Category: Earth Science

Can cooled/hardened lava rock return to a molten state?

Asked by: Carson Saunders Yes, at least partially. It is important to remember that a “rock” usually does not have a single melting point. It melts over an interval. Can lava turn back into magma? Magma can be melted or partially melted crust, also old volcanic crust, so if old lava somehow re-enters a magma

Is the Younger Dryas associated with an extinction event?

Asked by: Rene Kielholz The Younger Dryas (YD) impact hypothesis is a recent theory that suggests that a cometary or meteoritic body or bodies hit and/or exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, causing the YD climate episode, extinction of Pleistocene megafauna, demise of the Clovis archeological culture, and a range of other effects. What

Why are weather kites no longer used (much) operationally?

Asked by: Rene Kielholz How are kites used for weather? Each kite train carried a meteorgraph, a combined instrument package which recorded temperature, wind velocity, humidity, and barometric pressure. While weather kites have been largely superseded, they still have their uses, and are still employed by the British Antarctic Survey. How did they predict the

What geological events could cause a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) level 9 eruption?

Asked by: Aaron Howell Is a VEI 9 eruption possible? It is possible that evidence for a VEI 9 eruption exists and is buried in the geologic record. Eruptions that large would be very rare events, but it is impossible to say that eruptions that large have never occurred. What is VEI what were the

Why the “Mission to Earth’s core” proposal suggests using liquid iron instead of lead?

Asked by: Aaron Howell Why do scientists think the Earth’s core is liquid? Two kinds of waves created by earthquakes are compressional (P) waves and shear (S) waves. Both of these waves can travel through solids, but S waves cannot travel through liquids. Scientists figured out that the outer core must be liquid because S

Sedimentology (Particle size distribution parameters)

Asked by: Haydee Broomfield How do you determine particle size distribution? Particle size distribution and size averages are determined by particle counting in a Coulter counter (e.g., Multisizer 3). It provides number, volume, mass, and surface area size distributions in one measurement, with an overall sizing range of 0.4 μm to 1,200 μm. What is

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