Phys.org: Earth science

On March 28, 2025, a major earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.7 struck Mandalay, central Myanmar (referred to as the 2025 Myanmar earthquake). This event caused severe shaking and substantial damage in Myanmar and neighboring countries. Aftershock distribution extended southward from the epicenter, indicating predominant southward rupture propagation.

Tsunami earthquakes are characterized by the generation of disproportionately large tsunamis relative to the observed ground shaking, complicating timely evacuation efforts. Understanding their generation mechanisms and associated risks is therefore critical.

Scientists have found evidence that the Asian continent was free of permafrost all the way to its northerly coast with the Arctic Ocean when Earth's average temperature was 4.5˚C warmer than today, suggesting that the whole Northern Hemisphere would have also been free of permafrost at the time.

University of Leicester-led research has revealed the start of industrial deforestation of the Malaysian rainforest and its long-lasting impact on coastal ecosystems in the skeletons of corals.

Ship traffic in shallow areas, such as ports, can trigger large methane emissions by just moving through the water. Researchers in a study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, observed 20 times higher methane emissions in the shipping lane compared to nearby undisturbed areas.

Geologists from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made a breakthrough in understanding how Earth's early continents formed during the Archean time, more than 2.5 billion years ago. Their findings, recently published in Science Advances, suggest that early continental crust likely formed through deep Earth processes called mantle plumes, rather than the plate tectonics that shape continents today.

Floods are some of the most devastating natural disasters communities in the United States face, causing billions of dollars of damage annually, according to the National Weather Service. A group, including several researchers at Penn State, recently developed a computational model to streamline flood prediction in the continental United States.

About 600 miles off the west coast of Africa, large clusters of thunderstorms begin organizing into tropical storms every hurricane season. They aren't yet in range of Hurricane Hunter flights, so forecasters at the National Hurricane Center rely on weather satellites to peer down on these storms and beam back information about their location, structure and intensity.

An international study has revealed how continental collisions may have supercharged the Earth's richest deposits of copper, a metal critical for clean energy technologies and global infrastructure.

On 28 November 1966, an American airplane flies over the Antarctic Peninsula just south of the southernmost tip of Chile. On board is a photographer, probably from the U.S. Navy, whose job is to map the Antarctic landscape. But it turns out that the photographer is also documenting a very special situation that is in progress. He shoots an aerial photo of the Wordie Ice Shelf, which, 30 years later, has almost vanished after a total collapse.

Deep below the surface of the ocean, bacteria and critters that feed off nutrients spouting from hydrothermal vents met with a sudden wave of volcanic sediment, leaving them suffocated.

Compared to single-channel meandering rivers, multichannel braided rivers are often found in environments with sparse vegetation and coarse, shifting bars of sediment. Past research has called the way in which the paths of braided rivers shift over time "chaotic" because their migration depends on many factors, including river shape and changing water levels.

Young forests regrowing from land where mature woodlands have been cut down have a key role to play in removing billions of tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and combating climate change, a new study reveals.

A new study led by a University of California, Irvine scientist reveals that airlines can make smarter tradeoff decisions to cut aviation's warming impact. The research, published in the journal Nature, offers hopeful news for the future of air travel and climate action.

Irina Marinov, associate professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, leads a research community focused on understanding global climate impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities to enable local action.

Northern peatlands could seriously complicate efforts to cool the planet, especially after a temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C global warming limit, according to new IIASA-led research.

The collapse of tropical forests during Earth's most catastrophic extinction event was the primary cause of the prolonged global warming which followed, according to new research.

The deadly, record-breaking heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest in June 2021 continues to be the subject of intense interest among scientists, policymakers and the public.

In the 1997 action film "Dante's Peak," Pierce Brosnan plays the role of a volcanologist sent to investigate seismic activity beneath a long-dormant volcano.

A new study delivers a stark warning that Central Asia has overshot its environmental safety limits concerning land footprint and biosphere integrity. The study, led by Prof. Duan Weili from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides a comprehensive sustainability assessment and identifies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as priority areas for environmental management.