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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.
30 March 2018
Wider coverage of satellite data better detects magma supply to volcanoes
Using satellite imaging, researchers for the first time identified a major magma supply into a reservoir extending almost two miles from the crater of a volcano in Nicaragua.
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.
9 January 2018
Study suggests heavy rains from tropical cyclones distort the ground below
Earth’s surface is constantly shifting, expanding and compressing in response to atmospheric and hydrologic forces from aboveground. A new study finds that compression of Earth’s crust is correlated with heavy rainfall from hurricanes and typhoons, known collectively as tropical cyclones. The added weight of all that water likely causes the ground underneath the storm to deform, according to the study’s authors.
22 December 2017
Promising new wildfire behavior model may aid fire managers in near real-time
Wildfires continue to scar California beyond the normal fire season in what’s been a particularly catastrophic year for natural disasters across the U.S. But a new big-data solution for predicting wildfire spread is also heating up, and it may become a useful tool in the firefighters’ arsenal, according to wildfire researchers attending the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.
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.
11 December 2017
Ancient weakening of Earth’s crust explains unusual intraplate earthquakes
New research reveals that mysterious intraplate seismic zones underwent significant deformation hundreds of millions of years ago.
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.
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.