Glaciers Spur Alaskan Earthquakes
In a new study, NASA and United States Geological Survey (USGS) scientists found that retreating glaciers in southern Alaska may be opening the way for future earthquakes. The study examined the likelihood of increased earthquake activity in southern Alaska as a result of rapidly melting glaciers. As glaciers melt they lighten the load on the Earth's crust. Tectonic plates, that are mobile pieces of the Earth's crust, can then move more freely, which increases the probability of earthquakes occurring in this region.
Animation of Southern Alaskan Earthquakes over the past decade.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 7-19-1993.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 10-6-1993.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 4-7-1994.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 1-14-1995.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 7-25-1995.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 12-5-1995.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 6-18-1996.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 9-2-1997.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 1-25-1998.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 10-19-1998.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 5-4-1999.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 7-13-2000.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 11-16-2001.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 9-16-2002.
Southern Alaskan Earthquakes from 1-18-1993 to 8-2-2003.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio, USGS/National Earthquake Information Center
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Animators
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Stuart A. Snodgrass (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Marte Newcombe (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientists
- Jeanne Sauber (NASA/GSFC)
- Bruce Molnia (USGS)
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Writer
- Sarah DeWitt (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Tuesday, August 3, 2004.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:56 PM EDT.
Missions
This page is related to the following missions:Series
This page can be found in the following series:Related papers
Journal of Global and Planetary Change (July issue)
Journal of Global and Planetary Change (July issue)
Datasets used
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[Seismometer]
ID: 151 -
[GTOPO30]
ID: 415 -
Blue Marble [Terra: MODIS]
ID: 492Credit: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
See all pages that use this dataset -
Earthquake Activity [USGS: NEIC]
ID: 528National Earthquake Information Center
This dataset can be found at: http://neic.usgs.gov
See all pages that use this dataset
Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.