Phys.org: Earth science

Since last fall, NASA scientists have flown an advanced 3D Doppler wind lidar instrument across the United States to collect nearly 100 hours of data—including a flight through a hurricane. The goal? To demonstrate the unique capability of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) instrument to gather extremely precise measurements of wind direction, wind speed, and aerosol concentration—all crucial elements for accurate weather forecasting.

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and Boise State University have found evidence suggesting that the Marinoan glaciation began approximately 639 million years ago and lasted for approximately 4 million years. In their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group used drone and field imagery along with isotopic dating of glacial deposits to learn more about global glaciation events during the Neoproterozoic Era.

Scientists from China, the UK and the U.S. have collaborated to analyze the inner workings of Bolivia's "zombie" volcano, Uturuncu. By combining seismology, physics models and analysis of rock composition, researchers identify the causes of Uturuncu's unrest, alleviating fears of an imminent eruption. The findings have been published in the journal PNAS.

The next great earthquake isn't the only threat to the Pacific Northwest. A powerful earthquake, combined with rising sea levels, could significantly increase flood risks in the Pacific Northwest, impacting thousands of residents and properties in northern California, Oregon, and Washington, according to new Virginia Tech research.

Glaciers provide a unique opportunity for researchers to measure levels of atmospheric carbon deposition. Unlike other terrestrial ecosystems, these slow-moving rivers of ice do not have other large reservoirs of soil or vegetation that might obscure how much carbon they receive from the atmosphere.

Research led by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), with the participation of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), has reconstructed the history of pollution in the seabed of the Cantabrian Sea and the northwestern Mediterranean over the past centuries.

Did you eat cereal this morning? Or have you walked on a gravel path? Maybe you had a headache and had to take a pill? If you answered any of these questions with a yes, you interacted with a granular system today.

Flash floods resulting from extreme rainfall pose a major risk to people and infrastructure, especially in urban areas. Higher temperatures due to global climate change affect continuous rainfall and short rain showers in somewhat equal measure.

An aluminum tab from a drinks can found encased in a new form of rock on the Cumbrian coastline has helped provide scientists with a shocking new insight into the impact of human activity on Earth's natural processes and materials.

Scientists are working to shed new light on an enduring climate mystery—one that, if solved, could help them make more accurate predictions about the planet's future.

A technique to cool the planet, in which particles are added to the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, would not require developing special aircraft but could be achieved using existing large planes, according to a new modeling study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

New research involving Rutgers professors has revealed that expected, extreme changes in India's summer monsoon could drastically hamper the Bay of Bengal's ability to support a crucial element of the region's food supply: marine life.

A new study led by Jochen Knies from the iC3 Polar Research Hub has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of Arctic fjords to serve as effective carbon sinks. The findings suggest that the capacity of polar oceans to remove carbon from the atmosphere may be reduced as the world continues to heat up.

The Reykjanes Peninsula at Iceland's southwestern edge is one of the country's most populated regions, and it is also one of the most volcanically active. In 2024, sensing technology developed at Caltech was deployed in the region to study the motion of subsurface magma and its eruption into lava on the surface.

A new study reveals there was a time when massive icebergs, like the ones we see in Antarctica today, were drifting less than 90 miles off the U.K. coastline.

The amount of marine life off north-east Greenland could expand by more than a quarter, according to new research.

Could the seismic signal of an underground nuclear test explosion be "hidden" by the signal generated by a natural earthquake?

The resuspension of seafloor sediments—triggered by human activities such as bottom trawling as well as natural processes like storms and tides—can significantly increase the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. When these sediments are exposed to oxygen-rich seawater, large-scale oxidation of pyrite occurs.

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) plays a crucial role in shaping the regional climate and ecosystem. It is a key driver of seasonal precipitation patterns that sustain agricultural productivity and water resources in East Asia. Additionally, the EASM facilitates heat and moisture transport, modulating the regional energy balance and influencing large-scale atmospheric circulation.

Chinese scientists have discovered that fragile swamp forests in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region suddenly collapsed approximately 2,100 years ago (2.1 ka)—with human activity as the cause.