Flow chart showing the workflow followed in this study. Credit: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GC010867 Most of the earthquakes rumbling under the West’s Great Basin come in surges, clustered together in time and place. Scientists call these seismic groups “swarms,” which are a distinct category from the numerous aftershocks following a big shake, such…
Category: Earth
600-million-year-old ocean water from Himalayas provides clues to Earth's past
Top: Field exposures of magnesite near Chandak hills, Kumaon. Bottom: Microphotographs of ocean water trapped in magnesite crystals. Credit: Prakash Chandra Arya High up in the Himalayas, scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Niigata University, Japan, have discovered droplets of water trapped in mineral deposits that were likely left behind from an…
Terrestrial ecosystems can significantly offset human carbon emissions, finds new analysis
Credit: Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s43017-023-00456-3 The world’s forests, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems have played a substantial role in offsetting human carbon emissions—a capability that UC Berkeley researchers say would be threatened by continued global change. The assessment, published today as a new review paper in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment,…
Petrified trees reveal Yellowstone geyser's ongoing battle with drought
Steamboat Geyser erupts and sends a jet of water and steam above the treeline. This mineral-rich water damages trees that grow within spraying distance of the geyser. Credit: Mara H. Reed Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser has had decades-long dry spells brought on by a history of droughts, a new study finds. With global temperatures on the…
Research links climate change to 'lazier' jet stream, leading to extreme weather
High-pressure ridge over Texas, 2018. Credit: Weatherbell Jet streams are relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper atmosphere, typically occurring around 30,000 feet, and blowing west to east. Their normal flows lead to week-to-week weather variations, modulated in the mid-latitudes by ridges and troughs in the jet stream. A high-pressure ridge, for example,…
The Pacific slope of Peru is greening, but it's not good news
Exaggerated 3D model of the Peruvian Andes with an overlay of the greening strip, the green area represents an increase in the Enhanced Vegetation Index with darker areas corresponding to a larger relative greening. Credit: Hugo Lepage, Cavendish Laboratory Research led by physicists and geographers at the University of Cambridge has unveiled some large-scale changes…
Researchers construct model to predict frequency of heat wave and air pollution co-occurrence in China
Spatial distribution and temporal variation of HWOP frequency. (A) Spatial distribution of mean HWOP frequency in summer (days/year) over 2005 to 2021 in Central and Eastern China. (B) Interannual variation of original (blue line) and detrended (red line) HWOP frequencies (# per month) in Central and Eastern China. (C) Intermonthly variation of original (blue bars)…
Gloomy climate calculation: Scientists predict a collapse of the Atlantic ocean current to happen mid-century
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Important ocean currents that redistribute heat, cold and precipitation between the tropics and the northernmost parts of the Atlantic region will shut down around the year 2060 if current greenhouse gas emissions persist. This is the conclusion based on new calculations from the University of Copenhagen that contradict the latest report…
New proof that Earth's plate tectonics recently underwent a fundamental change
Sampling of a primordial mantle reservoir by mantle plume as evidenced by Ti and Sr isotopic records of the modern OIBs from the Iceland, Samoa and Caroline hotspots. Data of the OIB samples from Cape Verde and Azores in ref. 3 are shown as white circles. The N-MORB and E-MORB samples from refs. 3,4 are shown, for…
Seismological study provides insight into composition and thermal state of Earth's lower mantle
Spatial distribution of mineral composition, iron content, and temperature at varying depths. Credit: University of Science and Technology of China A research team led by Professor Wu Zhongqing from the School of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made a significant…