About time, too! Since the internet / web were designed originally to accommodate the sharing of scientific information between physically separated scientists / institutions. It's, of course, found far more mundane and real-world applications. But the fact that science is slowly being churned up in its wake is probably a good thing.StefanR wrote:It seems Internet is revolutionizing science.
Since we're on the subject of anti-tectonics, or "new tectonics," I might as well forward these items some colleagues pointed me to online:
(Unusual Earthquakes Measured Off Oregon; right in our backyard, so to speak)
http://www.physorg.com/news127238826.html
(Earthquake swarm stumps scientists)Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption - except there are no volcanoes in the area.
[...]
On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land.
[...]
The quakes have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.
The Earth's crust is made up of plates that rest on molten rock, which are rubbing together. When the molten rock, or magma, erupts through the crust, it creates volcanoes.
That can happen in the middle of a plate. When the plates lurch against each other, they create earthquakes along the edges.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/200 ... cient.html
Cheers,The quakes are puzzling because they are not occurring along the edge of the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust, where geologists are used to seeing seismic activity. Instead, they're centered in the Juan de Fuca Plate, a span of crust off the Northwest Coast, about 40 miles from the plate's edge.
[...]
The swarm is also odd because it did not come in the form of a main shock, followed by steadily decreasing tremors - known as aftershocks - afterwards. That's typically what geologists see when an earthquake occurs on a fault within one of the plates.
"This thing has been a steady stream of earthquakes through time," Dziak said.
Another explanation might be volcanic activity on the seafloor. But Dziak considers that unlikely because it's most common along the edges of plates or around known volcanic "hot spots" such as Hawaii.
~Michael Gmirkin
