Earth Sciences

In a first-of-its-kind study, seismologists have used tiny “microearthquakes” along a section of California’s notorious San Andreas Fault to create unique images of the contorted geology scientists will face as they continue drilling deeper into the fault zone to construct a major earthquake “observatory.”

A chain of 32 seismometers recorded the small earthquakes at underground locations along a 7,100-foot-deep vertical drill hole. This eight-inch-diameter pilot hole was excavated last

Results may help settle debate about how Earth sheds its internal heat

Like doctors taking a sonogram of a human body, Princeton geoscientists have captured images of the interior of the Earth and revealed structures that help explain how the planet changes and ages.

The scientists used tremors from earthquakes to probe the inside of the planet just as sound waves allow doctors to look inside a mother’s womb. The technique, a greatly refined version of earlier efforts,

Researchers at the University of Durham are helping to preserve major historical sites.

Led by Professor Robert Allison under NERC’s Urban Regeneration and the Environment (URGENT) Programme, the scientists have developed a novel method of monitoring and testing archaeological sites uncovered by developers. Their research has involved a wide range of sites in central London.

St Mary Spital is one of the most important archaeological finds of our time. Archaeologists unco

The Navajo Sandstone — one of the brightly colored rock formations that comprise southern Utah’s famous redrock — is exposed in the cliffs at Zion National Park, the Petrified Dunes at Arches National Park and in many parts of Capitol Reef National Park.

Now, a new study from the University of Utah concludes that bleaching patterns in the Navajo Sandstone suggest the rock formation once may have harbored vast amounts of hydrocarbons, likely natural gas (methane). And when the once-buried

Nature publishes new findings that could lead to improved earthquake assessments

Seismologists have long known that the buildup of forces along fault zones cause the physical properties of rock and sediments to change deep inside the Earth, at the level where earthquakes occur. Based upon new findings, researchers believe they may be able to design active seismic monitoring systems that continually monitor these subtle changes, looking for telltale signs of an impending earthquake.

A research team from the IRD “Tropical Palaeo-environments and climatic variability” research unit and their American co-workers (1) have succeeded in retracing over a 23 000 year period the history of a coral reef of the Island of Urelapa, in Vanuatu. This fossil reef bears the record of the longest continuous growth – 17 000 years – ever studied by scientists (2). For the first time, researchers have at their disposal uninterrupted records of environmental data on the whole of the deglaciation peri