Science Daily August 6, 2021 The typical focus of attention for global-scale catastrophes has been on large-scale eruptions with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7–8. An international team of researchers (UK, Israel) has identified seven “pinch points” where clusters of relatively small but active volcanoes sit alongside vital infrastructure that, if paralyzed, could have catastrophic global consequences. They include, the volcanic group on the northern tip of Taiwan, the home to one of the largest producers of electronic chips; The Mediterranean, where earthquakes can induce tsunamis that smash submerged cable networks and seal off the Suez Canal; eruptions in […]
Tag Archives: Natural disasters
Researchers develop a model to better understand the forces that generate tsunamis
Phys.org June 21, 2021 Currently, there is a large gap in the predictions of tsunamis based on simplified models that consider the field complexity but do not capture the physics of the landslide as it enters the water. An international team of researchers (France, USA – UC Santa Barbara) measured the volume of a granular material and released it, causing it to collapse into a long, narrow channel filled with water. They found that while the density and diameter of the grains within a landslide had little effect on the amplitude of the wave, the total volume of the grains […]
Using satellite data to warn people about volcanic eruptions
Phys.org June 21, 2021 Volcano monitoring of gas emissions provides insights into when explosions are likely to happen and unravel processes driving eruptions. An international team of researchers (UK, New Zealand) obtained data from the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, which had passed over Whakaari, New Zealand, shortly after it began erupting. By applying an algorithm to the data, they were able to reconstruct the events that had led to the volcano erupting. They found that SO2 flux and plume height data retrieved from TROPOMI satellite imagery before, during, and after the eruption showed that SO2 was detected without explosive activity on […]
Weird Electromagnetic Bursts Appear Before Earthquakes – And We May Finally Know Why
Science Alert May 30, 2021 Seismologists have been aware of brief, subtle anomalies in underground electrical fields leading up to an earthquake, sometimes occurring as soon as a few weeks before the quake happens. Research suggests that when gases interact with newly created crack surfaces, the unpaired electrons within the rock crystal defects are thermally stimulated, released into the crack due to the temperature rise at the crack tip via plastic work, and attached to ambient gas molecules to electrify them in a negative state. Researchers in Japan used a customized lab setup to test the reactions of quartz diorite, […]
Researchers examine record-shattering 2020 trans-Atlantic dust storm
Phys.org May 26, 2021 For two weeks in June 2020, a massive dust plume from Saharan Africa crept westward across the Atlantic, blanketing the Caribbean and Gulf Coast states in the U.S. Researchers at the University of Kansas used satellite datasets to reconstruct the patterns that transported the dust from Africa to the Americas. According to the researchers the extreme trans-Atlantic dust event is associated with both enhanced dust emissions over western North Africa and atmospheric circulation extremes that favor long-range dust transport. An exceptionally strong African easterly jet and associated wave activities export African dust across the Atlantic toward […]
Simulating 800,000 years of California earthquake history to pinpoint risks
EurekAlert January 25, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (University of Southern California, Columbia University, UC Riverside, USGS) developed a prototype Rate-State earthquake simulator (RSQSim) that simulates hundreds of thousands of years of seismic history in California. When this is coupled with CyberShake, the framework can calculate the amount of shaking that would occur for each quake. It can simulate up to 100,000s of years on a complicated fault system. RSQSim transforms mathematical representations of the geophysical forces at play in earthquakes into algorithms, and then solves them on some of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet. […]
Developing models to predict storm surges
Science Daily September 8, 2020 To develop the models researchers at the University of Central Florida linked large-scale climate variability events, such as El Niño, to variability in storm surge activity. They tested the models by having them predict past storm surge variability and compared their predictions with what actually occurred. The results indicated that the models matched the overall trends and variability of storm surge indicators for almost all coastal regions of the U.S during both the tropical and extra-tropical storm seasons. According to the researchers there is some capability in predicting storm surge variability over inter-annual to decadal […]
How water in the deep Earth triggers earthquakes and tsunamis
Science Daily June 24, 2020 Oceanic lithosphere carries volatiles, notably water, into the mantle through subduction at convergent plate boundaries. This subducted water exercises control on the production of magma, earthquakes, formation of continental crust and mineral resources. An international team of researchers (UK, Germany) studied boron trace element and isotopic fingerprints of melt inclusions. These reveal that hydrated mantle rather than crust is a dominant supplier of subducted water to the central arc. The current dehydration of these fracture zones coincides with the current locations of the highest rates of earthquakes. The combined geochemical and geophysical data indicate that […]