subduction zones
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Earth’s Crust Is Tearing Apart off the Pacific Northwest—and That’s Not Necessarily Bad News
Using seismic reflection imaging—essentially an ultrasound of the Earth’s subsurface—and detailed earthquake records, researchers captured a subduction zone in the process of tearing itself apart.
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Seismic Study Reveals Hidden Megathrust Earthquake Risk off British Columbia
A new study has revealed the first detailed images of a newly developing subduction zone off the coast of British Columbia.
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How Does a Major Subduction Zone Get Started? It May Begin Small.
A study of an emerging zone off New Zealand suggests that the process, vital for life on Earth, may at first be localized and then develop into something much larger.
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Searching for the Megathrust Fault at Cascadia
Researchers have set sail to find and map a fault that causes giant earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest.
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Ocean Sediments Off Pacific Coast May Feed Tsunami Danger
Tightly packed sediments help the Cascadia Subduction Zone generate large earthquakes, and could boost its ability to trigger a large tsunami.
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Learning from Slow-Slip Earthquakes
Off the coast of New Zealand, there is an area where earthquakes can happen in slow-motion as two tectonic plates grind past one another. These slow-slip events create an ideal lab for studying fault behavior along the shallow portion of subduction zones.
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Ancient Faults & Water Are Sparking Earthquakes Off Alaska
Ancient faults that formed in the ocean floor millions of years ago are feeding earthquakes today along stretches of the Alaska Peninsula, and likely elsewhere, a new study suggests.
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Come Aboard: A Look at the R/V Marcus Langseth
A new video produced by Columbia University tells the story of what the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth is all about.
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Climate Scientist, Volcanologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Mark Cane, an expert on the El Niño climate pattern, and Terry Plank, an authority on explosive volcanoes—both scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory–have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the National Academy, given for excellence in original scientific work, is one of the highest honors awarded to engineers and…
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