Interior boundaries

Cracking of a fragment of the earth's crust in Canada provides a snapshot of an amazing geological event

Hammer of God

The collision of a meteorite with the Earth produced energy about a million times more than the largest earthquake ever recorded

The world’s five deadliest volcanoes … and why they’re so dangerous

Since 1600, 278,880 people have been killed by volcanic activity, with many of these deaths attributed to secondary hazards associated with the …

Have human-made changes heralded a new epoch?

Experts have proposed that the new epoch—Anthropocene—began around 1950, when human-induced changes started affecting earth's geology

‘Many seismic gaps in Himalayas capable of producing powerful earthquakes’

In an interview to Kundan Pandey, Supriyo Mitra, associate professor with the Department of Earth Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science …

Twelve years later, impact of Tsunami still makes waves

Down To Earth revists the causes of the massive earthquake that triggered tsunami 12 years ago and the progress scientists have made towards …

Southern Chile hit by 7.6-magnitude earthquake; infrastructural damage reported

Though there were at least dozens of weaker aftershocks, damage was restricted to the highway that runs across Chiloe Island

‘Faults inactive for long period could pose greater hazard’

Chan Lung-sang, professor at Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, speaks to Kundan Pandey about the probability of a bigger …

Hotbeds of energy

Simmering rocks found several kilometres beneath the earth's surface hold the potential to meet our power needs

Building against odds

Despite a host of reasons against its constuction, Pakistan decides to go ahead with building the Diamer dam

Semantics of Anthropocene: Have humans really formed a new era

The Earth will hardly notice when we humans are gone, just as it hardly knew we were here

Mountain of faith: Mysuru’s famous Chamundi Hill is crumbling

Four major landslides have been reported on Mysuru’s Chamundi Hill since 2019, alarming greens and government alike

Seismic activity has gone through the roof in last two months

Since December 2, 2016, there have been around 420 earthquakes of magnitude over 5 along all major continental plate boundaries

A year after the quake we look at the physical changes

While the earthquake pushed some of the country’s areas higher in elevation, Mount Everest, the tallest peak in the world, has decreased in …

Big earthquake could hit Bangladesh, northeast India

Tremendous strain is building up due to plate convergence under Bangladesh, says a new paper. A single big rupture could cause a magnitude 9 quake

‘There will be a day when we will be able to predict quakes’

Enough strain has accumulated in the Nepal region to cause a great earthquake. But how big it is going to be and when it is going to occur is a …

Volcanic rocks in Deccan pinned down to a comet

A model to explain the formation of a vast stretch of volcanic rocks near Bombay may even explain the extinction of dinosaures

‘We are skipping a whole glacial cycle’

A study has found that even moderate human emissions of 1,000-1,500 gigatonnes of carbon would postpone the next glacial age by at least 100,000 years

Plate tectonics began three billion years ago, claims study

This finding may have huge implications on geological studies and provide basis for research on Earth’s history

Goa government turns focus on illegal mining in forests

Letter from revenue officer of Sanguem taluka complaining about illegal mining in forestland rang the alarm

Nepal earthquake may have 'unzipped' fault line, boosting risk of future quake

New research shows the earthquake that struck central Nepal in April this year was only a partial rupture of the fault line, meaning another …

Bowels of the Earth: Meet the planet’s new layer, the innermost inner core

The idea that the Earth could hold a fifth layer was proposed in 2002; since then, researchers have been trying to get more data to learn about …

Neduvasal residents protest hydrocarbon extraction in agricultural land

A new government policy has made it easier to dig deeper for unconventional oil and gas. But a village in Tamil Nadu is up in arms against the …

`A major ecosystem change is on its way'

Adriana Dutkiewicz, senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, was the lead researcher of the team that mapped the ocean floor. She spoke to …

Tragedy unfolds in Turkey

Thousands dead, an equal number injured and rendered homeless, besides a burning oil refinery will Turkey ever overcome the aftermath of this …