news 2020

A new method shows that it's now possible to estimate the volume of magma stored below volcanoes providing essential information about the potential size of future eruptions. Most active volcanoes on Earth are dormant, meaning that they have not erupted for hundreds or even thousands of years, and are normally not considered hazardous by the local population.

In agricultural areas, large volumes of water from fields, roads and paths drain directly into streams via manholes and other forms of artificial drainage. These shortcuts also transport pesticides into surface waters - and, according to a new study, in significantly larger quantities than was previously assumed.

Specially-adapted drones, developed by an international team involving scientists from the University of Cambridge, are transforming how we forecast eruptions by allowing close-range measurements of previously inaccessible and hazardous volcanoes These aerial measurements are pushing the frontiers of the current state-of-the-art in volcano monitoring Emma Liu The team, involving 20 researchers from seven countries, used long-range drones kitted out with a range of lightweight sensors to study the Manam volcano - one of the most active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea.

Specially-adapted drones developed by a UCL-led international team have been gathering data from never-before-explored volcanoes that will enable local communities to better forecast future eruptions. The cutting-edge research at Manam volcano in Papua New Guinea is improving scientists' understanding of how volcanoes contribute to the global carbon cycle, key to sustaining life on Earth.

Specially-adapted drones developed by an international team including Bristol scientists have been gathering data from never-before-explored volcanoes that will enable local communities to better forecast future eruptions. The cutting-edge research at Manam volcano in Papua New Guinea is also improving scientists' understanding of how volcanoes contribute to the global carbon cycle, key to sustaining life on Earth.

When the wind on Lake Biel blows from the south-west and it rains heavily, large quantities of sediment are washed out of the River Aare into the lake. Since the south-west wind also influences the circulation in the lake, the wind direction determines to a large extent where the sediment is deposited in the lake, namely along the eastern shore towards Biel - an important finding for identifying areas at risk of landslides.

Stromboli, the 'lighthouse of the Mediterranean', is known for its low-energy but persistent explosive eruptions, behaviour that is known scientifically as Strombolian activity. This feature has long been an attraction for tourists and volcanologists from all over the world. Occasionally, however, more intense and sudden explosions occur, most recently in July and August last year (2019).

Hot and humid: Using minerals from ancient soils, ETH researchers are reconstructing the climate that prevailed on Earth some 55 million years ago. Their findings will help them to better assess how our climate might look in the future. Between 57 and 55 million years ago, the geological epoch known as the Paleocene ended and gave way to the Eocene.

A small amount of molten rock located under tectonic plates encourages them to move. This is what scientists from the Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, planètes et environnement (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) have recently discovered. Their new model takes into account not only the velocity of seismic waves but also the way in which they are attenuated by the medium they pass through.

A composite image of Io in front of a Hubble Space Telescope photo of Jupiter. The observations for the first time show plumes of sulfur dioxide (yellow) rising up from Io's volcanoes. [Image courtesy of ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), I. de Pater et al. NRAO/AUI NSF, S. Dagnello; NASA/ESA] The atmosphere on Jupiter's moon Io is a witches' brew, composed primarily of the sulfurous exhalations of more than 400 volcanoes that dot the surface.

Tiny movements in Earth's outermost layer may provide a Rosetta Stone for deciphering the physics and warning signs of big quakes. New algorithms that work a little like human vision are now detecting these long-hidden microquakes in the growing mountain of seismic data. Measures of Earth's vibrations zigged and zagged across Mostafa Mousavi's screen one morning in Memphis, Tenn.

A small amount of molten rock located under tectonic plates encourages them to move. This is what scientists from the Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, planètes et environnement (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) have recently discovered. Their new model takes into account not only the velocity of seismic waves but also the way in which they are attenuated by the medium they pass through.

Current understanding is that the chemical composition of the Earth's mantle is relatively homogeneous. But experiments conducted by ETH researchers now show that this view is too simplistic. Their results solve a key problem facing the geosciences - and raise some new questions. There are places that will always be beyond our reach.

By Christoph Pelzl Geological investigations of low-temperature young deposits on the Styrian Erzberg provide paleoclimatology with new data on the earth's history and its development. Additional at the end of the text How has the climate changed in the course of the earth's history? Which climatic processes have influenced the earth and its atmosphere? Paleoclimatology seeks answers to such questions in order to better understand climate changes and to derive forecasts for future climate scenarios.

Analysis of the fossil remains of deep-sea corals (pictured here) were used to examine the history of the oceans and connections to global climate. Dann Blackwood, USGS Deep-sea corals Dann Blackwood, USGS Deep-sea corals Dann Blackwood, USGS 17 October 2020 The fossilised remains of ancient deep-sea corals may act as time machines providing new insights into the effect the ocean has on rising CO2 levels, according to new research carried out by the Universities of Bristol, St Andrews and Nanjing and published in Science Advances.

First and corresponding author Dr Byron Adams in the steep terrain of the Greater Himalaya, central Bhutan. Second author Professor Kelin Whipple Looking upstream within a tributary of the Wang Chu, southwestern Bhutan. Dr Byron Adams The Ta Dzong overlooking the Paro Valley, western Bhutan. Dr Byron Adams 16 October 2020 A pioneering technique which captures precisely how mountains bend to the will of raindrops has helped to solve a long-standing scientific enigma.

The speed and intensity with which seismic waves propagate after an earthquake depend mainly on forces occurring deep inside the rocks along a fault line, according to a study by EPFL scientist François Passelègue. His sophisticated models are giving us fresh insight into the factors that can trigger an earthquake.

An idea to enhance natural carbon capture from olivine weathering has never been tested at scale. University of Sydney geoscientists have proposed the Tweed Valley as a laboratory and gained some interesting initial results. Geoscientists at the University of Sydney have discovered a natural laboratory to test claims that the carbon captured during the erosion and weathering of common rocks could be a viable mitigation strategy against global warming.

Whether a lake was once polluted with excess nutrients is reflected even decades later in the community of bacteria living on these nutrients in the sediment. However, there is still surprisingly little research into how microbes in the sediment cooperate. From a global perspective, lake sediments are important carbon sinks.

Common assumptions notwithstanding, rare species can play unique and essential ecological roles. After studying two databases that together cover all known terrestrial mammals and birds worldwide, scientists from the CNRS, the Foundation for Biodiversity Research (FRB), Université Grenoble Alpes, and the University of Montpellier 1 have demonstrated that, though these species are found on all continents, they are more threatened by human pressures than ecologically common species and will also be more impacted by future climate change.