EurekAlert! News by Subject: Earth Science - News by Subject: Earth Science

Earth Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (22-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)

Land use severely reduces global carbon in plants and soils

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new LMU study shows the extent to which human influence is altering natural land carbon stocks.

Journal: One Earth

Unraveling the complex features of the seismic scatterers in the mid-lower mantle through phase transition of (Al, H)-bearing stishovite

Ehime University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The subducted oceanic crusts are regarded as the major source of lower-mantle heterogeneity. However, the limited knowledge about the physical properties of major components in the subducted oceanic crusts prevents us from fully understanding the complex features of the related geophysical anomalies. Here, we comprehensively investigated the phase transition of (Al, H)-bearing stishovite at simultaneously high P-T conditions. These results contribute to our understanding on the complex depth distribution of the mid-lower mantle seismic scatterers.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China

Reconstruction of a record-breaking earthquake

GFZ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Geoforschung
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Myanmar on 28 March 2025 showed unusually fast rupture velocity, which is known as a supershear rupture. The recent study of Felipe Vera from GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences and coauthors confirms this finding and combines multiple methods to shed further light on the rupture process of this earthquake. According to the results, the Myanmar earthquake showed the highest rupture velocity worldwide in more than 20 years. The study is published in the journal The Seismic Record.

Journal: The Seismic Record

Past Arctic climate secrets to be revealed during i2B “Into The Blue” Arctic Ocean Expedition 2025

UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Business Announcement

From 16^th August to 19^th September 2025, the i2B Arctic Ocean Expedition, led by Jochen Knies and Stijn De Schepper, will be sailing into the Arctic Ocean onboard the Norwegian research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon. This expedition will shed light on Arctic climate during past ‘warmer-than-present-day’ conditions.

Funder: European Research Council

UH researchers to develop AI to aid in emergency food distribution

University of Houston
Grant and Award Announcement

Families, particularly those already vulnerable to food insecurity, can face difficulties obtaining food in the aftermath of natural disasters. University of Houston researchers will utilize artificial intelligence to develop an online resource for food pantries, aiming to streamline stakeholder collaboration and distribute resources to families in need.

USGS measures glacial flooding in Juneau, Alaska

U.S. Geological Survey
Business Announcement

USGS streamgages show flood conditions are now underway, with live cameras providing real-time views on the USGS HIVIS website. Glacier-caused flooding has become an annual threat since 2011, with record-breaking floods over the past two years that impacted more than 300 homes and threatened public safety.

As the world churns — a history of ecosystem engineering in the oceans

Yale University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New Haven, Conn. — The murky world at the bottom of the oceans is now a little clearer, thanks to a new study that tracks the evolution of marine sediment layers across hundreds of millions of years.

It is a story of world-building on a grand, yet granular, scale, accomplished by a succession of marine animals that burrowed and tunneled their way through heat and cold, species expansions and mass die-offs. Scientists call the process bioturbation — the excavation and mixing of sediments and soils by burrowing animals, particularly for shelter and sustenance.

“Bioturbation is one of the most important forms of ecosystem engineering today, both in the oceans and on land,” said Lidya Tarhan, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and lead author of the study published in the journal Science Advances.

Journal: Science Advances

75
76
77
78
79