Phys.org: Earth science

The transition from the African humid period (AHP) to dry conditions in North Africa is the clearest example of climate tipping points in recent geological history. They occur when small perturbations trigger a large, non-linear response in the system and shift the climate to a different future state, usually with dramatic consequences for the biosphere. That was also the case in North Africa, where the grasslands, forests, and lakes favored by humans disappeared, causing them to retreat to areas like the mountains, oases, and the Nile Delta.

Earthquakes are the most dramatic and noteworthy results of tectonic plate movement. They are often destructive and deadly, or at the very least physically felt—they're literally groundbreaking geological events. However not all tectonic movement results in effects that humans can perceive.

A team of oceanographers and planetary scientists at the Ocean University of China, working with a pair of colleagues from the U.S. and one in Germany, has found via computer modeling, that recent heat waves in the north Pacific may be due to a large reduction in aerosols emitted by factories in China.

Field observations have revealed that highly stressed D-shape tunnels experience sidewall rockburst triggered by impact loads stemming from rock blasting or other mining-related dynamic disturbances.

After analyzing seven years of earthquake data from the Midland Basin, a team of scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has found that seismic activity is probably on the move northeast toward the community of Big Spring.

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers have documented that persistent millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon (AWM) intensity fluctuations were superimposed on 41-kyr and ~100-kyr orbital variability during both the warmer (higher CO2) late Pliocene and colder (lower CO2) early Pleistocene, in response to both external astronomical forcing and internal climate dynamics.

To preserve the important intertidal areas and salt marshes off our coasts for the future, we need more turbid water. That is one of the striking conclusions from a new study conducted by a Dutch-Chinese team of researchers and published in Nature Geoscience.

Record-setting storms in 2023 filled California's major reservoirs to the brim, providing some relief in a decades-long drought, but how much of that record rain trickled underground?

When air temperatures in Antarctica rise and glacier ice melts, water can pool on the surface of floating ice shelves, weighing them down and causing the ice to bend. Now, for the first time in the field, researchers have shown that ice shelves don't just buckle under the weight of meltwater lakes—they fracture.

Climate change will cause an increase in extreme winter storms combining strong winds and heavy rainfall over the UK and Ireland, new research has shown.

The North Pole region heats up faster than the rest of the world. Though this is a known fact, climate models underestimate the speed with which the region warms up. Sjoert Barten obtained his PhD on this subject at Wageningen University & Research on 26 April and shares his insights.

Mountain meadows are unique ecosystems. A research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now discovered that climate change reduces the humus content as well as the nitrogen stores in the grassland soils of the Alps and disturbs the soil structure. Organic fertilization, for example with liquid manure, can compensate this loss of soil organic matter to some extent.

In the shadow of Washington State's Mount Rainier, about 90,000 people live in the path of a potential large lahar—a destructive, fluid and fast-moving debris flow associated with volcanic slopes.

The movement of tectonic plates shapes the rocky features of Earth's surface. Plates' convergence can form mountain ranges or ocean trenches, and their divergence can form oceanic ridges. But it's not just the plates themselves that influence Earth's topography. The mantle layer underneath exerts its own subtle influence, which can be seen even in places located far from tectonic plate edges, and is referred to as residual topography.

With dancing ribbons of light visible in the sky, a team of researchers flew on a series of scenic and sometimes stormy flights into the cold unknown, trying to learn more about why one of the most frigid places on Earth is warming at a feverish pace.

On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world.

Cowee Creek, Brabazon Range, Upper Pederson Lagoon—they mark the sites of recent lake tsunamis, a phenomenon that is increasingly common in Alaska, British Columbia and other regions with mountain glaciers.

Hurricanes are among the world's most destructive natural hazards. Their ability to cause damage is shaped by their environment; conditions like warm ocean waters, guiding winds, and atmospheric moisture can all dictate storm strength.

A new study presents the first large-scale analysis of fire patterns in West and Central Africa's wet, tropical forests. The number of active fires there typically doubled over 18 years, particularly in the Congo Basin. The increases are primarily due to increasingly hot, dry conditions and humans' impact on the forests, including deforestation. The increase in forest fires is likely to continue given current climate projections, according to the study.

How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt?