News by Subject Earth Science

To better understand subsurface processes associated with earthquakes and eruptions of Mount Aso, Kyushu University researchers investigated a very long period (VLP) seismicity dataset collected over two years. A new technique was developed to locate VLP events, and two clusters of such events were detected. Changes in the locations of VLP events were closely associated with earthquake and eruption occurrences. This method advances understanding of seismic and volcanic processes and could contribute to disaster mitigation.

A research team investigated the impact of extreme fires on previously intact carbon stores by studying the soil and vegetation of the boreal forest and how they changed after a record-setting fire season in the Northwest Territories in 2014. They collected 200 soil samples and used radiocarbon dating to estimate the carbon age. They found combustion of legacy carbon in nearly half of the samples taken from young forests (less than 60 years old).

Study assembles canola root's dose-response curves for nitrogen sources.

For their 19-year study, UC Davis scientists dug roughly 6 feet down to compare soil carbon changes in different cropping systems. They found that compost is a key to storing carbon, a strategy for offsetting CO2 emissions.

Researchers are paving the way toward greater safety for coastal residents and infrastructure by developing a better means of modeling the destructive force of tsunami waves.

Soil bedding increases microbial and termite decomposition activity