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Geology & Geophysics


Lessons from the Haiti Earthquake

Lessons from the Haiti Earthquake

When I was a boy growing up in China, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake near the city of Tangshan killed more than 242,000 people and severely injured 170,000 more. More than 7,000…

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Ocean Acidification: A Risky Shell Game

Ocean Acidification: A Risky Shell Game

A new study has yielded surprising findings about how the shells of marine organisms might stand up to an increasingly acidic ocean in the future. Under very high experimental CO2…

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Noah’s Not-so-big Flood

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A long time ago, whether your time frame is biblical or geological, the Black Sea was a large freshwater Black “Lake.” It was cut off from the Mediterranean Sea by…

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Hurricane Hunter

Hurricane Hunter

Soon after they married, Jon Woodruff asked his new wife Akiko Okusu if she’d like to take a trip to her native Japan. Not for a belated honeymoon, but to help…

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A Tale of Two Oceans, and the Monsoons

A Tale of Two Oceans, and the Monsoons

Every summer, the continent of Asia takes a big breath. This inhalation pulls moisture-laden air from the Indian Ocean over India and Southeast Asia, causing torrential rains known as the…

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Are Sea Squirts Crowding Out Scallops?

Are Sea Squirts Crowding Out Scallops?

Over the last 10 years, Mary Carman has documented how slimy sea squirts have invaded coastal New England, multiplying on rocks, docks, boat bottoms, moorings, and other hard surfaces. Their…

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The Spiral Secret to Mammal Hearing

The Spiral Secret to Mammal Hearing

The spiral secrets of mammals? hearing abilities Whispering galleries are curious features of circular buildings. As whispers travel along the buildings’ curved walls, they remain loud enough to be heard…

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Deeply Submerged Volcanoes Blow Their Tops

Deeply Submerged Volcanoes Blow Their Tops

A research team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has uncovered evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions on the Arctic Ocean seafloor almost 2.5 miles deep. Scientists did not think…

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Antarctic Andrea

Antarctic Andrea

The sound of boots crunching on brick-red gravel filled the thin Antarctic air. Three scientists—geologists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)—had been climbing for 30 minutes, staring at their feet…

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Earth, Wind, and Fire in Antarctica

Earth, Wind, and Fire in Antarctica

From a windy, isolated camp in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, three scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explore how the waterless, lifeless, volcanic terrain formed and evolved. Read the story…

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Earth’s Moving Crust May Occasionally Stop

The motion, formation, and recycling of Earth?s crust?commonly known as the theory of plate tectonics?have long been thought to be continuous processes. But new research by geophysicists suggests that plate tectonic motions have occasionally stopped in Earth?s geologic history, and may do so again.

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Plumbing the Plume That Created Samoa

Plumbing the Plume That Created Samoa

Matthew Jackson began his journey to the center of the Earth on lonely gravel roads in Montana. Uninterested in motorcycles and horses, and miles from neighbors and friends, Jackson roamed…

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Summer Under Arctic Ice

Summer Under Arctic Ice

This month, an international team of scientists and engineers are exploring the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean while cruising aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden. The science team is sending three…

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