Earth Sciences

A new study has revealed a mechanism that counters established thinking on how the rate at which tectonic plates separate along mid-ocean ridges controls processes such as heat transfer in geologic materials, energy circulation and even biological production.

The study also pioneered a new seismic technique – simultaneously shooting an array of 20 airguns to generate sound — for studying the Earth’s mantle, the layer beneath the 10- to 40-kilometer-deep crust on the seaflo

New research may improve long-term forecasting skills

The authors, left to right: Andrew Charlton, postdoctoral student; Matthew Wittman, graduate student and principal author; and Lorenzo Polvani, Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics & Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director of the IGERT Joint Program in Applied Mathematics and Earth and Environmental Sciences.
by Jennifer Freeman

Three members of Columbia’s Department of Applied Physics and Appli

Scientists have found the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive blooms of marine algae that are potentially harmful to ocean life and fisheries.

Researchers from Stanford University’s School of Earth Sciences made the discovery by analyzing satellite images of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California-a narrow, 700-mile-long stretch of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Mexican mainland from the Baja California Peninsu

They contributed to ice-age deep freeze

Labrador Sea ocean tides dislodged huge Arctic icebergs thousands of years ago, carrying gigantic ice-rafted debris across the ocean and contributing to the ice age’s deep freeze, say an international team of university researchers.

The study, published in the November issue of Nature, is the first to suggest that ocean tides contributed to enigmatic Heinrich events, a phenomenon where colossal discharges of icebergs periodicall

The length of time necessary to recover from a mass extinction may seem like a problem from the past, but a team of Penn State researchers is investigating recovery from the second largest extinction in Earth’s history at the end of the Ordovician 443 million years ago and sees some parallels to today’s Earth.

“We are currently in an undeniable biotic crisis,” says Andrew Z. Krug, graduate student in geosciences. “We are not just interested in what will disappear, but

No matter whether they’re big, little, long, short, skinny or fat — classic stalactites have the same singular shape. Almost everyone knows that stalactites, formations that hang from the roof of caves, are generally long, slender and pointy. But the uniqueness of their form had gone unrecognized. “There’s only one shape that all stalactites tend to be. The difference is one of magnification — it’s either big or it’s small, but it’s still the same shape,”