Seismic gap outside of Istanbul "Is this where the expected Marmara earthquake will originate from?"

Seismic risk in Turkey, epicentres and main fault zones. (Credit: © GFZ Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum)

Earthquake researchers have now identified a 30 kilometers long and ten kilometers deep area along the North Anatolian fault zone just south of Istanbul that could be the starting point for a strong earthquake. The group of seismologists including Professor Marco Bohnhoff of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences reported in the current online issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications that this potential earthquake source is only 15 to 20 kilometers from the historic city center of Istanbul.

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Brazilianite

Telírio claim, Linópolis, Divino das Laranjeiras, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
© Rob Lavinsky

Formula:   NaAl₃(PO₄)₂(OH)₄
System:    Monoclinic   
Colour:    Chartreuse yellow, pale ...
Hardness:  5½
Name: Named by Frederick Harvey Pough and Edward Porter Henderson in 1945 for the type locality country, Brazil, where it was first found.

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New 'Embryonic' Subduction Zone Found

NOAA/NGDC image of the Atlantic crustal age of the ocean floor. Geologists have detected the first evidence that a passive margin in the Atlantic ocean is becoming active. The team mapped the ocean floor and found it was beginning to fracture, indicating tectonic activity around the apparently passive South West Iberia plate margin. (Credit: Mr. Elliot Lim and Mr. Jesse Varner, CIRES & NOAA/NGDC)

A new subduction zone forming off the coast of Portugal heralds the beginning of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean close as continental Europe moves closer to America.

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'Cold Snap' 116 Million Years Ago Triggered Marine Ecosystem Crisis

A "cold snap" 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to new research. (Credit: Copyright Michele Hogan)

A "cold snap" 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to research published in Nature Geoscience.

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Bournonite

Herodsfoot Mine (North Herodsfoot Mine), Lanreath, Liskeard District, Cornwall, England, UK
© Ian Jones

Formula:    CuPbSbS₃
System:    Orthorhombic   
Colour:    Steel-gray
Hardness: 2½ - 3
Member of: Bournonite Group
Name: After Count J. L. de Bournon (1751-1825), French crystallographer and mineralogist.

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