News tagged with plate boundaries

New Madrid fault system may be shutting down

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Mar 13, 2009 | 4 / 5 (8) | 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- The New Madrid fault system does not behave as earthquake hazard models assume and may be in the process of shutting down, a new study shows.

Solomon Islands earthquake sheds light on enhanced tsunami risk

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Apr 09, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (8) | 0

The 2007 Solomon Island earthquake may point to previously unknown increased earthquake and tsunami risks because of the unusual tectonic plate geography and the sudden change in direction of the earthquake, ...

Australian discovery solves mystery of the Andes

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Mar 14, 2007 | 4.2 / 5 (17) | 0

A research team led by an ANU scientist has solved the mystery behind the formation of the Andes by discovering how the jostling of tectonic plate boundaries affects geological formations.

New study cites lower rate of quakes along some subduction zones

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Dec 04, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Most earthquakes occur along fault lines, which form boundaries between two tectonic plates. As the relative speed of the plates around a fault increases, is there a corresponding increase in the number of earthquakes produced ...

Shaky Ground

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Feb 14, 2007 | 4 / 5 (4) | 0

University of Arkansas researchers have used measurements of tiny movements in the Earth's crust to gain a better understanding of earthquake dynamics in Nicaragua, where a large quake devastated the city of ...

Paired earthquakes separated in time and space

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Jan 30, 2008 | 4.1 / 5 (12) | 1

Earthquakes occurring at the edges of tectonic plates can trigger events at a distance and much later in time, according to a team of researchers reporting in today's issue of Nature. These doublet earthquakes may hold a ...

Folded sediment unusual in Sumatran Tsunami area

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Feb 02, 2007 | 3.9 / 5 (7) | 0

Sediment folding may have added to the exceptionally large tsunami that struck Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, according to an international team of geologists. "Tsunami models consider the rebound of the plate during the earthquake, ...

Hot climate could shut down plate tectonics

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

May 12, 2008 | 2.8 / 5 (37) | 12

A new study of possible links between climate and geophysics on Earth and similar planets finds that prolonged heating of the atmosphere can shut down plate tectonics and cause a planet's crust to become locked in place.

Plate tectonics started over 4 billion years ago, geochemists report

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Nov 26, 2008 | 4.6 / 5 (23) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new picture of the early Earth is emerging, including the surprising finding that plate tectonics may have started more than 4 billion years ago — much earlier than scientists had believed, ...

New Sumatra quake takes seismologists by surprise

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Oct 01, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (6) | 1

The huge earthquake that hit Sumatra occurred at a deep, unexpected location, illustrating the dangerously complex geological mosaic in this area, a seismologist told AFP on Thursday.

Australian continent to blame for Samoa, Sumatra quakes

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

Oct 08, 2009 | 4 / 5 (5) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The recent earthquakes in the Pacific and Indonesia have one University of Queensland researcher questioning whether the two are related.

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