Category: Geology

Here’s how Earth will look in 250 million years [video]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date January 21, 2018
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Earth, 250 million years in future: Pangaea Ultima — According to the Pangaea Ultima hypothesis, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans will continue to get wider until new subduction zones bring the continents back together, forming a future Pangaea. Most continents and microcontinents are predicted to collide with Eurasia, just as they did when most continents collided to Laurentia.

Earth’s outer shell is divided into multiple plates that slowly glide over the mantle. The movement of these plates slowly changes Earth’s surface over time by merging, or separating, continents. 250 million years from now, consistent with the supercontinent cycle (see notes 1), there will be a possible future supercontinent called Pangaea Ultima.

Hypothesized by Christopher Scotese, a geologist at the University of Texas at Arlington, Pangaea Ultima earned its name from its similarity to the previous Pangaea supercontinent, which was formed about 335 million years ago, and began to break apart about 175 million years ago. Here is a beautiful video published by the Tech Insider channel showing the formation of this supercontinent and how Earth will look 250 million years from now.

Geology Places

An Island Forming in Tonga [Amazing Time-lapse]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date December 14, 2017
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In December 2014, an underwater volcano has made a new island with a 120-meter (400-foot) summit in the South Pacific, between two older islands (Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai) in the kingdom of Tonga. NASA satellites captured the amazing process.

On December 19, 2014, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, a volcano located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south-southeast of Fonuafo’ou (also known as Falcon Island) in the kingdom of Tonga began erupting. The nearby tourists filmed the huge explosion.

The eruption continued into 2015. On January 11, 2015, a tall ash cloud rose 9 kilometers (30,000 feet) into the sky, causing a number of other flights between New Zealand and Tonga to be canceled. By January 16, when the plume cleared and the ash settled, a new island had been formed by the explosion. The new island is also called Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai.

Geology

Humans can cause deadly Earthquakes

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date October 16, 2017
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The 2008 Sichuan earthquake (Chinese: 汶川大地震; pinyin: Wènchuān dà dìzhèn; literally: "Great Wenchuan earthquake") occurred at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 Ms, the earthquake's epicenter was located 80 kilometers (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, with a focal depth of 19 km (12 mi). The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries and as far away as both Beijing and Shanghai - 1,500 km (930 mi) and 1,700 km (1,060 mi) away -where office buildings swayed with the tremor. Strong aftershocks, some exceeding 6 Ms, continued to hit the area up to several months after the main quake, causing further casualties and damage. Over 69,000 people lost their lives in the quake, including 68,636 in Sichuan province. 374,176 were reported injured, with 18,222 listed as missing as of July 2008. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless, though the number could be as high as 11 million. Some scientists believe that the construction and filling of the Zipingpu Dam with 320 million tons of water over a well-known fault line may have triggered the earthquake.

Humans can cause deadly earthquakes, and it’s called the Human-Induced Earthquake (HiQuake). On May 12, 2008, a huge 7.9 MW earthquake hit Chengdu, a sub-provincial city that has served as the capital of China’s Sichuan province. Over 69,000 people lost their lives. 374,176 were reported injured, with 18,222 listed as missing as of July 2008. The earthquake also left about 4.8 million people homeless. Some scientists believe that the construction and filling of the Zipingpu Dam with 320 million tons of water over a well-known fault line may have triggered the earthquake (see notes 1).

Sichuan earthquake is only one example of (but the deadliest by far, though) many earthquakes that triggered by human activities, according to a study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters, titled “Database of earthquakes triggered by human activity is growing – with some surprises”.

Geology

Shinmoedake Volcano Eruption [Amazing Drone Footage]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date October 16, 2017
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Shinmoedake volcano 2017 eruption — Aerial footage of the eruption of Shinmoedake. It is an active stratovolcano with a height of 1,421 m (4,662 ft) above sea level. A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, which usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows and named for their low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions.

James Reynolds, the storm chaser, and a drone pilot shot amazing aerial footage of the eruption of Shinmoedake, a volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan. You can also hear the rumbling sound coming from the volcano.

Planet Earth Geology

Earthquakes Between 2001 and 2015 (animation)

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date October 3, 2017
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The American scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an animation on youtube showing the Earthquakes of the First 15 Years of the 21st Century (between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2015). The animation shows every recorded earthquake in sequence as it occurred at a rate of 30 days per second. It is based on the new SOS dataset of all the earthquakes in that period from the US NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

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Dolomites from an Eagle’s Point of View [360° HD Interactive Video]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date July 30, 2017
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An amazing video published by RedBull channel: with that 360° HD Interactive video, you can explore Northeastern Italy’s Dolomites from an eagle’s point of view.

Geology History Planet Earth

10 Most Powerful Earthquakes in Recorded History

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date June 14, 2017
1 Comment on 10 Most Powerful Earthquakes in Recorded History

2011 Tōhoku Earthquake And Tsunami — On 11 March 2011 Friday, at 14:46 with the local time (05:46 UTC), a massive undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan occurred. The earthquake triggered massive tsunami with waves up to 40.5 meters (133 feet) high. The waves traveled inland as far as 6 miles (10 km) and caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan. Airports, roads and railroads destroyed, 127,290 buildings totally collapsed, 272,788 buildings half collapsed, and another 747,989 buildings partially damaged. A dam collapsed. The tsunami also caused nuclear accidents, primarily the level 7 meltdowns (means Major accident, highst level, see notes 2) at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex. On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the confirmed casualties were 15,894 deaths, 6,152 injured, and 2,562 people missing.

Here are the top ten most powerful earthquakes ever recorded by the Moment magnitude scale, MMS; denoted as M_w or M in recorded history, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a scientific agency of the United States government.

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Antarctica Facts: 36 Interesting Things about the Frozen Continent

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date June 7, 2017
1 Comment on Antarctica Facts: 36 Interesting Things about the Frozen Continent

Why is Antarctica so cold? It is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, with temperatures dropping to -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F). — Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, covering 14 million square kilometers (5.4 million square miles). Almost twice the size of Australia, it contains the geographic South Pole. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice averaging 1.9 km (1.2 miles) thick. It is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, with temperatures dropping to -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F).

Antarctica, the southernmost continent, is a vast and virtually uninhabited land of extremes, entirely covered by ice and surrounded by some of the planet’s most treacherous waters. Despite its icy conditions, this frozen wilderness holds the title of the largest desert on Earth due to its minimal precipitation. Its unique environment, harsh climate, and isolated position have fascinated explorers and scientists alike for centuries. From its staggering ice sheets to its remarkable wildlife, Antarctica is a place full of mystery and wonder. Here are some fascinating facts about this extraordinary continent that will give you a deeper insight into the coldest place on the planet.

Photography Mountains Space Exploration

Mont Blanc: 365 Gigapixel Panorama [World’s Largest Photo]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 31, 2017
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An international team led by the Italian photographer Filippo Blengini created a 365-gigapixel Panorama of Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain, and the gigantic image became the World’s largest photo. The previous record-holder, published in 2013, was a 320-gigapixel shot of London, taken from atop the BT Tower.

The huge image, published on the project’s site In2White, is created by stitching together 70,000 HD photos taken at 3,500 meters (11,483 feet). The shooting took 15 days in late 2014 and the average temperature was -10 °C (14 °F). The post-production took a further two months.

Planet Earth Climate Geology Places

Top 10 Rare Natural Phenomena

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date December 2, 2016
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Fogbow — A very beautiful fogbow photo taken by photographer Melvin Nicholson around Rannoch Moor in the Scottish highlands. "I ventured down to Rannoch Moor recent to photograph this lovely lonely tree in the mist when all of a sudden this unbelievable fogbow appeared. It is a colourless rainbow that is made up of tiny water droplets that cause fog. It's an amazing thing to witness and can generally only be seen if the sun is behind you when you are looking at it." "As soon as I saw this wonderful isolated windswept tree, I knew that it had to be framed by the fog bow. Freshly fallen snow set the scene all around. It was just beyond magical and one of those days that you'll remember for a long time to come." You can buy this photo printed on melvinnicholsonphotography.co.uk

Some natural events are so rare, so strange, but amazingly beautiful at the same time. They even seem out of our world, and sometimes it’s hard to believe they truly exist. Here are a few of them, 10 stunning and rare natural phenomena.