All articles tagged with #seismology
Researchers studying the Gofar oceanic transform fault off Ecuador found that barrier zones—networks of tiny, water-filled faults—act as active brakes, using dilatancy strengthening to buffer rock and prevent runaway earthquakes. Data from two long-term ocean-bottom seismic deployments show similar behavior across fault segments, suggesting these features may regulate quake size on other oceanic faults and could improve seismic models.
Scientists report a vast, bound water reservoir about 700 km below the surface, stored in the mineral ringwoodite in the mantle's transition zone. Using seismic data from roughly 2,000 stations and 500 earthquakes, they estimate this deep ocean could contain about three times as much water as all surface oceans, suggesting Earth's water partly originates from within and that the deep cycle helps keep surface oceans stable over geological time.
Scientists used more than two decades of seismic data to map Bermuda’s subsurface and found a light, ~12-mile-thick slab of ancient rock beneath the island. Formed 30–35 million years ago, this slab floats under the crust and keeps Bermuda elevated above the sea without current volcanism, explaining the island’s buoyancy and challenging the classic mantle plume model. The findings tie Bermuda’s uplift to broader mantle convection processes and link to the region’s gravity and magnetic anomalies around the Bermuda Rise.
Seismic analyses suggest an innermost inner core about 650 kilometers across, forming a distinct central region with different iron-crystal alignment, which may reflect past cooling events and implies Earth's center is more complex than the traditional four-layer model, potentially prompting a rewrite of core formation history.
A decade-long study of the Jerk system—an automated, single-station seismometer near Piton de la Fournaise—accurately predicted about 92% of eruptions, issuing alerts minutes to eight hours before surface activity and validating 24 eruptions. Researchers aim to test the approach on Mount Etna, reduce false positives, and expand with multiple stations and deeper boreholes to generalize the method.
Scientists using seismometers mapped a vast underground magma reservoir beneath Tuscany, Italy—comparable in size to Yellowstone’s magmatic system—yet with no eruptions. The dormant chamber, detected to a depth of 15 kilometers, could inform geothermal development and mineral exploration while raising questions about why it has remained inactive.
A magnitude 5.49 earthquake about 17 miles southwest of Fallon, NV, generated more than 100 aftershocks (at least 120 by Tuesday) with no major damage or injuries reported; aftershocks are expected to continue for days to months and scientists will deploy aftershock kits to improve coverage while mapping a potentially unnamed fault near Mason Valley.
A magnitude-5.49 earthquake about 17 miles southwest of Fallon, Nevada, has been followed by a sequence of aftershocks ranging from 2.09 to 3.71 in the same area. Scientists from the Nevada Seismological Laboratory say aftershocks could continue for days as they study the activity to help map and name a potential new fault. Officials report no significant damage or injuries so far, but Lyon and Churchill Counties will continue damage assessments in the coming days amid residents’ accounts of strong shaking.
Scientists are identifying and studying
A Utrecht University study using full-planet normal-mode seismology reveals two Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces beneath Africa and the central Pacific, rising about 1,000 kilometers from the core–mantle boundary. These thermochemical structures, billions of years old, appear to anchor mantle flow and influence surface tectonics; they are not surface mountains, but if placed at the surface they would extend high into the atmosphere, effectively redefining what counts as Earth's tallest feature.
Scientists report a vast water reservoir stored in the mineral ringwoodite about 700 kilometers beneath Earth's surface, forming a deep 'ocean' three times larger than all surface oceans. The finding, supported by seismic data from thousands of sensors and high-pressure lab experiments, challenges the idea that Earth's water came mainly from comets and suggests interior sources could help regulate surface oceans and geologic activity.
A bright fireball over western Germany near Koblenz exploded and showered space rocks; scientists and citizen scientists pieced together the meteorite's likely trajectory using hundreds of eyewitness reports and KIT seismic data, while German law generally lets you keep meteorites unless they’re of special value; NASA estimates around 44,000 kg of meteoritic material reaches Earth daily, mostly micrometeorites.
Two continent-sized regions deep in Earth’s mantle, called Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), lie about 1,200 miles below the surface and rise roughly 620 miles, making them far larger than any surface mountain. They’re hotter and ancient, likely stable for hundreds of millions of years, and their existence suggests the mantle is not as well-mixed as previously thought. Seismic analyses show they dampen waves less than surrounding slabs, a property linked to unusually large mineral grains, reshaping ideas about mantle convection and the origin of mantle plumes.
Seismologists using high-resolution full-waveform inversion on earthquake data detected large, anomalous pockets in the lower mantle beneath the Pacific, visible as regions where seismic waves move unusually fast or slow. These “sunken worlds” may be remnants of ancient plates or other mantle materials, challenging traditional ideas about subduction and plate evolution. A ETH Zurich–Caltech team notes the exact composition is unclear and more data and methods (including EM signals and mineral physics) are needed, but the findings could require updates to models of mantle convection and heat transfer. The study appears in Scientific Reports.
A new global study maps mantle earthquakes—deep quakes originating below the Moho—and shows they occur worldwide, not just in special regions. These deep quakes can be found from the Alps to the Himalayas, East Africa, the western United States, and even the Bering Sea, suggesting mantle earthquakes are more widespread than previously thought. The researchers used a wave-analysis method to distinguish crust-origin quakes from mantle ones and focused on non-subduction regions, highlighting potential links to continental collision and rifting; most mantle quakes are too deep to be felt at the surface (depths around 35 km or more).