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Scientists Study Earthquake Triggers in Pacific Ocean

By Guest PostJuly 2, 2011Environmentaccretionary margins, alaska to patagonia, basalt rock, costa rica, costa rica seismogenesis project, crisp, earthquake generating region, earthquakes, eastern pacific ocean, expedition, fault, global earthquakes, integrated ocean drilling program, iodp, italy, Japan, joides resolution, kohtaro ujiie, kristin hillis, large earthquakes, marianas, masaoki uno, mass transfer, michael stipp, nankai trough seismogenic zone experiment, nantroseize, national science foundation, nsf, pacific northwest, paola vannucchi, plate boundary, rodey batiza, samples of rock and sediment, scientific drilling vessel, seafloor, seismic plate boundary, seismogenic region, subduction processes, subduction zones, subseafloor, sumatra quakes, tectonic activity, the aleutians, tohoku earthquake, understanding of the earth, university of florence, university of tsukuba

*Samples of rock, sediment from beneath the sea-floor help explain quakes like Japan’s*

New samples of rock and sediment from the depths of the eastern Pacific Ocean may help explain the cause of large, destructive earthquakes similar to the Tohoku Earthquake that struck Japan in mid-March.

Nearly 1,500 meters (almost one mile) of sediment cores collected from the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica reveal detailed records of some two million years of tectonic activity along a seismic plate boundary. (more…)

Are You Alarmed or Dismissive? Americans’ Latest Views on Climate Change Fall Into One of ‘Six Americas’

By Guest PostJuly 1, 2011Environmentamerican views, climate change, climate policies, climate scientists

In a new report, researchers have found that Americans have a wide range of attitudes and beliefs when it comes to climate change, yet also show some surprising similarities. (more…)

Significant Natural Gas Resources Remain to Be Discovered in Cook Inlet, Alaska

By Guest PostJuly 1, 2011Economy, Environmentalaska, alaska division of oil and gas, brenda pierce, coalbed gas, cook inlet, cook inlet region, natural gas, oil and gas resources, petroleum potential, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs, usgs assessment

The Cook Inlet Region of Alaska contains an estimated mean of 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, about 600 million barrels of oil, and 46 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to a new assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This estimate is of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources, and includes both unconventional and conventional resources.

These gas estimates are significantly more than the last USGS assessment of southern Alaska in 1995, in which a mean of 2.14 trillion cubic feet of gas was estimated. This increase in the undiscovered resource is attributed to new geologic information and data. (more…)

Genetic Analysis Splits Desert Tortoise into Two Species

By Guest PostJune 29, 2011Environment, Natureagassiz desert tortoise, arizona, army physician, california, california state university dominguez hills, colorado river, desert tortoise, dna evidence, endangered species act, fish and wildlife service, fws, genetic evidence, gopherus agassizii, gopherus morafkai, habitat preferences, j g cooper, kristin berry, Mexico, morafka desert tortoise, nevada, northern arizona, robert murphy, roy averill murray, san francisco earthquake, Smithsonian, species, us army fort irwin, usaf edwards air force base, usgs, utah

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A new study shows that the desert tortoise, thought to be one species for the past 150 years, now includes two separate and distinct species, based on DNA evidence and biological and geographical distinctions.

This genetic evidence confirms previous suspicions, based on life history analysis, that tortoises west and east of the Colorado River are two separate species. (more…)

Economic Cost of Weather May Total $485 Billion in U.S.

By Guest PostJune 25, 2011Environmenteconomic impact, weather events, weather impacts, weather variations, wind driven wildfires

Routine weather events can add up to huge annual economic impact

Everything has its price, even the weather. (more…)

Stiff Sediments Made 2004 Sumatra Earthquake Deadliest in History

By Guest PostJune 24, 2011Environmentsubduction earthquakes, subduction zone, sumatra earthquake, undersea earthquake

AUSTIN, Texas — An international team of geoscientists has discovered an unusual geological formation that helps explain how an undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004 spawned the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. (more…)

Fastest Sea-Level Rise in Two Millennia Linked to Increasing Global Temperatures

By Guest PostJune 21, 2011Environmentglobal temperatures, medieval climate anomaly, sea-level rise, surface temperature

Rate is greater now than at any time during past 2,100 years

The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years–and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. (more…)

Ocean’s Harmful Low-Oxygen Zones growing, are Sensitive to Small Changes in Climate

By Guest PostJune 18, 2011Environmentatmospheric and oceanic sciences, consume nitrogen, curtis deutsch, expansion and contraction of low-oxygen zones, fluctuations in climate, global warming, kim derose, low-oxygen water, marine ecosystems, molecular oxygen, nobel prize, oscillations in climate, oxygen and nitrogen depletion, oxygen zones, oxygen-depleted environments, respiring bacteria, rising global temperatures, university of california

Fluctuations in climate can drastically affect the habitability of marine ecosystems, according to a new study by UCLA scientists that examined the expansion and contraction of low-oxygen zones in the ocean.

The UCLA research team, led by assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences Curtis Deutsch, used a specialized computer simulation to demonstrate for the first time that the size of low-oxygen zones created by respiring bacteria is extremely sensitive to changes in depth caused by oscillations in climate. These oxygen-depleted regions, which expand or contract depending on their depth, pose a distinct threat to marine life. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment