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Heat of mantle sets height of mid-ocean ridges

By Guest PostApril 27, 2014Sciencealex rodriguez, brown university, chemistry, chris mills, earth crust, ende der sowjetunion, game developers, game troopers, hitcents, indian ocean, informelle maerkte, innospark, kleinhaendler, mid ocean ridges, ocean floor, secret sauce, seismic data, steve guggenheimer, steve sy kim, stickman users, susanne fehlings

By analyzing the speed of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, scientists have shown that temperature differences deep within Earth’s mantle control the elevation and volcanic activity along mid-ocean ridges, the colossal mountain ranges that line the ocean floor. Recent research sheds new light on how temperature in the depths of the mantle influences the contours of the Earth’s crust.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Scientists have shown that temperature differences deep within Earth’s mantle control the elevation and volcanic activity along mid-ocean ridges, the colossal mountain ranges that line the ocean floor. The findings, published April 4 in the journal Science, shed new light on how temperature in the depths of the mantle influences the contours of the Earth’s crust. (more…)

New study reveals insights on plate tectonics, the forces behind earthquakes, volcanoes

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2014Scienceasthenosphere, caroline beghein, compositional boundary, ct, direction of flow, earth crust, earthquakes, evolution, force, geology, geophysical data, lithospheric plate, mantle, mid ocean ridge, nicholas schmerr, outer core, pacific plate, plate tectonics, rock composition, rocks, scans, seismic data, seismic tomography, seismic waves, subduction, tectonic force, university of maryland, volcanoes

The Earth’s outer layer is made up of a series of moving, interacting plates whose motion at the surface generates earthquakes, creates volcanoes and builds mountains. Geoscientists have long sought to understand the plates’ fundamental properties and the mechanisms that cause them to move and drift, and the questions have become the subjects of lively debate.

A study published online Feb. 27 by the journal Science is a significant step toward answering those questions. (more…)

Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2013Environmentabigail noble, atmospheric carbon dioxide, brazil, carbon cycle, carl lamborg, chad hammerschmidt, climate, cloud of nutrients, coffee mug, earth crust, fissure, growth of phytoplankton, gyre, helium, hydrothermal vents, iron flux, mak saito, mantle, mid atlantic ridge, mid atlantic vents, namibia, ocean plume, pacific ocean, rv knorr, seawater samples, source of iron, south atlantic ocean, tyler goepfert, uk, university of liverpool, whoi researchers

Study reveals micronutrient riches rising from the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Scientists have discovered a vast plume of iron and other micronutrients more than 1,000 km long billowing from hydrothermal vents in the South Atlantic Ocean. The finding, soon to be published in the journal Nature Geoscience, calls past estimates of iron abundances into question, and may challenge researchers’ assumptions about iron sources in the world’s seas.

“This study and other studies like it are going to force the scientific community to reevaluate how much iron is really being contributed by hydrothermal vents and to increase those estimates, and that has implications for not only iron geochemistry but a number of other disciplines as well,” says Mak Saito, a WHOI associate scientist and lead author of the study. (more…)

Geologists Correct a Rift in Africa

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2012Scienceafrica today, australia, climate change, earth crust, east africa, east african rift, eric roberts, ethiopia, geological sciences, giant arc, great rift valley, human evolution, human species, james cook university, Kenya, malawi, michael gottfried, michigan state university, model, nancy stevens, nature geoscience, ohio university, plate boundary, rukwa rift, system, tectonic forces, uganda, vertebrate fossils, volcanic ash

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The huge changes in the Earth’s crust that influenced human evolution are being redefined, according to research published today in Nature Geoscience.

The Great Rift Valley of East Africa – the birthplace of the human species – may have taken much longer to develop than previously believed.

“We now believe that the western portion of the rift formed about 25 million years ago, and is approximately as old as the eastern part, instead of much younger as other studies have maintained,” said Michael Gottfried, Michigan State University associate professor of geological sciences. “The significance is that the Rift Valley is the setting for the most crucial steps in primate and ultimately human evolution, and our study has major implications for the environmental and landscape changes that form the backdrop for that evolutionary story.” (more…)

Tag Archives: earth crust

Heat of mantle sets height of mid-ocean ridges

New study reveals insights on plate tectonics, the forces behind earthquakes, volcanoes

Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron

Geologists Correct a Rift in Africa