May 20, 2016
Double trouble: Volcanic eruption leads to strong earthquake eight months later
In January 2002, Nyiragongo Volcano erupted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing more than 100 people. Eight months later and 19 …
The EARTH archive
June 2016
Explore the archive by subject.
40 articles · Page 2 of 2
May 20, 2016
Geologic Column: Geology for the people: Finding new paths to public outreach
One might think ice age history an unlikely topic for a popular science book, but our 2012 book, “The Hudson Valley in the Ice Age,” seems to …
May 20, 2016
Ice (Re)Cap: June 2016
From Antarctica to the Arctic; from polar caps, permafrost and glaciers to ocean-rafted sea ice; and from burly bears to cold-loving microbes, …
May 20, 2016
Underwater Roman marble traced to Greece, Italy and Turkey
From the first century B.C. to the third century A.D., the city of Baiae, located on the west coast of Italy, near Naples, was the preferred …
May 20, 2016
Social trends and shifting climates had complex effects in medieval Italy
It’s easy to anecdotally pin environmental changes and their societal impacts on shifting climates. But when scientists and historians came …
May 19, 2016
Ancient Indonesian tools made by mysterious inhabitants
The island of Sulawesi is one link in a chain of islands between mainland Asia and Australia, and was likely an important stepping stone in human …
May 19, 2016
Above oil seeps, photosynthetic life flourishes
The direct effects of oil and gas releases in the ocean are typically negative — as in the case of 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster, …
May 19, 2016
Surprise quake at Mount Fuji triggered by rising gases
On March 15, 2011, four days after the magnitude-9 Tohoku megathrust earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, a magnitude-5.9 earthquake shook the …
May 19, 2016
Measuring rising seas is tricky in deltas
Earth’s stratigraphic record offers a patchwork diary of how different parts of the planet have formed and changed over time. Some of the most …
May 19, 2016
Lack of fungi did not lead to copious Carboniferous coal
The Carboniferous Period is famous for supplying Earth with an abundance of coal deposits. According to one hypothesis, the formation of all this …
May 16, 2016
Comment: Assessing the threat from massive rock slope failures in the Norwegian fjordlands
All high-latitude coastlines with pronounced relief are characteristically incised by deep fjords — carved by repeated glacial cycles — reaching …
May 16, 2016
Radar reveals unmarked graves
The occasional excursion to Death Valley or mineralogical study of bloodstone notwithstanding, geoscientists don’t often delve into the macabre …
May 16, 2016
Buried sands tell of tsunami hazard from creeping megathrust fault
A slow-moving portion of the Alaska-Aleutian Megathrust Fault near Alaska’s Dutch Harbor appears more capable of generating sizable tsunamis …
May 9, 2016
Giant icebergs spur carbon storage in Southern Ocean
A new study shows that giant icebergs floating in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica may be playing a larger role in carbon sequestration and …
May 9, 2016
The most dangerous fault in America
Last summer, a startling article appeared in The New Yorker magazine outlining what could happen to the Pacific Northwest in the event of a large …
May 9, 2016
Down to Earth With: Solar physicist Thomas Berger
Growing up in California during the Space Race, Thomas Berger was fascinated with aeronautics and aviation, so when he arrived at the University …