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

Earth Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Jun-2025 03:10 ET (27-Jun-2025 07:10 GMT/UTC)

12-Jun-2025

Why do submarine canyons form in places where the seafloor is particularly steep?

University of Potsdam
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Submarine canyons are large, kilometer-deep gorges on the seafloor along continental margins that transport sediments, nutrients, and carbon from offshore regions into the deep sea. Geoscientists Professor Anne Bernhardt of Freie Universität Berlin and PD Dr. Wolfgang Schwanghart of the University of Potsdam have uncovered a surprising insight using a global statistical model: The primary factor influencing the formation of submarine canyons is the steepness of the seafloor – not, as commonly assumed, the role of rivers and where they transport sediment into the ocean. Their new study, “Seafloor Slopes Control Submarine Canyon Distribution: A Global Analysis,” has just been published in the scientific journal “Science Advances”.

Journal: Science Advances

11-Jun-2025

A stress memory effect in olivine at upper mantle pressures and temperatures

Ehime University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Kaiser effect, which is known as a stress memory effect, predicts that seismic events occur only when the previous maximum stress is exceeded. However, the Kaiser effect has only been tested at room temperature in laboratories. Here, we performed deformation experiments on natural olivine at high pressures and high temperatures. We have successfully confirmed a stress memory effect in strongly deformed olivine at high pressures and high temperatures.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Mitsubishi Foundation

11-Jun-2025

Researchers solve ultrasound imaging problem using seismology technique

Colorado State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have overcome a challenge that has prevented medical ultrasound imaging from being used in intensive care and emergency room settings, an advancement that could someday lead to improved critical care for patients.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering

11-Jun-2025

Why the moon shimmers with shiny glass beads

Washington University in St. Louis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using a variety of microscopic analysis techniques not available when the Apollo astronauts first returned samples from the moon, researchers have been able to take a close look at the microscopic mineral deposits on the outside of lunar beads.

Journal: Icarus

11-Jun-2025

Structural brain differences found in kids who experienced prenatal Superstorm Sandy exposure

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study of 34 children, the volumes of part of the brain known as the basal ganglia differed significantly between children whose parents were pregnant with them during Superstorm Sandy versus children without prenatal Sandy exposure. Donato DeIngeniis of Queens College, City University of New York, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on June 11, 2025.

Journal: PLOS One

11-Jun-2025

Global mercury levels in rivers have doubled since Industrial Revolution

Tulane University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

According to new research from Tulane University, mercury levels in the world's rivers have more than doubled since the pre-industrial era, and primary drivers of the increase are wastewater discharge, soil erosion and mercury releases from industrial activities and mining. The study, published in Science Advances, developed a process-based model to simulate mercury transport in rivers and found that global rivers carried approximately 390 metric tons of mercury to oceans annually before 1850. Today, that figure has jumped to about 1,000 metric tons per year. The research provides the first known global baseline for riverine mercury pollution.

Journal: Science Advances

11-Jun-2025

Naval Research Laboratory and NASA launch joint effort to study wildfire-induced thunderstorms

Naval Research Laboratory
Business Announcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As wildfires grow more intense and frequent across the globe, scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are working to better understand a rare but powerful byproduct of these blazes: pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or pyroCbs.