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Seismology is the study of stress and changes in stress within the Earth and other planetary bodies, particularly earthquakes caused by slip and rupture along faults and by magmatic activity. The field is also concerned with earthquake risks and hazards, as well as the propagation of elastic waves through the surface of the Earth.
Distributed dynamic strain sensing using optical fibre cables and core analyses reveals significant strain amplification within the narrow, weak core of an asymmetric fault zone and highlights its susceptibility to both nearby and distant seismic triggers
Core processes, dynamically linked to mantle and climate-related surface processes, contribute to both the long-term trend and shorter-term fluctuations observed in Earth’s polar motion, according to predictions from physics-informed neural networks.
The electrical activity in an eruption column is influenced by mass eruption rate and eruptive style and could therefore be used to monitor eruption evolution, according to an analysis of electrical signals from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption, La Palma
While foreshocks in nature are rare, dynamic slip in the laboratory is generally preceded by bursts of foreshocks. This study shows that laboratory foreshocks become increasingly rare at conditions that are more similar to pressure and stress conditions at average seismogenic depth.
The fate of water carried by subducted slabs to the deep Earth remains unclear. Experiments suggest that water is unlikely to escape the slabs when they reach the core–mantle boundary despite high pressures and temperatures.
Recent seismological studies challenge the traditional view that the interface between the core and mantle is a straightforward discontinuity. As seismology is pushed to its observational limits, a complex - potentially compositionally layered - region between the core and mantle is emerging.
Nature Geoscience spoke with Samantha Hansen, a geophysicist at the University of Alabama and Sebastian Rost, a global seismologist at the University of Leeds about the ultralow velocity zones in the lowermost mantle.
Advances in seismological observational and modelling techniques are needed to constrain complex lowermost mantle structures and understand their influence on the global dynamics and evolution of Earth’s interior.