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7 May 2018
Powerful hurricanes strengthen faster now than 30 years ago
Hurricanes that intensify rapidly – a characteristic of almost all powerful hurricanes – do so more strongly and quickly now than they did 30 years ago, according to a new study. Many factors are at play, but the chief driver of more rapid hurricane intensification is a natural climate cycle known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) that affects water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean where hurricanes form, according to the study’s authors.
4 April 2018
Infrasound recordings give scientists a peek inside volcano’s plume
High-resolution recordings of the powerful infrasound waves generated by an eruption at Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano have given scientists a rare view inside the activity at the volcano’s mouth. The acoustic waves generated by the July 2013 eruption were one of the most powerful volcanic infrasound recordings ever captured. The low-frequency infrasound waves from the eruption are too low for human ears to hear but were as powerful as waves one meter (three feet) away from a jet engine.
12 March 2018
Mexico’s 2017 earthquake emerged from a growing risk zone
Under Mexico, where the Cocos Plate from the Pacific Ocean slides under the North American Plate, a bending line of hills, created when the seafloor first formed, sits atop a flattened area of subduction. That newly recognized combination has created a fault that likely explains last September’s Puebla earthquake, scientists report in a new study.
8 February 2018
New Hayward Fault earthquake simulations increase fidelity of ground motions
Scientists have used some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to model ground shaking for a magnitude (M) 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault and show more realistic motions than ever before.
14 December 2017
The continental U.S. is experiencing more flooding, and earlier in the year
The frequency of flooding in the continental U.S. is increasing, and seasonality of floods is shifting, according to new research.
22 November 2017
Scientists counter threat of flooding on coral reef coasts
Scientists have developed a computer simulation tool to predict short-term flood hazards on coral-reef-lined coasts and to assess longer-term impacts from climate change. The assessments will give input to estimate societal or economic risk and damage from such flooding.
24 October 2017
Scientists use seismic waves to measure tornado intensity
Seismic waves generated by tornadoes when they touch down could be used to measure a twister’s intensity, according to a new study that examined the May 2011 Joplin tornado. The findings could open the door to devising more accurate methods to study tornadoes from the ground.
7 September 2017
Increases in wildfire-caused erosion could impact water supply and quality in the West
A growing number of wildfire-burned areas throughout the western United States are expected to increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, causing more sediment to be present in downstream rivers and reservoirs, according to a new study.
30 August 2017
Computer earthquake prediction in lab shows promise
By listening to the acoustic signal emitted by a laboratory-created earthquake, a computer science approach using machine learning can predict the time remaining before the fault fails. Not only does the work have potential significance to earthquake forecasting, but the approach is far-reaching, applicable to potentially all failure scenarios, including avalanches and other events.
14 August 2017
New study details ocean’s role in fourth-largest mass extinction
Extremely low oxygen levels in Earth’s oceans could be responsible for extending the effects of a mass extinction that wiped out millions of species on Earth around 200 million years ago, according to a new study.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.