3 May 2024–Record-setting storms in 2023 filled California’s major reservoirs to the brim, providing some relief in a decades-long drought, but how much of that record rain trickled underground? Shujuan Mao of Stanford University and her colleagues used a surprising technique to answer this question for the greater Los Angeles … Continue Reading »

2 May 2024–The names might not be familiar—Cowee Creek, Brabazon Range, Upper Pederson Lagoon—but they mark the sites of recent lake tsunamis, a phenomenon that is increasingly common in Alaska, British Columbia and other regions with mountain glaciers. Triggered by landslides into small bodies of water, most of these tsunamis … Continue Reading »

2 May 2024–On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world. Physics Experiment 1-A … Continue Reading »

2 May 2024–Permafrost in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, differs from place to place under the surface, ranging from ice rich zones to unfrozen layers in both undisturbed and disturbed tundra, according to a new report discussed at the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting. Using multiple geophysical techniques to explore … Continue Reading »

2 May 2024–A recent study of the crust below south-central Alaska, across the Denali Fault, suggests there may be a reservoir of magma located below the enigmatic Denali Volcanic Gap, researchers reported at the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting. The Denali Volcanic Gap (DVG) is the roughly … Continue Reading »

2 May 2024–As wind power becomes a widespread and cost-effective renewable energy source at sites throughout the world, researchers are focusing on the propagation of seismic and acoustic waves that wind-harnessing turbines produce. At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting, researchers presented simulations of turbine-driven wave propagation … Continue Reading »