Phys.org: Earth science

Amidst the unique landscape of geothermal development in the Tohoku region, subtle seismic activities beneath the Earth's surface present a fascinating challenge for researchers. While earthquake warnings may intermittently alert us to seismic events, there exist numerous smaller quakes that have long intrigued resource engineers striving to detect and understand them.

Most satellites are placed in orbit on 5-to-10-year missions to accomplish many tasks. One of the many functions of the satellites carrying a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is to monitor water reservoirs around the world. A significant portion of the world's freshwater lies in these reservoirs.

As more and more nutrients from land and air enter the world's oceans, the dead zones without oxygen in the water will increase in size and intensity. That is the warning that Ph.D. student Zoë van Kemenade, an organic geochemist at NIOZ, draws from her analysis of drill cores from the ocean floor off the coast of California.

Sea ice at both the top and bottom of the planet continued its decline in 2024. In the waters around Antarctica, ice coverage shrank to near-historic lows for the third year in a row. The recurring loss hints at a long-term shift in conditions in the Southern Ocean, likely resulting from global climate change, according to scientists at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Meanwhile, the 46-year trend of shrinking and thinning ice in the Arctic Ocean shows no sign of reversing.

It is important for water management to understand how drought spreads. In a new study, researchers from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF show that in every third case, atmospheric drought is followed by low water levels. More rarely does drought have a negative impact on groundwater.

An international team of scientists co-led by Dr. Steffen Kutterolf from GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel has found evidence of a historical submarine eruption of the Kameni volcano on Santorini for the first time. In their paper, published today in the journal Nature Geoscience, they describe newly discovered pumice and ash deposits that support historical records of an underwater eruption in 726 CE.

It is estimated that 30% of the world's terrestrial carbon stocks are found in the boreal forest, 60% of which is below ground. Organic soil horizons contain about one-third of the soil carbon. Therefore, the stability of boreal soils is critical to understanding global carbon cycle feedbacks to climate change and soil management. However, the regulating factors of humus carbon sequestration in the boreal forests globally are not entirely understood.

Coastal seas form a complex transition zone between the two largest CO2 sinks in the global carbon cycle: land and ocean. Ocean researchers have now succeeded for the first time in investigating the role of the coastal ocean in a seamless model representation.

Rapid climate action could mean devastating dry periods in the Mediterranean become less frequent by the end of the century, a new study shows.

While scientists have observed oceans heating up for decades and theorized that their rising temperatures weaken global currents, a new study led by a University of Maryland researcher documents for the first time a significant slowing of a crucial ocean current system that plays a role in regulating Earth's climate.

Australia's Indigenous populations have played an important role in modifying the continent's landscape over millennia, particularly by using fire to create open spaces for daily activities. This continued until they left the area in approximately 1860 due to British colonization in the preceding decades, beyond which European land management styles and intensive farming practices became a prominent factor.

The escalation of extreme wildfires globally has prompted a critical examination of wildfire management strategies. A new study from the University of Montana reveals how fire suppression ensures that wildfires will burn under extreme conditions at high severity, exacerbating the impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.

With the arrival of spring in North America, many people are gravitating to the gardening and landscaping section of home improvement stores, where displays are overstocked with eye-catching seed packs and benches are filled with potted annuals and perennials.

Research led by Macquarie University sheds new light on how concentrations of metals used in renewable energy technologies can be transported from deep within the Earth's interior mantle by low temperature, carbon-rich melts.

Of all the carbon stored in ecosystems around the world, about half can be found in soils. Depending on climate, vegetation, and management, soils can be either a carbon source or a sink.

An international team of scientists has warned against relying on nature providing straightforward 'early warning' indicators of a climate disaster, as new mathematical modeling shows new fascinating aspects of the complexity of the dynamics of climate.

Ground-based measuring devices and aircraft radar operated in the far northeast of Greenland show how much ice the 79° N-Glacier is losing. According to measurements conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute, the thickness of the glacier has decreased by more than 160 meters since 1998. Warm ocean water flowing under the glacier tongue is melting the ice from below.

Although the two huge icefields in the Andes in South America cover approximately 16,000 square kilometers, an area roughly equivalent to the state of Thuringia in Germany, not much is known about the Patagonian icefields. A team led by Johannes Fürst from the Institute of Geography at FAU is trying to change that.

There is a 70-80% chance that the Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake will occur in the next 30 years. It is predicted to cause more extensive damage than the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and fatalities may exceed 320,000.

Since ancient times, knowing the depth of coastal waters has been key to safe and successful navigation and to exploit the sea's resources. Today, bathymetry—the measurement of sea depth—is even more important, playing essential roles in our understanding of marine environments and the development of large marine structures.