Earth Science

The Amateur Seismic Centre (ASC) is an independent organisation based in Pune (Maharashtra, India) that was founded in June 2000 by Stacey S. Martin. The website was created with the aim of providing users in India and overseas information on earthquakes in the sub-continent. Although the ASC does not instrumentally record seismic activity, it keeps track of regional seismicity and distributes this information through its website. All the information on this website has been acquired from reliable sources such as published research articles in respected scientific journals and from well-known research & media organisations in India & south Asia.

Preliminary Earthquake Report, U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center, World Data Center for Seismology, Denver. The devastating megathrust earthquake of December 26th, 2004 occurred on the interface of the India and Burma plates and was caused by the release of stresses that develop as the India plate subducts beneath the overriding Burma plate. The India plate begins its descent into the mantle at the Sunda trench which lies to the west of the earthquake's epicenter. The trench is the surface expression of the plate interface between the Australia and India plates, situated to the southwest of the trench, and the Burma and Sunda plates, situated to the northeast. MORE...

This site is a compilation of the rapidly available scientific information providing background to the December 26th 2004 Earthquake and Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The purpose of this site is to provide information to scientists, media, disaster managers particularly in the affected countries.

The mission of ANSS is to provide accurate and timely data and information products for seismic events in the United States, including their effects on buildings and structures, employing modern monitoring methods and technologies. ANSS will establish nationwide network of over 7000 earthquake sensor systems, serving all areas of the country subject to earthquake hazards and providing dense coverage in 26 at-risk urban areas (see map). Sensors will be located both in the ground and in buildings and other structures. The system will provide real-time earthquake information for emergency response personnel, provide engineers with information about building and site response to strong shaking, and provide scientists with high-quality data needed to understand earthquake processes and structure and dynamics of the solid earth.

The mission of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) is to rapidly determine location and size of all destructive earthquakes worldwide and to immediately disseminate this information to concerned national and international agencies, scientists, and the general public. As World Data Center for Seismology, Denver, the NEIC compiles and maintains an extensive, global seismic database on earthquake parameters and their effects that serves as a solid foundation for basic and applied earth science research.

The objective of this website is to present recent indicators that describe the present state of the Arctic climate and ecosystem in an accessible, understandable, and credible historical context. A summary of changes are listed in the Table of Indicators. The Arctic is a vast, ice-covered ocean that is surrounded by tree-less, frozen land, which is often covered with snow and ice. The rigors of this harsh environment are a challenge to living, working and performing research in the Arctic. None the less, the Arctic is an ecosystem that teems with life including organisms living in the ice, fish and marine mammals living in the sea, birds, land animals such as wolves, caribou and polar bears, and human societies. The Arctic has been changing in the last 30 years, as noted throughout this website. Some of the clearest indicators of this change are shown below: the warming of spring temperatures in Alaska, the warming of winter temperatures in N Europe, the loss of sea ice area in the central Arctic, and the conversion of tundra to wetlands and shrub lands in E. Siberia and NW Canada and Alaska. These changes in physical conditions also have impacted marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902 as an organization for scientific discovery. His intention was for the institution to be home to exceptional individualsmen and women with imagination and extraordinary dedication capable of working at the cutting edge of their fields. Today, Carnegie scientists continue to be at the forefront of scientific discovery. Working in six scientific departments on the West and East Coasts, Carnegie investigators are leaders in the fields of plant biology, developmental biology, earth and planetary sciences, astronomy, and global ecology. They seek answers to questions about the structure of the universe, the formation of our solar system and other planetary systems, the behavior and transformation of matter when subjected to extreme conditions, the origin of life, the function of genes, and the development of organisms from single-celled egg to adult. The Carnegie Institution is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The UNAVCO Facility in Boulder, Colorado is the primary operational activity of the UNAVCO community. It exists to support university and other research investigators using the Global Positioning System (GPS) for Earth sciences research.

Please join us on our cruise of discovery to the Lost City Hydrothermal Field at the summit of the Atlantis Massif, 30N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During this 32 day expedition, 24 scientists onboard the research vessel the Atlantis will dive deep into the ocean to explore active limestone chimneys that rise 200 feet above the seafloor. We will also sample and grow microorganisms that may provide information key to understanding the development of early life on Earth, and use a free swimming robot to create a high resolution map of this field--which is unlike any hot spring system yet discovered on our planet. The Lost City vent field is unlike any seafloor hot spring system yet found, and it is likely that exciting new discoveries will be made during this 32-day expedition. Using the submersible Alvin and the free-swimming robotic vehicle ABE, we will explore, map, and sample this novel environment.

The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental organisation whose aim is to encourage and facilitate cooperation in all aspects of arctic research, in all countries engaged in arctic research and in all areas of the arctic region. The IASC member organisations are national science organisations covering all fields of arctic research. Each national member organisation has a mechanism to provide ongoing contact between its council member and its arctic science community. IASC draws on this structure to identify scientific priorities, members of working groups, etc. An international science programme planned or recommended by IASC should be of high priority to arctic or global science.

Earth history is punctuated by events during which large volumes of mafic magmas were generated and emplaced by processes unrelated to normal sea-floor spreading and subduction. These Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are best preserved in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic where they occur as continental flood basalts, volcanic rifted margins, oceanic plateaus, ocean basin flood basalts, submarine ridges, and seamount chains.

The Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program seeks better understanding of all volcanoes through documenting their eruptions small as well as large during the past 10,000 years. Search our database to find volcanoes from around the world.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAFGI), and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS). AVO was formed in 1988, and uses federal, state, and university resources to monitor and study Alaska's hazardous volcanoes, to predict and record eruptive activity, and to mitigate volcanic hazards to life and property.

The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) is a leading academic research group in geology and geophysics. Founded in 1972 by geophysicist/oceanographer, Maurice Ewing, it conducts geophysical investigations of the history, structure, and dynamics of the earth's crust and of earthquake phenomena. UTIG is a research component of the Jackson School of Geosciences, which conducts basic and applied geophysical research and graduate student training for The University of Texas at Austin.

The Acoustic Monitoring Project of the VENTS Program has performed continuous monitoring of ocean noise since August, 1991 using the U.S. Navy SOund SUrveillance System (SOSUS) network and autonomous underwater hydrophones. Areas of study include: Ocean seismicity - Hydroacoustic monitoring allows the detection and precise location of small submarine earthquakes and volcanic activity. Bioacoustics - Underwater acoustic methods are being used to study the distribution of large whales in the open oceans. Environmental noise - Studies of the effect of noise, both man-made and natural, on marine life are being planned with NOAA Fisheries researchers.

An airborne geophysical program over West Antarctica was designed to study the linkage between the West Antarctic Rift System and the dynamic evolution of the overlying West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The integrated data acquisition system mounted on a DeHavilland Twin Otter consists of an airborne gravity system, a towed aeromagnetic system, an ice penetrating radar, and a laser altimeter. The aerogeophysical data set covers a 300,000 km2 region in West Antarctica. The survey area is covered by a grid of orthogonal flight lines spaced 5.3 km apart in both directions consisting of 150,000 line kilometers. Flight elevation varied from 1600 m to 2500 m (check here for details).

Here you will find information about the seismic monitoring research work at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO). The main objectives of this web site are: 1) to facilitate research works at LDEO among the scientists, support staff and graduate students who are interested in issues related to the technical and scientific aspects of the verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); 2) to disseminate data and information gathered by the staff at LDEO to the nuclear test verification research community as well as to the public. You can access information and data on this site. More information about the CTBT and nuclear tests can be found by navigating through other web sites using the links provided.

The mission of theColumbia Center for Hazards and Risk Research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is to advance the predictive science of natural and environmental hazards and the integration of science with hazard risk assessment and risk management. It is within the context of a compelling social need for reduction ofcatastrophic events from natural and environmental hazards that a group of Columbia's physical and social scientists are proposing a new program in disaster studies. Drawing from research capacity in the earth and environmental sciences, engineering, social sciences and public policy, the Center for Hazards and Risk Research will have a twofold focus: the assessment of predictive science capability and the integration of science with hazard risk assessment and management. Operationally this will require advances in the geospatial-demographic modeling of physical processes and their potential societal impacts. It will also require a renewed focus on the translation of scientific concepts of probability and uncertainty into a language and set of rules useful to decision-makers.

Here you will find information about the Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network (LCSN), along with information on earthquakes in the Eastern United States and seismology. We hope you will find this site interesting and informative.Earthquakes in other parts of the world, as well as more information about the Earth Sciences, can be found by navigating through other web site links provided here.

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a leading research institution where more than 200 research scientists seek fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world. LDEO scientists observe Earth on a global scale, from its deepest interior to the outer reaches of its atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean. They decipher the long record of the past, monitor the present, and seek to foresee Earths future. From global climate change to earthquakes, volcanoes, nonrenewable resources, environmental hazards and beyond, the Observatorys fundamental challenge is to provide a rational basis for the difficult choices faced by humankind in the stewardship of this fragile planet.