Geophysics News - SciTechDaily

Is There Anybody Out There? The Hunt for Life in Cosmic Oceans

Mike Peña, University of California - Santa Cruz — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:36:17 +0000

Researchers from UC Santa Cruz suggest that low-temperature hydrothermal vents, similar to those found on Earth, could exist on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s moons, potentially supporting life. Their study used computer models to simulate conditions on these extraterrestrial seafloors, considering factors like gravity and heat. The findings highlight the significance of understanding Earth’s own hydrothermal [...]

Subsurface Oceans on Mars? NASA’s InSight Uncovers Vast Reservoir of Liquid Water

University of California - Berkeley — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 03:01:42 +0000

Geophysicists using seismic data from NASA’s Insight lander have discovered a significant underground water reservoir on Mars, potentially enough to have once filled ancient oceans. This reservoir, trapped within the mid-crust of Mars, suggests that the red planet’s water did not entirely escape into space but was absorbed into its crust, altering previous theories about [...]

Exploring Greenland’s Underwater Glaciers: Scientist’s Groundbreaking Mission To Predict Sea Level Rise

University of Texas at Austin — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 10:48:29 +0000

A team from the University of Texas is conducting a groundbreaking study on Greenland’s glaciers to understand the underwater mechanisms of glacier melting and the role of sediments in slowing this process. Their findings will provide insights into future sea level rises, essential for preparing coastal communities globally. A team of scientists from the University [...]

What Really Fuels Iceland’s Spectacular Volcanic Eruptions?

Uppsala University — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:37:25 +0000

New findings suggest that the 2021 eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula involved magma formed from the crust rather than directly from the mantle, overturning previous assumptions. Geochemical analyses indicate a crustal source for the lava, with similar magma behaviors observed in other recent global eruptions. Initially, the recent lavas on the Reykjanes Peninsula were thought [...]

New Study Uncovers Key Error in Climate Models: Earth’s Albedo Overestimated

University of California - Irvine — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 21:25:17 +0000

Their revision incorporates the impact of previously neglected physical properties in ice. As global temperatures rise due to human-induced climate change, precise computerized climate models will be crucial in shedding light on how our climate will continue to evolve in the coming years. In a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a [...]

Climate Change Is Slowing Earth’s Rotation

ETH Zurich — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 13:06:02 +0000

Melting polar ice due to climate change is redistributing Earth’s mass, slowing its rotation and slightly extending the day, as highlighted by ETH Zurich’s studies supported by NASA. This indicates a greater human influence on Earth’s rotational dynamics than previously recognized. Climate change is leading to the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica. As [...]

Deformation Imaging: Revolutionizing Our View of Earth’s Subterranean Mysteries

University of Texas at Austin — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 14:33:19 +0000

A new computational technique developed enables the use of surface mapping technologies like GPS to analyze subsurface geological structures. This method, termed deformation imaging, offers insights into the rigidity of the Earth’s crust and mantle, enhancing our understanding of geological processes like earthquakes. The technique has already provided a detailed view of subsurface areas during [...]

Marsquakes: A New Way to Discover Hidden Water Deep Underground on Mars

Penn State — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 04:35:01 +0000

Penn State scientists are investigating the use of seismoelectric signals from marsquakes to identify deep underground water on Mars. This technique, based on detecting electromagnetic fields generated by seismic waves, could provide new insights into Martian aquifers and water distribution. Liquid water on Mars, if present today, might be buried too deeply for detection by [...]

A Major Earthquake Caused One of the Largest Rivers on Earth To Abruptly Change Course – Could It Happen Again?

Columbia Climate School — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:21:09 +0000

A heavily populated area may experience compounding effects of shaking. A recent study published in Nature Communications reveals that a massive earthquake 2,500 years ago dramatically shifted the course of one of the world’s largest rivers. This previously undocumented seismic event rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River into present-day, densely populated Bangladesh, an [...]

Space Detection of Earthly Anomalies: Groundbreaking New Technique Unveils Early Earthquake Signs

De Gruyter — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 03:05:10 +0000

Research identifies clear electromagnetic anomalies from a variety of satellite data, potentially aiding the development of early warning systems for earthquakes. According to a new study in De Gruyter’s Journal of Applied Geodesy, earthquakes may betray their impending presence much earlier than previously thought through a variety of anomalies present in the ground, atmosphere, and ionosphere [...]

Inescapable Conclusion: USC Researchers Prove Earth’s Core Is Losing Speed

Will Kwong, USC — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 03:06:18 +0000

A new study provides clear evidence that the Earth’s inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010. USC scientists have discovered that the Earth’s inner core is slowing down relative to the planet’s surface, a phenomenon that started around 2010 after decades of the opposite trend. This significant shift was detected through detailed seismic [...]

Johns Hopkins Scientists Discover Unusual New Hero in Evolution

Johns Hopkins University — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 16:26:19 +0000

Prehistoric worms’ burrowing activities on ocean floors released oxygen, fostering the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, according a new study. One of Earth’s most consequential bursts of biodiversity—a 30-million-year period of explosive evolutionary changes spawning innumerable new species—may have the most modest of creatures to thank for the vital stage in life’s history: worms. The digging [...]

Jupiter’s Colossal Cyclones Driven by Earth-Like Atmospheric Processes

University of California - San Diego — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 09:00:59 +0000

An analysis of NASA satellite images of cyclones on Jupiter reveals that the storms are fueled by processes similar to those acting on Earth. New research reveals that the roiling storms at Jupiter’s polar regions are powered by processes known to physicists studying Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. The geophysical commonalities spanning the 452 million miles [...]

A Relic of Ancient Oceans and Planetary Collisions – Scientists Shed New Light on Earth’s Mysterious D” Layer

Science China Press — Thu, 30 May 2024 08:18:22 +0000

New research suggests the mysterious D” layer at Earth’s core-mantle boundary might have formed from remnants of an early colossal impact, with iron-rich peroxide playing a key role in its unique and enduring features. Deep within Earth, there lies a mysterious layer called the D” layer. Located roughly 3,000 kilometers down, this zone sits just [...]

The Largest Ice Shelf in Antarctica Is Behaving Oddly

Washington University in St. Louis — Sat, 25 May 2024 21:54:04 +0000

The activity of an ice stream has caused the Ross Ice Shelf to suddenly displace. In Antarctica, massive glaciers are constantly shifting. Ice streams, which act like conveyor belts, are the pathways of accelerated movement that transport the majority of the ice and sediment debris from these extensive glaciers towards the ocean. One such ice [...]

Robotic Explorers Uncover Unexpected Ancient Origins of Strange Seafloor Formations

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute — Tue, 21 May 2024 13:00:35 +0000

Data from MBARI’s advanced underwater robots point to erosion during intermittent sediment flows as the mechanism maintaining these circular depressions for hundreds of thousands of years. Recent research conducted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has uncovered that sediment flows, rather than methane gas eruptions, are responsible for maintaining large, circular depressions known [...]

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Uncovers Signs of an Earth-Like Environment on Ancient Mars

Los Alamos National Laboratory — Sat, 04 May 2024 08:16:52 +0000

Manganese-rich sandstones discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover indicate there were once habitable conditions in the Gale Crater on Mars. A research team using the ChemCam instrument onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered higher-than-usual amounts of manganese in lakebed rocks within Gale Crater on Mars, which indicates that the sediments were formed in a river, delta, or [...]

Challenging Previous Theory: Mantle Heat Rejuvenated Earth’s Crust 3 Billion Years Ago

Rebecca Owen, American Geophysical Union — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:20:44 +0000

Information from igneous zircon molecules gives researchers new insight into the workings of the inner Earth. Little is known about the nature and evolution of Earth’s continental crust before a few billion years ago because cratons, or stable swaths of the lithosphere more than 2–3 billion years old, are relatively rare. Zircon’s Role in Geological [...]

Unleashing Earth’s Fury: How Next-Gen Geothermal Could Redefine Renewable Energy

Quaise Energy — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 09:44:18 +0000

Tapping into the heat below our feet as a form of renewable, clean energy has been attracting greater attention as the world moves toward alternatives to fossil fuels in the battle against climate change. A 58-page report released on March 18 by the U.S. Department of Energy focuses on “the potential of next-generation geothermal power [...]

The End of Nuclear Secrecy? Underground Weapon Tests “Now Detectable With 99% Accuracy”

Royal Astronomical Society — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 23:03:52 +0000

Thanks to a significant scientific breakthrough in detection methods, conducting secret underground nuclear tests could become obsolete. A team of Earth scientists and statisticians say they can now tell with 99 percent accuracy if such an explosion has taken place. This is up from 82 percent and is based on a dataset of known tests [...]

Disrupted Cycles: The Hidden Climate Crisis in Our Rivers

American Association for the Advancement of Science — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 06:19:21 +0000

A recent study has found that climate change is impacting the timing of river flows, especially in the higher northern regions. River flow patterns, which shift with the seasons, are crucial for managing floods and droughts, ensuring water security, and maintaining the health of global biodiversity and ecosystems. Although recent studies have shown that climate [...]

Urgent Climate Red Flag: Global Warming Is Disrupting the Natural Flow of Rivers

University of Leeds — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 23:54:35 +0000

New research indicates that climate change is altering the seasonal river flows in the far northern regions of America, Russia, and Europe, presenting risks to water security and natural ecosystems. A team of scientists led by the University of Leeds analyzed historical data from river gauging stations across the globe and found that 21% of [...]

Rethinking Earth’s Surface: Geoscientists Discover Hidden Faults of the Pacific Plate

University of Toronto — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 21:16:56 +0000

Research indicates that the Pacific Plate is being torn apart at undersea plateaus across the ocean, due to the weight of the oceanic plate subducting along the Western Pacific Ring of Fire. Recent research conducted by geoscientists from the University of Toronto is refining the long-standing model of plate tectonics, which suggests that the oceanic [...]

“A Total Surprise” – Geologists Uncover New Origin Story for Deadly Seattle Fault

American Geophysical Union — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:21:08 +0000

Magnetic evidence indicates that the dangerous Seattle fault zone may have originated from the continent’s edge splitting in half over 50 million years ago, offering a potential new explanation for the fault’s formation. The Seattle fault zone consists of a series of shallow faults cutting across the Puget Sound lowlands, posing a risk of destructive [...]