After deadly Pakistan quake, A new island emerged

An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale that shook Pakistan, on Tuesday (09/24/2013), led to the lifting of the earth plate, thus creating a new island. As quoted by CNN, the island appears to be 20 to 40 feet (6 to 12 meters) high and 100 feet (30 m) wide. According to DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, a district police officer, told Pakistan's Geo News. It rose out of the sea at a spot located about 350 feet (100 m) from the coast, he said. The island was standing about 100 miles off the coast of Gwadar.

Sept. 25, 2013: An island that rose from the sea following an earthquake is pictured off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea. (Picture from: http://www.foxnews.com/)

Many scientific opinion expressed by experts associated with the emergence of a new island. Scientists are still far from consensus, but many think that Pakistan's newest piece of land may be a mud volcano. Zahid Rafi, an earthquake expert at the Pakistan National Earthquake Monitoring Center, said the view of the magnitude of the tremor it is unsurprising that form a new island. But John Bellini, a geophysicist The U.S. Geological Survey said that the quake may generally not be able to create a new island. He said there are several factors that trigger it include the tide.

Sept. 25, 2013: People walk on an island that rose from the sea following an earthquake, off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea. (Picture from: http://www.foxnews.com/)

Geologist Bob Yeats, an expert on Pakistan's earthquake hazards, said he's waiting until he hears from his colleagues in Pakistan (it's currently night there) before judging the case. The two most likely possibilities are a landslide or a mud volcano, Yeats told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Yeats said Gwadar is several hundred kilometers southwest of the earthquake's epicenter, making it highly unlikely that the new island is a fault scarp. "[The island] is a long way from where they reported the earthquake. We're looking at two different things," said Yeats, an emeritus professor at Oregon State University. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | FOXNEWS | DISCOVERY NEWS]
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The Earth's largest volcano found under the sea

Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, is known as the largest volcano in the world. However, from the recent research found that the size of Tamu Massif was larger than Mauna Loa. In addition, Tamu Massif is 2 km under the sea on an underwater plateau known as the Shatsky Rise in the northwest Pacific Ocean or about 1,600 km east of Japan. This mountain size slightly larger than Mauna Loa. At 310,000 sq km (119,000 sq mi) the Tamu Massif size was 25 percent smaller than Olympus Mons on the Mars as the largest volcano in our Milky Way solar system.

A 3D map of Tamu Massif, the world's biggest volcano. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/)

"This is a class of volcanoes that have not been recognized previously," says William Sager, a geologist at the University of Houston, USA, who led the study. He wrote and published the results of his research in the Nature Geoscience journal on September 6, 2013.

Tamu Massif stretches 650 kilometers wide, but only 4,000 meters high. The volcano erupted several million years during the early Cretaceous period, about 144 million years ago. Since then raging Tamu Massif slowly evaporate. "This mountain has a very gentle slope. If you stand on it, you will hard to determine which way to the valley," said Sager.

Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, previously held the record for the largest volcano. (Picture from: http://metro.co.uk/)

The mountains has the size of New Mexico's or the British Isles. The mountain is named TAMU, taken from the abbreviation Texas A & M University. While the "Massif" is a term for various types of mountains structures. In this case the Tamu Massif including shield volcano type or the mountain dome or crater is still closed.

The Mauna Loa is a large shield volcano built by countless lava flows. When measured from the top to base, the lava piles more than 17 thousand meters (56 thousand feet). Mauna is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. Since 1843, the mountain erupted 33 times and has well-documented eruption. The last eruption occurred in 1984 and since 2004 showed signs of increased activity. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4339]
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Mega-canyon found beneath Greenland ice

Large canyon which has nearly twice the length of the Grand Canyon in the United States, was found under the ice in Greenland. This report from the British Antarctic Survey scientists that published in the Science journal, was quoted as saying by the French news agency (Agence France-Presse / AFP), on Thursday, August 29, 2013.

Hidden for all of human history, a 460 mile long canyon has been discovered below Greenland's ice sheet. Using radar data from NASA's Operation IceBridg, scientists found the canyon runs from near the center of the island northward to the fjord of the Petermann Glacier. (Picture from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/)

Prior to the formation of a layer of ice about four million years ago, the canyon is believed to be formed by the flow of a river which empties into the central Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean coast. 

Mega-canyon found beneath Greenland ice.
(Picture from: http://www.thehindu.com/)

"The canyon is 750 kilometers along the well maintained under the ice for millions of years. Truly astounding discovery. However, this study is also important for us to understand Greenland in the past," said Prof David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey. 

"The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets hide a lot. It’s pretty surprising to find this canyon. Greenland isn’t that big for a canyon of that size, and for it to survive in its pre-glacial form after successive glaciations is quite something." said Prof Vaughan as told as to BBC.

Prof Vaughan said the canyon would have been partly uncovered at the time of the last interglacial 100,000 years ago. "There’s likely be some sort of bacteria down there - whether it’s viable is a different matter," he said.

The scientists team found the canyon using the radar data are installed in the research aircraft. Radar from the U.S. space agency (National Aeronautics and Space Administration / NASA) that uses radio waves through the ice to measure its depth.

Michael Studinger, a scientist from Operation IceBridge Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, describing the discovery is truly amazing. "It shows there are still little things that we know about the Greenland surface beneath the ice," he said.

The canyon has never been seen by humans, who didn't exist four million years ago. If the Greenland ice sheet melts completely it will raise global sea level by 7 metres and swamp many major cities, so hopefully this is one great geographical feature that won't become a tourist destination.. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BBC | SCIENCEDAILY | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 31082013]

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Martian's valleys were formed by Rain or Snow

Planet Mars is estimated to have experienced snowfall that caused the formation of the valley networks on the planet's surface. Researchers at Brown University, USA, showed that some Martian valley appears to have formed due to runoff and orographic rain.

Mars' Mt. Sharp most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into Gale Crater where the mound sits. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound is the remnant of a massive lake, which would have important implications for understanding Mars' past habitability. (Picture from: http://www.natureworldnews.com/)

These findings help answer the question of whether water ever flowed on Mars in the past came from the ground or falling from the atmosphere, To investigate, the researchers studied four different locations on Mars is thought to have caused the valley of snow or rain when the wind pushed upward moisture mountain slopes.

The findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters this is the most detailed evidence of orographic effects on ancient Mars, and could explain the beginning of the climate on the planet. Orographic rainfall occurs because of moisture up into the mountains and eventually condenses as rain or snow fall.

Mars from the Odyssey spacecraft. Water-carved valleys on Mars appear to have been caused by runoff from precipitation, likely meltwater from snow. Early Martian precipitation would have fallen on mountainsides and crater rims. (Picture from: http://spaceref.com/)

Kat Scanlon, a graduate student of geological sciences at Brown University, led the study and began researching the effects of orographic rain. She took a meteorology graduate studies in Hawaii, which is home to the classic orographic pattern.

Scanlon orographic suspect a similar pattern may also occur in the early days of Mars, and it is the indicator of valley networks. Valley networks on Mars are formed by branching plot that connects the valley or mountain on Mars, like a river on Earth.

In her study, when studying the orographic patterns in Hawaii, Scanlon found that tropical winds that carry moisture from the east pushed upwards when hit the high mountains in Hawaii. Due to insufficient kinetic energy to reach the top of the mountain, the wind bringing water to the east side of the mountains. Amount of rain that falls on the eastern side of the mountains that make it become part of the tropical forests, while the other side is not.

"That's what was on my mind when figuring out whether the valleys on Mars associated with rainfall," Scanlon said as quoted from DailyMail, on July 25, 2013.

To reveal the origin of Martian valleys, researchers identified four locations of Martian valley networks are found along the mountain slopes high. To set the direction of the prevailing wind at each location and where the rain will fall, the researchers used a general circulation model of the newly developed named General Circulation Model (GCM) for Mars. Based on the modeling, the researchers found that most of the rain or snow falling in the deepest part of the valley. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILYMAIL | ROSALINA | KORAN TEMPO 4304]

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European and American continents will collide?

Massive section of ocean floor off the
Portugal coast beginning to fracture.  
(Picture from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/)

In the past, European and American continents were once joined in a supercontinent called Pangaea before it split into two different continents. But later, some 220 million years, the two continents will collide and merge into one continent.

The dire predictions are the result of a new study that published in the Geology journal. Researchers from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said that the broad range of the Atlantic ocean, which now separates Europe from America, is just a geology phase.

The study was based on the findings of researchers team who have identified a subduction zone off the coast of Portugal. The zone that recall the entire continent of Europe to North America and will trigger a clash of the two continents about 220 million years from now.

Evidence of a newly active subduction zone off the coast of Portugal has caught the interest of geologists eager to witness what the beginning of a great continental shift looks like in the preliminary stage. The image above represents the Juan de Fuca plate colliding with the North America plate along the Washington coast. (Picture from: http://www.natureworldnews.com/)

Subduction zone occurs when a tectonic plate sinking down another plate. Subduction usually takes place at the speed of 2-8 centimeters per year. The researchers say that they saw the beginning of a new subduction zone in the Atlantic seabed maps. The region is unstable because it is a border point separating the two tectonic plates that form the earth's surface.

According to Monash researchers also, that the plate that separates the Atlantic in Portugal's corner was "sleeping" for thousands of years until 1755, when a devastating earthquake that shook Lisbon and killed 60 thousand people.

The tectonic plates of the world. (Picture from: http://www.wired.co.uk/)

It could mark a larger planets trend, ie the beginning of a new phase in the Wilson Cycle, which is open and closed in response to the Earth's oceans rise of rock and magma from the earth's layers.

This phase, which was first mentioned by Canadian geophysicist John Tuzo Wilson, lasting for millions of years and left the continent surface structure changed dramatically. Wilson last three cycles gradually destroys the supercontinent Pangaea become seven continents spread across the earth to this day. Originally, Pangaea combines North America and Europe into one to make them separate Wilson Cycle and the Atlantic Ocean basin formed between them. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SCIENCEDAILY | ERWIN Z | KORAN TEMPO 4262]

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Is it true that the Mount Toba eruption trigger the human extinction?

Theory of mass extinction of mankind by the eruption of Mount Toba, which is categorized as a super-volcano, it is not entirely true. From the Recent research from the University of Oxford actually mention the impact of a giant volcanic eruption on the Sumatra island, it does not threaten human civilization.

The crater at Mount Toba in 
Indonesia is itself now the site 
of a large lake. (Picture from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

A series of Toba eruptions at 75 thousand years ago was recorded as the largest super-volcano eruption in the last 2.5 million years. Mount Toba spew take more than 2,800 cubic kilometers of magma, equivalent to a mass of more than 19 million Empire State Buildings in America. Vomit Toba volcanic ash from spreading to the South China Sea to the Arabian Sea. For comparison, the eruption of Krakatoa which occurred in 1883 and is one of the largest eruptions in recorded history just spewed 12 cubic kilometers of magma.

As in one of the genetic studies have revealed that the number of modern humans at the time of the Mount Toba eruption is turned down drastically. Today existing human grown from a few thousand survivors of the disaster. "Researchers in the past suspected the human extinction caused by volcanic winter that caused by the Toba eruption," said Christine Lane, a geologist at the University of Oxford, on Thursday, May 2, 2013.

A super-volcano eruption could wreak havoc with the equivalent hunjaman asteroid. Vomit volcanic ash block out the sunlight and reflect it into space. As a result, the Earth became dark and cold this phenomenon is called "volcanic winter."

This theory is refuted by Lane and her team. Their research suggests that the Toba eruption was not destroy the human civilization. As the proof is the discovery of prehistoric artifacts in India. The artifacts from the period right after the Toba eruption suggests that humans are able to overcome the impact of the eruption. "Toba eruption did not significantly alter the climate," said Lane.

Now about a dozen remaining super-volcano that spread across several regions. Most of the giant volcano that is located on the seabed. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | HUFFINGTONPOST | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4221]

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