June 2018

Explosions at Hawaii's Kilauea Summit Keep Producing Magnitude 5.3 Quakes

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kilauea volcano's Halema'uma'u crater erupted ash plumes.</td></tr>
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For the seventh time in eight days, an explosion at the Kilauea summit on Hawaii's Big Island erupted Thursday morning with a force equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 or higher, according to the US Geological Survey.<br />
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The latest came at about 4:49 a.m. (10:49 a.m. ET), registering at magnitude 5.3 and sending "an ash-poor plume" 1,000 feet into the sky, the USGS said. It was the biggest of more than 400 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or higher that have struck in the vicinity of the volcano between noon Wednesday and noon Thursday, the overwhelming majority of which were minor temblors.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The other events:</span></h3>
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• On Tuesday, at 10:41 p.m., a collapse explosion at the Kilauea summit registered at magnitude 5.4.<br />
• On Monday at 5:03 p.m., a collapse explosion registered at magnitude 5.3.<br />
• On Sunday at 4:12 p.m., another one registered at magnitude 5.3. <br />
• On Saturday at 4:34 p.m., yet another event registered at 5.3. <br />
• On Friday at 6:52 p.m., a collapse explosion was equivalent to a magnitude 5.3 earthquake. <br />
• On June 21 at 1:14 p.m., a gas and ash emission at the summit also had force equivalent to magnitude 5.3.<br />
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Kīlauea Message Thu, 28 Jun 2018 05:27:52 HST: At 4:49 AM HST June 28, a collapse explosion event occurred at Kīlauea's summit. An ash-poor plume rose about 1000 ft above the ground and drifted SW. The energy released by the event was equivalent to a M5.3 earthquake.</div>
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGSVolcanoes/status/1012357466170875905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The USGS explains the consistency in the magnitudes as follows: "The energy being released ... is a reflection of the physical process that produces these events. That process seems to be remarkably consistent over time. It is likely controlled by the geometry of the caldera itself and the size of the piston collapse."<br />
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The events have mostly caused small plumes with little ash and mostly steam, according to USGS. For this reason, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory downgraded the aviation color code from red to orange, as the explosions have rarely produced huge ash plumes taller than 10,000 feet that could pose dangers to flights.<br />
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More than 4,000 small earthquakes have struck the area in the last week, with as many as 40 earthquakes per hour, according to data from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The vast majority have been between magnitude 2 to 3.<br />
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Residents living near the volcano area are being asked to monitor their gas, water and power connections after the earthquakes.<br />
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And the earthquakes have caused cracks in the building and books being thrown off shelves in a Hawaii observatory, as shown in a tweet by USGS.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The damage so far</span></h3>
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Despite the near-constant earthquakes, it's lava that has been most destructive.<br />
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Lava from the Kilauea volcano covers 6,164 acres (about 9.6 square miles) since it started erupting May 3, and it has destroyed 657 homes, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Service.<br />
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Fissure 8 continues to feed lava flowing to the ocean at Kapoho. Since June 3, when lava first entered the ocean on the southeastern side of the Big Island, the flow has created new land at the ocean entry that has expanded to about 405 acres.<br />
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<u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">© 2018 Cable News Network. </span></i></u> </div>
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Explosions at Hawaii's Kilauea Summit Keep Producing Magnitude 5.3 Quakes

The Kilauea volcano's Halema'uma'u crater erupted ash plumes. For the seventh time in eight days, an explosion at the Kila...

Site of the Next Major Earthquake on the San Andreas Fault?

Earthquakes, San Andreas 4:53 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map showing the faults and uplifting late Cenozoic basin fill (gray) of southeastern California. A larger version is available.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Many researchers hypothesize that the southern tip of the 1300-km-long San Andreas fault zone (SAFZ) could be the nucleation site of the next major earthquake on the fault, yet geoscientists cannot evaluate this hazard until the location and geometry of the fault zone is documented.</span><br />
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In their new paper for Lithosphere, Susanne Jänecke and colleagues use detailed geologic and structural mapping of the southern 30 km of the San Andreas fault zone in southern California to show that it is a highly faulted volume of rock that is 1-4 km wide and organized as a sheared ladder-like structure in the upper 3-5 kilometers of the earth.<br />
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This newly identified Durmid ladder structure is at least 25 km long, has tens of master right-lateral and right-reverse faults along its edges and hundreds of left- and right-lateral cross faults in between. The Durmid ladder structure trends northwest, extends from the well-known main trace of the San Andreas fault (mSAF) on the northeast side to a newly identified East Shoreline fault zone (ESF) on the opposite edge.<br />
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Many years of detailed field study validated the team's 2011 hypothesis about the existence of the East Shoreline strand of the SAFZ northeast of the margin of the Salton Sea, and this paper documents this previously unknown active fault using geophysical and geologic datasets along the entire northeast margin of Coachella Valley, California. The East Shoreline fault, say the authors, probably becomes the Garnet Hills fault, north of Palm Springs, and together they parallel the mSAF for >100 km.<br />
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Uplifted, highly folded and faulted Pliocene to Holocene sedimentary rocks, evidence for pervasive shortening, map-scale damage zones, and extremely rapid block rotation indicate that convergence across the Durmid ladder structure of the SAFZ is the smaller, secondary component that accompanies more rapid right-lateral motions.<br />
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Small amounts of shallow creep and triggered slip regularly produce hairline fractures along the mSAF and Jänecke and colleagues recognize identical features within the ESF and along some cross faults of the Durmid ladder structure.<br />
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It is not clear how past earthquakes interacted with this well-organized multi-fault structure, and, notes Jänecke, this makes future behavior difficult to predict. The mSAF was the only active fault considered by the geoscience community in this crucial area prior to our detailed study.<br />
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New and published geophysical data sets and drill hole data in Coachella Valley show that the East Shoreline fault is a voluminous fault zone that extends in all three dimensions. It is well-imaged southwest of the mSAF and appears to persist into the subsurface at the southwest edge of a flower structure that may converge and simplify at depth.<br />
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In such an interpretation, the ESF is steep, dips northeast, and is a key structure at the basinward edge of an asymmetric flower-like structure identified by Fuis et al. (2017) directly northwest of this study area. Southward, the Durmid ladder structure widens gradually as it bends and interacts with the even wider Brawley Seismic zone.<br />
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The component of shortening across the southernmost San Andreas fault zone gives way along strike to components of extension in the Brawley Seismic Zone within a defined transition zone. This geometry makes it likely that both fault zones could fail during a single earthquake, as suggested by prior research.<br />
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Several-kilometer-wide strike-slip fault zones, like the southern 30 km of the SAFZ, occur along many active faults and underlie metropolitan areas. The 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand revealed that ladder-like fault zones can be enormous (at least 25 km wide and 150 km long) and fail in a piecemeal fashion.<br />
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The surface-faulting hazards, ground shaking, and cascading ruptures that might arise from interactions among faults in active, voluminous fault zones are not well understood or quantified and much research is needed to mitigate the risk posed by this important type of structure.<br />
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<i><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above story is based on <a href="http://www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/2018/18-23.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.geosociety.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Geological Society of America</a>.</span></u></i></div>

Site of the Next Major Earthquake on the San Andreas Fault?

Map showing the faults and uplifting late Cenozoic basin fill (gray) of southeastern California. A larger version is available. Many r...

World's Tallest Active Geyser Erupts in Yellowstone National Park for the 9th Time

USA, Yellowstone 4:49 PM

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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser is the region's largest and up until 2018, it's also erupted quite infrequently, often lying quiet for years. But over the past few months it has sprung to life and now seems to be erupting somewhat on a schedule, at least for the moment.</span><br />
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Just after 1 a.m. Monday it sent boiling water hundreds of feet in to the air for the ninth time this year. Before this recent string of eruptions, Steamboat had been dormant since 2014.<br />
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"Major eruptions over the past several weeks have been occurring with surprising regularity (every 6 to 8 days)," wrote Jamie Farrell, Chief Seismologist of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO).<br />
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In fact, its latest eruption came just as his article for the YVO's website was being published early Monday, right on time, seven days after eruption number eight.<br />
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Like most of its previous 2018 eruptions, it went off overnight, when visitors are not allowed to check it out up close. But it shot off for the eighth time on June 4 during visiting hours and Farrell was on site to witness it.<br />
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"If there was one thing to remember about the Steamboat eruption, it was the noise," Farrell explains. "The "roar" was just as impressive as the visual spectacle. Every once in a while, rocks (some baseball sized) were ejected with the water to astonishing heights."<br />
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"We see gas emissions. We see all kinds of thermal activity. That's what Yellowstone does. That's what it's supposed to do. It's one of the most dynamic places on earth," Poland said.<br />
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The least predictable geyser in the park is Steamboat. It could erupt in five minutes, five years -- even 50 years from now. Yet no one visiting Yellowstone wants to turn away from the sight.<br />
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"That would be the chance of a lifetime," one visitor said. "I would be amazed."<br />
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Timing is everything, and only a lucky few get to see it. Poland's team of volcanologists are using thermal-imaging equipment to track the temperature of the 50-mile-wide magma field. They also monitor 28 seismographs since a super volcano would include major earthquake activity.<br />
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That so much is happening now is a boon not just for scientists, but for science enthusiasts like Hannah Gilbert.<br />
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"This is amazing," she said. "This is a nerd's paradise."<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.geologyin.com/2018/06/yellowstone-volcano-magma-is-heating.html" target="_blank">See also: Yellowstone Volcano Magma ‘is Heating the Boiler’ - Experts Estimate Recharging Chamber </a></span></div>

World's Tallest Active Geyser Erupts in Yellowstone National Park for the 9th Time

Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser is the region's largest and up until 2018, it's also erupted qui...

Kilauea's Summit Crater Has Been Radically Transformed

Hawaii, volcano 5:14 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lava lake in the summit crater of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been rising in recent</td></tr>
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Throughout Kilauea’s ongoing and spectacularly destructive eruption, our eyes have mostly been trained on the fire fountains and vast river of lava flowing through the lower East Rift Zone. But there’s also been an incredible amount of drama unfolding at the volcano’s summit that shows no signs of letting up.<br />
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Not two months ago, the Halemaʻumaʻu summit crater was a fiery lake of lava. But just as fissures started to open in the lower East Rift Zone in early May, that lake began draining downward and receding from view, prompting warnings of an explosive eruption should the magma level fall below the water table. Sure enough, explosive eruptions of gas and ash revved up a few weeks after the collapse began as the crater’s walls crumbled and produced rockfalls.<br />
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Nearly seven weeks on from the start of the hullaballoo, the transformation of Halemaʻumaʻu crater has been stark. A drone flyover on June 13 shows that where the lava lake used to be, there’s now a deep, steep walled pit wafting a acrid sulfur dioxide gas and belching the occasional ash plume.<br />
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The changes at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kilauea?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kilauea</a> summit are incredible. You can see the Google Maps image showing the pre-eruption crater, & what the Halema‘uma‘u crater looked like on June 5 and 12 (by USGS). The old car park gives a reference point.<a href="https://t.co/p9ZRiWGxcp">https://t.co/p9ZRiWGxcp</a> <a href="https://t.co/QRiu1wjirT">pic.twitter.com/QRiu1wjirT</a></div>
— Dr Janine Krippner (@janinekrippner) <a href="https://twitter.com/janinekrippner/status/1007262946962149376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) noted in an update on June 12 that the crater’s deepest section is now about 300 meters (1,000 feet) below the rim, meaning you could stack about two Washington monuments in it before reaching the top. The slumping has continued unabated ever since, with one nearby GPS station subsiding an additional 200 feet over the past week, according to an update the agency posted on Monday.<br />
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Satellites are offering additional insight into the nature of the change taking place. Take this animation released by USGS on June 15, which overlays a series of radar images acquired by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana CosmoSkyMed satellite system.<br />
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Darker regions indicate deeper terrain, clearly showing the slumping of parts of the western, southwestern, and northern crater rim over time.A separate visualization made from data collected twice every six days by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 1 satellite uses colored fringes to indicate deformation.<br />
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Per USGS, the smearing of those fringes in the center of the caldera bowl is “a sign of the extreme and rapid style of subsidence.” As dramatic as it seems, this is pretty much what geologists would expect to happen as magma continues to drain and move downrift.<br />
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The magma pressure at the summit is now much lower than it used to be, and like a water balloon that sprung a leak, it’s slumping and deflating as a result.<br />
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“If you look at a lot of these big shield volcanoes, these collapse calderas are fairly common features,” Denison University volcanologist Erik Klemetti told Earther. He added that when Iceland’s Bárðarbunga volcano erupted in 2014-2015, the caldera (which in that case was buried beneath a thick glacier) saw “significant collapse” as eruptions occurred off to the northeast.<br />
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There’s still no indication of when any of this will let up. “I think it’s anybody’s guess,” Klemetti said.<br />
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Kilauea's Summit Crater Has Been Radically Transformed

The lava lake in the summit crater of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been rising in recent Throughout Kilauea’s ongoing and spectac...

'Slow Earthquakes' on San Andreas Fault Increase Risk of Large Quakes

Earthquakes, San Andreas 6:02 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The southern San Andreas Fault slices across the Carrizo Plain in California. Both the northern and southern sections of the San Andreas have seen large, destructive earthquakes, but the central section between them has remained largely quiet. Work by ASU geophysicists suggests the central section moves in a previously unsuspected way that makes big quakes more likely.<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geologists have long thought that the central section of California's famed San Andreas Fault -- from San Juan Bautista southward to Parkfield, a distance of about 80 miles -- has a steady creeping movement that provides a safe release of energy.</span><br />
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Creep on the central San Andreas during the past several decades, so the thinking goes, has reduced the chance of a big quake that ruptures the entire fault from north to south.<br />
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However new research by two Arizona State University geophysicists shows that the earth movements along this central section have not been smooth and steady, as previously thought.<br />
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Instead, the activity has been a sequence of small stick-and-slip movements -- sometimes called "slow earthquakes" -- that release energy over a period of months. Although these slow earthquakes pass unnoticed by people, the researchers say they can trigger large destructive quakes in their surroundings. One such quake was the magnitude 6 event that shook Parkfield in 2004.<br />
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"What looked like steady, continuous creep was actually made of episodes of acceleration and deceleration along the fault," says Mostafa Khoshmanesh, a graduate research assistant in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). He is the lead author of a Nature Geoscience paper reporting on the research.<br />
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"We found that movement on the fault began every one to two years and lasted for several months before stopping," says Manoochehr Shirzaei, assistant professor in SESE and co-author of the paper.<br />
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"These episodic slow earthquakes lead to increased stress on the locked segments of the fault to the north and south of the central section," Shirzaei says. He points out that these flanking sections experienced two magnitude 7.9 earthquakes, in 1857 (Fort Tejon) and 1906 (San Francisco).<br />
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The scientists also suggest a mechanism that might cause the stop-and-go movements.<br />
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"Fault rocks contain a fluid phase that's trapped in gaps between particles, called pore spaces," Khoshmanesh says. "Periodic compacting of fault materials causes a brief rise in fluid pressure, which unclamps the fault and eases the movement."</div>
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Looking underground from Earth orbit</h3>
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The two scientists used synthetic aperture radar data from orbit for the years 2003 to 2010. This data let them map month-to-month changes in the ground along the central part of the San Andreas. They combined the detailed ground movement observations with seismic records into a mathematical model. The model let them explore the driving mechanism of slow earthquakes and their link to big nearby quakes.<br />
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"We found that this part of the fault has an average movement of about three centimeters a year, a little more than an inch," says Khoshmanesh. "But at times the movement stops entirely, and at other times it has moved as much as 10 centimeters a year, or about four inches."<br />
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The picture of the central San Andreas Fault emerging from their work suggests that its stick-and-slip motion resembles on a small timescale how the other parts of the San Andreas Fault move.<br />
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They note that the new observation is significant because it uncovers a new type of fault motion and earthquake triggering mechanism, which is not accounted for in current models of earthquake hazards used for California.<br />
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As Shirzaei explains, "Based on our observations, we believe that seismic hazard in California is something that varies over time and is probably higher than what people have thought up to now." He adds that accurate estimates of this varying hazard are essential to include in operational earthquake forecasting systems.<br />
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As Khoshmanesh says, "Based on current time-independent models, there's a 75% chance for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or larger in both northern and southern California within next 30 years."</div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above story is based on <a href="https://asunow.asu.edu/2018018-discoveries-asu-geophysicists-say-slow-earthquakes-san-andreas-fault-increase-risk-large-quakes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.asu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arizona State University</a>.</span></u></div>
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'Slow Earthquakes' on San Andreas Fault Increase Risk of Large Quakes

The southern San Andreas Fault slices across the Carrizo Plain in California. Both the northern and southern sections of the San Andreas ...

Texas & New Mexico: Places Where Can You Go to Dig for Gemstones

Mining, places to visit, USA 9:55 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Structure_Minerals</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both Texas and New Mexico have a nice variety of mineral specimens that can be found including fluorite, quartz, opals, barite, agates, chalcedony, and more.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bar M Ranch Services</span></h4>
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At <a href="https://barmranchservices.com/topaz/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bar M Ranch</a>, guests are invited to search Honey Creek and its tributaries for topaz. Blue Topaz is the state gem of Texas—naturally occurring topaz of this variety is quite rare. Available for individual or group hunting | $15 per person/day |</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 5309 Old Junction Rd, Mason, TX 76856</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seaquist Family Ranch</span></h4>
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Gemstone hunters have been visiting <a href="http://www.masontexastopaz.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seaquist Family Ranch</a> in the Texas Hill Country town of Mason since the 1970s to search ravines and streambeds for pink granite outcroppings, which are the sources of pegmatite that contains topaz. With advance reservations, Seaquist Ranch allows rock hunting for a fee from morning until sunset each day. Mason has bed-and-breakfast lodgings, cabins and inns as well as restaurants and gem shops that line a pretty town square. While most topaz in Texas is white, natural blue topaz is located only in Mason county. $20 per person. Reservation Required.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 7 Miles w. of Mason, Mason, TX</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stillwell Ranch</span></h4>
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At <a href="https://stillwellstore.com/directions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stillwell Store</a> and RV Park on Stillwell Ranch south of Alpine and about 8 miles from the nearest entrance to Big Bend National Park, campground guests may search the grounds for gems. Primitive tent sites are available as well as RV sites with electric hook-ups and water. West Texas gem hunters may find plume agate in shades of black, gray and white, or colorful bouquet agate -- an agate with plume that can be pastel pink, peach, orange, yellow or red. The terrain is rough, so wear sturdy shoes or boots as well as hats and clothing to protect against the sun; avoid brushy areas to lessen the chance of encountering snakes. Step carefully to avoid brushing up against cactus thorns.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 48421 Fm 2627, Marathon, TX </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">New Mexico </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Desert Rose Mine</span></h3>
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This <a href="http://www.peaktopeak.com/blanchard/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mine </a>is located about three miles west of Bingham along Highway 380 next to the Blanchard Rock Shop in Bingham, New Mexico. If you love collecting high quality minerals, then this is one of the best pay-to-dig mines that you can visit. You can collect great tabular barite crystals and cubic fluorite specimens, and galena crystals among other great stones. If you want ready gemstones as gifts to your loved ones then you can buy them in the adjacent Blanchard Rock Shop.  It is a fee pay mine for $10. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 87832 Socorro County, New Mexico</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Rock Hound State Park</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/spd/rockhoundstatepark.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rockhound State Park</a>  is a prime spot for hunting thunder eggs aka geodes. Thunder eggs look  like muddy rocks and can be popped open to reveal valuable crystals such  as amethyst, rose quartz and hematite. To distinguish a geode from a  regular rock, look for a spherical external shape, often  cauliflower-like in texture. You may need a hammer or chisel to break  open the rock. Visitors are allowed to leave the park with 15 lbs. of  rock to add to their personal collection.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 9880 Stirrup Rd SE, Deming, NM 88030</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Harding Pegmatite Mine</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a donated mine preserved for collecting.  You must limit you collecting to a few samples and sign a release form.  Some of the minerals found include bityite, eucryptite, flourapatite, quartz, smoky quartz, gahnite, lepidolite, microcline, amazonite, microlite, albite, muscovite, lithian muscovite, piemontite, and spodumene.<br />
It is a fee pay mine for $50. <br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: Unnamed Road, Peñasco, NM 87553</span></span></div>
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Texas & New Mexico: Places Where Can You Go to Dig for Gemstones

Photo: Structure_Minerals Both Texas and New Mexico have a nice variety of mineral specimens that can be found including fluorit...

True Origin of Ancient Turquoise

Earth History, Mining 7:27 PM

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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">New research published today in the journal Science Advances overturns more than a century of thought about the source of turquoise used by ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica, the vast region that extends from Central Mexico to Central America. </span><br />
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For more than 150 years, scholars have argued that the Aztec and Mixtec civilizations, which revered the precious, blue-green mineral, acquired it through import from the American Southwest. However, extensive geochemical analyses reveal that the true geologic source of Aztec and Mixtec turquoise lies within Mesoamerica.<br />
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Geochemist Alyson Thibodeau, assistant professor of earth sciences at Dickinson College, and a team of researchers from the University of Arizona, California State University at San Bernardino, and the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City, measured the isotopic signatures of Mesoamerican turquoise artifacts associated with both the Aztecs and Mixtecs. These isotopic signatures function like fingerprints that can be used to determine the geologic origins of the turquoise.<br />
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Specifically, Thibodeau and her research team carried out analyses of lead and strontium isotopes on fragments of turquoise-encrusted mosaics, which are one of the most iconic forms of ancient Mesoamerican art. Their samples include dozens of turquoise mosaic tiles excavated from offerings within the Templo Mayor, the ceremonial and ritual center of the Aztec empire, and which is located in present-day Mexico City.<br />
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They also analyzed five tiles associated with Mixteca-style objects held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. The analyses revealed that turquoise artifacts had isotopic signatures consistent with geology of Mesoamerica, not the Southwestern United States.<br />
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"This work revises our understanding of these relatively rare objects and provides a new perspective on the availability of turquoise, which was a highly valued luxury resource in ancient Mesoamerica," said Thibodeau.<br />
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The work is the result of a decade-long collaboration between archaeologists and isotope geochemists to understand the nature of turquoise circulation and trade across southwestern North America. In earlier published research, Thibodeau showed that isotopic signatures could distinguish among turquoise deposits across the southwestern U.S. and identified the geologic sources of turquoise artifacts from archaeological sites in Arizona and New Mexico.<br />
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Thibodeau said that long-standing assumption that Mesoamerican civilizations imported turquoise from the Southwest had not been fully substantiated with evidence and that the new geochemical measurements unveil a different story.<br />
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"These findings potentially re-shape our understanding of both the nature and extent of long-distance contacts between Mesoamerican and Southwestern societies, said Thibodeau. "I hope this inspires people to be skeptical of claims."<br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above story is based on <a href="http://www.dickinson.edu/news/article/3247/research_by_dickinson_college_earth_sciences_professor_featured_in_the_new_york_times" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.dickinson.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dickinson College</a>. Original written by Christine Baksi.</span></u></div>

True Origin of Ancient Turquoise

New research published today in the journal Science Advances overturns more than a century of thought about the source of turquoise u...

These Are the Most Ancient Frogs Ever Found Preserved in Amber

amber, Earth History 10:50 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">99-million-year-old amber fossils provide the earliest direct evidence of frogs living in wet, tropical forests. Credit: Lida Xing/China University of Geosciences</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The extraordinary discovery of four small frogs preserved in amber is providing the earliest evidence of these now-prolific amphibians living in tropical rainforests.</span><br />
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New research published today Scientific Reports shows that frogs—an animal that first emerged some 200 million years ago—were occupying soggy forested regions at least 100 million years ago. This discovery is a big deal because fossils of forest amphibians are rare, and because scientists haven’t been sure when frogs first started to venture into tropical habitats.<br />
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“Frogs are common animals to encounter in the wet tropical forests of today, and easily more than a third of the nearly 7,000 species of frogs live in these wet forests,” David C. Blackburn, a co-author of the new study and the associate curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said. “But being small and living in a tropical forest also means that your likelihood of ending up in the fossil record is pretty low.”<br />
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Along with Lida Xing from the University of Geosciences in China, Blackburn analyzed four exquisite amber fossils found in a deposit in northern Myanmar, formerly Burma. These amber fossils, along with others found nearby, also contained traces of plants, spiders, insects, and marine mollusks.<br />
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For scientists like Blackburn and Xing, these tiny droplets of preserved tree sap are like a time machine, allowing them to visualize the ecosystems of ancient Cretaceous rainforests.<br />
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“The forests in which this amber formed was probably a wet tropical forest with freshwater streams or ponds and located somewhere near the beach,” said. Blackburn. “We know this through the diversity of invertebrates and plants found in other pieces of amber.<br />
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In many ways, this tropical ecosystem seems to resemble wet tropical forests that we have today. But important aspects of the life of this frog are unknown, such as what sound it made, if it had a tadpole, or whether it climbed or jumped.”<br />
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The four frog fossils were not dated directly. Instead, other amber specimens found within the same geological deposits were previously dated directly and indirectly, including traces of volcanic material and fossilized insects.<br />
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A comparative analysis of the ancient frogs, dubbed Electrorana limoae, with similar species living today revealed more similarities than differences; it seems frogs haven’t changed all that much across the millennia.<br />
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“Our comparisons of the skeleton of these new frog fossils indicate that these amber-preserved frogs were ‘true frogs’ but may represent one of the most ancient lineages seen today,” said Blackburn. “The presence of ribs and a bones in the cartilaginous plate that supports the tongue suggests an affinity with the species alive today, such as fire-bellied toads and midwife toads.”<br />
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In addition to providing the earliest direct evidence of frogs in a wet tropical forest ecosystem, these are the oldest records of frogs preserved in amber. Prior, the oldest were from amber deposits found in the Dominican Republic, dated to around 25 million years ago. For Blackburn, it’s a discovery that still blows his mind.<br />
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“Honestly, I’m still astonished that there are even frogs found in amber!” he said. “It is a remarkable experience holding up these small gems and seeing the parts of frogs that look like they might have been left there last month.”<br />
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<u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above story is based on <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/amber-fossils-oldest-frogs-tropical-forests/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Florida Museum of Natural History</a>.<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></i></u></div>

These Are the Most Ancient Frogs Ever Found Preserved in Amber

99-million-year-old amber fossils provide the earliest direct evidence of frogs living in wet, tropical forests. Credit: Lida Xing/China ...

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Has Created 250 Acres of New Land

Geology, Hawaii, volcano 9:30 PM

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NCKlIv4WVrc/WyFQgDyWcMI/AAAAAAAAQAA/lhygIxhqvtYEBb_PnniK8XJ-QCsn7yLeACLcBGAs/s1600/Hawaii%2527s%2BKilauea%2BVolcano%2BHas%2BCreated%2B250%2BAcres%2Bof%2BNew%2BLand%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Has Created 250 Acres of New Land" border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1245" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NCKlIv4WVrc/WyFQgDyWcMI/AAAAAAAAQAA/lhygIxhqvtYEBb_PnniK8XJ-QCsn7yLeACLcBGAs/s640/Hawaii%2527s%2BKilauea%2BVolcano%2BHas%2BCreated%2B250%2BAcres%2Bof%2BNew%2BLand%2B%25281%2529.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The remains of the Kapoho Beach Lots subdivision and a fissure flow front at the town of Kapoho in Hawaii (US Geological Survey/AP)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano that flowed into Kapoho Bay has created nearly a mile of new land, officials from the US Geological Survey have said.</span><br />
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They added that the flow is still very active and there is no way of knowing when the eruption will end or if more lava-spewing vents will open.<br />
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The fast-moving lava poured into low-lying coastal Hawaii neighbourhoods in just two days this week, destroying hundreds of homes.<br />
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“Lava continues to enter the ocean along a broad front in Kapoho Bay and the Vacationland area and it continues to creep north of what remains of Kapoho Beach Lots,” said USGS geologist Janet Babb.<br />
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As the lava marched toward the bay, it vaporised Hawaii’s largest freshwater lake, which was hundreds of feet deep in some places.<br />
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The new land in Kapoho Bay is now owned by the state, but the peninsula will not look like the farmland that dominates that region of the Big Island anytime soon.<br />
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Depending on climate, rainfall and other variables, new vegetation could start growing soon, but it would take much longer for the fertile land and lush rainforests to build back up.<br />
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“How soon vegetation comes back on a lava flow really depends on the type of lava it is, and how much rainfall there is in the area,” said Ms Babb.<br />
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“There are flows on the Kona side of the island that are much older than some flows on east Hawaii, they are much older but they have far less vegetation and that’s just a reflection of the difference in rainfall.”<br />
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A small ohia tree was observed by a National Park Service employee during of a tour of a two-year-old inactive flow in Kalapana last week.<br />
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“Rainfall really makes a difference,” said Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane. “A lot of ferns will pop up first. So, it’s usually ohia and ferns that are the first pioneers of those new lava flows.”<br />
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But the land is still highly unpredictable, and once the lava cools and hardens it will leave behind a jagged, scorched landscape with razor-sharp shards of volcanic rock.<br />
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Any new land masses that are formed by lava within the national park become federal land and any ocean entries outside the park becomes state land.<br />
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“A lot of the ocean entries are extraordinarily unstable,” Ms Ferracane said.<br />
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“The bench that was formed during 2016 and 2017 61G flow has already collapsed and fallen into the ocean, so nobody really owns that any longer.”<br />
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The lava, which has covered more than 5,000 acres (2023.47 hectares) in this latest eruption is not only expansive, but very thick.<br />
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Scientists said that while the height of the lava is variable depending on the source and local topography, much of the area is covered in 10ft-20ft (3m-6m) of lava.<br />
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People who have private property in the affected areas will still own their land, though it will need to be reassessed once the lava stops flowing.<br />
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There are homes still standing in several subdivisions that have been inundated by lava, but many homeowners are unable to get back to those properties because the lava has already cut them off.<br />
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There are no homes left in the Vacationland subdivision and neighbouring Kapoho has only a few homes left standing. They too are cut off and inaccessible.<br />
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Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim said lava has destroyed more than 600 homes since early last month.<br />
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<br />
<u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Press Association</span></i></u></div>

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Has Created 250 Acres of New Land

The remains of the Kapoho Beach Lots subdivision and a fissure flow front at the town of Kapoho in Hawaii (US Geological Survey/AP) ...

Is Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Shooting Green Gems Into the Air?

Hawaii, volcano 9:11 PM

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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been fiercely erupting for well over a month. Now, residents are finding little green gems that have fallen out of the sky during Kilauea's eruption.</span><br />
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Embedded in the lava still spewing some 130 feet into the air from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano are green crystals. <br />
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Called olivine, these minerals can turn Hawaiian beaches green, and it appears some of the green gems are raining down upon homes near the eruption or popping up near lava flows.<br />
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Olivine may be found in pieces of pumice — that is, rapidly cooled lava — or the gems may have been left behind when weaker lava rocks were crushed by car or foot traffic, she said.<br />
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It's not unusual for people to find olivine crystals in Hawaiian lava rock, whether it's ancient or new, as in the case of that produced since Kilauea began erupting on May 3.<br />
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"It's pretty common," U.S. Geological Survey scientist Wendy Stovall told Mashable. "There's often olivine in rocks all over Hawaii."<br />
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Friends of mine live in Hawaii, right next to the area impacted by the most recent lava flows. In the midst of the destruction nearby & stress of the unknown, they woke up to this - tiny pieces of olivine all over the ground. It is literally raining gems. Nature is truly amazing. <a href="https://t.co/inJWxOp66t">pic.twitter.com/inJWxOp66t</a></div>
— Erin Jordan (@ErinJordan_WX) <a href="https://twitter.com/ErinJordan_WX/status/1006147665275453440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Common in the Earth's subsurface, olivine is a mineral containing magnesium, iron and silicate. In some cases, the green crystals work up to the surface of old lava rocks under normal weathering conditions.<br />
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But in events like the continuing Kilauea eruption, the olivine can be separated from the lava in explosive ocean eruptions that break the lava into smaller pieces, fast-tracking the separation process, Stovall said.<br />
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The lava flows themselves are spectacular displays of the volcano's force. These curtains of fire make for art-worthy pictures of blaze orange on a canvass of black, charcoal gray or metallic silver.<br />
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Behind the stunning photographs, of course, is devastation left by Kilauea's relentless eruptions, which began May 3 and so far have covered 9.1 square miles with hot lava. On Tuesday, the volcano was still producing a large, channelized flow entering the ocean at Kapoho. As many as 700 homes have been destroyed.<br />
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The gems are perhaps nature's consolation prize.<br />
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The crystals may be flying through the air from exploded bits of lava, but it's unlikely they're also coming from the volcano's summit, where there's been a large plume of steam and ash erupting from the crater — and at times rare, explosive eruptions. <br />
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"One thing I can say is that olivine is not raining out of the plume," Michael Poland, a USGS volcanologist, said over email.<br />
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Poland added that olivine is common on the ground regardless, because roads in Hawaii are made up of ground up olivine-rich lava rock.<br />
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The little crystals, however, are not being created during the eruption. They've been formed deep underground long ago, brewing in the molten rock. <br />
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"It really is one of the first things to form," said Stovall. <br />
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And olivine might not be the only crystal falling down inside the nearby neighborhood.<br />
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"It's possible that other crystals are being found," said Stovall, adding that a USGS rock specialist said olivine is difficult to tell apart from another common crystal, called clinopyroxene.<br />
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It's also quite possible nearby islanders will continue to find semi-translucent crystals on the ground. The eruption, over a month old now, shows no signs of relenting, and could very well last months — or longer.<br />
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<br />
<u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mark Kaufman on Mashable  </span></i></u></div>

Is Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Shooting Green Gems Into the Air?

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been fiercely erupting for well over a month. Now, residents are finding little green gems that have f...

Scientists Discover 'Oldest Footprints on Earth'

Earth History, Fossils 10:21 PM

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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The identity of the creature that made the 546-million-year-old tracks is still unknown, but they come from the period when the earliest animals are thought to have evolved.</span><br />
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These trackways, preserved near burrows, were discovered in Dengying Formation – a rich fossil preserve in China's south – and constitute the first evidence confirming that an ancient group of animals called bilateria actually pre-dates the Cambrian explosion.<br />
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This 'explosion' – which ignited some 541 million years ago – saw the rapid emergence of a diversified spread of animal phyla over a period lasting perhaps 25 million years.<br />
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Prior to this, animal life on Earth consisted of simpler, single-celled or multicellular organisms, but the Cambrian Period gave rise to more complex creatures of a kind we recognise today, including bilaterian animals, who exhibited the first bilateral symmetry.<br />
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This nifty piece of evolution gave them things like heads, tails, bellies, and backs – not to mention something else that's incredibly useful: legs.<br />
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"Animals use their appendages to move around, to build their homes, to fight, to feed, and sometimes to help mate," one of the researchers, geobiologist Shuhai Xiao from Virginia Tech University, told The Guardian.<br />
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"It is important to know when the first appendages appeared, and in what animals, because this can tell us when and how animals began to change to the Earth in a particular way."<br />
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While bilaterian animals – including arthropods and annelids – were suspected to have first stretched their innovative legs prior to the Cambrian explosion, in what's called the Ediacaran Period, before now there was no evidence for it in the fossil record.<br />
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That's why these Dengying track marks are a big deal for our understanding of evolutionary history – one small step for a bilaterian perhaps, but one giant leap for animal kind.<br />
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In a sense, it's amazing the researchers were able to find anything at all.<br />
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The 550-million-year-old tracks measure only a few millimetres in width, and consist of two rows of imprints arranged in what the researchers describe as a "poorly organised series or repeated groups", which could be due to variations in gait, pace, or interactions with the surface of what was once an ancient riverbed.<br />
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"The footprints are organised in two parallel rows, as expected if they were made by animals with paired appendages," Xiao told The Independent.<br />
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"Also, they are organised in repeated groups, as expected if the animal had multiple paired appendages."<br />
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In other words, this prehistoric critter wasn't a biped like you or me, but perhaps something with multiple paired legs – such as a spider, or a centipede – although given we have so little to go upon, the researchers emphasise it's impossible to know for sure what specific form this early walker embodied.<br />
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"We do not know exactly what animals made these footprints, other than that the animals must have been bilaterally symmetric because they had paired appendages," Xiao explains.<br />
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"Unless the animal died and [was] preserved next to its footprints, it is hard to say with confidence who made the footprints."<br />
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Still, due to the proximity of the track marks to fossilised burrows discovered nearby, the researchers hypothesise the creature may have exhibited "complex behaviour", such as periodically digging into sediments to mine oxygen and food among its riverbed habitat.<br />
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More than that, it's hard to say, but we know that this little thing walked when the world was young, and right now that's everything.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>The study was published in the journal  <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao6691" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Science Advances</a>.</u></span></div>

Scientists Discover 'Oldest Footprints on Earth'

The identity of the creature that made the 546-million-year-old tracks is still unknown, but they come from the period when the earlies...

Hawaii Volcano: Pele's Hair Is Falling From the Sky

Hawaii, Lava 10:11 PM

Hawaii Volcano: Pele's Hair Is Falling From the Sky

A photo of Pele’s hair on the Big Island in Hawaii. Fine, glass tendrils — Pele’s hair — are flying around Big Island after explosive ...

Steamboat Geyser Erupts for 8th Time Since March, and Scientists Aren't Sure Why

News, Tectonic, Yellowstone 10:17 PM

Steamboat Geyser Erupts for 8th Time Since March, and Scientists Aren't Sure Why

Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser's rare eruption The Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupted for just the tenth ti...

Lava Evaporates Hawaii's Largest Lake in a Matter of Hours

Earth History, Hawaii, Lava 8:50 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lava flow from Fissure 8 enters Kapoho Bay, Hawaii </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last Friday, Green Lake, also known as Ka Wai a Pele, was Hawaii’s largest freshwater natural resource. Today, it’s nothing but a memory.</span><br />
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Lava began seeping into the 400-year old lake over the weekend, resulting in a massive tower of steam, as the water evaporated. Once a popular swimming hole for tourists and locals that was 200 feet deep, it has now essentially vanished.<br />
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“I couldn’t believe it,” said Drew Kapp, a geography instructor at Hawaii Community College, according to Hawaii News Now. “I’ve never even heard of anything like that happening before.”<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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HUGE PLUME! Lava has reached the Green Lake, Big Island, Hawaii...<br />
IMAGES 1-3: By <a href="https://twitter.com/Paradisecopters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Paradisecopters</a><br />
IMAGE 4: By Kylesan Moore Thunder (fishing offshore)<br />
VIDEO: By John Kapono Carter <a href="https://t.co/1i1QqghyUb">https://t.co/1i1QqghyUb</a><br />
Supporters of 'International Day of Volcanoes'<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/InternationalDayOfVolcanoes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#InternationalDayOfVolcanoes</a> <a href="https://t.co/rNGeKt0HUE">pic.twitter.com/rNGeKt0HUE</a></div>
— Jeannie Curtis (@VolcanoJeannie) <a href="https://twitter.com/VolcanoJeannie/status/1003034939812601856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
According to Kapp, some people believe that the basin was one of the first places Madame Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, came to visit. Legend has it that she bathed there when she first visited Hawaii.<br />
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"It's really a culturally significant place," Kapp said. "A lot of people think that she may be returning to the place where she first came."<br />
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Green Lake isn't the only natural resource claimed by lava in recent days.<br />
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On Sunday night, lava hit the ocean off Kapoho. Residents fear Kapoho Tide Pools and a fish pond are gone. <br />
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"It's wiping out the island as it is," said Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator. He added, of lava covering parts of Kapoho, "That's a pretty precious part of the island."<br />
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Kapp says that although Green Lake will be missed, he believes that residents have come to accept and even respect the loss.<br />
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The lake, likely named for the color of its water, reached depths of 200 feet.<br />
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"It makes sense, if this is where Pele first visited to bathe, maybe she just decided to return," Kapp said.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Hawaii's largest freshwater lake is the latest casualty from the Big Island's Kilauea volcano. Steam billowed up from Green Lake in Kapoho as lava flow evaporated its placid waters within a few hours. <a href="https://t.co/5mFaN5owro">https://t.co/5mFaN5owro</a> <a href="https://t.co/Em1JMZ41n9">pic.twitter.com/Em1JMZ41n9</a></div>
— CNN (@CNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1004541907765260288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Lava Evaporates Hawaii's Largest Lake in a Matter of Hours

Lava flow from Fissure 8 enters Kapoho Bay, Hawaii Last Friday, Green Lake, also known as Ka Wai a Pele, was Hawaii’s largest freshwa...

Large Igneous Provinces Contribute to Ups and Downs in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Earth History, Environment, Igneous, Tectonic 10:46 PM

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About 250 million years ago, a massive volcanic eruption flooded modern-day Siberia with lava, creating the Siberian Traps, giant plateaus made of multiple layers of lava. The eruption also released huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that rapidly altered the climate and triggered the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event that wiped out more than 90% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species.<br />
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After the eruption, however, the Siberian Traps began drawing atmospheric carbon dioxide back into the crust through weathering and erosion. The Siberian Traps are the largest of several floods of basalt, called Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), that have occurred during Earth's history and that likely have played a role in regulating Earth's climate.<br />
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In a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters, lead author Louis Johansson, along with Deep Carbon Observatory members Sabin Zahirovic and Dietmar Muller at the University of Sydney's School of Geosciences modelled the eruption of LIPs and their movement as a result of plate tectonics around the globe for the last 400 million years.<br />
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The researchers compared the timing of LIP eruption and weathering with estimates of atmospheric carbon dioxide to see if eruptions and weathering had a controlling effect. Through their analysis the researchers were able to pinpoint specific times when LIPs were instrumental in turning up or down Earth's global thermostat.<br />
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"These huge eruptions bring up an enormous amount of carbon dioxide and can change the climate and trigger major extinctions," said Zahirovic.<br />
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"But Earth has inbuilt mechanisms to scrub out the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over geological timeframes."<br />
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LIPs can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide because the basalt lavas are full of silicate-rich rocks that are especially vulnerable to weathering. When rain falls through a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, it dissolves the gas and forms acid rain. The weak acid reacts with silicate minerals in the LIPs to make long-lived carbonate sediments. Warm, rainy environments speed up the erosion process, and so more erosion occurs when LIPs are in regions near the equator, which have high temperatures and receive the most rainfall.<br />
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Scientists have looked at the climate impacts of individual LIPs, but no one had considered the long-term, global impacts of LIPs, as they moved around Earth on shifting continents.<br />
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The researchers used GPlates, an open-source software tool that reconstructs the movement of tectonic plates through Earth's history, developed by Müller's EarthByte group at the University of Sydney along with international collaborators. They took into account the timing of LIP eruptions and how many million years each LIP spent near the equator to estimate erosion. Then they compared the emission and absorption of carbon dioxide from LIPs to estimates of atmospheric carbon dioxide using proxy data from a previously published compilation.<br />
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To attain an unbiased comparison, the researchers performed a wavelet analysis, which is a statistical test that compares two sets of measurements over time to see if and when they are correlated.<br />
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"This analysis eliminates arm waving and also tells us when a particular signal leads another signal, so it gives us an indication, perhaps, of causation," said Zahirovic.<br />
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When the researchers compared the estimated level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the eruption and erosion of LIPs, they were able to identify several associated jumps and dips in atmospheric carbon dioxide, showing that these basalt floods have played a role in modulating Earth's temperature for millions of years.<br />
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"What surprised me was that 200 million years ago, as Pangaea was breaking apart, and the Atlantic was opening up, the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province produced a huge amount of lava," said Zahirovic.<br />
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"You can see that in the carbon dioxide proxy record, there's a huge increase of carbon dioxide [after the eruption], but then because the volcanic province spends a lot of time in the humid near-equatorial belt, it is followed by a rapid decrease in carbon dioxide."<br />
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The eruption and weathering of LIPs is only one aspect of Earth's carbon cycle, and there are points when the influence of LIPs likely took a backseat to other geological processes. The researchers also note that their model omitted LIPs that erupted underwater, because these basalts tend to be recycled back into the mantle and thus are more difficult or impossible to reconstruct.<br />
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Next, the researchers are looking into other ways that plate tectonics influence the deep carbon cycle. "What we're trying to understand are the longer-term variations of climate and the carbon cycle, over geological time frames," said Zahirovic.<br />
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Currently they are compiling a global database of ophiolites, which are chunks of basaltic oceanic crust that get thrust up onto the continents during tectonic collisions. Like LIPs, ophiolites take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they weather, and similarly to LIPs also have a finger on the global thermostat.<br />
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The above story is based on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2017GL076691" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials </a>provided by <a href="http://www.usyd.edu.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Sydney</a>.</div>

Large Igneous Provinces Contribute to Ups and Downs in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

About 250 million years ago, a massive volcanic eruption flooded modern-day Siberia with lava, creating the Siberian Traps, giant plate...

Yellowstone Volcano Magma ‘is Heating the Boiler’ - Experts Estimate Recharging Chamber

Magma, Tectonic, Yellowstone 10:15 PM

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Researchers at Washington State University and the University of Idaho have found a new way to estimate how fast magma is recharging beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano. While their findings offer no help in predicting if the volcano will erupt, they can now get a better understanding of a key factor -- a pool of basalt magma recharging the system -- in how it works.<br />
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"It is the coal in the furnace that's heating things up," said Peter Larson, a professor in the Washington State University School of the Environment. "It's heating up the boiler. The boiler is what explodes. This tells us what is heating the boiler."<br />
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Some 640,000 years have passed since the volcano's last major eruption. But it can be "super," having produced one of the largest known blasts on Earth and spewing more than 2,000 times as much ash as Mount St. Helens did in 1980.<br />
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A major element in the volcano's power is the explosive, silica-rich rhyolite that break's through the Earth's crust during an eruption. Larson and his colleagues focused on the plume of basalt magma heating the rhyolite from below.<br />
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"This gives us an idea of how much magma is recharging the volcano every year," said Larson, whose findings appear in the latest issue of the journal Geosphere.<br />
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With funding from the National Science Foundation, the researchers "spiked" several hot springs in Yellowstone National Park with deuterium, a stable hydrogen isotope. The researchers used the length of time needed for deuterium concentrations to return to background levels and the temperature of the hot springs to calculate the amount of water and heat flowing out of the springs. Using deuterium for estimating heat flow is safe for the environment and has no visual impact to distract from the park visitors' experience.<br />
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The team found that previous studies underestimated the amount of water coursing through the springs and the amount of heat leaving the springs. The data also allowed the team to estimate the amount of magma entering the supervolcano from the mantle.<br />
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The study also has implications for geothermal energy, helping inform how heat is transported to the earth's surface from molten rock.<br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above story is based on <a href="https://news.wsu.edu/2018/06/04/yellowstone-supervolcano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.wsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Washington State University</a>. </span></u><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div>

Yellowstone Volcano Magma ‘is Heating the Boiler’ - Experts Estimate Recharging Chamber

Researchers at Washington State University and the University of Idaho have found a new way to estimate how fast magma is recharging ...

Earthquakes Rock Kilauea's Summit, Lava Covers Nearly 5,000 Acres

Earthquakes, Hawaii, Lava 8:09 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bird rests on a wire as lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts on Hawaii's .</td></tr>
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Earthquakes are still rattling the summit of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, after a magnitude 5.5 quake rocked the area Sunday, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense officials.<br />
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Sunday's quake sent an ash plume 8,000 feet into the sky, but did not cause a tsunami threat, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.<br />
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There were 500 quakes in the summit area of Kilauea in a 24-hour period over the weekend -- the highest rate ever measured at the summit area, according to Brian Shiro, supervisory geophysicist at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.<br />
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Prelim M5.5 earthquake Island of Hawaii, Hawaii Jun-5 14:32 UTC, updates <a href="https://t.co/rjcLAZpHlX">https://t.co/rjcLAZpHlX</a></div>
— USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGSBigQuakes/status/1004013598409097216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Those earthquakes have continued near the summit, according to Jim Kauahikaua, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. He told reporters on Monday that temblors are nearly continuous at the summit and that gas emissions remain "very high."<br />
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Lava from a fissure near the volcano entered Kapoho Bay late Sunday or early Monday, forcing billowing clouds of steam into the atmosphere as hot lava hit the cool water of the Pacific Ocean. The flow prompted warnings from Hawaii County Civil Defense authorities about laze, a nasty mashup of lava and haze that sends hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles into the air.<br />
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Hawaii Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno told reporters that people needed to stay at least 1,000 feet back from the bay to avoid health effects from the laze, in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency standards.<br />
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"It stings," he said. "It will irritate your eyes. And you don't want to be breathing that."<br />
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Lava from Kilauea has covered an area of nearly 5,000 acres, according to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Magno described the molten lava as being "like a flood, pouring out, covering everything in its path."<br />
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At least 117 homes have been destroyed in the four weeks since lava began flowing, Magno said Monday. He said that number was sure to grow because there were many more damaged homes to count.<br />
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Nearly a dozen people were left stranded in an area cut off by lava on Sunday. Hawaii Civil Defense Service officials said they went through the neighborhood to warn residents this was their last chance to evacuate before their final escape route was cut off by lava.<br />
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Some chose to stay in the area, which now has no power, cell reception, landlines or county water, officials said.<br />
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Kilauea Status report: 10:21 PM HST June 4, 2018<br />
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Fissure 8 fountaining slightly less vigorous; lava flows actively filling Kapoho Bay and surrounding areas; summit earthquake activity climbing.<a href="https://t.co/7sDZqcx8dU">https://t.co/7sDZqcx8dU</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kilauea?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kilauea</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HVO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HVO</a> <a href="https://t.co/1bAIp6x72B">pic.twitter.com/1bAIp6x72B</a></div>
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGSVolcanoes/status/1003918072569303041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Authorities are planning to airlift people out if the lava spreads farther and endangers the dozen or so holdouts. Some said they were staying because they had nowhere else to go, officials said.<br />
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Four people were evacuated from an isolated part of the Kapoho community Sunday, according to the Hawaii Fire Department.<br />
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"USGS was on a routine overflight and saw people on the road in an area cut off by the lava. They stopped to inquire of their situation, and then when asked, airlifted them to a safe place. They had become trapped after trying to move belongings, and had no cell service," according to they agency statement.<br />
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When asked at a news conference Monday about the number of evacuations, he said he didn't have a good estimate because up to 80% of the houses in some areas are vacation rentals. He told reporters that there is still plenty of shelter space but that state officials are working with federal counterparts to work on a plan for housing people who've lost their homes to the lava.<br />
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Earthquakes Rock Kilauea's Summit, Lava Covers Nearly 5,000 Acres

A bird rests on a wire as lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts on Hawaii's . Earthquakes are still rattling the summit of H...

Why Is Guatemala's Volcanic Eruption So Much Deadlier Than Hawaii's?

Tectonic, volcano 10:28 PM

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erupting Fuego volcano in Guatemala has killed at least 33</td></tr>
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Both eruptions swallowed homes and reminded everyone how ferocious nature can be.<br />
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But there are huge differences between Guatemala's Fuego volcano eruption, which killed 33 people in just one day, and Hawaii's recent Kilauea eruption, which hasn't killed anyone but keeps slowly wreaking havoc one month later.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here's why these eruptions are so different -- and why they have drastically different death tolls:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lava vs. pyroclastic flow</span></h3>
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Kilauea's primary mode of destruction is lava, but Fuego has unleashed pyroclastic flow -- a nasty mix of ash, rock and volcanic gases that can be much more dangerous than lava.<br />
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In Guatemala, pyroclastic flow from Sunday's eruption topped 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,000 degrees Celsius), CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said.<br />
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"This eruption at Fuego was explosive, sending hot debris down the steep sides of the volcano to make the pyroclastic flows," said Erik W. Klemetti, associate professor of geosciences at Denison University.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Pyroclastic flows are not like lava. PFs are rapid avalanches of hot gas & rock ranging from ash-sized (like sand) to boulders, + anything they pick up (like trees & cars). PFs are devastating & deadly. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VolcanodeFuego?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VolcanodeFuego</a> <a href="https://t.co/tABdt7bm3V">https://t.co/tABdt7bm3V</a></div>
— Dr Janine Krippner (@janinekrippner) <a href="https://twitter.com/janinekrippner/status/1003612756820537344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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He said pyroclastic flows can tumble down a volcano at hundreds of kilometers per hour -- way faster than what people and even cars could outrun.<br />
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By contrast, Kilauea produces lava (or sticky, molten rock) that typically creeps along at maybe hundreds of meters per hour -- not nearly as fast as devastating pyroclastic flow.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Different communities</span></h3>
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Kilauea is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Lava has destroyed dozens of homes and other structures in communities outside the park boundaries.<br />
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But the Fuego volcano erupted near densely populated areas.<br />
"Villages are right on the foothills of the mountain," Cabrera said. "So they had no time (to escape)."<br />
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That meant unsuspecting villagers -- such as those in the community of El Rodeo -- were suddenly overwhelmed by ash, lava fragments and gases speeding toward them at 435 mph (700 kph).</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Different long-term effects</span></h3>
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In both the Kilauea and Fuego areas, "the land will be unusable for years," Klemetti said.<br />
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But Guatemala faces a special danger that Hawaii doesn't.<br />
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"The bigger issue with pyroclastic flows is they can be turned into volcanic mudflows (lahars) when the loose debris mixes with rain/river waters," he said. "That is the new danger at Fuego right now."<br />
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Why Is Guatemala's Volcanic Eruption So Much Deadlier Than Hawaii's?

Erupting Fuego volcano in Guatemala has killed at least 33 Both eruptions swallowed homes and reminded everyone how ferocious natu...

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