Feature Channels: Geology

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Released: 17-Jun-2020 5:25 PM EDT
Stocks of vulnerable carbon twice as high where permafrost subsidence is factored in, new research finds
Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University researchers Elaine Pegoraro, Christina Schädel, Emily Romano, Meghan Taylor and Ted Schuur collaborated on the study, which suggests that traditional methods of permafrost thaw measurement underestimate the amount of previously-frozen carbon unlocked from warming permafrost by more than 100 percent.

Released: 16-Jun-2020 12:20 PM EDT
Mangroves at risk of collapse if emissions not reduced by 2050, international scientists predict
University of Hong Kong

An international research team comprising scientists from the University of Hong Kong, the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Macquarie University and the University of Wollongong (Australia) as well as Rutgers University (USA) has predicted that mangroves will not be able to survive with rising sea-level rates reached by 2050, if emissions are not reduced.

Released: 15-Jun-2020 10:20 AM EDT
Carbon emission from permafrost soils underestimated by 14%
University of Michigan

Picture 500 million cars stacked in rows. That's how much carbon—about 1,000 petagrams, or one billion metric tons—is locked away in Arctic permafrost.

9-Jun-2020 1:05 PM EDT
Looking Up to the Stars Can Reveal What’s Deep Below
 Johns Hopkins University

Using a new technique originally designed to explore the cosmos, scientists have unveiled structures deep inside the Earth, paving the way towards a new map revealing what Earth’s interior looks like.

Released: 11-Jun-2020 1:30 PM EDT
Utah’s Arches Continue to Whisper Their Secrets
University of Utah

Two new studies from University of Utah researchers show what can be learned from a short seismic checkup of natural rock arches and how erosion sculpts some arches—like the iconic Delicate Arch—into shapes that lend added strength.

Released: 11-Jun-2020 7:00 AM EDT
Could the Answer to Groundwater Resources Come From High in the Sky?
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A new computational approach developed by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory offers a high-tech yet simple method for estimating groundwater: it pairs high-resolution images derived by satellite with advanced computer modeling to estimate aquifer volume change from observed ground deformation.

Released: 9-Jun-2020 12:05 PM EDT
Volcanic Activity and Changes in Earth’s Mantle Were Key to Rise of Atmospheric Oxygen
University of Washington

Evidence from rocks billions of years old suggest that volcanoes played a key role in the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere of the early Earth.

Released: 8-Jun-2020 12:35 PM EDT
First Global Map of Rockfalls on the Moon
ETH Zürich

In October 2015, a spectacular rockfall occurred in the Swiss Alps: in the late morning hours, a large, snow-covered block with a volume of more than 1500 cubic meters suddenly detached from the summit of Mel de la Niva. It fell apart on its way downslope, but a number of boulders continued their journey into the valley.

Released: 4-Jun-2020 5:50 PM EDT
Study shows diamonds aren't forever
Tulane University

The study, published in Nature, was conducted by a team of international resources, including two from Tulane University.

Released: 4-Jun-2020 11:30 AM EDT
Australia's ancient geology controls the pathways of modern earthquakes
University of Melbourne

Seismological and geological studies led by University of Melbourne researchers show the 2016 magnitude 6.0 Petermann earthquake produced a landscape-shifting 21 km surface rupture.

Released: 2-Jun-2020 5:05 PM EDT
New discovery could highlight areas where earthquakes are less likely to occur
Cardiff University

Scientists from Cardiff University have discovered specific conditions that occur along the ocean floor where two tectonic plates are more likely to slowly creep past one another as opposed to drastically slipping and creating catastrophic earthquakes.

Released: 1-Jun-2020 8:00 AM EDT
What’s being done to restore wetlands?
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Restoration projects bring back the ecological and societal benefits of wetland ecosystems

Released: 28-May-2020 8:10 AM EDT
Gap between rich, poor neighborhoods growing in some cities
Ohio State University

New research provides insight into how housing prices and neighborhood values have become polarized in some urban areas, with the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer.

Released: 19-May-2020 12:55 PM EDT
New technique separates industrial noise from natural seismic signals
Los Alamos National Laboratory

For the first time, seismologists can characterize signals as a result of some industrial human activity on a continent-wide scale using cloud computing. In two recently published papers in Seismological Research Letters, scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory demonstrate how previously characterized “noise” can now be viewed as a specific signal in a large geographical area thanks to an innovative approach to seismic data analyses.

Released: 19-May-2020 12:50 PM EDT
Researchers go cuckoo: Antarctic penguins release an extreme amount of laughing gas
University of Copenhagen

More than 1600 kilometers east of the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica lies the Atlantic island of South Georgia.

Released: 18-May-2020 3:40 PM EDT
FSU Researcher Detects Unknown Submarine Landslides in Gulf of Mexico
Florida State University

A Florida State University researcher has used new detection methods to identify 85 previously unknown submarine landslides that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico between 2008 and 2015, leading to questions about the stability of oil rigs and other structures, such as pipelines built in the region.

Released: 18-May-2020 1:35 PM EDT
To decipher Earth’s evolutionary tale, researchers probe materials at deep-Earth conditions
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Scientists have developed a way to study liquid silicates at the extreme conditions found in the core-mantle boundary. This could lead to a better understanding of the Earth’s early molten days, which could even extend to other rocky planets.

Released: 15-May-2020 12:20 PM EDT
Researchers reveal largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth
University of Hawaii at Manoa

In a recently published study, researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology revealed the largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth.

Released: 8-May-2020 2:25 PM EDT
Soils Viruses: A Rich Reservoir of Diversity
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Scientists have limited knowledge of the role of viruses in soils. New research found that soils can contain many kinds of RNA viruses. Most likely infect fungi, but they could also infect bacteria, plants, and animals. The study found that soil viral populations change quickly, possibly in response to the environment.

Released: 8-May-2020 12:05 PM EDT
Sea level could rise by more than 1 meter by 2100 if emission targets are not met
Nanyang Technological University

An international study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists found that the global mean sea-level rise could exceed 1 metre by 2100 and 5 metres by 2300 if global targets on emissions are not achieved.

Released: 7-May-2020 4:40 PM EDT
Fossil reveals evidence of 200-million-year-old 'squid' attack
University of Plymouth

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest known example of a squid-like creature attacking its prey, in a fossil dating back almost 200 million years.

Released: 5-May-2020 7:05 AM EDT
Arctic 'shorefast' sea ice threatened by climate change, study finds
Brown University

For people who live in the Arctic, sea ice that forms along shorelines is a vital resource that connects isolated communities and provides access to hunting and fishing grounds.

Released: 27-Apr-2020 3:25 PM EDT
Automating complex 3D modeling
Sandia National Laboratories

A team of researchers led by Sandia National Laboratories have invented a first-of-its-kind software for scientists to create accurate digital representations of complex objects. The software, VoroCrust, incorporates 3D polyhedral cells called Voronoi cells to create the representations.

Released: 24-Apr-2020 1:45 PM EDT
Big data reveals we're running out of time to save environment and ourselves
University of Melbourne

The use of big data can help scientists' chart not only the degradation of the environment but can be part of the solution to achieve sustainability, according to a new commentary paper.

Released: 21-Apr-2020 3:10 PM EDT
Expansion of world's cities creating 'new ecological niches' for infectious diseases
University of Lincoln

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, and York University, Canada, investigated how the global trend towards urbanisation has contributed to the rise in the total number of disease outbreaks per decade since the 1980s.

   
Released: 16-Apr-2020 12:00 PM EDT
Climate change: Extreme coastal flooding events in the US expected to rise
Scientific Reports

Extreme flooding events in some US coastal areas could double every five years if sea levels continue to rise as expected, a study published in Scientific Reports suggests. Today's 'once-in-a-lifetime' extreme water levels -- which are currently reached once every 50 years -- may be exceeded daily along most of the US coastline before the end of the 21st century.

Released: 10-Apr-2020 1:05 PM EDT
Staying home? A geography expert in Buffalo creates a customizable 'coloring book' of city neighborhoods
University at Buffalo

Anyone can use the map. Kids can use the map as a learning activity by identifying their house; drawing in missing features, like cars, dogs or potholes; or color-coding their neighborhood according to themes such as the number of trees on a block.

Released: 3-Apr-2020 3:25 PM EDT
Lacustrine ecosystems needed 10 million years to recover after end-permian mass extinction
Chinese Academy of Sciences

The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME), approximately 252 million years ago (Ma), caused a serious marine and terrestrial ecosystem crisis, and about 75% of terrestrial biological species disappeared. How long did it take for terrestrial ecosystems to recover?

3-Apr-2020 8:10 AM EDT
The Coronavirus and The Cities
New York University

New data mapping shows that the path of the pandemic in U.S. is predictable, with date of outbreak and population density cited as key factors.

     
Released: 1-Apr-2020 1:45 PM EDT
Traces of ancient rainforest in Antarctica point to a warmer prehistoric world
Imperial College London

Researchers have found evidence of rainforests near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the climate was exceptionally warm at the time.

Released: 31-Mar-2020 4:15 PM EDT
For grounded forecast of volcanic unrest, spy from above
Cornell University

To better predict explosive, fiery volcanic activity, Cornell geologists have proposed a new classification system to discern the stages of a volcano’s unrest – as seen from smart, perceptive satellites.

Released: 31-Mar-2020 3:10 PM EDT
Assessing Forests From Afar
University of Delaware

A new study led by the University of Delaware’s Pinki Mondal recommends that in addition to using large swaths of coarse satellite data to evaluate forests on a national scale, it is important for countries to prioritize areas such as national parks and wildlife refuges and use finer scale data in those protected areas to make sure that they are maintaining their health and are being reported on accurately.

Released: 20-Mar-2020 12:50 PM EDT
Impact of a second Dust Bowl would be felt worldwide
Frontiers

The American Dust Bowl of the 1930s - captured by the novels of John Steinbeck - was an environmental and socio-economic disaster that worsened the Great Depression.

Released: 19-Mar-2020 12:15 PM EDT
Late Cretaceous dinosaur-dominated ecosystem
Geological Society of America (GSA)

A topic of considerable interest to paleontologists is how dinosaur-dominated ecosystems were structured, how dinosaurs and co-occurring animals were distributed across the landscape, how they interacted with one another, and how these systems compared to ecosystems today.

Released: 18-Mar-2020 12:20 PM EDT
Greenland shed ice at unprecedented rate in 2019; Antarctica continues to lose mass
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., March 18, 2020 – During the exceptionally warm Arctic summer of 2019, Greenland lost 600 billion tons of ice, enough to raise global sea levels by 2.2 millimeters in two months. On the opposite pole, Antarctica continued to lose mass in the Amundsen Sea Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula but saw some relief in the form of increased snowfall in Queen Maud Land, in the eastern part of the continent.

Released: 12-Mar-2020 1:30 PM EDT
Arrival delayed! Water, carbon and nitrogen were not immediately supplied to Earth
University of Cologne

Spearheaded by earth scientists of the University of Cologne, an international team of geologists has found evidence that a large proportion of the elements that are important for the formation of oceans and life, such as water, carbon and nitrogen, were delivered to Earth very late in its history.

6-Mar-2020 8:00 AM EST
Microbes far beneath the seafloor rely on recycling to survive
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reveal how microorganisms could survive in rocks nestled thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor in the lower oceanic crust.

2-Mar-2020 11:20 AM EST
Unstable Rock Pillars Near Reservoirs Can Produce Dangerous Water Waves
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

In many coastal zones and gorges, unstable cliffs often fail when the foundation rock beneath them is crushed. Large water waves can be created, threatening human safety. In this week’s Physics of Fluids, scientists reveal the mechanism by which these cliffs collapse, and how large, tsunami-like waves are created. Few experimental studies of this phenomenon have been carried out, so this work represents valuable new data that can be used to protect from impending disaster.

Released: 2-Mar-2020 11:50 AM EST
Geologists determine early Earth was a ‘water world’ by studying exposed ocean crust
Iowa State University

Geologists studied exposed, 3.2-billion-year-old ocean crust in Australia and used that rock data to build a quantitative, inverse model of ancient seawater. The model indicates the early Earth could have been a "water world" with submerged continents.

Released: 28-Feb-2020 1:20 PM EST
Study reveals Missoula Floods impact on past abrupt climate changes
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A new study shows for the first time how massive flood events in the eastern North Pacific Ocean—known as the Missoula Floods—may have in part triggered abrupt climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere during the last deglaciation (approximately 19,000–11,700 years ago). The findings are contrary to the long held notion that cooling was primarily driven by changes in North Atlantic circulation.

25-Feb-2020 1:15 PM EST
Complex local conditions keep fields of dunes from going active all at once
University of Wisconsin–Madison

New research on sand dunes in China describes how even neighboring dunes can long remain in different and seemingly conflicting states — confounding the assessment of stabilization efforts and masking the effects of climate change.

Released: 25-Feb-2020 8:15 AM EST
NUS-led study suggests that mangrove forests provide cause for conservation optimism, for now
National University of Singapore (NUS)

An international team of researchers led by Associate Professor Daniel Friess and Dr Erik Yando of the National University of Singapore has found that globally, mangrove loss rates have reduced by almost an order of magnitude between the late 20th and early 21st century – from what was previously estimated at one to three per cent per year, to about 0.3 to 0.6 per cent per year, thanks in large part to successful mangrove conservation efforts.

Released: 21-Feb-2020 11:10 AM EST
How earthquakes deform gravity
GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam

Lightning - one, two, three - and thunder. For centuries, people have estimated the distance of a thunderstorm from the time between lightning and thunder.

Released: 19-Feb-2020 2:20 PM EST
To help students think in 3D, a geologist turns to paper model making
University at Buffalo

“Geology is a 3D science, but everything we give to students is on a 2D piece of paper,” says University at Buffalo geologist Chris Lowry, creator of the Foldable Aquifer Project. “With the foldable aquifers, students don’t have to imagine what a 2D drawing looks like in 3D.”

Released: 12-Feb-2020 12:05 PM EST
Ancient Antarctic ice melt increased sea levels by 3+ meters -- and it could happen again
University of New South Wales

Mass melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was a major cause of high sea levels during a period known as the Last Interglacial (129,000-116,000 years ago), an international team of scientists led by UNSW's Chris Turney has found.

Released: 10-Feb-2020 3:10 PM EST
Adding sewage sludge on soils does not promote antibiotic resistance, Swedish study shows
University of Gothenburg

Some of the antibiotics we use end up in sewage sludge, together with a variety of antibiotic resistant bacteria present in feces.

Released: 10-Feb-2020 6:45 AM EST
Interactive map shows worldwide spread of coronavirus
University of Washington

University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao has created an interactive map, updated every few hours, of coronavirus cases around the world.

   


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