Search Results for: ocean

Predicting when large earthquakes might occur may be a step closer to reality, thanks to a new study of undersea earthquakes in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The study, reported in today’s Nature, is the first to suggest that small seismic shocks or foreshocks preceding a major earthquake can be used in some cases to predict the main tremors.

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Southern California (USC) report that some types of larg

A small autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, named Spray was launched yesterday about 12 miles southeast of Bermuda. The two-meter-(6-foot)-long orange glider with a four-foot wingspan will slowly make its way northwest, crossing the Gulf Stream and reaching the continental shelf on the other side before turning around and heading back to Bermuda, where it will be recovered in July.

The voyage will be the vehicle’s second trip across the Gulf Stream.Spray made history last

Research published in Nature shows theoretical feasibility of quake forecasting

Earthquakes along a set of fault lines in the Pacific Ocean emit small “foreshocks” that can be used to forecast the main tremor, according to research in the March 24 issue of Nature. It is the first demonstration that some types of large imminent earthquakes may be systematically predictable on time scales of hours or less. Statistically reliable forecasting of imminent quakes has been an elusive goal f

Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago have explained how a globe-encircling residue formed in the aftermath of the asteroid impact that triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs. The study, which will be published in the April issue of the journal Geology, draws the most detailed picture yet of the complicated chemistry of the fireball produced in the impact.

The residue consists of sand-sized droplets of hot liquid that condensed from th

Rising sea levels 20,000 years ago, as the last ice age was beginning to wane, often are attributed in part to melting in West Antarctica.

But in a new study led by University of Washington researchers, an ice core of 1,000 meters was used as a sort of dipstick to show that a key section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet probably never contained as much ice as scientists originally thought it did. That means it couldn’t have contributed as much to the higher sea level. In an area c

British researchers have launched urgent research programmes in order to learn lessons from the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster. Such knowledge is relevant to both UK, and overseas disaster assessment and prevention programmes.

Funded by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), teams from the University of Cambridge, the University of Newcastle, and University College London have looked at differing aspects of the tsunami’s effects. Their o