Geology News And Research

A glimpse at the Earth's crust deep below the Atlantic

Sunday, November 15, 2009 00:00 MST

Long-term variations in volcanism help explain the birth, evolution and death of striking geological features called oceanic core complexes on the ocean floor, says geologist Dr. Bram Murton of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

Underground mine ventilation subject of study

Sunday, November 15, 2009 00:00 MST

Virginia Tech researchers will use gas tracers as a means of remotely ascertaining information about ventilation control systems following a mine collapse or explosion.

Scientist develops lab machine to study glacial sliding related to rising sea levels

Saturday, November 14, 2009 00:00 MST

Neal Iverson has created a glacier in a freezer that could help scientists understand how glaciers slide across their beds. That could help researchers predict how climate change accelerates glacier sliding and contributes to rising sea levels.

Controversial new climate change data

Saturday, November 14, 2009 00:00 MST

New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now.This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO2 than had been previously expected.

Cave study links climate change to California droughts

Friday, November 13, 2009 00:00 MST

California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to analysis of stalagmites from a cave in the Sierra Nevada.

Earth's early ocean cooled more than a billion years earlier than thought

Friday, November 13, 2009 00:00 MST

The global ocean covering the Earth 3.4 billion years ago was far cooler than has been thought, according to Stanford University researchers who analyzed isotope ratios in rocks formed on that ancient ocean floor. Instead of a hot primordial soup, much more tepid temperatures prevailed. Cooler temperatures may have had effects on the evolution of the early atmosphere and could have opened the door to an earlier spread of photosynthetic life forms across the planet.

Deep creep means milder, more frequent earthquakes along Southern California's San Jacinto fault

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 00:00 MST

University of Miami study by Dr. Shimon Wdowinski in this week's Nature Geosciences demonstrates that deep creep may mean milder, more frequent earthquakes along SoCal's San Jacinto fault, making it a less likely candidate for a major earthquake than its neighbor to the east, the Southern San Andreas fault.

Central Africa's tropical Congo Basin was arid, treeless in Late Jurassic

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 00:00 MST

The lush, tropical Congo Basin was much different 150 million to 200 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed Gondwana, the single continent formed by Africa and South America. Geochemical analysis of rare ancient soils from Central Africa suggests the land was arid, with a small amount of seasonal rainfall, and few bushes or trees. There's very little data for the paleoclimate of the Late Jurassic, but it's important because climate determines plant communities.

Study uses satellite imagery to identify active magma systems in East Africa's Rift Valley

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 00:00 MST

A team from University of Miami, University of El Paso and University of Rochester used Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in the African Rift. A paper, published in the November issue of Geology, focuses on the section of the rift in Kenya. Surface deformation of four active volcanoes underscore possibility for human hazard, as well as the potential of geothermal resources.

Are the Alps growing or shrinking?

Monday, November 09, 2009 00:00 MST

he Alps are growing just as quickly in height, as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result could be proven by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists.

Snows of Kilimanjaro shrinking rapidly, and likely to be lost

Sunday, November 08, 2009 00:00 MST

The remaining ice fields atop famed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining on the mountain. The findings indicate a major cause of this ice loss is very likely to be the rise in global temperatures. Although changes in cloudiness and precipitation may also play a role, they appear less important, particularly in recent decades.

New evidence supports 19th century idea on formation of oil and gas

Saturday, November 07, 2009 00:00 MST

Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks. Their study is scheduled for November/December issue of ACS' Energy and Fuels, a bi-monthly publication.

African desert rift confirmed as new ocean in the making

Friday, November 06, 2009 00:00 MST

In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial.Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans.

Earthquakes actually aftershocks of 19th century quakes

Friday, November 06, 2009 00:00 MST

When small earthquakes shake the central US, citizens often fear the rumbles are signs a big earthquake is coming. Fortunately, a new Northwestern University study instead shows that most of these earthquakes are aftershocks of big earthquakes (magnitude 7) in the New Madrid seismic zone that struck the Midwest almost 200 years ago. Aftershocks go on until the fault recovers, which takes much longer in the middle of a continent.

Glaciers subject of 3 Penn State grants

Thursday, November 05, 2009 00:00 MST

Glaciers, water under the glaciers, seismic activity and robotic rovers are all part of three National Science Foundation Polar Program grants awarded to Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of geosciences, Penn State. The grants, which total nearly a million dollars, are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.