Natural Hazards

September GeoRoundUp: the best of the Earth sciences from around the web

Laura Roberts-Artal September 29, 2017

Partially collapsed building as a result of the 2017 Puebla earthquake (Mexico). Credit: AntoFran. Distributed via Wikimedia Commons.

Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web. Major story and what you might have missed This month has been an onslaught of Earth and space science news; the majority focusing on natural hazards. Hurricanes, earthquakes and v ...[Read More]

Record-setting forest fires in 2017 – what is to blame?

Robert Emberson September 28, 2017

Styggkärret reserve burning fire . Credit: Ylvers , distributed via Pixabay .

Forest fires have once again seized the public consciousness in both Europe and North America. Extreme drought and temperatures contributed to a tinderbox in many forests, and have led to deadly fires across Europe and record-breaking, highly disruptive fires in the USA and Canada, from where I’m currently writing. A simple way to understand fire is by thinking about the fire triangle – the three ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: The anomaly in the Earth’s magnetic field which has geophysicists abuzz

Laura Roberts-Artal September 21, 2017

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA, the large red area in the image) is a dip in the Earth's magnetic field which allows cosmic rays, and charged particles to reach lower into the atmosphere. This interferes with communication with satellites, aircraft, and the Space Shuttle. While there are theories as to why this occurs, the geologic origin is not yet known. The data were collected by the South Atlantic Anomaly Detector (SAAD) aboard ROSAT. It consists of 10 cm² of Germanium and served as a particle background monitor. The SAAD was used to "safe" the PSPC if rates became too high. Source: ROSAT SAA Guest Observer Facility (NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre) . Credit: S. L. Snowden

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Jay Shah, a PhD student at Imperial College London, who is investigating the South Atlantic Anomaly, a patch over the South Atlantic where the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker than elsewhere on the globe. He presented some of his recent findings at the 2017 General Assembly. First, coul ...[Read More]

Mexico earthquakes: What we know so far

Laura Roberts-Artal September 20, 2017

USGS interactive map of M 7.1 earthquake .

On Friday 8 September 2017 at 04:49 am UTC, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake hit off the coast of Mexico, 87 km SW of Pijijiapan. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicentre was at 15.07 N, 93.72 W at a depth of about 69.7 km. Yesterday, another strong (magnitude 7.1) earthquake hit central Mexico, 55 km SSW of the city of Puebla and 120 km south of Mexico City. Despite the lower magnitude, y ...[Read More]