Alaska earthquake data shows potential for early warning
During the summer of 2021, the magnitude 8.2 Chignik earthquake ruptured on the Alaskan coast, providing scientists, such as a team led by Parameswaran of University of Alaska Fairbanks, with a test case for a future early warning system for the region.
The Cascadia Slow Slip Phenomenon
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is not your typical subduction zone. It is characterized by unique “slow slip events” that occur in the intervals between megathrust earthquakes along the fault.
A Day is Not Always 24 Hours: How Earth’s Shifting Systems Cause Day Length Variation
Believe it or not, the length of each day is not always exactly 24 hours. Though the changes may be virtually undetectable to the regular person, scientists are uniquely aware of the lengthening and shortening of days over time.
Two High Magnitude Earthquakes “Wake up” Fault System in Southwestern Türkiye, Triggering Over 200 Aftershocks
On February 6th, 2023, Türkiye and Syria experienced the devastating effects of two large (magnitude 7.8 and 7.5) earthquakes, which triggered more than 200 aftershocks. A recent study led by first author, Gesa Maria Petersen, maps two fault zones using data produced from these earthquakes, uncovering never before mapped fault sections and ground motion along these faults.
Ol Doinyo Lengai: Unpacking the Mystery Below
Down at the southern end of the East African Rift in Tanzania lies the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano, exceptional in that it is the only active volcano that erupts carbonatites— igneous rocks composed of >50% carbonate minerals.
Fiber-Optic Cable Technology: A New Way to Study Firn in Greenland
Researchers interested in determining the depth of the firn layer within a glacier might spend six hours drilling, extracting, and analyzing a core in frigid temperatures. Recent research poses a new method for determining firn layer depth based on an exciting technology finding expanding applications in seismology.
Fluids flowing beneath Cascadia
Subduction zones play a crucial role in recycling old oceanic crust, while also carrying water into Earth’s interior. Magnetotelluric imaging can help scientists better see where fluids have accumulated in the crust.
From crust to core: how subduction relates to ultralow velocity zones
Ultralow velocity zones are among the strangest structures inside Earth and their origins have been debated for decades—including a new paper in Science Advances.
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai’s blast felt ‘round the world
On Jan. 15, 2022, one of the past century’s most violent eruptions occurred, providing scientists the opportunity to explore aspects of relatively rare, but terribly violent, volcanic blasts that occur under the ocean.
Clocking a speeding glacier reveals the fate of a disappearing lake
The metaphor of a “slippery slope” is often invoked for things that might quickly get out of control, but in glaciology these words can be applied more literally. In a warming world, we want to know how quickly ice sheets can melt and raise sea level.