Phys.org: Earth science

When the tectonic subduction zone beneath the Pacific Northwest moves, it does so in dramatic fashion. Not only is ground shaking from a magnitude 9+ earthquake incredibly destructive, the event triggers tsunamis and landslides to compound the damage. Now, a new study in the Geosphere suggests the "really big one" could also trigger a major earthquake in California.

An international research collaboration has harnessed supercomputing power to better understand how massive slabs of ancient ocean floors are shaped as they sink hundreds of kilometers below Earth's surface.

Earth's nastiest and costliest wildfires are blazing four times more often now than they did in the 1980s because of human-caused climate change and people moving closer to wildlands, a new study found.

The ocean holds gigantic amounts of carbon, much more than all land-based plants and soil. Scientists previously studied these carbon stocks in spring and summer. Now, in two published studies, they have looked at what happens in winter.

A team of scientists has uncovered a rare isotope in microscopic fossils, offering fresh evidence that ocean ecosystems may be more resilient than once feared.

An unexpected region of the Amazon is at the forefront of rapid growth in climate extremes, a new report reveals. The central north Amazon, a region with extensive areas of high forest cover, natural savannas and vast Indigenous territories, was not previously considered as being the most affected by climate change.

In a new study, a team of geologists and biologists led by CU Boulder resurrected ancient microbes that had been trapped in ice—in some cases for around 40,000 years.

A first thought when describing a rock formation likely isn't a mille-feuille, but there are actually certain types composed of many thin layers that bring the flaky pastry to mind. Not only that—but these rocks can quite literally fold under pressure. These formations have the interesting ability to fold under compressive forces and form sharply localized bends known as kink bands.

A research group in Japan has suggested that ash released from volcanic eruptions on Nishinoshima Island—part of Japan's Ogasawara Islands—led to a temporary surge in phytoplankton levels in the seawater around Mukojima Island, which is located 130 km northeast of Nishinoshima and is also part of the Ogasawara Islands.

For as long as there have been people in what is now California, the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada have held masses of ice, according to new research that shows the glaciers have probably existed since the last Ice Age more than 11,000 years ago.

A study published today in Earth System Dynamics provides a critical and previously underestimated connection between Antarctic sea ice, cloud cover, and global warming. This research is important because it shows that a greater extent of Antarctic sea ice today, compared to climate model predictions, means we can expect more significant global warming in the coming decades.

Four of the most important interconnected parts of the Earth's climate system are losing stability, according to a review article based on observational data published in Nature Geoscience. The researchers succeeded in highlighting the warning signals for destabilization of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the Amazon rainforest, and the South American monsoon system.

A large proportion of the carbon dioxide emissions that are currently being released into the atmosphere by human activities are absorbed by the surface ocean, making it more acidic. As a result, the tiny organisms (plankton), which lie at the base of the marine food web and make the surface ocean their home, are at risk. The fossil record can tell us how these plankton responded during ancient intervals of climatic change that were similarly associated with increased carbon dioxide emissions.

Wildfire smoke causes more air pollution than current atmospheric models can predict. A new study by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences explains why by revealing that, under sunlight, wildfire smoke particles act like tiny chemical factories, producing harmful oxidants such as peroxides, a group of highly reactive pollutants contributing to smog and haze.

More than 90% of plastic waste ends up in the soil, where it breaks down into microplastics that are invisible to the naked eye. Microplastic pollution of the soil poses a severe threat to soil health as it can harm essential microbial communities and reduce crop yields. The presence of these tiny plastics may also worsen climate change by boosting the production of greenhouse gases, according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology.

A team of researchers at the University of Miami has developed a global atmospheric modeling framework that blends powerful research capabilities with accessibility for students and scientists alike.

California heads into the new water year facing continued risks from climate-driven extremes, the California Department of Water Resources said.

With unprecedented clarity, scientists have directly observed a subduction zone—the collision point where one tectonic plate dives beneath another—actively breaking apart. The discovery, reported in Science Advances, sheds new light on how Earth's surface evolves and raises fresh questions about future earthquake risks in the Pacific Northwest.

Scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have provided conclusive evidence that the Red Sea completely dried out about 6.2 million years ago, before being suddenly refilled by a catastrophic flood from the Indian Ocean. The findings put a definitive time on a dramatic event that changed the Red Sea.

Long-term weather forecasting is a difficult task, partly because weather systems are inherently chaotic. Though mathematical equations can approximate the underlying physics of weather, tiny inaccuracies that grow exponentially as a model progresses in time limit most physics-based forecasts to 2 weeks or less.