In Japan’s submarine Nankai Trough, rock permeability is much higher when measured at larger scales, likely because of big fractures and faults that are not captured at small scales.
experiments
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Are Sediment Pulses Generated?
A new long-term flume experiment shows that bed load gravel travels downstream in recurring, 10-hour pulses even when water flow and sediment supply are constant.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Acoustic Monitoring of Inelastic Compaction in Porous Limestone
During triaxial compression experiments, acoustic monitoring reveals compaction localization in a high porosity limestone, accompanied by a significant decrease in P-wave velocity.
Posted inNews
Homemade “Spatter Bombs” Can Reveal Volcanic Secrets
Researchers use trial and error to develop a technique to create volcanic lava bombs.
Posted inNews
Offshore Islands Might Not Shield Coastlines from Tsunami Waves
Rather than offering protection, islands sometimes cause increased wave run-up on shorelines, experiments in a wave laboratory suggest.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Grain-Scale Processes That Drive Plate Tectonics
New experimental data suggest that rock composition may play a critical role in forming and perpetuating shear zones.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lab Experiments Show How Fault Surfaces Get Groovy
Formation of nanometer-scale quartz beads could promote linear “slickenline” patterns and facilitate fault movement.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Retracing the First Spaceborne Electric Field Measurement
Fifty years ago, a sounding rocket made history by taking the first measurement of an electric field in space. What techniques were used to capture this data?
Posted inNews
Interior Water Not Ruled Out for Our Moon, Lab Tests Suggest
The experiments mimicked cooling of magma at the lunar surface. They found that any water in interior molten rock might have escaped so fast at the surface that none was left to be measured.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Magnetized Collisionless Shock Waves Measured in the Lab
Scientists create collisionless shock waves to better understand the phenomenon in nature.