Geophysics News

Tamu Massif: Largest Volcano on Earth Discovered Beneath Pacific Ocean

3D map of the Tamu Massif formation (IODP).
Sep 9, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

Oceanographers led by Dr William Sager from the University of Houston have discovered what they say is the biggest single volcano yet documented on our planet. 3D map of the Tamu Massif formation (IODP). The volcano, named Tamu Massif after Texas A&M University, is believed to be about 145 million years old. It became inactive within a few million years after it was formed. The top of Tamu Massif lies about 6,500 feet (1,981 m) below the ocean...

read more...
Redoubt volcano as seen from Ninilchik, AK, on May 9, 2009 (© Brenda Cruickshank / Alaska Volcano Observatory)

Some Volcanoes Scream Before Eruption at High Frequencies, Scientists Say

Jul 15, 2013 by News Staff

Volcanologists analyzing data on a 2009 eruption sequence at Alaska’s Redoubt Volcano have detected unusually high frequencies of a signal called harmonic...

Satellite data shows the per cent amount that foliage cover has changed around the world from 1982 to 2010 (Randall Donohue et al)

Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels Cause Desert Greening, Satellite Observations Reveal

Jul 9, 2013 by News Staff

According to new research reported in the Geophysical Research Letters, increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the past three decades have caused...

A new study finds a decline in snow and ice on Mount Everest, second peak from left, and the national park surrounding it (Pavel Novak)

Researchers Find Decline in Snow, Ice on Mount Everest

May 20, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Italian scientists have found abundant evidence that the world’s tallest peak is shedding its frozen cloak. A new study finds a decline in snow and ice...

The layers of the Earth and their temperatures (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)

Scientists: Earth’s Core Hotter than Previously Thought

Apr 29, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

French researchers have determined that the temperature of the Earth’s core is 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit (6,000 oC) – about 1,800 oF (1,000 oC)...

Thunderstorms can produce an exotic kind of electrical breakdown that involves high-energy electrons and their anti-matter equivalent called positrons (University of Minnesota)

Scientists Explain Invisible ‘Dark Lightning’

Apr 11, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Researchers from the Florida Institute of Technology’s Department of Physics and Space Science have developed a new model of exactly how terrestrial...

Scientists have found a field of what could be the world's largest seafloor pockmarks. The largest of these crater-like structures is 6.8 miles in diameter and 328 feet deep (GNS Science)

Mysterious Giant Crater-like Structures Found near New-Zealand

Apr 9, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A multinational team of researchers led by marine geophysicist Dr Bryan Davy from GNS Science has found what may be the world’s biggest pockmarks...

An image shows a comet striking coastal Yucatan, forming the giant Chicxulub impact crater and causing the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs (Don Davis / NASA)

U.S. Scientists Say Comet, not Asteroid, Wiped out Dinosaurs

Apr 5, 2013 by News Staff

An object that killed the dinosaurs roughly 66 million years ago may have been a comet, rather than an asteroid, say researchers Prof Jason Moore and Prof...

Chicxulub Asteroid May Have Caused Global Firestorm 66M Years Ago

Mar 28, 2013 by News Staff

Chicxulub, an asteroid that collided with the Earth 66 million years ago and is believed to wipe out the dinosaurs, may have triggered a global firestorm...

The Isabella anomaly, IA, is at the same depth as other fragments of the Farallon plate under Oregon and Washington (Forsyth lab / Brown University)

Scientists Find Remains of Ancient Tectonic Plate beneath California

Mar 20, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Geophysicists suggest that large chunks of an ancient tectonic plate known as the Farallon Plate are still present under parts of central California and...

Geoscientists Discover Microcontinent Hidden Under Lava in Indian Ocean

Feb 25, 2013 by Natali Anderson

According to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, the islands Reunion and Mauritius are hiding a Precambrian microcontinent...

Mystery of Ball Lightning Solved?

Oct 12, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Australian scientists has proposed a new mathematical theory to explain the mysterious phenomenon known as ball lightning. Sightings of ball...

Listening to Sounds of Northern Lights

Jul 10, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists from the Aalto University in Finland has located where the sounds associated with the northern lights, or aurora borealis, are created. The...

Unique Microorganisms Found in Atacama Region

Jun 11, 2012 by News Staff

A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in South America has revealed a handful of bacteria, fungi, and other...

Diamonds and Chocolate: New Volcanic Process Discovered

May 16, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from Britain and Australia have discovered a previously unrecognized volcanic process, similar to one that is used in chocolate manufacturing,...

Antarctica’s Mountains Mystery Solved

Nov 17, 2011 by James Freeman

The birth of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains buried beneath the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet — a puzzle mystifying scientists since their discovery...

Geophysicist to Explain the Virginia Earthquake

Aug 26, 2011 by James Freeman

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck central Virginia on August 23 was a rare event, but not a surprising one. “This is an area where small earthquakes...

© 2011-2026. Sci.News. All Rights Reserved. | Back to top