Geophysics News

Geoscientists Record ‘Boomerang’ Earthquake in Atlantic Ocean

The 2016 7.1 earthquake on the Romanche Fracture Zone in the equatorial Atlantic. The map location is given by the red rectangle on the inset globe. Image credit: Hicks et al, doi: 10.1038/s41561-020-0619-9.
Aug 12, 2020 by News Staff

Earthquakes occur when rocks suddenly break on a fault — a boundary between two blocks or plates. During large earthquakes, the breaking of rock can spread down the fault line. Now, geoscientists have recorded a ‘boomerang’ earthquake in the equatorial Atlantic, where the rupture initially spreads away from initial break but then turns and runs back the other way at higher speeds. The 2016 7.1 earthquake on the Romanche Fracture Zone in...

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The magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have immeasurable impact on every day life. The field can be thought of as a huge bubble, protecting us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth in solar winds. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

Study: South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly is a Recurring Feature

Jul 22, 2020 by News Staff

Strange behavior of Earth’s magnetic field in the South Atlantic region isn’t a sign of the upcoming magnetic field reversal, according to new research...

Earth’s magnetic field lines. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Can Switch Direction 10 Times Faster than Previously Thought

Jul 7, 2020 by News Staff

Changes in the direction of Earth’s internally generated magnetic field may take place 10 times faster than previously thought, according to new research...

Earthquakes send sound waves through the Earth. Seismograms record the echoes as those waves travel along the core-mantle boundary, diffracting and bending around dense rock structures. Kim et al provide the first broad view of these structures, revealing them to be much more widespread than previously known. Image credit: Doyeon Kim, University of Maryland.

Geophysicists Find Dense Rock Structures near Earth’s Core

Jun 16, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study, a team of geophysicists from the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and Tel Aviv University has analyzed echoes of seismic...

Yang & Song found that refracted waves (blue), rather than reflected waves (purple) change over time, providing the best evidence yet that Earth’s inner core is rotating. Image credit: Michael Vincent.

Earth’s Inner Core is Rotating, Study Says

May 13, 2020 by News Staff

The inner core of the Earth is rotating at about 0.05-0.1 degrees per year, according to an analysis of seismic data from repeating earthquakes published...

Lava streaming from an active vent during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano. Image credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

Extreme Rainfall Triggered 2018 Eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Researchers Say

Apr 23, 2020 by News Staff

The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii was likely initiated by prolonged, and at times extreme, rainfall in the months leading up to the event,...

An artistic cross-section through forming Earth’s crust approximately 3-4 billion years ago. Image credit: Alec Brenner, Harvard University.

Earth’s Plate Tectonics Began Over 3.2 Billion Years Ago

Apr 23, 2020 by News Staff

An analysis of rocks from the Honeyeater Basalt of the East Pilbara Craton, a stable block of crust in Western Australia, provides strong evidence that...

The internal sctructure of Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Université Paris Diderot / Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.

‘Basal Magma Ocean’ Generated Early Earth’s Magnetic Field, New Research Suggests

Mar 18, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, a team of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the...

Sand dunes. Image credit: Nicola Giordano.

Sand Dunes Can Communicate with Each Other, Says New Study

Feb 5, 2020 by News Staff

As they move, sand dunes interact with and repel their downstream neighbors, according to a new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters....

The auroral dunes appear as a green-tinged and even pattern of waves resembling a striped veil of clouds or dunes on a sandy beach. Image credit: Kari Saari.

Auroral Dunes: Citizen Scientists Discover New Form of Aurora

Jan 30, 2020 by News Staff

Named the auroral dunes, the phenomenon was discovered by citizen scientists in Finland; it occurs at a relatively low altitude of 100 km (62 miles), in...

A researcher collects gas samples at Soda Springs in the Philippines. Image credit: Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin.

Researchers Discover Bubbling CO2 Hotspot in Philippines

Jan 23, 2020 by News Staff

Groundwater flow from land to sea could have important coastal impacts but it is usually unrecognized. Delicate reefs may be particularly sensitive to...

The newfound petit-spot volcano near Minamitorishima Island, Japan. Image credit: Tohoku University.

New ‘Petit-Spot’ Volcano Discovered beneath Pacific Ocean

Dec 30, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Japanese scientists has discovered a 3-million-year-old petit-spot submarine volcano in one of the oldest parts of the Pacific Plate. The newfound...

The World Magnetic Model 2020. Image credit: NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information / British Geological Survey.

Earth’s North Magnetic Pole Keeps Drifting towards Siberia, Latest World Magnetic Model Shows

Dec 27, 2019 by News Staff

Researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and the British Geological Survey earlier this month released a new version of...

Study: Iron Crystals Accumulate and Compact into Thick Layer on Top of Earth’s Inner Core

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

Tiny iron particles fall from Earth’s molten outer core and pile on top of the planet’s solid inner core, according to new research published in the...

Stormquakes offshore North America and seismic stations from 2006 to 2015. The located stormquakes are shown as the red circles, and the seismic stations are shown as triangles. Due to the location uncertainties, some of the apparent stormquake locations are beyond the coastlines. The yellow contours show regions where stormquakes were detected. The orange contour shows a comparison region offshore Mexico that has been struck by hurricanes but without excitation of stormquakes. The insert shows earthquakes (blue dots) reported in the International Seismological Centre catalog with magnitudes greater than 3 and shallower than 40 km from 2006 to 2015. Image credit: Fan et al, doi: 10.1029/2019GL084217.

New Geophysical Phenomenon Discovered: Stormquakes

Oct 22, 2019 by News Staff

Energetic storms generate strong ocean waves, which can interact with shallow seafloor features located near the edge of continental shelves known as ocean...

Earth’s magnetic field connects the North Pole (orange lines) with the South Pole (blue lines) in this NASA-created image. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Most Recent Reversal of Earth’s Magnetic Field Lasted 22,000 Years

Aug 8, 2019 by News Staff

Earth’s magnetic field is produced in the planet’s liquid iron outer core as it spins around the solid inner core, and protects the surface from harmful...

Earth’s internal structure: dense solid metallic core, viscous metallic outer core, mantle and silicate based crust. Image credit: NASA.

Material from Earth’s Core Has Been Leaking into Mantle for Billions of Years

Jul 12, 2019 by The Conversation

Earth’s magnetic field protects and makes our planet habitable by stopping harmful high-energy particles from space, including from the Sun. The source...

STEVE: Researchers Identify Mechanisms that Cause Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon

Apr 29, 2019 by News Staff

STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is a thin ribbon of pinkish-red or mauve-colored light stretching from east to west, farther south...

Tilles et al observed a possible new way that lightning forms called fast negative breakdown.

Fast Negative Breakdown Triggers Lightning Flashes, New Observations Show

Apr 12, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center, the Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Earth Networks and NASA’s...

Close-up view of an iceberg near Mawson Station, November 20, 1988, much of it covered by snow. At the far left is bubbly blue-white glacier ice; the center of the picture shows the clear, dark green, bubble-free marine ice. The boundary between glacier ice and marine ice is nearly vertical. Image credit: Warren et al, doi: 10.1029/2018JC014479.

Study: Color of Green Icebergs is Caused by Iron-Oxide Minerals

Mar 5, 2019 by News Staff

Pure ice is blue because ice absorbs more red light than blue light. Most icebergs appear white or blue when floating in seawater, but since the early...

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