Feed aggregator

A new study finds that commercial satellite imagery data often outperforms public data sets when identifying surface water, but that public data sets may be better at detecting water hidden by forest cover. Satellite imagery is a powerful tool for mapping surface water, from the movement of rivers and streams to water levels and even water temperatures. The effectiveness of those satellites depends on their ability to identify water in the images they capture.

Major volcanic eruptions might be driven by gas dissolving back into magma

Phys.org: Earth science - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 16:40

Understanding what triggers large volcanic eruptions is crucial for hazard assessment, but the exact mechanism driving these eruptions is still poorly understood. The prevailing theory is that volatile exsolution—gas coming out of magma—is a main driver of eruptions, particularly in volcanoes rich in silica. However, a new study, published in Nature Communications, posits that it is actually gas being dissolved back into the magma that leads to the pressurization needed for large eruptions.

Cyclone Narelle is now larger and 'more severe' as it crosses the Western Australian coast

Phys.org: Earth science - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 14:20

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle continues to amaze us with its long journey across northern Australia. This cyclone began life near the Solomon Islands on March 16, when moist air rose rapidly and created a low-pressure zone.

Unraveling active magma by drilling in the heart of volcanoes

Phys.org: Earth science - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 13:00

Although volcanic eruptions are spectacular natural events that occur around the world every day, most volcanoes spend the majority of their time not erupting. To accurately forecast volcanic activity, it's important to characterize the magma before an eruption is imminent.

Japan's giant caldera volcano is refilling 7,300 years later

Phys.org: Earth science - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 10:00

The magma reservoir of the largest volcanic eruption of the Holocene is refilling. This Kobe University insight on the Kikai caldera in Japan allows us to understand giant caldera volcanoes like Yellowstone or Toba more generally and gets us closer to predicting their behavior, too.

Utilizing the deuterium-tritium fusion resonance to diagnose thermal runaway in igniting plasmas

Physical Review E (Plasma physics) - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 10:00

Author(s): Robert H. Dwyer, K. D. Meaney, B. M. Haines, B. J. Albright, H. Geppert-Kleinrath, J. P. Sauppe, W. Daughton, N. M. Hoffman, C. Forrest, S. P. Regan, and Y. Kim

For high-efficiency inertial confinement fusion implosions, it is predicted that a burning hot spot will successfully encompass all surrounding fuel and then transition into a thermal runaway where the internal energy increase from fusion occurs on a timescale faster than the expansion of the fuel i…

[Phys. Rev. E 113, 035214] Published Fri Mar 27, 2026

Discarded oyster shells may pull rare earth metals from polluted water

Phys.org: Earth science - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 00:40

New research from a team at Trinity College Dublin has unearthed a cheap and environmentally friendly new option for removing pollutants from our water. The key? Oyster shells that would ordinarily end up in landfill sites after consumption. The research, just published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, shows that waste seashells—especially those from oysters—can capture and remove rare earth elements from polluted water. And what's more, they do it entirely naturally, turning them into stable mineral crystals.

Continuous Lamb-like Waves Observed With Global Seismic Networks

Geophysical Journal International - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 00:00

SummaryBroadband seismic stations are primarily designed to record ground displacement from earthquakes, but they are sensitive to a wide range of processes, including human activity, oceanic waves, and atmospheric pressure variations. These signals are often considered noise, yet their study at frequencies from a few millihertz to one hertz has been fundamental for understanding geosphere coupling, developing methods to image Earth’s interior, and monitoring climate. At lower frequencies, below 10 cycles per day, the origin of continuous seismic noise remains poorly understood and may result from multiple coexisting mechanisms. To illuminate this part of the spectrum and its governing physics, we apply a dedicated processing method to 20 years of global seismic data. Our approach enables precise quantification of frequencies, angular degrees, and velocities of low-frequency modes, which we unambiguously identify as Lamb waves in the atmosphere.

The 6 February 2023 Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake rupture at a crossroad in Türkoğlu: A case for path of least resistance for rupture propagation

Geophysical Journal International - Fri, 03/27/2026 - 00:00

SummaryThe February 6, 2023, Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake reactivated the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) and involved surface rupture from the Amik Basin in south to the northeast of Çelikhan in north. Although the EAFZ continues southwest towards the Gulf of İskenderun across the Amanos Mountain Range (AMR) via the Türkoğlu–Osmaniye segment, the 2023 rupture instead followed the western margin of the Karasu Valley. Our analysis suggests that this deviation was governed by structural architecture of these two routes. While both routes involve similar rock units, the AMR is characterized by a massive, intact, and thicker crust that allowed the velocity-strengthening frictional properties of the basement to act as an effective barrier, arresting the rupture east of Türkoğlu. In contrast, the transtensional architecture of the Karasu Valley—evidenced by deep-seated extensional fissures and basaltic volcanism—represents a structurally dilated and thinner crust. This extensional setting neutralized the potential frictional resistance of the basement, providing a rheologically compliant path of least resistance for the 2023 rupture. The Türkoğlu–Osmaniye segment has not experienced a major event for about last 1 500 years and considering a slip rate of ~4.8 mm/yr, about 7 meters of slip deficit has accumulated. Furthermore, the 2023 earthquake loaded stress on the Türkoğlu-Osmaniye Fault. For these reasons, the potential for an M > 7 earthquake on this part of the EAFZ is high, necessitating urgent preparedness for a large earthquake in the region.