#earth systems

[rottingewe]

worlds within worlds - eucalyptus

[scienceguy22]

66 million years ago: the ultimate stress test.

How did animals survive the K-Pg impact asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 mya? K-Pg stands for Cretaceous from the German word "Kreidezeit," & Pg for Paleogene (the period immediately after the dinosaurs died). The asteroid's diameter was 6-9 mi (10-15 km). It is called the "Chicxulub asteroid," & when it came crashing into our planet, its impact was equivalent to several million megatons of TNT. That's like 10 billion Hiroshima atomic bombs going off at once. It's a wonder anything could have survived that at all. It triggered devastating global fires, months of darkness from soot & aerosols, collapse of photosynthesis, food web failure on land & sea, acid rain & rapid climate cooling, roughly a 27-36°F drop (15-20 °C). Roughly 75% of species vanished.

But survival depended on body size, with most of the large animals dying out, leaving behind smaller mouse-sized or badger-sized survivors. Earth's largest predators & herbivores—dinosaurs like T. rex & Triceratops & marine reptiles like plesiosaurs & the behemoth Mosasaurus—were doomed from the moment of impact. Their large size prevented them from taking shelter during the apocalyptic aftermath & required massive amounts of sustenance in a time when food was scarce.

Small animals need less food, such as some lizards & mammals, while others are sheltered in water, such as fish & turtles. The avian group that led to modern birds survived because they were small & had powerful wings & chest muscles that allowed them to fly well & escape. Their chicks grew quickly, meaning they could soon fend for themselves. Only ground-dwelling beaked birds survived. Their beaks allowed them to eat seeds. This is the only dinosaur that survived & is still with us today. Diet was an important factor with the plant-eaters, & those that ate them were especially hard hit, as the Sun was obstructed for at least a couple of years. Even if they were a small size, certain lizard & turtle species went extinct because their diets were too reliant on photosynthesizing plants, which could not occur because of the blockage of sunlight, causing a catastrophic "impact winter." Plants, plankton & algae died within weeks. Herbivores starved & carnivores starved after them.

Those animals that could burrow are linked to survival. The burrows provided warmth & shelter from the firestorms that erupted after the asteroid crash. In the oceans, those that consumed dead, organic detritus had a better chance of survival. Some of those resilient marine creatures included the sea sponge, sharks, rays, bony fish, & mollusks, including the lineage that led to today's chambered nautilus. Seed-eaters, birds, & foraging insectivores survived because their food sources weren't destroyed by extreme temperature changes & a lack of sunlight.

Early mammals & early whale ancestors diversified their diets after the apocalypse. Even today, those animals with generalized diets will fare far better than animals whose diets are too restrictive, such as the polar bear. Some survivors were lucky because their prey also survived, such as a few aquatic turtle species. Behavioral flexibility & slow metabolism, as well as a higher capacity for reproduction, enabled survival.

A surprising exception to survival occurred. For example, a very large 660 lb (300 kg) crocodile-like animal survived, called Tewensuchus, which for all intents & purposes should not have survived. They were able to survive only because they could fast for months. They were cold-blooded with low energy needs. They could drop their metabolism by 90%, entering torpor-like states, survive on almost no calories, being able to go almost a year between meals & being highly efficient predators able to eat almost anything, including rotting meat. They were drought-tolerant, temperature-tolerant, low-oxygen-tolerant & starvation-tolerant & had thick armor to protect them against any other potential attacker.

Mammals emerged from the extinction as the dominant macrofauna, probably because mammals were more resistant to fungal infections than reptiles. The animals that survived ultimately led to the age of the primates, including humans, that continues to this day.

[redshift-13]

World enters era of ‘global water bankruptcy’

The world has moved beyond a water crisis and into a state of global water bankruptcy, says a new flagship report released on Tuesday by UN

The world has moved beyond a water crisis and into a state of global water bankruptcy, says a new flagship report released on Tuesday by UN researchers.

"For decades, scientists, policymakers and the media warned of a “global water crisis,” implying temporary shock – followed by recovery. 

What is now emerging in many regions, however, is a persistent shortage whereby water systems can no longer realistically return to their historical baselines.

“For much of the world, ‘normal’ is gone,” said Kaveh Madani, Director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

 “This is not to kill hope but to encourage action and an honest admission of failure today to protect and enable tomorrow,” he told a press briefing in New York on Tuesday."

...

Now is precisely not the time for American conservatives to be cutting funding for science and ending international agreements that allow everyone to more effectively address our collective environmental problems.

[littleearthtalks]

Role of major erosion events in Earth’s dynamics

An explanation for the advent and evolution of plate tectonics on Earth.

A link to the paper:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1258-4.epdf?shared_access_token=s69nOkjFgK-5kGb_qUro2tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PC2VDncmroTLtuz98_jfFl1iJV-qD1GPLkDfUuR-zYOpE0yyncegJtFJEEFAYLjp5oW6k9qyuZgH5AXYKmE4xAXpsQg3ZstVJGKAnMhg8z0w%3D%3D

[pinoyscientists]

Jeane Anne Dagoy, volcano seismologist

1) What do you do?

I study earthquakes and volcanoes! My current research focuses on studying the stress fields at subduction zones and beneath volcanic chains. In this project, I simulate the evolution of stresses on crustal plates during the subduction earthquake cycle wherein the plates deform in response to tectonic loading, fault locking, earthquake rupture and postseismic relaxation. Then, I extend my continental crust material to reach the volcanic chains in order to understand the mechanism behind sunken volcanoes occurring during a megathrust earthquake.

2) Where do you work?

I am a diploma student in Solid Earth Geophysics at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy.

Before coming here, I served as a junior volcano seismologist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). I also used to work as a project assistant for the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office for Zamboanga Peninsula.

3) Tell us about the photos!

[Top:] This is me after finishing our field observations at Mt. Hakone, Japan. At that time, we had to wear cool respirators since we were exposed to significant amounts of volcanic gases released by active volcanic vents (!)

[Bottom:] I love going on adventures-- this one was a memorable escapade as the shot not only reminds me of an amazing ATV drive along the forest trail, it also captured a funny moment because I appeared to grow leaves on my helmet. :)

4) Tell us about your academic career path so far

I finished my primary and secondary education at Claret School of Zamboanga City. Then, I went to study at Western Mindanao State University for my degree in BS Physics. My postgraduate studies in the ICTP diploma program is still on-going.

Soon, I will start my PhD in Geophysics at GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences which is part of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres in Germany.

5) Anything else you’d like to share?

Just like many millenials, I easily get hooked on K-dramas, K-idols and American series. Back at home, I take care of two cute white fluffy dogs named MJ and Snowbelle.

On a different note, the concept of work-life-balance is very important to me. Modern-day scientists definitely have a life after lab(oratory).  I, for one, strive to meet this balance as well as break the typical stereotype of a person in science.

[exotericenvironmentalism]

This is basically rubbish accounting...

via How Plastic Bottles Benefit ExxonMobil by The Huffington Post

[pinoyscientists]

Meet Keith Magali:

1) What do you do?

I am a postgraduate diploma student in Earth Systems Physics - Solid Earth Geophysics. I study seismic anisotropy in the uppermost mantle beneath subduction zones. 

In my research project, I apply numerical recipes to output azimuthally varying synthetic surface wave dispersion curves using constraints from geodynamics. This serves as a preliminary step in understanding the nature of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and in realizing the interior of the earth using seismic velocity profiles as a proxy for a fully anisotropic medium, which will be the subject of my PhD work.

2) Where do you work?

At the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy.

3) Tell us about the photos!

[Top:] This photo was taken at the old SISSA building (next to ICTP). On the blackboard, I constructed the Christoffel matrix-- it shows shear wave splitting due to an anisotropic medium with hexagonal symmetry.

[Bottom:] Circa 2015. I love playing videogames, especially pokemon! Since 2012, I play competitive pokemon which we officially coin as Pokemon Video Game Championship (VGC). It takes some serious skill and luck (by praying to the RNG gods) to win the tournament. In this photo, I remember placing in the bottom five out of more than 60 players in the tournament. I won the raffle draw though. :-)  

4) Tell us about your academic career path so far.

I went to Padre Burgos Elementary School and Victorino Mapa High School, both in Manila. I completed my degree in Applied Physics at the University of the Philippines - Los Baños. I took MS Physics at Ateneo de Manila University and taught Physics there at the same time.

When I received the offer letter from ICTP, I decided not to finish my Master’s Degree and opted to attend the Diploma Program. I will soon be heading to Lyon, France to pursue a PhD in computational seismology at Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS Lyon).

5) Anything else you’d like to share?

Other than video games, I also play basketball, pingpong, and skateboarding--although it’s been more than a year since I did the latter.

I also enjoy listening to 60’s up to 90’s rock music. Some of my favourite bands are Queen, The Outfield, and Bread. My supervisor from Ateneo once told me that I was really an old soul stuck in a 22-year-old’s body due to my taste in music.

I oftentimes troll my family and my close friends. Peace, folks! I love sharing memes. I suggest going to Crispy Doggo Memes to have some good laughs :D

[firstoccupier]

The Coral Catastrophe: Why Reefs Were Erased

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — July 28, 2026 Among the many losses during the Permian–Triassic extinction event, few were as complete—or as consequential—as the collapse of coral reef ecosystems. Reefs did not merely decline. They virtually disappeared from the planet. This mattered far beyond the reefs themselves. Coral ecosystems act as…

The Coral Catastrophe: Why Reefs Were Erased