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Dec 21, 2024

Ancient Yellowstone Eruptions Bigger Than Thought

Colossal supervolcano eruptions blasted the region of the Snake River Valley millions of years ago, geological research shows. Discovery News - Top Stories

Is the anthropocene a formal unit of geologic time scale?

Reserachers tackle the hot topic of whether to define a new 'Anthropocene' epoch as a formal unit of the geologic time scale. ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

'Space Archaeologists' Show Spike in Looting at Egypt's Ancient Sites

Scientists used satellite images to monitor pyramids, tombs and buried cities from 2002 to 2013 Scientific American

The aftermath of 1492: Study shows how Native American depopulation impacted ecology

Among the Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico, disease didn't break out until nearly a century after their first contact with Europeans, following the establishment of mission churches in the seventeenth century, a team of resea ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Many dead after another powerful earthquake hits Nepal

At least 48 people have died and another 1,261 have been injured in Nepal due to the latest large earthquake there, said Nepalese government spokesman Minendra Rijal. Thirty-two of the Asian nation's 75 districts were affected.

Lava Lake On Kilauea Volcano Is Seriously Close To Overflowing

A lava lake on Hawaii's Big Island is mere feet from overflowing. As of Monday morning, the lava's surface was within seven feet of the lake's rim, the highest it's been since the current eruption began in 2008. "Magma is risin

Officials: Death toll from Nepal earthquake has surpassed 4,000

Shelter, fuel, food, medicine, power, news, workers — Nepal's earthquake-hit capital was short on everything Monday as its people searched for lost loved ones, sorted through rubble for their belongings and struggled to provide

Too Much Carbon Dioxide May Have Caused Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction

So much for carbon dioxide being a “harmless” gas.The worst mass extinction in Earth’s history may have been caused by huge amounts of carbon dioxide that accumulated in the atmosphere and the ocean after colossal volcanic e

CU-Boulder scientists, colleagues probe methane emission mystery in Four Corners region

This is a joint release of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), NOAA, NASA and the

Bizarre Russian rock contains 30,000 diamonds

Here's the perfect Christmas gift for the person who has everything: A red and green rock, ornament-sized, stuffed with 30,000 teeny-tiny diamonds. The sparkly chunk was pulled from Russia's huge Udachnaya diamond mine and donated

Small 'Underwater Pompeii' Found Off Greek Island

Remains of an ancient settlement, complete with a ruined pottery workshop, have been found on the bottom of the Aegean sea off the small island of Delos, the Greek ministry of culture has announced. Dubbed by the Greek media “a

New Earthquake Alarm Could Save Thousands

In September 1985 a devastating earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale smashed into Mexico City killing 10,000 people and leaving parts of the city in ruins. Since then, the populous Latin American nation of 122 million has

Lava Threatens Homes

With a mixture of resignation and dread, residents here are watching this gray and orange advance, this 2,000-degree river of molten rock. Each passing hour, lava from Kilauea Volcano is inching closer to their homes in Pahoa

Supervolcano Cleared in Neanderthals' Demise

Neanderthals disappeared from Europe 40,000 years ago, about the same time as the region's biggest volcanic blast in the last 200,000 years. But don't blame the volcano, a new study suggests. Most of the eruption's climate-cool Discovery News - Earth News

$400K Gold Nugget

The term nugget doesn't quite do it justice. This thing is more like a whopper. A more than 6-pound chunk of gold sold over the weekend for $400,000, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. An anonymous Bay Area buyer snatch

Seattle's Suburban Airport

The Navy needed an airport, and by being in the upper left corner of the country, Seattle was a natural place for it. They found a site out of town, and Seattle had one of its first airports. Nope, not Sea-Tac. Not Boeing Field, e

Finding Fracking Fluids In The Environment

New geochemical tracers can identify any hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids that could have spilled into the environment, according to field tests at a spill site in West Virginia and downstream from an oil and gas brine wastewa

Earthquake shakes Anchorage, Alaska, measuring 6.2 magnitude

An earthquake registering a preliminary 6.2 magnitude was centered 81 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. "It was kind of a long one," Anchorage Police spokeswoman J

Heat, drought cited in massive Mount Shasta mudslide

Glaciers are not known as fast-moving objects. Yet on Saturday, things started happening very quickly at a glacier high on the slopes of Mount Shasta. At about 3 p.m. Saturday, wilderness rangers working for the Shasta-Trinity

Philippine Volcano Forces Thousands to Flee

Thousands of people living near the Philippines' most active volcano began leaving their homes on Tuesday as lava trickled down its slopes and authorities warned of a dangerous eruption. Mayon, a volcano famed in equal parts for i

Egyptian heritage group raises concerns over Djoser pyramid restorations

Egypt's oldest pyramid may have been ruined by conservators, a group of heritage campaigners has warned. The step-shaped pyramid of Djoser, a few miles south of the better-known pyramids of Giza, is more than 4,600 years old and i

What Caused California's Napa Earthquake?

A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Northern California yesterday (Aug. 24) at 3:20 a.m. local time. The earthquake's epicenter was a few miles south of Napa Valley's renowned wineries, and the quake busted barrels and bottl

Geology major studies volcanoes in Arizona

Recent news reports on the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland have reminded many of its potentially destructive nature, but for one geology major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, it is a reminder that volcanoes are a fasc

Local geology expert weighs in on Bay Area quake

The San Andreas Fault is the largest fault in the state of California- and it happens to run right through San Juan Bautista. Local geologist Bob Barminski said fault lines across the state are connected like a spider web "Move Associated Press

Coal mining begins at Maules Creek site after months of protests

After months of protests, Whitehaven has officially begun open-cut mining at its flagship Maules Creek site in northern NSW. "Two blasts last week preceded today’s start of full-scale mining using Whitehaven’s new mining fleet

Iceland's Biggest Volcano Rumbles, Threatens Flights

Iceland has warned that its largest volcano is in danger of erupting, four years after millions of air travelers were grounded by a huge ash cloud from another peak. Scientists believe the ash from an eruption at Bardarbunga co

Devastating mudslides leave dozens dead in Hiroshima, Japan

Devastating mudslides have left over 30 people dead after record-breaking rain fell in and around the Japan city of Hiroshima early Wednesday morning, local time. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, around 3.9 inches

Man-made earthquakes weaker than natural earthquakes of same magnitude

Man-made earthquakes, a side effect of some high-tech energy drilling, cause less shaking and in general are about 16 times weaker than natural earthquakes with the same magnitude, a study found. People feeling the ground move

Fracking protesters superglue themselves to environment department

Anti-fracking protesters have superglued themselves to the doors at the main entrance of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). A related protest is also underway at the offices of iGas, the UK’s biggest

Research from 1960s shakes up understanding of West Coast earthquakes

Nearly forgotten research from decades ago questions a widely used method for estimating Pacific Northwest earthquake hazards. Sand and mud collected as part of University of Washington oceanographers’ graduate work in the late

Chile is facing yet another massive earthquake

A HUGE earthquake is predicted for Chile, after a major tremor earlier this year failed to relieve seismic stresses that have been building for 140 years. The magnitude 8.2 Iquique quake on 1 April killed six. Now two separate ana

Geologists use technology to map deep below earth's surface

A billion years ago, nature was ripping the North American continent apart. Then it stopped. What remained is what geologists call the Mid-continent Rift System. Today, scientists are using the latest in technology to look dee

Far-Away Earthquake Caused 'Icequake' in Antarctica

In February 2010, a massive 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile. Even though it occurred nearly 22 miles beneath the surface, it was still powerful enough to cause the deaths of 300 people and severely damage buil

Silchester Roman town closes: 'nothing left except gravel and natural geology'

Much as it must have been 1,400 years ago, the last inhabitants of Silchester, the most enigmatic Roman town in Britain, are packing their bags and preparing to leave for ever. This time, however, those departing are archeologists

Dot Earth Blog: Fresh Focus on Siberian Permafrost as Hole Count Rises

Leibman, the chief scientist at the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has studied permafrost since 1973 and has a remarkable publication record. She describes how the first h NYT > Environment

Earthquake Plot Thickens in Pacific Northwest

Nearly forgotten research from decades ago complicates the task of quantifying earthquake hazards in the Pacific Northwest, according to a new report from scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Washington, and USGS Newsroom

New view of Rainier's volcanic plumbing

By measuring how fast Earth conducts electricity and seismic waves, a University of Utah researcher and colleagues made a detailed picture of Mount Rainier's deep volcanic plumbing and partly molten rock that will erupt again some

Jeju Island, Korea is a live volcano

In Jeju, Korea, a place emerging as a world-famous vacation spot with natural tourism resources, a recent study revealed a volcanic eruption occurred on the island as recently as 5,000 years ago. Judging from the findings, Jeju Is ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

New insight may help predict volcanic eruption behavior

A new discovery in the study of how lava dome volcanoes erupt may help in the development of methods to predict how a volcanic eruption will behave, say scientists. Volcanologists have discovered that a process called frictional m ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

The Red Sea: An ocean like all others, after all

The Red Sea has turned out to be an ideal study object for marine geologists. There they can observe the formation of an ocean in its early phase. However, the Red Sea seemed to go through a different birthing process than the oth ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Scientists See Quake Risk Increasing in Oklahoma

A sharp rise in earthquakes in the state is apparently related to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and gas production, scientists say NYT > Environment

Shallow quake measuring 6.1 magnitude strikes off PNG: USGS

SYDNEY: A shallow quake measuring 6.1 magnitude struck off Papua New Guinea's Bougainville Island on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but there were immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning issued. News

Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures

Glaciers are important indicators of climate change. Global warming causes mountain glaciers to melt, which, apart from the shrinking of the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets, is regarded as one of the main causes of the presen ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Lake on Mars could have teemed with microbial life

Minerals identified by Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover suggest lake contained water of low salinity and neutral pH suitable for life. An enormous crater near the northern plains of Mars once harboured an ancient lake that could have s Science news, comment and anal

Ancient crater could hold clues about moon's mantle

Researchers have found evidence of diverse mineralogy in the moon's South Pole Aitken basin, a giant crater left by an impact 4 billion years ago. The findings could mean that some minerals dug up during that ancient impact remain ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

NASA-USGS Landsat 8 Satellite Pinpoints Coldest Spots on Earth

What is the coldest place on Earth? It is a high ridge in Antarctica on the East Antarctic Plateau where temperatures in several hollows can dip below minus 133.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 92 degrees Celsius) on a clear winter nig NASA Breaking News

Massive canyon discovered buried under Greenland ice

A vast gorge in the Earth on the same scale as the Grand Canyon lies buried under ice in Greenland, scientists have learned. The massive hidden canyon is at least 466 miles (740km) long and up to 800 metres (2,600ft) deep in pl Latest news and comment from B

Grand Canyon of Greenland discovered under ice sheet

The age of discovery isn't over yet. A colossal canyon, the longest on Earth, has just been found under Greenland's ice sheet, scientists announced Thursday in the journal Science. "You think that everything that could be known

Earthquakes Mapped? Scientists Reveal New Method for Possible Prediction

Earthquakes can cause some severe damage to infrastructure. Yet most impacts on buildings are mainly due to the existing shear waves which transfer their energy during an earthquake to houses. Now, scientists have shown that it's

Latest Radioactive Leak at Fukushima: How Is It Different?

In the latest crisis to strike the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has discovered that 300 tons (nearly 72,000 gallons) of highly radioactive water has leaked from a holding ta

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