GeoLog

waves

What if a tsunami’s magnetic field could predict the height of the wave?

January 12, 2022
What if a tsunami’s magnetic field could predict the height of the wave?
Atmospheric gravity waves . Credit: Jorge Magalhaes and Jose da Silva (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

It’s been well established that tsunamis generate magnetic fields as they move seawater (which is conductive unlike freshwater) through the Earth’s magnetic field. Although researchers previously predicted that the tsunami’s magnetic field would arrive before a change in sea level, they lacked the means to simultaneously measure magnetics and sea level to confirm this phenomenon. Now, a new study ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Atmospheric gravity waves

April 10, 2017
Imaggeo on Mondays: Atmospheric gravity waves
Atmospheric gravity waves . Credit: Jorge Magalhaes and Jose da Silva (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

From the tiny vibrations which travel through air, allowing us to hear music, to the mighty waves which traverse oceans and the powerful oscillations which shake the ground back and forth during an earthquake, waves are an intrinsic part of the world around us. As particles vibrate repeatedly, they create an oscillation, which when accompanied by the transfer of energy, creates a wave.  The way in ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Do coastlines have memories?

January 6, 2017
do coastlines have memories
Man O' War Cove Credit: Sarah Weick, (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu

Did you know that the shape of coastlines is determined by the angle at which waves crash against the shoreline. It has long been thought that fluctuations in the wave incidence angle are rapidly felt by coastlines, which change the shapes of their shores quickly in response to shifting wave patterns. Or do they? Researchers at the British Geological Survey, Duke University (USA) and Woods Hole Oc ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Coastal erosion

August 15, 2016
Imaggeo on Mondays: Coastal erosion
Stabilising dune vegetation . Credit: James Terry (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Coastlines take a battering from stormy seas, gales, windy conditions and every-day wave action. The combined effect of these processes shapes coastal landscapes across the globe. In calm weather, constructive waves deposit materials eroded elsewhere and transported along the coast line via longshore-drift, onto beaches, thus building them up. Terrestrial material, brought to beaches by rivers and ...[Read More]