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Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Geoscience: Earthquakes

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Volcanic eruptions are dangerous and difficult to predict. A team has found that the ratio of atoms in specific gases released from volcanic fumaroles (gaps in the Earth's surface) can provide an indicator of what is happening to the magma deep below -- similar to taking a blood test to check your health. This can indicate when things might be 'heating up.' Specifically, changes in the ratio of argon-40 and helium-3 can indicate how frothy the magma is, which signals the risk of different types of eruption. Understanding which ratios of which gases indicate a certain type of magma activity is a big step. Next, the team hopes to develop portable equipment which can provide on-site, real-time measurements for a 24/7 volcanic activity monitoring and early warning system.

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Researchers have identified coral-eating crown-of-thorns seastars in the Red Sea as distinct species that occurs only in this location.

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A new study suggests that ships may be spreading a deadly coral disease across Florida and the Caribbean. The findings could help establish testing and treatment methods to mitigate the risk of further disease spread.

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An international team of research scientists has documented the central role of vegetation for Arctic warming. The new results allow us to make more precise climate predictions, with the researchers pointing out that current models remain flawed.

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For millennia, caves have served as shelters for prehistoric humans. Caves have also intrigued scholars from early Chinese naturalists to Charles Darwin. A cave ecologist has been in and out of these subterranean ecosystems, examining the unique life forms -- and unique living conditions -- that exist in Earth's many caves. But what does that suggest about caves on other planetary bodies? In two connected studies, engineers, astrophysicists, astrobiologists and astronauts lay out the research that needs to be done to get us closer to answering the old-age question about life beyond Earth.

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Over a decade, manta ray populations increased significantly in Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia, highlighting the importance of long-term conservation and management measures such as well-enforced Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and fisheries regulations, says a researcher.

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Researchers are using dust trapped in glacier ice in Tibet to document past changes in Earth's intricate climate system -- and maybe one day help predict future changes.

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The first-ever family tree for aquarium-bred corals provides insights for maximizing genetic diversity and adaptability in corals bred for conservation.

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Researchers report evidence the formation of K'gari and the Great Barrier Reef are linked to a change in the magnitude of sea-level rise and fall due to major climate feedback changes during the Middle Pleistocene Transition.

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On average, about half of trees planted in tropical and sub-tropical forest restoration efforts do not survive more than five years, but there is enormous variation in outcomes, new research has found.

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On March 11, 2011, multiple catastrophes in Japan were triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake, including the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This event, also known as the 3/11 disaster, is what is known as a compound disaster. Now that over a decade has passed since this event, researchers are investigating how to prevent the next compound disaster.

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Almost one fourth of Sweden's last unprotected old-growth forest was logged between 2003 and 2019. At this rate, all of these ecologically unique and valuable forests will be lost in about 50 years. These findings add to the growing body of evidence for widespread cryptic forest degradation across the global north.

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Extreme heat often follows tropical cyclones, which can complicate disaster recovery even further, researchers have found.

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A litany of negative environmental pressures have had little to no effect on sand dollars and heart urchins in the Florida Keys, a new study shows. Scientists arrived at this unexpected conclusion after surveying 27 sites along a 20-mile stretch of coast near Long Key island. Five of the seven most common species known to inhabit the Florida Keys were present and accounted for in the survey and formed robust populations at varying depths.

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Subduction zones, where one tectonic plate slides beneath another, produce the most devastating seismic, volcanic, and landslide hazards on the planet. A new report presents an ambitious plan to make major advances in understanding subduction zone hazards by bringing together a diverse community of scientists in a long-term collaborative effort, deploying new instrumentation in subduction zones, and developing more sophisticated and accurate models.

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Groundwater is considered both an environmental and industrial resource, but a new study indicates it is also an important resource in disaster prevention. Researchers conducted research surveys of 91 well owners and 328 welfare facilities affected by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. The surveys clarified groundwater use following the earthquake and policy issues that could make the use of emergency wells more effective in the wake of future disasters. The surveys' findings provide useful data for city governments that have installed or are considering installing emergency wells.

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Plants need light to grow. However, due to excess nutrients and/or the absence of herbivores less light can reach lower vegetation layers in grasslands. Consequently, few fast-growing species dominate and plant diversity declines. So far, this relationship has been established indirectly through experiments, but never directly by means of experimentally adding light in the field. Now biologists have been able to experimentally demonstrate the dominant role of light competition.

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The invasive spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is a well-known pest in agriculture. A recent study by Swiss scientists now shows that the forest ecosystem is also affected by this alien insect. SWD infests the fruits of various forest plants and competes with other fruit-eating species. The decay of fruits attacked by SWD leads to a loss of resources, which can cause considerable ecological damage.

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About 14% of magnitude 6.7 or greater strike-slip earthquakes since 2000 have been supershear. That's 50% more than previously thought. Supershear earthquakes occur when a fault ruptures faster than seismic shear waves can travel through rock. The events were thought to be rare because scientists had mostly looked for them on land. The findings suggest that disaster planning assessments should include whether a fault is able to produce supershear quakes, which are potentially more destructive than other types.

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New research changes our understanding of seasonal thawing in parts of Antarctica, as scientists have learned that summer thawing occurs nearly a month earlier, and stays thawed for a full two months longer than previously believed.