbring, Jane K.|author2=Codilean, Alexandru T.|author3=McElroy, Brandon|title=Earth is (mostly) flat: Apportionment of the flux of continental sediment over millennial time scales|journal=Geology|volume=41|issue=3|year=2013|pages=343–346|doi=10.1130/G33918.1|bibcode=2013Geo....41..343W|s2cid=4364664 |url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2524&context=smhpapers}} Rivers transport sediment particles that are at the same time the tools for erosion but also the shield protecting the bedrock. How important is this double role of sediment for the evolution of landscapes?{{cite journal|last1=Sklar|first1=Leonard S.|last2=Dietrich|first2=William E.|title=Sediment and rock strength controls on river incision into bedrock|journal=Geology|date=2001|volume=29|issue=12|pages=1087|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1087:SARSCO>2.0.CO;2|url=http://eps.berkeley.edu/~bill/papers/105.pdf|accessdate=3 March 2015|bibcode=2001Geo....29.1087S}} (effect description and tools){{cite journal|last1=Cowie|first1=Patience A.|authorlink1=Patience Cowie |last2=Whittaker|first2=Alexander C.|last3=Attal|first3=Mikaël|last4=Roberts|first4=Gerald|last5=Tucker|first5=Greg E.|last6=Ganas|first6=Athanassios|title=New constraints on sediment-flux–dependent river incision: Implications for extracting tectonic signals from river profiles|journal=Geology|date=2008|volume=36|issue=7|pages=535|doi=10.1130/G24681A.1|url=http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/research/globalchange/group3/Apenninesproj/Cowie_et_al_2008.pdf|accessdate=3 March 2015|bibcode=2008Geo....36..535C}}(field example)
• How resilient is the ocean to chemical perturbations?{{cn|date=April 2022}}
• What controls the dynamics of storm tracks?{{cite journal|author=Bony, Sandrine|author2=Stevens, Bjorn|author3=Frierson, Dargan MW|author4=Jakob, Christian|author5=Kageyama, Masa|author6=Pincus, Robert|display-authors=etal|title=Clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity|journal=Nature Geoscience|volume=8|issue=4|year=2015|pages=261–268|doi=10.1038/ngeo2398|url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/39925/1/FourQuestions_withFigures_Revised_ngeo_jan27.pdf|bibcode=2015NatGe...8..261B}}
• Why do we have the number of tropical cyclones that we do?{{cite journal|author=Sobel, Adam H|author2=Wing, Allison A|author3=Camargo, Suzana J|author4=Patricola, Christina M|author5=Vecchi, Gabriel A|author6=Lee, Chia-Ying|author7=Tippett, Michael K|display-authors=etal|title=Tropical cyclone frequency|journal=Earth's Future|volume=9|issue=12|year=2021|doi=10.1029/2021EF002275|bibcode=2021EaFut...902275S |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021EF002275}}
• Mechanisms that cause oscillations in equatorial climate remain under intense study. The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of the equatorial Pacific Ocean temperature is difficult to predict more than a few months in advance. The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) of the equatorial stratospheric winds is somewhat regular at ~28 months but the cause has been heavily debated. Are these stochastic, chaotic, or deterministically forced behaviors?{{cn|date=April 2022}}
• What are skyquakes?{{cn|date=April 2022}}
• What causes Hessdalen lights?{{Cite journal |last1=Caron |first1=Etienne |last2=Faridi |first2=Pouya |date=2016 |title=To Investigate or Not to Investigate? Researchers' Views on Unexplored Atmospheric Light Phenomena |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=4 |page=17 |doi=10.3389/feart.2016.00017 |bibcode=2016FrEaS...4...17C |issn=2296-6463|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/122680 |hdl-access=free }}

• The 'space problem': How are granite magma chambers emplaced in the crust?{{cite book|author=Björkgren, Maria|title=The Formation of Granite Magma Chambers in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland|year=2017|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1114406&dswid=5620}} What are the structures and locations of the magmatic systems that might cause supervolcanoes? What are the viscosities and densities of the magma chambers and the details of magma migration?{{cite book|author=Kaus, B. J. P.|author2=Reuber, G. S.|author3=Popov, A.|author4=Baumann, T.|chapter=Understanding the Yellowstone magmatic system using 3D geodynamic inverse models|title=In: Geophysical Research Abstracts|year=2018|volume=20|chapter-url=//meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2018/EGU2018-15184.pdf}}
• What are the non-uniformities and rheological details of the mantle? What is the structure of the 660 km discontinuity and its relation to the correct model of the polar drift?{{cite book|author=Lowrie, William|title=Fundamentals of geophysics|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|edition=2nd|page=117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2-NjUg4RtEC&pg=PA117|isbn=9781139465953}}
• What is the precise nature of chemical heterogeneity associated with the Gutenberg discontinuity?{{cite journal|author=Hirose, Kei|author2=Karato, Shun-ichiro|author3=Cormier, Vernon F.|author4=Brodholt, John P.|author5=Yuen, David A.|title=Unsolved problems in the lowermost mantle|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=33|issue=12|pages=L12S01| year=2006|doi=10.1029/2006GL025691|bibcode=2006GeoRL..3312S01H|s2cid=16779962 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/98973/1/2006GL025691.pdf}}
• What are the light alloying elements in the Earth's outer core and how are they distributed?{{cite journal|author=Zhang, Y.|author2=Sekine, T.|author3=He, H.|author4=Yu, Y.|author5=Liu, F.|author6=Zhang, M.|year=2016|title=Experimental constraints on light elements in the Earth's outer core|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=6|page=22473|doi=10.1038/srep22473|pmid=26932596|bibcode=2016NatSR...622473Z|pmc=4773879}}{{cite journal|title=A Mission to Earth's Center|author=Olson, P.|journal=American Geophysical Union, Fall General Assembly 2016, Abstract Id. DI23C-08|volume=2016|pages=DI23C–08|date=December 2016|bibcode=2016AGUFMDI23C..08O}} What are the heterogeneities of the core and their dynamical significance?
• Does the internal mantle structure provide the resonance for the Chandler wobble of the Earth's axis or is it some other external mechanism? No available motions seem to be coherent drivers for the wobble period of 433 days.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

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• {{cite web |title= Open Challenges in Earth Science |url= http://retosterricolas.blogspot.com/p/open-questions-in-geoscience.html |website= Retos Terrícolas [Earth Challenges] |display-authors= 0 |first= Daniel |last= Garcia-Castellanos }}

{{Unsolved problems}}

Unsolved problems

Geoscience