• Scientists capture seafloor spreading in action for the first time beneath the Indian Ocean

    ByReet Kaur

    Scientists have documented the first complete seafloor spreading event ever observed in real time, capturing how magma, fault movement, earthquakes and volcanic activity combine to create new oceanic crust beneath the Indian Ocean. Published in Nature on July 8, 2026, the study describes an event recorded by a dense network of instruments on the Southeast Indian Ridge that released deformation equivalent to nearly 39 years of steady plate motion in just over two weeks, providing the clearest direct record yet of how an oceanic ridge grows.

  • AI reveals hidden fault movements beneath the San Andreas Fault

    ByReet Kaur

    Artificial intelligence has uncovered a hidden chapter in the behavior of California’s San Andreas Fault, revealing that silent fault movements occur more frequently than scientists realized and may influence nearby seismic activity. The study, published on June 9, 2026, in Nature Communications, reports that researchers identified 92 short-duration slow slip events beneath the Parkfield segment of the fault, including 21 that had escaped years of manual inspection.

  • Underwater robot captures first confirmed sighting of Arctic bobtail squid in the wild

    ByReet Kaur

    An underwater robot launched from a small expedition vessel has captured the first confirmed images of the elusive Arctic bobtail squid (Rossia moelleri) in its natural habitat, including a mature female alongside clusters of eggs in the icy waters of Northeast Greenland National Park. The discovery, published on July 18, 2026, in Polar Biology, provides the first confirmed in situ record of the species and the first direct evidence of it reproducing in its natural Arctic habitat.

  • Study finds weak mantle beneath keeps Southeast Asia moving for decades after major earthquakes

    ByReet Kaur

    Major earthquakes can continue reshaping Southeast Asia for decades after the shaking stops, according to a study published on July 15, 2026, in Communications Earth & Environment. Researchers found that an unusually weak layer of mantle beneath the Sumatran backarc allows the ground to keep moving long after major earthquakes, a process that could influence future relative sea-level projections and coastal flood risk if left out of existing models.

  • Hawaiian mantle plume has been getting hotter for 47 million years

    ByReet Kaur

    For decades, geologists believed mantle plumes gradually cooled as they aged, producing less magma over time. New research suggests the opposite happened beneath Hawaiʻi. Scientists found the Hawaiian mantle plume became about 250°C (480°F) hotter over the past 47 million years, a shift that fueled two major pulses of volcanism and produced some of Earth’s largest volcanoes.

  • El Niño strengthens as positive Indian Ocean Dipole raises warm, dry risk across Australia

    ByReet Kaur

    El Niño has become established across the tropical Pacific, while seasonal forecast models favor the development of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) during the Southern Hemisphere winter and spring, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). If both climate drivers persist, they would increase the probability of warmer and drier conditions across much of Australia during the second half of 2026.

  • Water released from hydrous minerals identified as a viable trigger for slow earthquakes

    ByReet Kaur

    Researchers have identified a geological mechanism that may explain why slow earthquakes occur in recurring cycles, concluding that episodic dehydration of hydrous minerals can generate intermittent pulses of fluid capable of triggering slow-slip events in subduction zones. The findings, published in Geology on June 18, 2026, combine field observations from New Caledonia with thermodynamic and mechanical modelling to explain how water released during metamorphism may initiate these elusive earthquakes.

  • Rare plutonium isotope preserved in Pacific seabed points to an ancient cosmic explosion

    ByReet Kaur

    Tiny traces of radioactive plutonium locked inside a slow-growing crust on the floor of the Pacific Ocean have helped scientists solve a cosmic mystery dating back more than 100 million years. In a study published on June 15, 2026, in Nature Astronomy, an international team reports that the last nearby event capable of forging many of the Universe’s heaviest elements occurred long before the supernovae whose signatures have already been found on Earth.

  • AI uncovers nearly 1 000 hidden earthquakes beneath East Antarctica

    ByReet Kaur

    Scientists have discovered nearly 1 000 previously undetected earthquakes beneath East Antarctica after applying machine-learning techniques to seismic records collected decades ago, revealing that one of Earth’s most remote regions is far more seismically active than once believed. The findings were published in Science on May 28, 2026.

  • 2025 Kamchatka earthquake rupture matched the 1952 great earthquake, study finds

    ByRishav Kothari

    A new study of the July 2025 Mw 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake found that the rupture extended about 500 km (311 miles) southwest from its epicenter, closely matching the rupture area of the great 1952 Kamchatka earthquake. Researchers say the similarity points to long-lived structural controls along the subduction zone that may influence how the region’s largest earthquakes rupture