News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

The Hikurangi Margin, located off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, is partly responsible for the more than 15,000 earthquakes the region experiences each year. Most are too small to be noticed, but between 150 and 200 are large enough to be felt. Scientists have been working to understand why this plate boundary produces both imperceptible silent earthquakes, but also potentially major ones. A study published today in the journal Nature offers new perspective and possible answers.

Two climate model studies document the probability of climate tipping in Earth subsystems. The findings support the urgency of restricting CO2 emissions as abrupt climate changes might be less predictable and more widespread in the climate system than anticipated.

To understand the flow of fluids in finite volume in radial geometry, the collaborative team of researchers carried out a study through combination of experiment and simulation on the dynamics when a fluid sandwiched between the layers of another with different viscosity. It is observed that radial growth of limited volume of one of the fluids results in the persistent interfacial dynamics in contrast to the transient nature of the rectilinear growth.

A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere which makes it suitable for life's explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago. This shows that one of the basic conditions necessary to support life, the presence of life-giving elements in sufficient quantity, appeared soon after Earth formed, and has remained fairly constant ever since.

Slow earthquakes are long-period earthquakes that are not so dangerous alone, but are able to trigger more destructive earthquakes. Their origins lie in tectonic plate boundaries where one plate subsides below another. Though the causal mechanism is already known, there has been a lack of data to accurately model the life cycle of slow earthquakes. For the first time, researchers use deep-sea boreholes to gauge pressures far below the seafloor.

Roads, bridges, pipelines and other types of infrastructure in Alaska and elsewhere in the Arctic will deteriorate faster than expected due to a failure by planners to account for the structures' impact on adjacent permafrost, according to research by a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute permafrost expert and others.

In two new studies on life in the seafloor of the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, Marine Biological Laboratory scientist Emil Ruff and collaborators show that distinct regions within the Basin harbor specially adapted microorganisms; discover new microbial inhabitants of this deep-sea community; and suggest how the community may be dramatically influencing carbon cycling in the hot seafloor sediments.

New analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. Published in the PNAS, the study -- which includes contributions by Baylor University planetary physicist Peter James, Ph.D. -- found that the movement of these blocks could indicate that Venus is still geologically active and give scientists insight into both exoplanet tectonics and the earliest tectonic activity on Earth.