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Showing posts with label Geology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geology. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Phenomenon of the island that emerged of the sea and growing

Strange phenomena occur in the sea of Japan. There is an island that emerged from the sea then the body was greater after a volcanic eruption on the sticking mainland.

Niijima, the name of the island, is growing after the unexpected joining adjacent islands, Nishino-shima. The mysterious island that included to the Tokyo area, although it located quite far from the coast. Now, the size of the island that lies on the Ogasawara Islands is 2,290 square meters, or 49 times greater than the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium that has a capacity of 55,000 seats in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Niijima Island is an island that emerged from the sea is growing after the unexpected joining adjacent island (Nishino-shima Island). (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1HTgz3N)
Japanese Maritime Coastal Agency (JCG) reported on Thursday, December 25, 2014, there has been a vomit of a volcanic crater on the island which is thought to be a trigger to the increasing size of the land. "The mountain on the island has spewed the lava into the southern part of the island, as much as 5-6 times," said JCG, as quoted by The Japan News on Sunday, December 28, 2014.

Niijima Island originally emerged from the sea after a mountain in it erupted, on November 20, 2013 ago (jump to the article). At first, the diameter of the volcano was only about 150 meters, and the size of the island of about 300x200 meters.

Then in March 2014, based on the satellite imagery, the Niijima Island are known to have joined the Nishino-shima. The combined size to 1,000 square meters. Height of the island also rose to 60 meters above sea level, and is now 110 meters above sea level.

According to the CJG, this phenomenon is the first time since 1974, which also had similar things happen, where an island emerged from the sea after the eruption. While the Japanese government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga said the Japan goverment welcomed if the island can really permanent and can be inhabited. "We are happy if it will be permanent," said Suga, as published by LiveScience.

A similar incident occurred in 2013 ago. A similar new island appeared off the coast of Pakistan (jump to the article). Only half an hour after the earth shook tremendously from the 7.8 magnitude quake, on Tuesday, September 24, 2013, another surprise awaits residents of the coastal cities Gwadar. They see a new island appeared of the sea, just 1 kilometer from the beach. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | THE JAPAN NEWS | LIVESCIENCE]
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Friday, October 24, 2014

The Moon's volcanoes may have erupted during the Dinosaurs age

The dinosaurs never became the ruler of the Earth, before the 'apocalypse' occurred 65 million years ago, when a giant meteor hit the escape from Earth's atmosphere and then trigger extinction. If they were able to find a telescope that time, the ancient creatures may be able to see the lava flows on the Moon surface.

Scientists initially suspected, volcanic activity on the Moon was dead about 1 billion years ago. However, the data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) of the United States Space Agency or NASA shows the lava flows on the surface of Earth satellites may be less than 100 million years ago.
Called Maskelyne, this feature is one of many newly discovered young volcanic rock deposits on the moon. These deposits are known as irregular mare patches and they are thought to be remnants of small basaltic eruptions. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1ziQ1dh)
"This finding is a kind of knowledge, literally, will make geologists rewrite their books that discuss about the Moon," said John Keller, the LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, as quoted from SPACE on Thursday, October 15, 2014.

When orbiting the Moon in 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts take pictures of volcanic deposits on the surface of the earth satellite, called Ina. The researchers suspect, Ina is till very young and may have formed in a local explosion of volcanic activity, even though most of the Moon volcanism occurred between 3.5 billion to 1 billion years ago.

But now, the photos of the LRO satellite - the orbiter which arrived at the Moon in 2009 - showed Ina is not alone. It had a lot of 'friends'. The scientists found 70 similar pattern in dark volcanic plains on the Moon which faces the Earth.

The unique rock deposit is also called irregular mare patches. Mare is a vast basalt plains and dark on the Moon, formed by the freezing of the magma flooding due to ancient volcanic eruption processes several billion years ago.

Their existence is characterized by rounded mounds that look smooth bulge mixed with coarse, rock formations with size is less than 500 meters. Too small to be seen with the naked eye from the Earth.

These findings indicate that the volcanic activity on the Moon spreads in a relatively not so long ago - at least in terms of geology. Three deposits estimated age of less than 100 million years. And Ina probably was less than 50 million years.

The scientists conducted a study with the techniques which associate the measurement of the Moon crater with the age of Moon dust samples that taken during the Apollo missions and the Soviet Union's Luna robotic missions. The findings are described in detail in the Nature Geoscience on October 12, 2014.

The deposit findings could also change the way of scientists think about the temperature of the inside or interior of the Moon.

"The presence and age of irregular mare patches informs that the coats of Moon must have been pretty hot, allowing the magma comes out in small-volume eruptions that created the feature," said Sarah Braden from Arizona State University who led the study. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | SPACE.COM]
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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

After a long submerged beneath the ocean, a Mountain now rediscovered

Scientists discover underwater volcanoes in Hawaii that has now been switched off. The mountain was believed to have soaring to as high as 915 meters above sea level and was instrumental in the formation of the island of Oahu.

Based on research publication in the Geological Society of America Bulletin journal of this month, the seamount named Kaena it had been active 5 million years ago in the area between the islands of Oahu and Kauai.
Island of Oahu in Hawaii turns formed by three mountains, not just two as previously believed. Scientists have just discovered the mountain again, which Kaena. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1jTyfPR)
"Previously, we thought that we already know all the volcanoes in Hawaii. This is one that we do not know," said John Sinton, a geologist from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, as quoted by Reuters on Monday, May 19 2014.

Oahu Island is the island where the capital and largest city in Hawaii, Honolulu, is located. Previously, Oahu believed to be formed due to the Waianae Mountains to the west and the Koolau in the east.

With this discovery, scientists obtained clues that Oahu has another mountain to the west, namely Kaena. This newly discovered mountain over time "sink" below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Though Kaena was first formed mountain, geologists estimate that Waianae first surfaced about 3.9 million years ago. Kaena then surfacing 400,000 years later, followed Koolau 500,000 years later.

"Three million years ago, a third of the mountain appears on the surface," said Sinton. "The islands there always has decreased despite a growing surface. Once stopped erupting volcanoes, mountains will sink. Kaena We do not know when it sank," he added.

Until now, scientists are still investigating why Kaena become inactive and eventually sank, and when exactly the incident happens. Scientists see the lava forming and its erosion trail. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | REUTERS]
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Monday, March 17, 2014

The Earth's Crust may contain a lot of water

A small crystal trapped in a rough diamond, who was thrown from 400 kilometers below the earth's surface, hinting that there may be a lot of water deep in the earth.
A diamond from Juína, Brazil, containing a water-rich inclusion of the olivine mineral ringwoodite. (Picture from: http://www.foxnews.com/)
In a report published in Nature magazine, a scientific group said that the X-ray analysis and spectroscopic above a small diamond found in the magma of a volcano in Brazil showed 40 micrometers mineral named by ringwoodite. Further analysis revealed that the crystal lattice contains at least 1.4 percent water.

Ringwoodite is a type of mineral olivine, which form the bulk of the Earth's mantle. Olivine does not absorb water. However, under 400 km, heat and enormous pressure to change the crystal structure, and the resulting substances can contain 2.5 percent water.

Scientists say there is a possibility that the place where the diamond was formed which contains a lot of water vapor high pressure can cause volcanic eruptions. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | VOA NEWS]
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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

A Coral island reborn after 100 years disappeared

Tropical storms or hurricanes that occurred in 1905 has eliminated  a coral island in the Pacific waters named Nadikdik Atoll or Knox Atoll. Now, after more than a century swept away the storm, scientists from New Zealand found that the island had grown back. Murray Ford and Paul Kench, two scientists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, publishing their findings in the Geomorphology journal.
In 1905 a devastating typhoon swept over the Nadikdik Atoll in the middle of the Pacific ocean, killing the majority of inhabitants and washing away most of the island, but since then, the island has regenerated (pictured). (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)
Two geologists analyzed aerial photos of Nadikdik Atoll between 1945 until 2010. The storm that occurred on June 30, 1905 was a clean sweep of the island vegetation, damaging coral constituent, and killed 60 people.
Researchers at the University of Auckland studied aerial images (pictured) of the islands from 1945 up until 2010 and found that a new island has grown from decimated remains. (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)
However, just over 60 years, according to scientists has been rapid, the island is now growing again, has more vegetation, and stable. "The storm certainly collect large amounts of sediment and threw them to the island helping to organize again," said Ford.
Nadikdik Atoll (pictured) - otherwise known as Knox Atoll - is an uninhabited coral atoll of 18 islands in the Pacific Ocean. (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)
The effect, as reported by The New Zealand Herald, Thursday (20/02/2014), a new island appears next to the island before. "The islands change, move, and change, you will see a period of erosion and accretion on one side on the other side," said Ford.
In just over 60 years the island has grown lush vegetation and by studying the aerial photographs they found that patches of greenery on the once barren islands have grown by almost 25 per cent. Similar vegetation on the island of Ailuk atoll in the Marshall Islands is pictured. (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)
Ford lived in the Marshall Islands, north Nadikdik Atoll, and said that the rapid growth of the island. "Scientific evidence suggests that in addition to the hurricane last century, the island geomorphic adjustments are still happening," said Ford.
Studying small islands will help scientists better understand how new islands are created, which is of particular interest as many people are worried that small islands will disappear under rising sea levels, triggered by global warming. An aerial view of Bora Bora Island in the French Polynesia archipelago is pictured. (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)
"What can be learned from this is that a major event could destroy the island, but could trigger a series of processes that enable it back," said Ford. According to Ford, to understand the growth of the small island, scientists can gain an understanding of how an island is formed. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILYMAIL]
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Friday, January 10, 2014

The Supervolcano Eruption Mystery Unfold

Besides volcanoes that characterized by the conical shape, the Earth also has a huge volcano (supervolcano) that can produce volcanic eruptions with volcanic material regurgitated greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers.

Now there are 20 supervolcanoes that are known to exist on Earth - including Lake Toba in Indonesia, Lake Taupo in New Zealand, Yellowstone Caldera in the United States, and the smaller size - Phlegraean Fields in Naples, Italy. The 'sleeping giant'. Although few in number, the eruption of a supervolcano that could cause drastic climate change, which could threaten many species life in the world. Including humans.
If the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted the impact would be catastrophic. (Picture from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/)
Supervolcano and extraordinary impact it continues to be the object of research scientists. More recently, the experts found that the supervolcano like Yellowstone could erupt without an earthquake or other external triggers. The sheer volume of magma melting enough to cause catastrophic super eruption, which cause havoc. Thus demonstrated an experimental on the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble which carried by a team from ETH Zurich, Switzerland and published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience.

The head author of the study, Wim Malfait from ETH Zurich said, not a lot of mystery that unfolds from a supervolcano. "We know the clock is ticking, but had absolutely no clue how fast. And what is needed to trigger a super eruption," he said, as quoted by the BBC, on Sunday, January 5, 2014.
Lake Toba in Sumatra was formed during the eruption of a supervolcano 74,000 years ago. (Picture from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/)
"And now we know, do not need external factors - a supervulcano could erupt because of the size of the giant itself," added Malfait. "Once have enough melt (magma), he could begin to erupt. Just that." Giant eruptions are rare - perhaps only once in 100 thousand years. But once started, the impact will be tremendous on the ecology and climate of the Earth.

When supervulcano erupted at 600 thousand years ago in Wyoming - which is currently the Yellowstone National Park, it threw 1,000 cubic kilometers of ash and lava into the atmosphere. It is enough to bury a big city to a depth of several kilometers and wiped off the map for good. The eruption was 100 times more powerful than the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1992, and even made the historic eruptions such as Krakatoa in 1883 to be small.
Pressure from magma buoyancy creates cracks in the Earth’s crust through which magma can penetrate. (Picture from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/)
"That is something that we will face in the future. You can compare it with the asteroid impact - in a period of risk is small, but once started, the catastrophic impact," said Dr. Malfait. That's why, the ability to predict isaster becomes very important. However, in the case of a supervolcano, triggering factors remain elusive, because the process is different from ordinary volcano.

One mechanism is understood so far is the excessive pressure on the magma chamber triggered by the difference between the liquid magma or partial melt and the surrounding rocks are more dense. "The effect is like holding a ball under water. When released, the ball is filled with air is forced upward by the dense water around it," said Malfait further.

However, whether the effect of buoyancy is adequate, is not yet known. Therefore, there may be an additional trigger is required - such as a sudden injection of magma, the entry of water vapor, or earthquake. To simulate the intense pressure and heat in the supervolcano caldera, scientists came to the ESRF in Grenoble, where they use the experimental station called the high pressure beamline.

They fill synthetic magma into the diamond capsule and fired high-energy X-rays into it - to investigate changes when the mixture reaches a critical high pressure. "If we measure the difference in the density of the solid into liquid magma, we can calculate the pressure required to trigger a spontaneous eruption," said Mohamed Mezouar, an ESRF scientist, as quoted by BBC News. "To recreate the conditions in the Earth's crust is not a trivial issue, but with the right tools we can keep the pressure stable molten magma up to 1,700 C and 36,000 atmospheres."

Research shows that the transition from solid to liquid magma creates pressure that could break the crust of the Earth as far as more than 10 kilometers above the volcano room. "Magma penetrate into cracks and will eventually reach the Earth's surface. Currently riding, it will expand without control. Causing explosion," said Carmen Sanchez-Valle, scientist from ETH Zurich.

However, if you happen to be on the verge of Yellowstone eruption, the good news is people can see the signs. "The land will probably rise hundreds of meters, far more than now," said Dr. Malfait as told to BBC News. Currently, he added, Yellowstone currently has 10-30 % partial melting of magma. Meanwhile, in order to the pressure that can trigger an eruptions, molten magma must reach at least 50 percent.

In a separate study in the same journal, a team led by Luca Caricchi of the University of Geneva used a mathematical model to explain the difference between a supervolcano and conventional volcano. One of the findings, which is now a regular 'hyperactive' volcano, with the passage of time, can become a 'sleeping' supervolcano. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BBC |
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