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Categories: Geoscience: Earthquakes, Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published Arc volcanoes are wetter than previously thought, with scientific and economic implications


The percentage of water in arc volcanoes, which form above subduction zones, may be far more than many previous studies have calculated. This increased amount of water has broad implications for understanding how Earth's lower crust forms, how magma erupts through the crust, and how economically important mineral ore deposits form, according to a new article.
Published Tsunami threats underestimated in current models


USC researchers have found a correlation between tsunami severity and the width of the outer wedge -- the area between the continental shelf and deep trenches where large tsunamis emerge -- that helps explain how underwater seismic events generate large tsunamis.
Published Puzzling features deep in Earth's interior illuminated


New research examines an unusual pocket of rock at the boundary layer with Earth's core, some three thousand kilometers beneath the surface.
Published Validation brings new predictive capability to global megafire smoke impacts


New research modeling smoke from two recent megafires sets the stage for better forecasting of how emissions from these global-scale events will behave and impact temperatures. As huge wildfires become more common under climate change, increased attention has focused on the intensity and duration of their emissions, which rival those of some volcano eruptions.
Published Hunga volcano eruption provides an explosion of data


The massive Jan. 15, 2022, eruption of the Hunga submarine volcano in the South Pacific Ocean created a variety of atmospheric wave types, including booms heard 6,200 miles away in Alaska. It also created an atmospheric pulse that caused an unusual tsunami-like disturbance that arrived at Pacific shores sooner than the actual tsunami.
Published New research could provide earlier warning of tsunamis


A new method of detecting mega earthquakes, which picks up on the gravity waves they generate by using deep-learning models, can estimate earthquake magnitude in real time and provide earlier warning of tsunamis.
Published Ice-capped volcanoes slower to erupt, study finds


The Westdahl Peak volcano in Alaska last erupted in 1992, and continued expansion hints at another eruption soon. Experts previously forecasted the next blast to occur by 2010, but the volcano -- located under about 1 kilometer of glacial ice -- has yet to erupt again. Using the Westdahl Peak volcano as inspiration, a new volcanic modeling study examined how glaciers affect the stability and short-term eruption cycles of high-latitude volcanic systems -- some of which exist along major air transportation routes.
Published Lake Erie quakes triggered by shifting water levels? Study finds no smoking gun, urges further research


In June 2019, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred beneath Lake Erie just off the shoreline of Ohio, about 20 miles northeast of Cleveland.
Published Major 2020 Alaska quake triggered neighboring 2021 temblor


A study of two powerful earthquakes in adjacent areas off the Alaska Peninsula in 2020 and 2021 shows a connection between the two. It also suggests they may be a part of an 80-year rupture cascade along the fault.
Published Researchers home in on Thera volcano eruption date


Tree-ring, ice core and volcano experts teamed up to identify one of the most climatically impactful volcanic eruptions in 4,000 years -- Aniakchak II. In the process, they narrowed down potential dates for the Thera volcano eruption.
Published Space-based system using GPS satellites could warn of incoming tsunamis


A new method for detecting tsunamis using existing GPS satellites orbiting Earth could serve as an effective warning system for countries worldwide, according to a new study.
Published Volcanoes at fault if the Earth slips


A new study has attributed the root cause of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes to specific geological damage. A relatively large dip-slip displacement was discovered at the site. The Futagawa strike-slip fault is a vertical break in the ground tracing a line southwest originating from Mount Aso.
Published Earliest geochemical evidence of plate tectonics found in 3.8-billion-year-old crystal



Plate tectonics may be unique to Earth and may be an essential characteristic of habitable planets. Estimates for its onset range from over 4 billion years ago to just 800 million years ago. A new study reports evidence of a transition in multiple locations around the world, 3.8-3.6 billion years ago, from stable 'protocrust' to pressures and processes that look a lot like modern subduction, suggesting a time when plates first got moving.
Published Neural network model helps predict site-specific impacts of earthquakes



In disaster mitigation planning for future large earthquakes, seismic ground motion predictions are a crucial part of early warning systems. The way the ground moves depends on how the soil layers amplify the seismic waves (described in a mathematical site 'amplification factor'). However, geophysical explorations to understand soil conditions are costly, limiting characterization of site amplification factors to date. Using data on microtremors in Japan, a neural network model can estimate site-specific responses to earthquakes based on subsurface soil conditions.
Published A swarm of 85,000 earthquakes at the Antarctic Orca submarine volcano


In a remote area, a mix of geophysical methods identifies magma transfer below the seafloor as the cause.
Published Volcano monitoring at Mount Etna using fiber optic cables


In order to understand and predict volcanic events even better, a better understanding of the diverse underground processes involved is required. A new way to detect such processes, even if they are very subtle, is to use fiber optic cables as sensors. The analysis of light that is backscattered in them when the cables are deformed by vibrations, for example, has now made it possible for the first time to determine the volcanic signature of the Sicilian volcano Etna very precisely.
Published Drought alters Mammoth Mountain’s carbon dioxide emissions


A study suggests the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada affects a California volcano's carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main signs of volcanic unrest.
Published Describing the devastating eruption in Tonga


On January 15, the volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai devastated the nation of Tonga. The eruption triggered tsunamis as far afield as the Caribbean and generated atmospheric waves that travelled around the globe several times. Meanwhile, the volcano's plume shot gas and ash through the stratosphere into the lower mesosphere.
Published The oxidation of volcanoes -- a magma opus


A new study unlocks the science behind a key ingredient -- namely oxygen -- in some of the world's most violent volcanoes. The research offers a new model for understanding the oxidation state of arc magmas, the lavas that form some volcanoes, such as the one that erupted dramatically in Tonga earlier this year. The plume from Tonga's underwater volcanic eruption on Jan. 15 rose 36 miles into the air. Ash from the volcano reached the mesosphere, Earth's third layer of atmosphere.
Published Water determines magma depth, a key to accurate models of volcanic activity, eruption


Around the world, between 40 and 50 volcanoes are currently erupting or in states of unrest, and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hazards posed by these potentially active volcanos. Yet, despite the profound hazards posed to human life and property by volcanic eruptions, humanity still cannot reliably and accurately predict them, and even when forecasts are accurately made by experts, they may not afford ample time for people to evacuate and make emergency preparations.