Scientists have mapped one of the most hazardous spots on the globe in unprecedented detail: a 600-mile geologic boundary just off the #PacificNorthwest coast.
Along this fraught stretch, called the #CascadiaSubductionZone, 2 pieces of the #Earth’s crust slide against each other, building up stresses capable of unleashing a catastrophic 9.0-magnitude #earthquake & generating a #tsunami, w/waves as high as 40 feet.
…The entire area, which stretches from Northern #California to #Vancouver Island, is at risk. But the scientists found the geometry of the fault off the coast of #Washington, where the fault is flat & smooth, closer to the surface & extends farther onshore, may be particularly at risk.
…This #FaultZone is hazardous because it’s a “megathrust” #fault. One piece of the #Earth’s crust, a tectonic plate called the Juan de Fuca plate, dives down beneath the North American continental plate.
#PPOD: An external high-definition camera on the International Space Station captured this image of Hurricane Idalia at 11:35 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 29, 2023. Idalia was a category 1 storm over the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 140 kilometers (85 miles) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. June 1 marked the beginning of the 2024 hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: NASA
A streak of record-setting #heat that began last summer has now persisted for an entire year across the globe, researchers announced Wed, pushing #Earth closer to a dangerous threshold that the #world’s nations had pledged not to cross.
Temperatures surpassed the 1.5°C #warming threshold over the past year, & scientists warn they will again soon.
Martian meteorites are turning out to be quite an asset. These tiny bits of rock were chipped off of Mars, flung into space, and eventually landed on Earth about 11 million years ago. Today they’re giving scientists new insight into the fine structure of the outer later of the red planet. Science Alert explains: https://flip.it/Lb8hDb #Science#Mars#Earth#Meteorites