Dr. Stephen Gao is available for comment related to the science behind the recent earthquake in California.
Tag: Geophysics
Dragon 5 unleashed: charting new frontiers in earth science
The journal Geo-Spatial Information Science will soon release a special issue showcasing the mid-term achievements of the China-Europe Earth Observation project, “Dragon 5.” Launched in July 2020, the initiative has made significant strides in Earth sciences, fostering cross-border collaboration and advancing the use of satellite data.
UT-Led Aerial Surveys Reveal Ancient Landscape Beneath East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Long before Antarctica froze over, rivers carved valleys through mountains in the continent’s east. Millions of years later, researchers have discovered a remnant of this ancient highland landscape thanks to an aerial survey campaign led by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG).
Superdeep diamonds provide a window on supercontinent growth
Diamonds contain evidence of the mantle rocks that helped buoy and grow the ancient supercontinent Gondwana from below, according to new research from a team of scientists led by Suzette Timmerman.
Researchers unearth the mysteries of how Turkey’s East Anatolian fault formed
An international team led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has, for the first time, accurately determined the age of the East Anatolian fault, allowing geologists to learn more about its seismic history and tendency to produce earthquakes.
We’ve pumped so much groundwater that we’ve nudged the Earth’s spin
By pumping water out of the ground and moving it elsewhere, humans have shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study.
New study about the ‘tsunami’ in Venus’s clouds
A group of scientists from the University of Seville, in collaboration with experts from the University of the Basque Country, has led the first detailed study of the evolution of the discontinuity of Venus’s clouds, a gigantic atmosphere wave with the appearance of a “tsunami” that is propagated in the planet’s deepest clouds and which, it is believed, may be playing a very significant role in the acceleration of Venus’s fast-moving atmosphere.
Hot topic – how heat flow affects the Earth’s magnetic field
The magnetic field radiates around the world and far into space, but it is set by processes that happen deep within the Earth’s core, where temperatures exceed 5,000-degress C. New research from geophysicists at the University of Leeds suggests that the way this super-hot core is cooled is key to understanding the causes of the peculiarities – or anomalies, as scientists call them – of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Researchers’ study predicted location of Mauna Loa eruption
A year before the largest active volcano in the world erupted, research by two University of Miami scientists revealed which of the two rift zones of the Mauna Loa volcano would spew magma.
Underwater Snow Gives Clues About Europa’s Icy Shell
Below Europa’s thick icy crust is a massive, global ocean where the snow floats upwards onto inverted ice peaks and submerged ravines.
Structural origin of the anomalous properties of SiO2 glass under pressure
Understanding the structural origin of the anomalous properties of SiO2 liquid and glass is fundamental not only in physics, but also in geophysics, in understanding the nature of silicate magmas in the Earth and other planets, and in materials science as a prototype network-forming glass.
The Earth Moves Far Under Our Feet: A New Study Shows the Inner Core Oscillates
USC scientists have found evidence that the Earth’s inner core oscillates, contradicting previously accepted models that suggested it consistently rotates at a faster rate than the planet’s surface.
Astronauts may one day drink water from ancient moon volcanoes
Billions of years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions broke loose on the moon, blanketing hundreds of thousands of square miles of the orb’s surface in hot lava.
Explaining the slow surprise in the middle of the sandwich (earthquake)
The 12 August 2021 South Sandwich Island earthquake had a surprise hidden within its complex rupture sequence: a slow, shallow magnitude 8.16 subevent that was “invisible” to researchers at first glance.
Let’s talk about the 1,800-plus ‘young’ volcanoes in the U.S. Southwest
The landscape of the southwestern U.S. is heavily scarred by past eruptions of monogenetic volcanoes, and a new study marks a step toward understanding future risks for the region.
Drones used to locate dangerous, unplugged oil wells
There are millions of unplugged oil wells in the United States, which pose a serious threat to the environment. Using drones, researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new method to locate these hard-to-locate and dangerous wells.
High-impact research: How meteorite strikes may change quartz on the Earth’s surface
Scientists using a unique combination of capabilities at the Advanced Photon Source have learned more about how meteorites affect one of the most abundant materials in the Earth’s crust.
Five UC San Diego Experts Elected AAAS Fellows in 2020
American Association for the Advancement of Science honors the contributions of UC San Diego leaders in astrophysics, research advocacy, organic chemistry, psychiatry and geophysics.
Earthquake lightning: Mysterious luminescence phenomena
Were you aware that earthquakes are sometimes associated with luminescence, called earthquake lightning? This phenomenon had been documented throughout history, such as between 1965 and 1967, the Matsushiro earthquake swarm caused the surrounding mountain to flicker with light multiple times.
Stocks of vulnerable carbon twice as high where permafrost subsidence is factored in, new research finds
Northern Arizona University researchers Elaine Pegoraro, Christina Schädel, Emily Romano, Meghan Taylor and Ted Schuur collaborated on the study, which suggests that traditional methods of permafrost thaw measurement underestimate the amount of previously-frozen carbon unlocked from warming permafrost by more than 100 percent.
Researchers use drones, machine learning to detect dangerous ‘butterfly’ landmines
Using advanced machine learning, drones could be used to detect dangerous “butterfly” landmines in remote regions of post-conflict countries, according to research from Binghamton University, State University at New York.
Cold War nuke tests changed rainfall
Nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War may have changed rainfall patterns thousands of miles from the detonation sites, new research has revealed.
The seismicity of Mars
On 26 November 2018, the NASA InSight lander successfully set down on Mars in the Elysium Planitia region.
Solar storms could scramble whales’ navigational sense
When our sun belches out a hot stream of charged particles in Earth’s general direction, it doesn’t just mess up communications satellites.
How earthquakes deform gravity
Lightning – one, two, three – and thunder. For centuries, people have estimated the distance of a thunderstorm from the time between lightning and thunder.
Peeking at the plumbing of one of the Aleutian’s most-active volcanoes
A new approach to analyzing seismic data reveals deep vertical zones of low seismic velocity in the plumbing system underlying Alaska’s Cleveland volcano, one of the most-active of the more than 70 Aleutian volcanoes