That the wind causes ocean waves is obvious to anyone who has spent time near the water, but the details of that process remain fuzzy. Many of the explanations — Keep reading
Tag: geophysics
Ice and Dunes
Although dunes are usually associated with scorching climates, they can form in any desert, including in the frozen steppes of western Mongolia. This sunrise photo, taken by an astronaut aboard Keep reading
Bullseye
The Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands began erupting in mid-September 2021. This satellite image, captured October 1st, shows a peculiar bullseye-like cloud over the volcano. Hot water vapor Keep reading
Modelling Volcanic Bombs
When magma meets water on its journey to the surface, the two form a large, partially molten chunk known as a volcanic bomb. As you would expect from their name, Keep reading
Seeking Magma
In 2009, drillers seeking geothermal energy in Iceland accidentally pierced a hidden magma chamber. After a billowing pillar of steam and glass shards poured out from the hole, it created Keep reading
Megaripples Beneath Louisiana
Approximately 66 million years ago, a 10-km asteroid struck our planet near Chicxulub on the Yucatán Peninsula. The impact was globally catastrophic, causing tsunamis, wildfires, earthquakes, and so much atmosphere-clogging Keep reading
Ferrovolcanism
Beyond Earth, scientists expect to find objects formed by a volcanism much different than what we typically see here. Researchers used Syracuse University’s Lava Project apparatus to simulate ferrovolcanism — Keep reading
Breaking Ocean Currents
Our global ocean currents move enough water to dwarf the flow of all Earth’s rivers. This worldwide circulation is driven largely by density and the movements of cold, salty water Keep reading
Meeting Without Mixing
When bodies of water meet, they don’t always mix right away. Here we see the confluence of the Back and Hayes Rivers in the Canadian Arctic. The Back River appears Keep reading
Iceberg Melting Depends on Shape
Not all icebergs melt equally. Through a combination of experiment and numerical simulation, researchers have shown that an iceberg’s shape underwater strongly affects how it melts. Specifically, icebergs in a Keep reading