geology news stories on Newser

Did Drilling Cause Oklahoma's Quakes?

Kevin Spak — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:16:00 CST

Scientists aren’t entirely sure what caused the earthquakes that rocked Oklahoma last week , but many in the state are wondering whether it might have something to do with the oil wells and fracking operations that dot the state, the LA Times reports. Oil companies scoff at the notion—“To try...

Underwater 'Atlantis' Landscape Revealed

Matt Cantor — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:50:16 CDT

Deep underwater and far below ocean sediment lies what was, millions of years ago, a vast landscape. Complete with furrows and peaks that were once rivers and mountains, the North Atlantic site "looks for all the world like a map of a bit of a country onshore,” said one of...

Clues Suggest How Grand Canyon Formed

Matt Cantor — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:02:13 CDT

We know the Grand Canyon was formed when the vast Colorado plateau rose from the ground, then eroded. But scientists have long been stumped as to why the 130,000-square-mile region pushed more than a mile upward. Now, a team of researchers may have found the answer, and it lies...

Japan's Geologists Had the 'Big One' All Wrong

Matt Cantor — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:48:05 CST

For years, Japan’s scientists have been expecting a giant earthquake, pinpointing its location along a fault line southwest of Tokyo—but today’s disaster defied their forecasts. The country’s biggest earthquake occurred 231 miles northeast of the capital along a different fault, the Washington Post reports. Scientists had gone so far...

Africa Rapidly Breaking in Two

Matt Cantor — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:55:05 CST

Africa is gradually breaking apart—and in the past several months, the process has accelerated. Now, amid earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, it’s happening exceptionally quickly, reports Der Spiegel . Water is threatening to flood a fracture between Ethiopia and Mozambique, scientists say; while it will be millions of years before that...

Utility Crew Stumbles on 1.4M-Year-Old Fossils

Kevin Spak — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:57:21 CDT

It didn’t take an archaeological expedition to unearth California’s oldest saber-toothed cat skeleton—it took a crew of construction workers, who were trying to break ground on a new substation for Riverside County. And that’s not all they found. The workers had stumbled upon a “treasure trove” of fossils that...

Earth Not So Old

Jane Yager — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:00:00 CDT

Earth may have taken much longer to form after the birth of the solar system than was previously believed—making it a mere 4.467 billion years old, compared to its previously estimated age of 4.567 billion years. Geologists made the new calculations by comparing chemicals from the earth's...

What Do You Do With a Gargantuan Sinkhole?

Rob Quinn — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:30:00 CDT

For a small sinkhole in your yard, experts recommend dropping solid material to the bottom and filling it with soil. For a giant sinkhole in your city, experts are flummoxed. Geologists aren't sure why a mammoth sinkhole that ate a three-story building opened up in downtown Guatemala City, and they...

Chilean City Moved 10 Feet West in Quake

Kevin Spak — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:17:25 CST

The earthquake that struck Chile on Feb. 27 was so massive that it moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet to the west, according to one new study. Concepcion isn’t far from the quake’s epicenter in Maule, but other, more distant towns moved as well. Santiago moved 11 inches,...