Phys.org: Earth science

As glaciers melt, huge chunks of ice break free and splash into the sea, generating tsunami-sized waves and leaving behind a powerful wake as they drift away. This process, called calving, is important for researchers to understand. But the front of a glacier is a dangerous place for data collection.

On May 12, 2008, the magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake shook central China, its destructive tremors spreading from the flank of the Longmen Shan, or Dragon's Gate Mountains, along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.

In the journal Nature, 21 leading scientists prescribe ways to use food systems to halt and reverse land degradation, underlining that doing so must become a top global priority to mitigate climate change and stop biodiversity loss.

Research in the International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology has shown that conventional approaches to measuring water storage across Europe's complex river systems may significantly underrepresent the scale and severity of changes linked to climate change.

From its olive groves to its coastal cities, the Mediterranean depends on a delicate balance of rain and sun, but climate change is tipping the scales.

By 2080, rising sea levels could cause seasonal waves to reach Ahu Tongariki, the iconic ceremonial platform that is part of the Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, according to a study published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage by a team of researchers from the UH at Mānoa. This coastal flooding also threatens 51 cultural assets in the area, including Rapa Nui's world-renowned moai statues.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have helped develop an advanced, real-time tsunami forecasting system—powered by El Capitan, the world's fastest supercomputer—that could dramatically improve early warning capabilities for coastal communities near earthquake zones.

Hydrogen-producing hydrothermal systems in the deep ocean are rare but critical to understanding Earth's internal processes and the conditions that may have fostered life's origins. Now scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) have discovered a massive hydrogen-rich hydrothermal system beneath the western Pacific seafloor, offering a new glimpse into deep-sea serpentinization—a process in which iron- and magnesium-rich rocks chemically react with water to form serpentine minerals and release hydrogen.

What could the next mega-earthquake on California's notorious San Andreas fault look like?

An international study by marine scientists based in Singapore has revealed that sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean began accelerating far earlier than previously thought, with corals providing an unbroken natural record of ocean change stretching back to the early 20th century.

The murky world at the bottom of the oceans is now a little clearer, thanks to a new study that tracks the evolution of marine sediment layers across hundreds of millions of years.

A recent study is shedding light on the factors that contributed to the significant wildfires in Manitoba in May 2025. The research explores how unusual weather patterns and stressed vegetation combined to create an ideal environment for disaster.

From lifelong farmers to backyard gardeners, most plant-lovers know that adding organic matter to a field, vegetable plot or flowerpot increases the soil's moisture. Now, for the first time, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanisms that enable organic matter to boost soil's ability to retain water—even in desert-like conditions. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

Anomalies in temperature and salinity that originate in the midlatitude North Atlantic can affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the Nordic Seas up to a decade later. A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment shows that the anomalies that travel northward with the Atlantic Water are an important part of the system, and actively modulate both the inflow of warm water into the Nordic Seas and the overflow of dense water back into the deep Atlantic.

Lakes have long been viewed as sources of carbon dioxide emissions, but new research suggests they may actually act as carbon sinks. A study led by Uppsala University reveals that lake shorelines store more carbon than previously believed, highlighting the need to include these littoral zones in calculations of the continental carbon balance.

Rare earth elements thread invisibly through daily life, quietly powering everything from laptops to smartphones to cars. "They're essential ingredients for our modern lives," said Virginia Tech mining expert Aaron Noble.

Imagine running a business for over a century without knowing what's in your warehouse. That's essentially what many African countries are doing with their mineral wealth. Governments across the continent still have very little knowledge of what lies beneath their soil.

The picturesque tufa towers on the shores of Mono Lake, formed over centuries by underwater springs and left high and dry as Los Angeles diverted water from nearby creeks, have long been a symbol of the saline lake. Visitors who stroll beside the lapping water take photos of the craggy calcium carbonate formations as flocks of migratory birds soar overhead.

An iconic Argentinian glacier, long thought one of the few on Earth to be relatively stable, is now undergoing its "most substantial retreat in the past century," according to new research.

Our ability to predict extreme weather from thunderstorms, like the recent catastrophic flash floods in Texas, is unsettlingly poor, even in the hours leading up to the event. Improvements in understanding, detecting and predicting extreme thunderstorms—and increasing community resilience to them—are badly needed.