Get free monthly e-alerts to the latest Stanford Earth Matters stories
Finding the pulse of the polar vortex
A new analysis of how air moves between two layers of Earth’s atmosphere reveals a deep system that could enable long-term weather forecasts and better climate models.
Learning through sound
The audible world contains vast amounts of information about the world around us. Scholars from across Stanford are exploring this invisible landscape as a research tool and as a way of understanding each other.
Summer reading: Illuminating our relationship with the planet
Faculty at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences recommend these 31 books for your summer reading.
Beyond lava and ash: What makes volcanoes dangerous?
Recent eruptions offer reminders that lava, ash and size don’t fully explain how volcanoes become deadly. Geologists Gail Mahood and Donald Lowe describe some of the science and mysteries behind volcanic hazards.
Study casts doubt on the predictive value of earthquake foreshocks
Do tiny underground tremors provide clues that a big earthquake is coming? A new study suggests foreshocks are just like other small quakes, not helpful warning signs as previously thought.
Geothermal at the foot of Kilauea
Geothermal engineer Roland Horne discusses geothermal energy in the face of natural hazards and a way to tap the earth’s heat far from volcanoes in the future.
Understanding Kilauea: A different flavor of volcano
Geophysicist and volcanologist Paul Segall describes Hawaii's most active volcano and the science behind the latest eruptions.
Tiny Diamond Anvils Trigger Chemical Reactions
Experiments with 'molecular anvils' mark an important advance for mechanochemistry, which has the potential to make chemistry greener and more precise
Extinct Lakes of the American West
Extinct lake landforms provide clues of climate change over millions of years and inform our understanding of rainfall patterns and water management in the arid American West.
New Study Reveals Strong El Niño Events Cause Large Changes in Antarctic Ice Shelves
Matthew Siegfried, a postdoctoral researcher working with Dustin Schroeder in the Stanford Radio Glaciology Group, co-authored a study showing oscillations of water temperature in the tropical Pacific Ocean can induce rapid melting of Antarctic ice shelves.
Scientists Probe Water Inside Leaves via Satellite
Earth System Science professor Alexandra Konings and postdoctoral researcher Mostafa Momen help improve satellite-based analysis of vegetation optical depth, a critical indicator for regional and global climate.
Vintage film provides Stanford scientists new insights about Antarctica
Applying modern film scanning technology and machine learning to a rare trove of historical airborne radar measurements could provide new insights about how Antarctica’s ice sheets will change in a warming world.
Puzzle at the center of the Earth
Mysterious patches on the planet’s core that dampen seismic waves could be the result of ancient seawater chemically reacting with iron under extreme conditions.
Scientists make first observations of how a meteor-like shock turns silica into glass
Research with SLAC’s X-ray laser simulates what happens when a meteor hits Earth’s crust. The results suggest that scientists studying impact sites have been overestimating the sizes of the meteors that made them.
21st-century Earth science is computer intensive and data driven
If asked to imagine a geologist, you might envision a tanned and dusty figure, hardy and weathered like the ancient rocks that he or she spends days studying out “in the field."
Supervolcanoes: A key to America’s electric future?
Stanford researchers show that lake sediments preserved within ancient supervolcanoes can host large deposits of lithium, which is critical for modern technology.
Alien ice on Earth
A flash of green laser followed by pulses of X-rays, and mere nanoseconds later an extraterrestrial form of ice has formed. The miniature crystal reveals how water solidifies under high pressures, like those expected in icy comets, moons and planets.
Frozen secrets: Geophysicist explores glaciers with radar
Stanford Earth’s Dustin Schroeder researches new ways of observing, understanding, and predicting the configuration of ice sheets using ice-penetrating radar data.
Navigating the guts of an ancient submarine canyon
Tourists flock to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve near Monterey, Calif., for its breathtaking coastal views and glimpses of the playful sea otters and other marine mammals that can be found among its waters. But the site has long attracted geologists for a very different reason.