Geology

Modeling The Effects Of The Earth's Mantle

At a depth of 2900 kilometres, the layer between the Earth's mantle and its core has always intrigued geophysicists because they are unable to explain the seismic data it generates. Researchers in the Solid State Structure and Properties Laboratory ( ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 6 2007 - 3:10pm

Scientists Read Rocks’ History With Unprecedented Precision

Assigning dates to the events in the life of a rock—for example, a collision with a piece of continent, or a journey through the Earth’s crust—has long challenged geologists, as the events themselves can confound evidence of the past. But now, armed with ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2007 - 9:06am

Volcanic Plumbing Dictates Development Of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

After years of results that repeatedly dogged him, University of Oregon geologist Douglas R. Toomey decided to follow the trail of data surfacing from the Pacific Ocean. In doing so, he and his collaborators may have altered long-held assumptions involvin ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 21 2007 - 4:28pm

New Madrid Earthquake And The Farallon Plate

People where I live still talk about the New Madrid earthquakes that occurred in southern Missouri in 1811 and 1812. I've heard that church bells rang hundreds of miles away in New England, disturbed by the seismic waves, and supposedly the surface of ...

Article - Mary Hrovat - Mar 24 2011 - 3:35pm

Faulted Modeling

Factoring in crustal strength changes along the San Andreas Fault would improve the predictive models that researchers use to understand the likelihood and intensity of earthquakes there. That's the conclusion from a study published in the April issue ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 24 2011 - 3:37pm

Himalayan Glacier Melting Observed From Space

The Himalaya, the “Roof of the World”, source of the seven largest rivers of Asia are, like other mountain chains, suffering the effects of global warming. To assess the extent of melting of its 33 000 km2 of glaciers, scientists have been using a process ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 27 2007 - 11:22am

Lightning A Good Indicator Of Volcanic Activity

Although it's been more than a year since Mount Augustine had its memorable eruption, work continues for University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers. The work of Alaska Volcano Observatory employees from UAF's Geophysical Institute will be appeari ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 1 2010 - 5:01pm

Arctic Sea Ice Narrowly Missed Record Low In Winter 2007, Say Researchers

The maximum extent of Arctic sea ice in winter 2007 was the second lowest on satellite record, narrowly missing the 2006 record, according to a team of University of Colorado at Boulder researchers. The Arctic sea-ice extent, which is the area of ocean co ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 7 2007 - 1:40am

High-res Images Show Details Of Earth's Structure

High-resolution images that reveal unexpected details of the Earth's internal structure are among the results reported by MIT and Purdue scientists in the March 30 issue of Science. The researchers adapted technology developed for near-surface explor ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 7 2007 - 9:32am

Space Data Unveils Evidence Of Ancient Mega-lake In Northern Darfur

Researchers from the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing used recently acquired topographic data from satellites to reveal an ancient mega-lake in the Darfur province of northwestern Sudan. Drs. Eman Ghoneim and Farouk El-Baz made the finding whil ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 11 2007 - 12:40am