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Geology Geography Planet Earth

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

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.

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Geology Places

An Island Forming in Tonga [Amazing Time-lapse]

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.

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Geology

Humans can cause deadly Earthquakes

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”.

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Geology

Shinmoedake Volcano Eruption [Amazing Drone Footage]

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.

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Planet Earth Geology

Earthquakes Between 2001 and 2015 (animation)

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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Mountains Animals Life on Earth Places

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

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.

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Geology History Planet Earth

10 Most Powerful Earthquakes in Recorded History

Here are the top ten most powerful earthquakes ever recorded by the Moment magnitude scale, MMS; denoted as Mw 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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Geography Climate Earth from Space Global Warming Mountains Planet Earth

Antarctica Facts: 36 Interesting Things about the Frozen Continent

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.

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Photography Mountains Space Exploration

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

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.

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Planet Earth Climate Geology Places

Top 10 Rare Natural Phenomena

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.