Clues in seafloor sediments reveal that relatively warm water beneath western Antarctic ice shelves, a major factor in today's massive ice sheet retreat, also fueled some past ice loss.
sediments
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Boulders Limit Transport of Sand and Gravel in Steep Rivers
Mountain rivers and streams actively reshape landscapes by eroding material from uplands and depositing it in lowlands. Scientists can now predict this transport in very steep streams.
Posted inScience Updates
Probing the History of New Zealand's Orakei Maar
A team of scientists drilled into the bed within a northern New Zealand explosion crater lake to gain insights into volcanic hazards and past climates.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Unraveling the History of Central Europe's Pannonian Basin
A multidisciplinary model linking the sedimentary and tectonic histories of this structurally complex basin suggests that large amounts of extension occurred there between 20 and 9 million years ago.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Mathematics of Braided Rivers
River researchers find a mathematical relationship that predicts the average shape of a riverbed over a defined distance, opening the door to new ideas about modeling braided rivers.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plunging into Waterfall Sediment Transport Modeling
A first-of-its-kind model describes how pools at the base of waterfalls adjust their depth to keep up with sediment flow.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Earthquakes May Prevent Underwater Landslides
Smaller quakes around the active edge of continental plates may contribute to increased stability by promoting compaction and solidifying the top 100 meters of seafloor sediment.
Posted inNews
Scientists Find the Point of No Return for Antarctic Ice Cap
Varying amounts of glacial debris in a core of ancient sediment show the ice cover grew and shrank until airborne carbon dioxide levels fell below 600 parts per million, spurring steady growth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Satellites Reveal Dynamics of Suspended Mineral Particles
A case study of the Irish Sea evaluates the use of ocean color data to measure the optical properties of sedimentary particles in offshore waters.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Sediment Transport Sways Wetland Stability
Scientists examine the role of variables like tides and suspended sediment concentration to improve methods of evaluating coastal wetlands and how they may respond to future sea level rise.