Usarray on EARTH Magazine

Yellowstone's Mexican mantle plume

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 16:30:18 -0400

Yellowstone's many thermal features are fueled by a deep mantle plume rooted at the core-mantle boundary under Mexico. Credit: Nelson et al., Nature Geoscience, 2018.

The volcanic activity at Yellowstone National Park is impressive, with thousands of active thermal features dotting a nearly 4,000-square-kilometer caldera. Scientists have long suspected that a massive mantle plume underlies the supervolcano. Now, new imaging has provided the clearest picture yet of the heat source that drives Yellowstone’s volcanism.

Bigfoot education and outreach

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:40:16 -0400

USArray has offered an unprecedented opportunity for earth scientists to explain to the public how we conduct experiments and test hypotheses, and what we aim to learn from the results.

With 400 Bigfoot stations marching across the country, many scientists have been out knocking on doors asking landowners and land managers for permission to place a station on their land. Those landowners tend to be curious about what the instrument is, what it does and what we hope to learn from the data it collects. Through this, the public has gained a greater appreciation for what earth scientists do and how exciting it can be to learn about the way the Earth works.

USArray: Geoscientists' "Earth Telescope"

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:16:16 -0400

Installing the seismometers of the Transportable Array (TA in Milan, Mich. The TA seismometers remain in place for two years before being moved. Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology

Installing the seismometers of the Transportable Array (TA) in Mineral, Va., near where a magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck in August 2011 Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology

Part of the High Lava Plains project looks to explain the volcanism in Yellowstone. Megan Sever

Students, professors and technicians installed seismometers in the Upper Midwest and Ontario as part of the SPREE project. Courtesy of Suzan van der Lee

Illuminating what lies beneath our feet

Big science often requires big tools. Particle physicists use huge particle accelerators. Astronomers need enormous telescopes to peer to the edge of the cosmos. Because of their need for large, expensive instruments, scientists in these disciplines are accustomed to forming consortia that advocate for the financial resources necessary to construct the tools of their trade. Earth scientists, by contrast, normally probe the planet individually or in small groups using comparatively inexpensive instruments, even considering ocean research vessels. This “small science” approach has served us well; using it, we have learned a great deal about how Earth works.