Earth Sciences

The combined Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/University of Rhode Island coupled hurricane-ocean model has helped to improve intensity predictions during tropical storms. However, scientists have found that the model consistently under-predicts maximum wind speed in very strong hurricanes.

In the current issue of the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, University of Rhode Island physical oceanographer Dr. Isaac Ginis describes how he and a team of scientists are refining the

Erupting volcanoes are among the most destructive forces in Mother Nature’s arsenal. But where many people live on or near the flanks of such mountains, the real disaster often doesn’t start until the eruption has subsided and the world has stopped paying attention. It is then that rain-swollen rivers emanating from volcanic peaks can send massive lahars – large waves of mud made up of water, ash and volcanic rock – careening down the mountainsides, often burying everything in their

The position of the earth’s tectonic plates is key, says Lehigh University seismologist

The location of the recent earthquake that triggered a deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean came as no surprise to geologists, says Anne Meltzer, a world-renowned seismologist at Lehigh University. “Earthquakes like this one happen only once every 50 to 100 years and they happen in very specific locations,” says Meltzer, who has supervised two major international seismology research project

Philip Liu, Cornell University professor of civil and environmental engineering, will lead a delegation of American scientists from the National Science Foundation’s Tsunami Research Group and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) into the tsunami-ravaged areas of Sri Lanka, Jan. 9-16.

The scientists will examine inundation areas, estimate wave heights, determine the precise arrival time of the tsunami, scour the area for geological evidence and sediment deposits and examine

A week after the tsunami that hit Asia on 26 December the death toll is still rising. Nearly 140 000 people are confirmed dead, more than 1.8 million people need food aid and an estimated five million are homeless.

The tsunami formed when an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude vertically jolted the seabed by several metres, displacing hundreds of cubic kilometres of water. The epicentre was 320 km west of Medan, just off the west coast of the Indonesia island of Sumatra. The people of Ind

The newest studies on the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of the Pacific Northwest have identified a “clustering” of great earthquakes of the type that would cause a major tsunami, yielding a historical record with two distinct implications – one that’s good, the other not.

According to scientists at Oregon State University, this subduction zone has just experienced a cluster of four massive earthquakes during the past 1600 years, and if historical trends continue, this cl