Earth Sciences

New research explores just how regular San Andreas fault ruptures may be

The San Andreas fault is one of the most dangerous seismically active faults in the world, due to its proximity to densely populated regions of California. But how often does this fault rupture and cause a large earthquake? About every 200 years, which is coming up soon, according to an article to be published in the May 13 issue of the journal, Science.

Glenn Biasi, research assistant professor wit

New summit station planned for greenland summit camp offers space applications

Scientists are preparing to step up research in the Polar Regions, and University of Houston architecture students and staff are designing the facility at the Greenland Summit that sits atop more than 10,000 feet of ice.

The UH group was the only organization approached to submit a design proposal for the first stage of a new summit station at the peak of the Greenland ice cap. The project wa

A research team from Purdue University and the University of California, San Diego has found that the Earth’s atmosphere may be more effective at cleansing itself of smog and other damaging hydrocarbons than was once thought.

Scientists, including Joseph S. Francisco, have learned that some naturally occurring atmospheric chemicals react with sunlight more effectively than previously thought to produce substances that “scrub” the air of smog. This group of chemicals, after abso

World Health Organisation personnel combating an Angolan outbreak of the lethal Marburg virus used high-resolution satellite-based urban maps provided through a pair of ESA-led activities.

The Marburg virus causes Ebola-like internal bleeding in humans, with an incubation period of between five and nine days. A Marburg outbreak was detected in Angola’s Luanda city at the start of April. It has since taken the lives of more than 255 victims, many of them children under five.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are embarking on a research cruise to help them understand recent major changes in the temperature of the Atlantic.

Researchers at the University’s Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences have been examining why ocean temperatures are rising within the tropics and mid-latitudes of the North Atlantic, but at the same time are decreasing at the ocean’s high latitudes.

The research team, which also includes scientists from the N

Finding the ’peculiar’ ancestor

A geologist from Washington University in St. Louis is developing new techniques to render a more coherent story of how primitive life arose and diverged on Earth — with implications for Mars.

Carrine Blank, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, has some insight concerning terrestrial microbes that could lead to provocative conclusions about the nature of life on