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Dark Fiber: Using Sensors Beneath Our Feet to Tell Us About Earthquakes, Water, and Other Geophysical Phenomena

By Guest PostApril 15, 2018Sciencedark fiber, das, distributed acoustic sensing, earthquakes, geophysical phenomena, jonathan ajo franklin, nate lindsey, quake detection, sensors, shan dou

Berkeley Lab researchers successfully use distributed acoustic sensing for seismic monitoring

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown for the first time that dark fiber – the vast network of unused fiber-optic cables installed throughout the country and the world – can be used as sensors for detecting earthquakes, the presence of groundwater, changes in permafrost conditions, and a variety of other subsurface activity. (more…)

Hacking a pressure sensor to track gradual motion along marine faults

By Guest PostDecember 24, 2017Sciencecascadia subduction zone, dana manalang, earthquakes, jerry paros, marine faults, motion, pressure sensor, tsunamis, william wilcock

Deep below the ocean’s surface, shielded from satellite signals, the gradual movement of the seafloor — including along faults that can unleash deadly earthquakes and tsunamis — goes largely undetected. As a result, we know distressingly little about motion along the fault that lies just off the Pacific Northwest coast. (more…)

Improving defence against earthquakes and tsunamis

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2017Sciencedefence, earthquakes, hazard simulation tool, katsu goda, mega subduction earthquakes, tectonic plate, tiziana rossetto, tsunamis

A pioneering new computer model has been developed to simulate the whole chain of hazard events triggered by offshore mega subduction earthquakes, by a team involving UCL and Bristol engineers. (more…)

Earthquakes, ‘Marsquakes,’ and the possibility of life

By Guest PostDecember 16, 2016Scienceearthquakes, erosion, john parnell, mars, marsquakes, nigel blamey, possibility of life, pseudotachylites, sean mcmahon, seismic activity, surface, yale geologist

A new study shows that rocks formed by the grinding together of other rocks during earthquakes are rich in trapped hydrogen — a finding that suggests similar seismic activity on Mars may produce enough hydrogen to support life. (more…)

Oso disaster had its roots in earlier landslides

By Guest PostSeptember 7, 2014Environmentbasile luyet, biobanking, diabetesmedikament, earthquakes, evolution of skull, father of cryobiology, field of biobanking, haiti, hazard, helfen, human variation, joanna radin, john considine, julia fitzgerald, kaleb sellers, life on ice, new zealand, peroxychem, phenomenon of biobanking, public cloud infrastructure, risk, roots, sap hana

The disastrous March 22 landslide that killed 43 people in the rural Washington state community of Oso involved the “remobilization” of a 2006 landslide on the same hillside, a new federally sponsored geological study concludes.

The research indicates the landslide, the deadliest in U.S. history, happened in two major stages. The first stage remobilized the 2006 slide, including part of an adjacent forested slope from an ancient slide, and was made up largely or entirely of deposits from previous landslides. The first stage ultimately moved more than six-tenths of a mile across the north fork of the Stillaguamish River and caused nearly all the destruction in the Steelhead Haven neighborhood. (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…)

NASA Developing Natural Hazard Warning Systems

By Guest PostDecember 17, 2013Environmentaccurate measurements, angelyn moore, california, data products, earthquakes, gps network, gps stations, gps technologies, harmful flash flooding, highway 78, mark jackson, NASA, natural hazard, noaa, permanent motions, san diego, san diego county, tsunami warnings, tsunamis, warning systems, yehuda bock

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have enhanced existing GPS technologies to develop new systems for California and elsewhere to warn of hazards from earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme weather events.

The technology was demonstrated in July by forecasters at NOAA National Weather Service offices in Oxnard, Calif., and San Diego. They used it to track a summer monsoon rain event affecting Southern California and issue more accurate and timely flash flood warnings. The system uses real-time information from GPS stations upgraded with small, inexpensive seismic and meteorological sensors. (more…)

NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Tiny Planet System

By Guest PostFebruary 22, 2013Science210 light years, ames research center, analyze, asteroseismic analysis, asteroseismology, astronomers, constellation lyra, data, earth, earth sized planets, earthquakes, geologists, habitable zone, high frequency oscillations, inhospitable worlds, interior structure, jack lissauer, kepler 37, kepler 37b, kepler 37c, kepler 37d, kepler mission, mercury, moffett field, NASA, orbiting our sun, orbiting planet, planets, rocky in composition, seismic waves, smallest planet, solar system, star, thomas barclay, tiny planet system

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Kepler mission scientists have discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to our sun.

The planets are located in a system called Kepler-37, about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. It is smaller than Mercury, which made its detection a challenge. (more…)

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