Geology News And Research Archives Page 9

Evidence of glaciation in 'super greenhouse' world (1/12/2008)

Large ice-sheets existed on Earth about 91 million years ago, during one of the warmest periods since life began, an international team of scientists, including members from Newcastle University, has found. ...> Full Article

Quakes Under Pacific Ocean Floor Reveal Unexpected Circulation System (1/12/2008)

Zigzagging some 60,000 kilometers across the ocean floor, Earth's system of mid-ocean ridges plays a pivotal role in many workings of the planet: in plate-tectonic movements, heat flow from the interior, and the chemistry of rock, water and air. ...> Full Article

A Warming Climate Can Support Glacial Ice (1/11/2008)

New research indicates glacial ice existed on earth during intense period of global warming ...> Full Article

'Climate Crisis' in the West Predicted with Increasing Certainty (1/10/2008)

Computer model analyses trace hydrological trends to human causes with unprecedented robustness ...> Full Article

Earth's Moving Crust May Occasionally Stop (1/10/2008)

New Theoretical Model Suggests Plate Tectonics May Be On-Again, Off-Again Process ...> Full Article

Hope Diamond's phosphorescence key to fingerprinting (1/9/2008)

Shine a white light on the Hope Diamond and it will dazzle you with the brilliance of an amazing blue diamond. Shine an ultraviolet light on the Hope Diamond and the gem will glow red-orange for about five minutes. This phosphorescent property of blue diamonds can distinguish synthetic and altered diamonds from the real thing, and it may also provide a way to fingerprint individual blue diamonds for identification purposes, according to a team of researchers from the Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution and Penn State. ...> Full Article

Electric sand findings could lead to better climate models (1/8/2008)

Wind isn't acting alone in the geological process behind erosion, sand dunes and airborne dust particles called aerosols. The other culprit is electricity. By taking both factors into account, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new model that matches real-world measurements of "saltation" better than the decades-old classical theory. ...> Full Article

Plate Tectonics May Grind To A Halt, Then Start Again (1/7/2008)

Plate tectonics, the geologic process responsible for creating the Earth's continents, mountain ranges, and ocean basins, may be an on-again, off-again affair. Scientists have assumed that the shifting of crustal plates has been slow but continuous over most of the Earth's history, but a new study from researchers at the Carnegie Institution suggests that plate tectonics may have ground to a halt at least once in our planet's history--and may do so again. ...> Full Article

North Atlantic Warming Tied to Natural Variability (1/7/2008)

But global warming may be at play elsewhere in the world's oceans, scientists surmise ...> Full Article

Tapping into the Heat Beneath Our Feet (1/6/2008)

Virtually all of Canada's high-temperature geothermal resources are under B.C. In the next 15 years they can supply 30 per cent of our power needs with the cleanest form of energy known. ...> Full Article

Geyser, hot spring researchers, educators to meet at Yellowstone (1/5/2008)

More than 100 scientists and educators from the United States and abroad will gather Jan. 10-13 in Yellowstone National Park to share their findings on the unique biology and chemistry of geysers, hot springs, mud pots and steam vents. ...> Full Article

Earthquake 'memory' could spur aftershocks (1/4/2008)

Using a novel device that simulates earthquakes in a laboratory setting, a team of researchers have shown that seismic waves - the sounds radiated from earthquakes - can induce earthquake aftershocks, often long after a quake has subsided. ...> Full Article

Study suggests future sea-level rises may be even higher than predicted (12/25/2007)

A new study of past sea levels shows that they rose by an average of 1.6 metres every one hundred years the last time the Earth was as warm as it is predicted to be later this century, with levels reaching up to six metres above those seen today. The findings suggest that current predictions of sea-level rises may be too low. ...> Full Article

Earthquake Season in the Himalayan Front (12/24/2007)

Scientists have long searched for what triggers earthquakes, even suggesting that tides or weather play a role. Recent research spearheaded by Jean-Philippe Avouac, professor of geology and director of the Tectonics Observatory at the California Institute of Technology, shows that in the Himalayan mountains, at least, there is indeed an earthquake season. It's winter. ...> Full Article

Searching for 'Martians' in ancient rocks (12/23/2007)

Researchers are investigating whether it is possible to find signs of life in rocks that are 3.5 billion years old. If they succeed, it may become easier to search for life on Mars. ...> Full Article

Tracking Earth Changes with Satellite Images (12/22/2007)

For the past two decades, radar images from satellites have dominated the field of geophysical monitoring for natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanoes, or landslides. These images reveal small perturbations precisely, but large changes from events like big earthquake ruptures or fast-moving glaciers remained difficult to assess from afar, until now. ...> Full Article

Evolution Tied to Earth Movement (12/21/2007)

Geologists Say 'Wall of Africa' Allowed Humanity to Emerge ...> Full Article

Ancient Flood Disrupted Ocean Circulation And Triggered Climate Cooling (12/20/2007)

As the giant North American ice sheets melted an enormous pool of freshwater, many times larger than all of the Great Lakes, formed behind them. About 8400 years ago this pool of freshwater burst free and flooded the North Atlantic. About the same time, a sharp century long cold spell is observed around the North Atlantic and other areas. Researchers have often speculated that the cooling was the result of changes in ocean circulation triggered by this freshwater flood. The sudden addition of so much freshwater would have curtailed (suppressed) the sinking of deep water in the North Atlantic and as a consequence less warm water would be pulled north in the Gulf stream. ...> Full Article

Engineering researchers capture optical 'rogue waves' (12/19/2007)

Findings could help resolve mystery of monster ocean waves ...> Full Article

Water, water everywhere but is it sustainable? (12/17/2007)

While Brisbane is flush with underground water stores, more needs to be known about refill times to aquifers and the environmental effects of large-scale freshwater extraction to ensure their sustainable use. ...> Full Article

Greenland Melt Accelerating (12/17/2007)

The 2007 melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10 percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder climate scientist. ...> Full Article

Peat moves from the bog to the generating station (12/17/2007)

For hundreds of years, peat has been used in Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia as a fuel source for thermal generating stations. Now Peat Resources Ltd. is looking at replacing the coal that fuels the province's Atikokan Generating Station in northwestern Ontario with peat and wood. ...> Full Article

As waters clear, scientists seek to end a muddy debate (12/16/2007)

Geologists have long thought muds will only settle when waters are quiet, but new research shows muds will accumulate even when currents move swiftly. ...> Full Article

Large earthquakes may broadcast warnings, but is anyone tuning in to listen (12/16/2007)

Like geological ninjas, earthquakes can strike without warning. But there may be a way to detect the footfalls of large earthquakes before they strike, alerting their potential victims a week or more in advance. A Stanford professor thinks a method to provide just such warnings may have been buried in the scientific literature for over 40 years. ...> Full Article

Microbes in oil reservoirs (12/16/2007)

Heavy oil discovery could revolutionize oil sands production ...> Full Article

Researcher part of critical team studying glaciers and climate change (12/15/2007)

University of Ottawa geography professor Luke Copland is among researchers from 17 countries studying 19 Arctic tidewater glaciers to better understand how they react to climate change. ...> Full Article

Geologist probes undersea seismic zone as part of new deep-drilling experiment (12/15/2007)

The first effort to drill into an undersea zone where massive earthquakes and tsunamis are generated has yielded new data on the stresses that build up there, according to Casey Moore, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. ...> Full Article

New Tibetan Ice Cores Missing A-Bomb Blast Markers; Suggest Himalayan Ice Fields Haven't Grown In Last 50 Years (12/14/2007)

Ice cores drilled last year from the summit of a Himalayan ice field lack the distinctive radioactive signals that mark virtually every other ice core retrieved worldwide. ...> Full Article

Arctic Impact Crater Lake Reveals Interglacial Cycles in Sediments (12/13/2007)

Researchers have taken cores from the sediments of a Canadian Arctic lake and found an interglacial record indicating two ice-free periods that could pre-date the Holocene Epoch. ...> Full Article

Early warning system predicted shaking from Oct. 30 quake (12/12/2007)

A California earthquake early warning system now being tested accurately predicted the ground shaking in San Francisco a few seconds before the city felt the Oct. 30, 2007, magnitude 5.4 quake near San Jose, according to a statewide team of seismologists. ...> Full Article